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53 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best SF novels of all time, August 15, 1997
This review is from: Cyteen (Paperback)
Cyteen. To me, the word just sounds evil. I don't know why, perhaps it's the way the syllables run together. All I know is that everytime I saw the word spoken in Cherryh's other great SF novel, Downbelow Station, I couldn't help but shudder. Perhaps it's was the coldness of the people there, or the whispered way everyone spoke about the planet, or the ranks of faceless soldiers, all the same.
And now about this diverse world comes Cyteen, the novel. What a novel it is, close to seven hundred pages, and Cherryh used every single page to tell this story of young friends trapped in a world of security constantly watching over their shoulder. This book reeked paranoia in a way that would make Thomas Pynchon proud. Friends and enemies all meld together in this novel and you can never tell which is which.
Cherryh does a great job detailing the planet Cyteen and the society that grows up on it. The people and culture are as diverse as (dare I say it?) Frank Herbert's Dune. You get a feel for the government and the politics that surround everyday life, the behind the scenes stuff regular people don't know about.
But that's not it. Cherryh also gives us arguments on the different between the born men and the azi, the genetically created people, weaving these threads into an already idea packed story.
Nothing Cherryh has written before or since can come even close to this book. The only two I can think of are Downbelow Station or maybe even Forty Thousand in Gehenna (which ties into this novel). It's a landmark of science-fiction and should be read by any who consider themselves a fan
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cherryh's masterwork . . ., May 8, 2003
This review is from: Cyteen (Paperback)
When I first read this fat, extraordinary novel a decade ago, I concluded it was one of the best science fiction novels produced in (at least) the past half-century, and, having now re-read it, I still believe that. It's set in Cherryh's Merchanter universe (a couple of generations after the concluding war, the story of which she told in Downbelow Station), but that's really only the distant backdrop. (You'll also find here the back-story to Forty Thousand in Gehenna.) This is a very detailed, very in-depth, very carefully worked-out, very thought-provoking study of power and the claustrophobic effects of its mis-management, of the relationship of "natural born" psychology to manufactured and tailored minds, of the effects on a society of an artificial underclass (the "azi") that is both more and less than chattel slavery, . . . and along with all that, a satisfying and very affecting story of a cold, slightly inhuman genius and the mystery of her death (which was possibly a murder), and the replicate who is intended to replace her -- and who succeeds more completely, perhaps, than her creators ever anticipated. At 680 pages, there are, of course, several other plots moving full-tilt, also filled with detail and nuance, but they all interrelate nearly seamlessly. Her ability to play off one character's collection of concerns against another's is amazing, and she shows a considerable (and very speculative) understanding of the depths of psychological intervention. She's also a master of precise prose . . . when she wants to be. I have never doubted that this book did indeed deserve the Hugo it was awarded. And now I shall put it back on its shelf for another decade.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A strong, well written story of a touchy subject, May 12, 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: Cyteen (Paperback)
How do you know that when you wake up in the morning, all your memories and knowledge is yours? How do you know when what people do around you is entirely spontaneous reaction to the world around you? For little Ari, she doesn't and she can't. Otherwise the experiment fails.
Cherryh has done a masterful job in this story to show how a complex concept like cloning can be done. As science breaks through even now with techniques for cloning, it only gives us a body. Cherryh gives one possible method, one that works with the kind of Big Brother future SF tends to hint so strongly at. Take all the records of a person's life. Every tidbit, every mistake, every triumph, and recreate them.
I haven't given this a 10 mostly because while I think this is a superb book, there are a few drawbacks. It's *long*. It covers the entire childhood of a woman. It's not the easiest of reads, which isn't a problem, but makes it difficult to encourage others to read it.
Regardless of which, if you get a chance to read it, do so. It's well worth it.
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