Serpent's Reach (Alliance-Union Universe) [Paperback]

C. J. Cherryh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 1980 | Series: Alliance-Union Universe

The constellation of Hydri, also called the Serpent, became an undesirable destination during the era of humanity's most prolific interstellar colonization. For Hydri was under strict quarantine because it harbored an intelligent and dangerous alien race, the insectoid majat. Yet human colonies predating the quarantine did exist in this sector of space, which they called Serpent's Reach. Cut off from others of their own kind, they had their own inbred culture and special relationships with the alien majat. Raen was the only survivor of the massacred Sul family, and she had made a pledge to devote her life to seeking vengeance for her slain clan. Her thirst for revenge would take her not only across the worlds of the Reach, but into the very center of an alien webwork that knit the stars of the forbidden constellation into a complex of interbred alien hives that no outsider could hope to unravel, and where most of humanity dared not go.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent, action-filled book, replete with the finely tuned social and scientific detail one has grown to expect from Cherryh." -Kliatt "Cherryh's customary strengths are all here--brisk pacing, above-average characterization of both human sexes and also of nonhumans, and genuinely brilliant world-building." -Booklist "For interesting aliens, try Cherryh's SERPENT'S REACH. In it she has created what may be the first sympathetic hive mind in SF. Cherryh has successfully avoided almost all the mystic pseudoscience claptrap inspired in her predecessors by Earth's social insects. She has achieved a Hive intelligence that makes sense. I congratulate her and I look forward to her attempt to top it. -Analog --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 287 pages
• Publisher: DAW; First Edition edition (August 5, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879975547
• ISBN-13: 978-0879975548
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,633,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've written sf and fantasy for publication since 1975...but I've written a lot longer than that. I have a background in Mediterranean archaeology, Latin, Greek, that sort of thing; my hobbies are travel, photography, planetary geology, physics, pond-building for koi...I run a marine tank, can plumb most anything, and I figure-skate.

I believe in the future: I'm an optimist for good reason---I've studied a lot of history, in which, yes, there is climate change, and our species has been through it. We've never faced it fully armed with what we now know, and if we play our cards right, we'll use it as a technological springboard and carry on in very interesting ways.

I also believe a writer owes a reader a book that has more than general despair to spread about: I write about clever, determined people who don't put up with situations, not for long, anyway: people who find solutions inspire me.

My personal websites and blog: http://www.cherryh.com
http://www.cherryh.com/WaveWithoutAShore
http://www.closed-circle.net

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My First CJ Cherryh Book; Not My Last!, April 21, 2000

By 

J. Moore (St. Louis Area, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Serpent's Reach (Alliance-Union Universe) (Paperback)

Serpent's Reach has been cut off from contact with the rest of humanity for seven hundred years, and in that time, the settlers of these worlds have engineered fantastic technology with the help of the alien Majat. Against this backdrop, one noblewoman's family is slaughtered and she vows revenge on the perpetrators.

I've heard that CJ Cherryh does a fantastic job of creating believable aliens, and I found this to be true in my first-ever CJ Cherryh read. Not only the very alien Majat, but also the almost-human Kontrin and their genetic creations, the Betas and the Azi, have cultures, ideas, and attitudes that distinguish them from we garden variety Homo sapiens.

This is pretty "hard" science fiction, with frequent breaks needed to page back through what you just read to try and soak everything in. There is very little of the old literary trick of having an ignorant character around all the time so that difficult concepts can be explained in dialogue (like Star Trek) or even of outright exposition by the author. Much is left to the interpretation of the reader. If you like that style of writing (I do!), Serpent's Reach is excellent reading. After finishing, I went out and bought a couple more Cherryh books set in the Alliance-Union universe.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of C.J. Cherryh's best., March 26, 2001

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Serpent's Reach (Alliance-Union Universe) (Paperback)

There are many reasons I love Serpent's Reach. 1) It is the first book by C.J. Cherryh that I bought (as I was judging it by the cover). 2. The Majat are a insect-like alien race and I like both insects and alien races, so for me it is a real treat. 3. C.J. Cherryh's might SEEM to start out slow, but she is really creating a setting and a foundation for a perfect story.

If you liked this book, I would suggest C.J. Cherryh's 'Pride of Chanur' which is a stand alone book that is followed by FOUR other books (A three book series and another stand alone). Alien cats, but not just your run-of-the-mill alien cats.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great stand-alone Cherryh book, February 18, 2000

By 

R. Cusolito "bob_c_03865" (Plaistow, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Serpent's Reach

This is a great stand-alone work by Cherryh about an alien culture and a group of humans that has been genetically modified, with help from the aliens, to live incredibly long lives. As usual, Cherryh paints a very believable future society.

One point should be made about this book being stand-alone. If you read Cherryh's web site, she lists this book as part of the Alliance/Union universe, but the timeline given in the book contradicts this. There ARE some elements in this book that are in the Alliance/Union series (such as the cloned humans called "azi"). However, the colonization of the first planet in this book happens at approximately the same time as most of the events in the "Company Wars" of the Alliance/Union series, which makes it hard to believe that these books are really in the same "universe". I believe the author attempted to fit some of her books written before "Downbelow Station" into the Alliance/Union chronology, but with this one especially, it's something of a stretch. However, it doesn't hurt the book. You will enjoy it just as much, but consider it a stand-alone book.