Holy shit, did I ever hate the protagonists in this book. It's saying something when the rapist space captain manages somehow to be the least unlikable character. The story ended, and I don't even remember how their arcs did, nor do I care. Comfortably my least favorite of this series.
Reviews and Comments
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Chris R (for Reading) rated Rimrunners: 4 stars
Rimrunners by C. J. Cherryh
RIMRUNNERS In space the line between patriot and pirate is as thin as a laser. And a lethal battle for …
Chris R (for Reading) finished reading Tripoint by C. J. Cherryh
Chris R (for Reading) started reading Downbelow Station (The Company Wars #1) by C. J. Cherryh
This is a re-read; I read this book years ago, and have forgotten most of it, so here we go again.
I'm already really enjoying seeing the bones of the Company/Union conflict and the way the Union's uniformity makes the viewpoint characters from the EC side of the conflict uncomfortable. Cherryh's writing does great work in not outright othering them; she's on record saying that she doesn't think that the "sides" in this conflict break down well into good/evil buckets, and it shows.
Chris R (for Reading) finished reading Hellburner by C. J. Cherryh
I finished this on the plane to Chicago, having "burned" through it. It's got more characters in common with Heavy Time than I strictly expected, and it ended up a lot less bloody in the end than the previous book. The themes of political and cultural ignorance didn't really go away, though; the militaries don't communicate, the political allies don't understand each other, and everything hinges on misunderstandings.
Still very Cherryh :D
Chris R (for Reading) started reading Hellburner by C. J. Cherryh
Chris R (for Reading) finished reading Heavy Time by C. J. Cherryh
This was very much a Cherryh book, both in the dialog and in the pacing. Her novels tend, in my experience, to be characterized by a slow burn with a lot of focus on motivation and intention, with viewpoint characters' perspectives providing the lens through her worldbuilding shows through, followed by intense, staccato action sequences.
It's interesting to see the Alliance-Union universe before Alliance.
Chris R (for Reading) started reading Heavy Time by C. J. Cherryh
Chris R (for Reading) finished reading Gods of the Wyrdwood by R. J. Barker (The Forsaken Trilogy, #1)
Chris R (for Reading) finished reading Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Content warning Spooooooooilers
Oh WOW did I like this book.
It takes a lot to take an unlikable protagonist, put you right inside their thoughts, show you them being a bigot and an asshole, and still make you root for them. The story is a hell of a trip, and inverts the rebel-against-the-empire trope really, really well.
So far, of the three Hugo finalists I've read, this is my fave.
Chris R (for Reading) finished reading Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (The Final Architecture, #2)
Chris R (for Reading) started reading Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (The Final Architecture, #2)
Chris R (for Reading) finished reading Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky
As always I'm amazed at Tchaikovsky's ability to take a grim and somewhat disturbing scenario and find the essential grain of Humanity at its core, finding the optimism and kindness in even the most alien of characters. A fantastic book.