The Collected Short Fiction of C.J. Cherryh - Hardcover

Cherryh, C. J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0756402174 ISBN 13: 9780756402174

Publisher: DAW Hardcover, 2004

Synopsis

A stunning collection of C.J. Cherryh's short fiction

Featuring the short stories, novellas, and novelettes of multiple award-winning author C.J. Cherryh, this volume is a must-have for fans and newcomers alike. It includes stories that originally appeared in her earlier collections, in magazines, and in other collections from DAW and other publishers. This special volume will include an introduction by Cherryh, written exclusively for this book.

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

Sure to appeal to Cherryh enthusiasts as well as initiates, this omnibus volume gathers the stories from two out-of-print collections, Sunfall (1981) and Visible Light (1986), plus 16 additional tales. The majority showcase the author's talent for depicting the effect of history on individuals. In the Sunfall stories, about a far-future Earth where the Sun has begun to cool, Cherryh dramatizes how the inhabitants of such cities as Paris, London and Moscow might cope with gradual cultural and physical collapse. "Masks," a new Sunfall story original to this book, portrays carnevale revels in a far-future Venice as if it were again an independent city-state. The Visible Light section, which includes the Hugo-winning "Cassandra," highlights her skill at creating poignant, believable characters embedded in political and personal conflicts. Notable in the miscellaneous group is "Pots," which simultaneously recapitulates differing priorities in the politics and science of archeology. Its basic premise, that archeological truth is not always acceptable to those in power, could equally describe the past or the future of this science. Some may wish that the author's brief general introduction and new introduction to the Visible Light stories were more substantial, but all readers should appreciate her short fiction's lyrical blend of SF and fantasy.
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This massive and valuable collection reprints all of Cherryh's short fiction, beginning with the contents of two out-of-print theme collections. Sunfall (1981) consists of seven stories (one of them new as of this volume) of Earth's great cities in a far future when the mother planet is hardly more than a memory to her interstellar children. The stories of Visible Light (1986) are offered as if they were the work of a traveler telling tales at spaceports or aboard starships as he or she wanders across the wine-dark universe. "Cassandra" is a Hugo Award winner and, with "A Thief in Korianth" (a shorter early version of Angel with the Sword, 1985) and "The Last Tower," enjoys classic status in the Cherryh canon. Toward the end comes an assortment of "Other Short Fiction," amid which "The Dark King," "The Unshadowed Land," and "Gwydion and the Dragon" are outstanding. Cherryh crafts even less impressive stories well enough to verify her reputation for brilliance and versatility. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: DAW Hardcover
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0756402174
• ISBN 13: 9780756402174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 656