Customer Reviews

The Collected Short Fiction of C.J. Cherryh

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an interesting collection that is divided into three categories: Sunfall, Visible Light, and other stories. Fans of the author will appreciate that her talent with short stories matches that of her novels. Newcomers will gain a wonderful taste of one of the best speculative fiction authors of the past two plus decades.

The Sunfall tales were mostly published in the early 1980s collection with one new one never seen before this addition. These nine fabulous stories focus on life in the cities as the sun begins to cool.

The eight wonderful tales that make up the Visible Light anthology were released in the mid 1980s. These delightful stories focus on individuals who in many cases could be you or me overwhelmed by external conflict often outside their control.

The other section is more of a potpourri that contains fifteen interesting contributions, but though each one is well written, they also feel like fill-in material at least in this anthology. Even the strongest tale of the book, Pots in which archeological truths fail to stand up to political realities, seems out of place.

To overcome that feeling of displacement, this reviewer read the collected short fiction as if there were three short story books. Each one provides plenty of enjoyment to readers.

Harriet Klausner

Cherryh is a well-known name on the sci-fi shelves, so I was intrigued when I read a short story in a collection of Great Short Stories. I am very glad I looked further for the rest. Short stories are to literature what creme brulee is to dessert- only the finest can pull it off- as did the author of these very disparate stories with great range and storytelling skill.

If you love the work of Ms Cherryh, this is a book for you. If, like I did, you already had the three books of short fiction contained in this volume it is still a book for you. First of all it is bound up in one beautiful hardback volume, so it looks a lot nicer in your library(not to mention the three have become valuable as collector items, so you can protect them and put them away). But it also has the advantage of some additional insights of the author as well as a story made especially for this edition. Lastly, if you don't have these stories in some other form you are missing a real treat. Ms. Cherryh's multi level writing style is always rewarding, and if you like I do have made an effort to own everything she has written will give you essential, parts of stories that you may have missed, (for example, Faery In Shadow, would be a head scratcher with out reading the first half of the story only available in the short story collections. Hint, Hint Publisher... Why don't you publish that Story in one volume for collectors? This is a great Airport Book, as it short stories and has natural breaks, but also the author, has set the book up as a story teller speaking to a traveler. Excellent!

C. J. Cherryh is mostly known for her fantasy novels; the Collected Short Fiction Of C.J. Cherryh features the first comprehensive collection of her short fiction, and provides a range of satisfyingly complex stories marked with the Cherryh fondness for alien/human relationships. From Cassandra, about a woman cursed with prophecy and madness, to a story set in the far future where a dying sun dictates a world's moves, Collected Short Fiction Of C.J. Cherryh is filled with strong plots and varied settings. Highly recommended.

This volume is a very nice addition to any collector of C.J. Cherryh's longer works. It's a mixture of science fiction and fantasy, and the only thing that does not quite work is her attempt to link the stories together with a meta-narrative. Lots of great stuff here, though!