A review by colossal
Alliance Rising by C.J. Cherryh, Jane S. Fancher
5.0
Political intrigue and clashing mindsets at the beginning of the Alliance from Cherryh's mammoth future history.
Alpha Station is the closest jump point to Earth and something of a backwater. It's under a lot of stress because for decades all its resources have gone into a bold Earth Company plan: a gigantic ship built from blueprints stolen from Pell Station, a powerful political center of human space. It appears to be built as a military ship with a mission to enforce Earth Company will on the Beyond. After the giant ship Rights of Man performs poorly in testing the whole station is shocked when Finity's End, the giant ship who's plans Rights was built from, arrives spectacularly in-system in a show of maneuvering that terrifies everyone. But what is one of the largest ships in human space doing in a backwater like Alpha?
I've been a huge fan of Cherryh and her Alliance-Union books for a very long time, but after the disappointment of [b:Regenesis|3689197|Regenesis (Cyteen, #4)|C.J. Cherryh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1316469120s/3689197.jpg|8754115], I was a little worried about what I'd be reading here. However, this was brilliant and a triumphant return to her future history in its most well known period, or at least close to it. [a:Jane S. Fancher|283894|Jane S. Fancher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1422929505p2/283894.jpg] is co-credited here and I think her contribution is clearly a positive one, but given these two have been together for a very long time, I always wondered if more of Cherryh's books had a silent co-author.
You don't need prior knowledge of the Alliance-Union universe to pick this one up, but like most of Cherryh's books, it's still fairly dense and doesn't coddle the reader. It is set earlier than any other book in this series though, and reading it knowing where a lot of these events end up certainly adds something to the story, but it's entirely accessible (or as accessible as Cherryh gets) without all the foreknowledge.
The Alliance-Union series is an amazing future history and I thoroughly recommend it. It's probably notable that this book will put the whole series in contention for the Best Series Hugo in 2020, something I really hope it wins.
Alpha Station is the closest jump point to Earth and something of a backwater. It's under a lot of stress because for decades all its resources have gone into a bold Earth Company plan: a gigantic ship built from blueprints stolen from Pell Station, a powerful political center of human space. It appears to be built as a military ship with a mission to enforce Earth Company will on the Beyond. After the giant ship Rights of Man performs poorly in testing the whole station is shocked when Finity's End, the giant ship who's plans Rights was built from, arrives spectacularly in-system in a show of maneuvering that terrifies everyone. But what is one of the largest ships in human space doing in a backwater like Alpha?
I've been a huge fan of Cherryh and her Alliance-Union books for a very long time, but after the disappointment of [b:Regenesis|3689197|Regenesis (Cyteen, #4)|C.J. Cherryh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1316469120s/3689197.jpg|8754115], I was a little worried about what I'd be reading here. However, this was brilliant and a triumphant return to her future history in its most well known period, or at least close to it. [a:Jane S. Fancher|283894|Jane S. Fancher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1422929505p2/283894.jpg] is co-credited here and I think her contribution is clearly a positive one, but given these two have been together for a very long time, I always wondered if more of Cherryh's books had a silent co-author.
You don't need prior knowledge of the Alliance-Union universe to pick this one up, but like most of Cherryh's books, it's still fairly dense and doesn't coddle the reader. It is set earlier than any other book in this series though, and reading it knowing where a lot of these events end up certainly adds something to the story, but it's entirely accessible (or as accessible as Cherryh gets) without all the foreknowledge.
The Alliance-Union series is an amazing future history and I thoroughly recommend it. It's probably notable that this book will put the whole series in contention for the Best Series Hugo in 2020, something I really hope it wins.