Downbelow Station

It took me quite a while to read this book. I just couldn't get into it. I don't much care for C. J. Cherryh's writing style, although I did get used to it. The writing is not lyrical. Sometimes it seemed to me as if English is not Cherryh's first language. Her phrasing sometimes is choppy and not quite right. In the early stages, I considered abandoning the book. I have Cherryh's novel Cyteen on my mental list of science fiction books to read one of these days, and I began to think that that would be just crazy. It's much too long - It would just be too much of a chore to read if it's written like Downbelow Station. Then, finally, perhaps a third of the way in, things started to fall together. I decided not to abandon it. By two thirds I was fully engrossed. It's a good book, if you can stay with it long enough. In the end, I didn't take Cyteen off my list.