Customer Reviews

The Pride of Chanur

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The Pride of Chanur is crewed by members of a felinoid race that were latecomers to space travel, interacting with about six other races *not* including humans for the most part.

Cherryh's aliens are *very* alien. Some are barely comprehensible to others. Some simply lack concepts that others are heavy with: for example, the main 'bad guy' race in the book, the Kif, neither comprehends nor harbours racial bigotry (which cannot be said for the felinoid Hani). What this all means to the reader is a refreshing need to abandon one's human assumptions while getting to know these cultures and races. Watching them all interact is fascinating.

The book, again typical of Cherryh, does not waste words. Two are not used where one will do. Therefore, scan-reading types like myself can miss a great deal by not taking their time, because the book is thicker than it looks. As such it is a better bargain than its size suggests. And since there is always a lot going on, this is a strength rather than a drawback.

There is not a lot of emphasis on TSFBS; Cherryh apparently figures that her energy is better spent creating interesting characters, plots and interactions than trying to wow one with the futuristic-sounding devices she can come up with, and I believe she's right. There is enough, but not too much, and it is never forced. Emphasis is on beings rather than gadgets.

The matriarchal (at least in reality rather than in name) Hani are a great alien race to follow. They are loud, brassy, and gutsy. Many of them hate other Hani clans much worse than they hate other races, and this is ingrained in their culture. Absent is the mindless assumption that all members of one race are likely to have common interests. In the case of three of the races, it's not even easy to figure out what their interests might be.

The entire Chanur series, of which this is the start, ranks with the Morgaine, Cyteen and Faded Sun series as superb reading of the rich type that few authors can give you. Recommended without reservation to new or experienced SF readers.

If you ask her, how it's all began, she will answer - because of the pride. She, the red-mane, lioness-like hani, the captain of a hani ship, a ship belonging to noble hani clan - Chanur. And all this began because of the pride - her "Pride". The Compact space is a little space is the big galaxy, in which six species live in delicate balance. Kif, living for cruelty and piracy; Mahendo'sat, full their curiosity and always involved in strange experiments; Stsho, with their xenophobic minds. T'ca-Chi - two symbiotic species, acting like one organism, their brains made like matrix. K'nnn, who no one can talk to, except T'ca. And Hani, whit their clans pride, and the female presence in the space because no hani male can travel on a spaceship - being too aggressive and out of control. Six completely different species, six completely different minds - had so far lived in a little place, in delicate balance. And this balance was about to explode, and with it - the whole Compact, when a seventh specie arrived, from the other side of the galaxy. A kif battle-ship intercepted and captured unknown ship with its crew, but when it docked at the Meetpoint Station, the biggest trade center it whole Compact, the last survivor of the crew escaped. The pink-skin, no-mane creature has appeared at the dock of a hani trader ship - "Pride of Chanur". The strange creature called himself "human". And when a kiff prince came at the dock of "The Pride", with all arrogance of his demands, it was only the pride of the honest captain, that Pianfar Chanur, that stops her from returning the "human" to the kif. But where the pride can lead Pianfar to? What can a small hani trader ship make against the full-armed kif battle-ships? Who she can count on? Her own specie, who turned away from her, after all the troubles she have brought them? Mahendo'sat, who doublecrossed her? The mad Stsho whose station was blown down because of her? Or methane breathers, with their weird logic? Who? Who will help her, rescue her from the deadly situation, which her own pride have brought? And what would happen when she arrives home, with a whole kif battle-fleet on her tail?

For me the most amazing aspect of this book was the view of previously unencountered humans through alien eyes and mindsets. Not only are her aliens believable (and not simply exaggerated humans), but her humans are entirely incomprehensible, at least as first encountered. The author strives to present the familiar from a different perspective, and she suceeds admirably.

Gradually as the book progresses the main character pieces together the puzzle presented by a sole human castaway, not only learning about his motivation and personality, but about the species as a whole. Think of it as Shogun from the Japanese perspective - who is this barbaic creature, what does he want, how does he think, can we learn anything from him? In the larger context, Chanur not only has to figure out the human Tully, but place him within a larger, shadowy power struggle between several other species. Cherryh's predilection for labyrinthine, partially visible wrangling and maneuvering is in full force.

An astonishing job of creating a truly different species and getting inside their skin - and without the device of using a human interpreter.

Hani,Kif,Stsho,Mahe,(Knnn)? This space is packed with"REAL ALIENS" Love em,hate em,hiss,boo,or cheer em,they're as real as your next door neighbor but exponentially more exciting.From Meetpoint Station to T't'a'av'a'o,this crew meshes like a swiss watch.Delicate diplomatic relations to dock-side brawls Pyanfar is a tough trader who can roll with the blows or punch with the best of them.I can't wait to see the movie!!!

I'm currently re-reading this in it's incarnation as the first part of "The Chanur Saga" "Omnibus edition." I wanted to put a separate review here since I intend to rate that "omnibus" low simply because it's not complete. "The Pride of Chanur" is an excellent book. Written in the standard Cherryh "from the gut" manner, it grabs on to your emotions and yanks them hither and yon from the first couple of pages all the way to the end. It's one of those books where you try to read faster and faster so that you can find out what's going to happen (even after having read it several times before). The best part of the book is the fact that it's stand-alone: it finishes what it starts. The remainder of the series requires this book. But, this book doesn't require the remainder of the series (though you'll definitely want to read that). Excellent book.

Being a talented sci-fi writer with a great imagination, C.J. Cherryh introduces you to a very alien, faroff reign of the whole universe where humans barely touch, let alone survive. So here the great space epic unfolds when Tully, a lone survivor was fleeing the bloodthirsty long-snouted Kifs and thus ran into the captain of a very noble lion-like race, the red-golden Hani. Pyanfar, an arrogant but proud leader decides to spare the human's life - and as a result, she and her loyal crew began to run into even more trouble, worst than the last as they desperately fly from star to star in a determined search for help. But despite the constant betrayal, the poor treatment, and the cold brush-off from the other aliens, the ever-gallant creatures grimly dug into their claws and held on fast until they could at least see to the lone human's safety.

This is a whole new galaxy far more complex than you can ever imagine, with so many languages, behavior, norms, etc. interacting with each other - a very realistic vision of what would it be like to live in the very hub of an intergalactic enterprise. One would wonder how Ms. Cherryh came up with such alien-sounding names and all. And what is more, the whole world is quite different from what we are already familiar with. For instance, the Chanur crew are very muscular, sport mustaches and breads, and wear only trousers below their bare-chested torsos, but they are actually FEMALES! And what's more, humans are very scarce in this part of the boundless outer space. So prepare yourself for the great oydessy into the unkown!

After reading and enjoying Ms. Cherryh's Cyteen I started searching for more of her novels and decided to begin reading Chanur's Saga. "The Pride of Chanur" is its first volume.

Ms. Cherryh creates, once more, an astounding backdrop Cosmos full of intricacies, depicting the other end of the universe shown in "Cyteen".
Here she elaborates The Compact's Media where many alien races compete, trade and fight. There are oxygen breathers and methane breathers; big cat-like people and gray somber entities; aggressive races and peaceful ones; some species are deceitful and others are straight forward.
Just to make things more complex a Human show up demanding asylum from the Hani (Chanur's kind) and giving way to a feud between Hani & Kif (the bad guys of the story).

One astounding feature of the book is that the main character is Captain Pyanfar Chanur and her ethnocentric point of view is THE point of perception. All other races (including human) are strange and requires all her imagination to figure up what kind of entities they are. Are they friendly? Stable? Trustworthy? All these and many more questions she has to answer in order to survive.

The other bewildering aspect is that Hani kind is conducted by their females. Ladies are in charge of commerce, space travel, politics and any other significant activity (even war). Males are the Lords, pampered by females, sporting and hunting. Only one by Clan, he may be defied by other males (his own exiled sons are suitable) to singular combat and the winner takes all.

The novel has the typical Space Opera structure, enriched by new elements as character's depth and culture's coherence.
It is a very good sci-fi novel that will be enjoyed by fans & general public too!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

I first came across this book about 8 years ago. A friend of mine at University said "Read this. It's good". Talk about a classic understatement.

Cherryh's writing style makes you so involved with the story and the characters that you almost feel that you are living on the spacestations with the many species. You can almost hear the clunk of the loaders working. Feel the cold of deck plates beneath your feet. Smell the ammonia of the Kif. Dream your way between the stars. And makes you never want to put the book down.

All of the races described have their own agendas and their own mentality, yet each one is highly believeable. The politics and intrigue are more complex than you could imagine, yet Cherryh's way with words makes the whole situation easy to follow. Cherryh also makes excellant use of "real" technology rather than the instant communication/instant travel that many other authors use. In this case the immense distances between the star! s and the time-lag of communications plays an important aspect.

When you've finished this one, you'll have to start on the rest of the sequence: Chanur's Venture, The Kif Strike Back, Chanur's Homecoming, and Chanur's Legacy.

Space travel will never be the same again.

After reading and enjoying Ms. Cherryh's "Cyteen" I started searching for more of her novels and decided to begin reading Chanur's Saga. "The Pride of Chanur" is its first volume.

Ms. Cherryh creates, once more, an astounding backdrop Cosmos full of intricacies, depicting the other end of the universe shown in "Cyteen".

Here she elaborates The Compact's Media where many alien races compete, trade and fight. There are oxygen breathers and methane breathers; big cat-like people and gray somber entities; aggressive races and peaceful ones; some species are deceitful and others are straight forward.

Just to make things more complex a Human show up demanding asylum from the Hani (Chanur's kind) and giving way to a feud between Hani & Kif (the bad guys of the story).

One astounding feature of the book is that the main character is Captain Pyanfar Chanur and her ethnocentric point of view is THE point of perception. All other races (including human) are strange and requires all her imagination to figure up what kind of entities they are. Are they friendly? Stable? Trustworthy? All these and many more questions she has to answer in order to survive.

The other bewildering aspect is that Hani kind is conducted by their females. Ladies are in charge of commerce, space travel, politics and any other significant activity (even war). Males are the Lords, pampered by females, sporting and hunting. Only one by Clan, he may be defied by other males (his own exiled sons are suitable) to singular combat and the winner takes all.

The novel has the typical Space Opera structure, enriched by new elements as character's depth and culture's coherence.

It is a very good sci-fi novel that will be enjoyed by fans & general public!

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Yeah, this book was pretty cool. It's not quite as dense or sprawling as I've come to expect Cherryh books to be (not that that's a bad thing!), but that doesn't detract from it one bit. And this book moves, moves, moves. It's probably one of the most engrossing books I've ever read.

This is another one of Cherryh's first-contact type novels, and I think it's the thing she does best, really. It involves a lone human somehow lost in alien space who manages to sneak abord a Hani merchant ship, and how his presence upsets the delicate balance of power there. It's serious without being too oppressive, and it is without question the best of the series. I've read the other three, and really you can take those or leave them--the book is complete enough in itself. (With the others, I kind of feel myself playing the Star Trek 5/Aliens 3 game--if I didn't like it, it didn't happen. Trek 5? Nope. Went from 4 straight to 6....)

I highly reccommend this book. It's typical Cherryh, in that you'll have to wait for your gratification until the very very end--but then, it's always worth it.