Forty Thousand in Gehenna (Alliance-Union Universe) (Paperback)

by C. J. Cherryh (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"When Cherryh is writing at her best, there are very few in the field who can touch her, and this is very close to being her very best..." -S.F. Chronicle "Cherry tantalizes our minds with...enigmatic aliens, captures our hearts with her characters and involves us completely with her mix of broad and narrow views of a new culture's rise. Once again, Cherryh proves herself a consistently thoughtful and entertaining writer." -Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Description
"Set in the same future as the Hugo-winning Downbelow Station, but fully self-contained, this is a story on the classic theme of human understanding of the alien. . . . Once again, Cherryh proves herself a consistently thoughtful and entertaining writer."--Publishers Weekly. Reissue.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: DAW (September 4, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886774292
• ISBN-13: 978-0886774295
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #443,577 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply delicious., June 17, 2003

By	Alex J. Avriette "Alex Avriette" (Arlington, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book just gets better and better as you read it.

It starts somewhat slow, as most of Cherryh's books do. I would contend, however, that it only _seems_ slow as you begin to recognize the characters and the plot lines.

Cherryh leaves us with an incredibly complex book. The complexity of the book is not in the characters, nor in the plot itself. Rather, she has woven perhaps one of the most complex societies and man:man, man:environment conflicts I've ever read.

The continuing question throughout the book is debated by people removed from the situation (I won't go in to details for the sake of the prospective readers), and new details come to life as the story progresses.

What really makes this book a shining example of what a good author can do is Cherryh's creation, quite literally of the ground up, of a new race. A new society. And describing that race, and that society, at every step of the way. Not only does she create conflict and strong interactions between characters and groups of characters, but she creates a new morality, a new language, and indeed a new culture.

This book shows the talent of one of Science Fiction's most gifted authors. Highly, highly recommended. I buy this book for anyone who will read it.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On par with Cyteen, July 25, 1999

By	Michael Battaglia - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If anything this is more ambitious than Cyteen, though that novel will remain the greater one because of its scope and depth, the latter of which this novel tends to lack at times, though Cherryh is still better than most science-fiction writers. The events of this novel are referred to in Cyteen and that planet is still a big player during the course of events, but Cyteen was also a big part of Downbelow Station and you didn't need to read Cyteen to understand that one either. What you do need to understand is that this is one strange book, the basic plot is that colonists are sent to Gehenna which has these strange lizards and then they're essentially abandoned there and when people find them again this entirely odd culture that is hard to understand has grown up to live with the lizards. Most of the book is devoted to explaining the way this strange culture arrives at what it is, and that is probably the most fascinating part. The encounters between the scientists and the Gehennans are also classic moments and the characters are all well defined even if because the novel takes place over so many years they tend to pop in and out, so don't get too attached to many of them, because they don't stick around for too long. Overall definitely one of her better novels and on par with both Cyteen and Downbelow Station, it may not have the greatness of the former or the sustained intensity of the latter but in its exploration of culture and how it can be formed, Cherryh shows that she has few peers in the science-fiction world.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic colonization story - Classic Cherryh, November 4, 2004

By	Stefan Raets "Stefan" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Forty Thousand in Gehenna (Hardcover)

"Forty Thousand In Gehenna" is the story of a newly colonized Union planet. There is a twist on the standard colonization theme: the initial population of the colony is a small group of about 450 Union officers who will get the colony set up, using about 40000 'azi'. Azi are cloned humans routinely used as workers or soldiers by Union, indoctrinated to obey authority unquestioningly (see also the brilliant novel "Cyteen"). The novel quickly changes from a colonization story to a chilling study of psychology when authority on the planet breaks down and the azi, for the first time in their lives, find themselves without any guidance. This is Cherryh at her best - gritty, down-to-earth SF, told in a very matter-of-fact, no-frills prose style, uncompromising but very rewarding. This is not the best entry point for the Union/Alliance series but one of the finest and most unique parts of it.