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dustydigger
Posted 2016-04-28 9:01 AM (#13389 - in reply to #12239)
Subject: Re: Pick and Mix 2016
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Posts: 1031
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Location: UK
I started reading her books in the 80s. I got hold of the final book in the Chanur series,Chanur's Legacy and that was it,she had a lifelong fan. Unfortunately the libraries in my area have few or none of her works,and its the same in the bookshops,so collecting her works is slow going. I cant understand why she is not a household name in the UK.. I suppose she is not to everyone's tastes,with her immersive third person narrative,deep psychological probing of a character,their thoughts and their motives. Not enough flash bang space operatic action,maybe?
One thing I really like about Cherryh's work is the way her protagonists are never in the heroic mold,never great heroes who lead the rest and change the world by their actions.No Muad'dibs here.Instead they are vulnerable,lonely square pegs,seeking desperately for a place,or should I say some group, however far away from what they have come from, that will become a haven and a home. And when humans confront alien races there's no superiority whatsoever,in fact they are often pawns - think Bren Cameron,or Duncan in the Faded Sun series or Tully in the Chanur books. So we have super technology,so what? We are often shown as weak,naive or inferior in honour,and culture to the aliens. No hope of humans being complacent uplifters of other species! Very refreshing. Once we dive into Cherryh its hard to drag ourselves back to our mundane world.Once I finish Shon'jir I have Kutath to read,and then I have 40,000 In Gehenna,Merchanter's Luck,and Heavy Time on my shelf waiting their turn. It'll take a lot of effort to stave off reading them so as to fulfill current challenge reads!
I was truly happy to see that she has been made this year's Grand Master. Thoroughly well deserved

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