Chanur's Legacy - Hardcover

Cherryh, C. J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0886775191 ISBN 13: 9780886775193

Publisher: DAW Hardcover, 1992

Synopsis

Ten years after the presence of the human Tully disrupted the crew of The Pride of Chunur, Hilfy becomes the captain and is offered a million credits to transport a small religious object to Urtur Station.

About this title

About the Author

C. J. Cherryh planned to write since the age of ten. When she was older, she learned to use a type writer while triple-majoring in Classics, Latin and Greek. At 33, she signed over her first three books to DAW and has worked with DAW ever since. She can be found at cherryh.com.

Reviews

This is the fifth entry in Cherryh's ( Heavy Time ) chronicles of the Chanur clan, space-faring members of a cat-like alien race called the hani.not capitalized It picks up 10 years after the action of Chanur's Homecoming , and introduces an almost entirely new cast of characters. The fast-moving story centers on Hilfy Chanur's efforts to fulfill a contract involving the delivery of a religious artifact. This seemingly straightforward assignment quickly escalates in typical Cherryh fashion into a tangle of financial and political intrigue involving five different alien species, half a dozen planets, and more paperwork than either the reader or the characters can keep track of. Despite the apparent confusion, it is a great deal of fun. There is more humor here than in previous Chanur books, stemming primarily from the foibles of various well-developed alien cultures. Cherryh demonstrates a remarkable grasp of alien psychologies--she has mastered the near-impossible trick of creating aliens who think differently from, but just as well as, humans. Very few SF writers could carry off a 400-page novel with no major human characters; Cherryh does so effortlessly.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Fifth in Cherryh's hitherto paperback Chanur series--a clan/dynasty saga whose alien principals, unusually, are nearly all female, and featuring other alien species by the shipload amid a welter of interspecies politicking, maneuvering, haggling, and strife. Hilfy Chanur of the catlike alien ``hani,'' head of the Chanur clan, is captain of the ship Chanur's Legacy, having been appointed by her enormously influential alien-ambassador aunt Pyanfar. Tempted by the offer of a million credits, Hilfy accepts a peculiar and complicated commission from the powerful alien ``stsho'' station chief of Meetingpoint--to deliver a mysterious ``Preciousness'' to another stsho at Urtur. She also acquires, unwillingly, a male crew member (all Chanur spacers are female) who got himself into trouble and, suspiciously, was abandoned by his ship (the resulting sexual tensions, reversed from the usual polarity, are splendidly handled). Immediately, Hilfy is approached by yet another alien, a ``mahendo'sat'' named Haisi, who, improbably, insists he's Hilfy's friend but pressures her for information. Still another complication are the warrior-alien ``kif'' who appear to be protecting the stsho station chief, an unlikely alliance that Hilfy mistrusts. And she's haunted by dreams--or are they extrasensory communications?--of her last love, a human named Tully, and her aunt Pyanfar, who's clearly plotting and planning at some remote remove. Complicated enough? Just wait until you hear about the plot... Readers new to Cherryh's Compact Space will need patience and determination to get involved--but it's worth the effort: memorable characters, intriguing aliens, and a convoluted yet satisfying plot guaranteed to extend even the most space-operatically inclined brain cells. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Hilfy Chanur, young captain of the merchant ship Chanur's Legacy , accepts a commission from a dignitary on the planet Meetpoint to deliver a religious artifact to nearby Urtur Station. The arrangement soon becomes a tangle of interstellar intrigue as Hilfy and her crew battle kidnappers, assassins, and smooth politicians while fighting their own inborn prejudices. Set in the Alliance-Union universe, a favorite Cherryh sf setting, the fifth book in her ongoing chronicle of the spacefaring, feline Chanur clan should appeal to fans of fast-moving, meticulously detailed space opera.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: DAW Hardcover
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0886775191
• ISBN 13: 9780886775193
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320