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What's New
Review Features
S - Science Fiction
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
Complete Listing
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Adams, Douglas (S)
Asher, Neal (S)
Aylett, Steve (S)
Banks, Iain M (S)
Barclay, James (F)
Barker, Clive (H)
Baxter, Stephen (S)
Brin, David (S)
Bury, Stephen (S)
Card, Orson Scott (S)
Cherryh, CJ (S/F)
Clute, John (S)
Cockayne, Steve (F)
Cook, Glen (F)
Danielewski, Mark (H)
Dick, Philip K (S)
Egan, Greg (S)
Feist, Raymond (F)
Gaiman, Neil (F)
Gibson, William (S)
Goodkind, Terry (F)
Grimwood, Jon C (S)
Hamilton, Peter (S)
Jeter, K.W. (S)
Jordan, Robert (F)
Lethem, Jonathan (S)
McAuley, Paul (S)
MacLeod, Ken (S)
Martin, George RR (F)
McMullen, Sean (S)
Miéville, China (S)
Moran, Daniel K (S)
Morgan, Richard K (S)
Nagata, Linda (S)
Niven, Larry (S)
Noon, Jeff (S)
Robinson, Kim S. (S)
Rucker, Rudy (S)
Simmons, Dan (S)
Smith, Michael Marshall (S)
Stephenson, Neal (S)
Sterling, Bruce (S)
Vinge, Vernor (S)
Westerfeld, Scott (S)
Williams, Sean (S)
Williams, Tad (S/F)
Collections (S/F)
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| The Classics |
Bradbury, Ray (S/H)
Burgess, Anthony (S)
Tolkien, JRR (F) |
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| CJ Cherryh |
| Author Information |
Reviewed Books |
Other Books |
Notes: (F) - Foreigner Universe Series
(R) - Rider Series |
Rider at the
Gate (R) |
Explorer (11/02) (F)
Defender (11/02) (F)
Hammerfall
The Morgaine Saga
Downbelow Station
Cloud's Rider (R)
Serpent's Reach
Finity's End |
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 Our
Ranking This is the first and only book I've read
by Cherryh and I have to admit I was pretty impressed by it. The only thing keeping
my from buying the sequel, Cloud's Rider, is just being unable to find it in a
used book store. The book is somewhat sci fish in nature in that it is centered
around a civilization of humans trapped in a very hostile planet. However, it
is also has a nice fantasy angle to the story since most of the technology is
fairly not advanced and it really centers around one small town struggling to
keep its trading routes open. While not really stated in the book, you can infer
that the humans had attempted to colonize this world and were either abandoned
or have just been forgotten. The world is a very harsh place, where all of the
animals and creatures communicate and defend themselves telepathically. The problem
is this telepathy proves deadly to humans, driving them to a state of sheer insanity.
Only one thing protects them from this fate and that is a breed of horses known
as Nighthorses who are the strongest of the creatures on the planet. They bond
with a human rider and then use their abilities to ward off the other evils of
the world. The book centers around the death of one such bonded rider and his
nighthorse that has now gone rogue since it is riderless. Now unchecked, the rogue
horse proves to be the greatest threat the small town has faced. The concepts
in the book are terrific and very well described, especially the affects of the
telepathy on the humans. Cherryh describes the growing insanity forcing the reader
to live what the town is living as their minds are assaulted. The characters are
also very solid, both human and nighthorse alike, leading the reader to truly
sympathize with the plight of the village and even the rogue horse. Overall this
is a very creative novel and an enjoyable read. Fans of both sci-fi and fantasy
should find this right up their alley. |
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