Downbelow Station

Really, this book is 3.5 stars, and the demotion is mainly due to it taking me so long to get into the characters. Cherryh's world – galaxy, really – is enormous, and she needs a fifth of her book to set up the extraordinarily complex political and social structures. Her introduction of characters was slow, but provided enough misleads and second guessing as to make the characters grow more interesting as the story progressed.

The story itself is about the speed at which humans begin to evolve socially once space travel and space colonies are a reality. It's a political book, without too much of the science behind how they got there, which suits me just fine. I liked the archetypes she created for colonials/stationers, merchanters, and Unionists, and I like that this wasn't a clear-cut Empire vs. Rebellion story. It resonated with me on the level of “Okay, so the Empire's not so great, but the Rebellion is total chaos.” Pell and the Konstantins' situation as a wishful neutrality in this war-torn era is the place I'd most likely find myself.

I'll be honest, though, I wasn't a hundred percent invested in most of the characters. Maybe it's Cherryh's style or just the fact that I really wanted to get back to certain viewpoints, but I found myself glazing over when we were in a point of view I didn't enjoy as much. Mallory is a fascinating character, and one whom I never really like but end up rooting for nonetheless; however, her POV is so busy as she goes through political stratagem after military schematic that I sighed every time it was her turn. There were also just a ton of characters whose alliances and motives I could never quite keep straight, but that's likely more a personal attention-span problem.

I think the complexity of the story is why the hisa are so important. Their wonderfully simple, emotional viewpoint is a welcome break from the worried and frustrated humans. The hisa calm the pace, and their childlike nature and straightforward perspective make us care for them on a level we just can't for the humans. I love the way Cherryh describes them, love their patois, love every time they say “love you.” They harbor none of the resentment a lesser author would give to this race and never break character by acting too human. They even distinguish good humans from bad humans instead of generalizing. If they occupied any more of the story, it might have become an Avatar-esque oversimplification of a native species, but as is, it's a reminder of what exploration means: the melding and evolution of multiple cultures. I looked forward to every chapter in Satin's point of view.

Among the humans, Talley was easily my favorite and had all the best surprises. He starts out, like the hisa, an innocent with whom the reader can easily side. However as his character and motives grow more complex, he keeps the reader and other characters guessing. Ayres was interesting as well, and I liked the evolution of his relationship with Azov and Jacoby. Never a clear line in this tale.

On a completely different note, I will say this story does have a strikingly unique feature that made me just about stand up and cheer: happily married couples.

I am known to get extremely frustrated with romantic plot lines in the middle of big stories. Romance has a tendency to detract from the actual plot, just something authors throw in because everyone does it. Characters starting a relationship in the middle of an epic space battle often make me go, “Really? You think now is the best time for this?” On the flip side, so many stories begin with unhappily married couples or widows/widowers deep in grief. If a character begins happily married, you can rest assured that will change by the end. It's like a happy marriage is the fiction in fiction.

This story has not one but 3 happily married couples, if you hisa bonding as marriage, who stay happily married to the end. The couples all function well as couples and do not waste time with typical bickering. They see the chips fall, and they do what has to be done to keep their loved ones alive, even when that means separating for unknown periods of times. The characters in this story have a very believable concept of focus and priorities, and for that I tip my hat to Cherryh. Our time is not wasted learning about the relationships' histories. It is enough to know that these people got married because they loved each other, and that love is going to motivate their actions in crisis. Done and done with no wistful gazing at the the stars.

Final thoughts: If you enjoy complex political drama and also outer space, you will really love this book. If you're like me and have trouble keeping up with complex political drama, I suggest you keep a wikipedia page open and handy.

It's a tough read but lays out some of the groundwork for the Union/Merchanter/Company universe that many of C.J. Cherryh's later books are set in. It portrays a 3-sided power struggle (war) where, in my opinion, no one side is on the side of right. They all in their own ways feel trapped into the course of action they've chosen to take.