A review by joeyh
Alliance Rising by C.J. Cherryh, Jane S. Fancher
3.0
Mixed feelings; I wanted to rate this higher just because it's finally more Merchanter's, after 20 years. And the element of in a space opera is appealing and kind of upends some of the common dystopian elements of this subgenre. And that's made more complex and interesting by us knowing how what starts here is going to play out, that many of the aspirations here are going to eventually fail, that it's going to get seriously grim.
But this also suffered some from being a prequel, and perhaps trying to explain too much about specific little details in the later books. And, it kind of felt like there were too many viewpoint characters; a particular captian's viewpoint in particular felt like we never got inside his head but only saw from his eyes in a way that is not Cherryh at her best. Also we only see one side of an important relationship that develops, while knowing that the other person in the relationship is potentially highly untrustworthy, which made the development of that relationship feel like it was missing important internal developments, or was being glossed over.
Spoiler
covert unionisingBut this also suffered some from being a prequel, and perhaps trying to explain too much about specific little details in the later books. And, it kind of felt like there were too many viewpoint characters; a particular captian's viewpoint in particular felt like we never got inside his head but only saw from his eyes in a way that is not Cherryh at her best. Also we only see one side of an important relationship that develops, while knowing that the other person in the relationship is potentially highly untrustworthy, which made the development of that relationship feel like it was missing important internal developments, or was being glossed over.