DBS: March 2013 Club Pick Announced: Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh

[Shaina]

My local library only has the ebook as a pdf and I can't get the website to work. I broke down and ordered the paper book from amazon. Damn you Sword and Laser for making me buy another paper book that I don't have space for. If this book didn't look so good I would just skip it.

[Beren]

This is the first time for me to read a book with a book group. I am most pleased to start with Downbelow Station, but I am bit uncertain…
Does it count if I read the March pick choosing this „special” dead-tree edition? ;)
http://bookline.hu/product/home!execu...

[Greg]

I think reading in a foreign language is totally acceptable. Chrome's translation feature translates it to "Underground Station"

[Joseph]

Keith wrote: "No, this dense style is unusual, especially in classic sci-fi. Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov and the like are easy reads compared to this."

A book from the 1980's is classic? I feel old now ... :D You're right that this style is unusual compared to stuff from the middle of the century, or even stuff from other authors closer to Cherryh's generation -- Larry Niven, say, or Greg Bear. But it's very characteristic of Cherryh's other work.

[Tamahome]

From Wikipedia:

Cherryh uses a writing technique she has variously labeled "very tight limited third person", "intense third person", and "intense internal" voice.[4] In this approach, the only things the writer narrates are those that the viewpoint character specifically notices or thinks about.[4] If a starship captain arrives at a space station, for example, the narration may not mention important features of the station with which the captain is already familiar, even though these things might be of interest to the reader, because the captain does not notice them or think about them due to their familiarity. This technique can offer a similar experience to that of reading the viewpoint character's mind—sometimes at great length—and thus it can resemble stream of consciousness narrative.

[Joseph]

Yes, that's it. Which, when coupled with her tendency to use emotionally damaged or broken protagonists (Josh Talley is a much more typical Cherryh POV character than, say, Damon Konstantin) can give a very claustrophobic feel.

Although she didn't do it as much in Downbelow Station, she also likes to write from the POV of someone we might think of as more of a secondary or sidekick character.

Not that I'm complaining! I've been reading & enjoying her books for many, many years now. Another favorite is The Pride of Chanur, in which a lone, lost human is picked up by the crew of an alien ship -- but the entire book is told from the perspective of the ship's captain, and the human's communication skills never get much above that shown by the hisa.

[Rob, Roberator]

Maybe the fact that I've been reading Steven Erikson's Malazan series makes me unphased by this book.

I haven't found this slow to read at all, but then I seem to be one of only a few people who are enjoying it so far.

[Leavey]

Cherryh uses a writing technique she has variously labeled "very tight limited third person", "intense third person", and "intense internal" voice.[4] In this approach, the only things the writer narrates are those that ..."

If only I had known that before I read the book. So much clearer on some of the storytelling choices now!

[David Sven]

Rob wrote: "Maybe the fact that I've been reading Steven Erikson's Malazan series makes me unphased by this book."

I don't find it difficult either. It's just that audio isn't doing the style of writing any favours. It feels like I'm watching a school play where the actors are concentrating on reciting rehearsed lines instead of sounding natural. But coming up to halfway it has taken an interesting turn so I'm not giving up yet. The world building and plot elements are actually quite complex and intriguing. I wish I had this on ebook.

[Firstname]

I have tried to read this on several occasions. Lem'd it every time. I will try again.

[Paul]

Can't get Downbelow Station from the library.
Also when googling most hits in the UK are second hand, 1983 editions for sale.

The anniversary edition didn't hit.
Think I am going to be giving it a miss for now.

[Scotty]

No ebook = no read book. Just how I roll. ;)

[Beren]

Paul wrote: "Can't get Downbelow Station from the library.
Also when googling most hits in the UK are second hand, 1983 editions for sale.

The anniversary edition didn't hit.
Think I am going to be giving ..."

Here you go! :) It's the anniversary (dead-tree) edition, plus free delivery worldwide.
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Downb...

[Paul]

It's a living tree edition! :P
Thanks Beren, much appreciated.
For some reason The Book Depository didn't show up in my search which was unusual.

Ordered. Not sure will finish reading before the wrap up show but it is about time I ventured into the uncharted skies of Sci-Fi literature.

[Paul]

Just received notification from The Book Depository.
They have refunded in full as they cannot fulfil the order!

Oh well I tried! lol

[Robert of Dale]

Get a copy of Old Man's War or Leviathan wakes; they're easier to get into (especially OMW) anyway, if you've avoided Sci-Fi until now.

[Christopher]

Going to probably drop this one, if i can get an ebook later would love to try again but for now i'm done

[AndrewP]

I'm going to finish it. But its' been a big disappointment.

[Joe]

Well, I'm done. What a relief. This was one of the last of my list of heretofore unread Hugo winning novels. I think it was better when it was unread. This is tedious and I never managed to care f anybody lived or died. As boring as this book was the Audible Frontiers audio book edition is truly awful and should be avoided at all cost. I started with the audio book and had to completely give up on it (first time ever for me) and switch to the paperback copy I had. It improved a bit but not much. I hated this book and I can't believe I hated this book because I love SF space operas. So disappointed.

[Firstname]

Keith wrote: "Kristina wrote: "I felt like it was really hard to follow. Those mile long sentences with 6 commas in them would have a lot of information packed in. I had to start over after about 100 pages and..."

Andre Norton and Julian May come to mind.

[Firstname]

Were this not for a book club I would have Lem'd it rather forcefully, probably at a wall. So far, the worldbuilding is good, I just don't give a flying f**k about any of the characters other than the aliens. Yes, mighty forces are being set in motion...by douchebags. For all the talk about the prank-playing aliens, not a single prank has been described in detail, and no other characters seem to have a sense of humor.

This is the 'grim, metallic' school of space opera and there's a reason Lois McMaster Bujold was welcomed into the auctorial fold with such alacrity. Anyone who could make space opera fun was such a huge change from the rest of the genre's unrelenting drumbeat of 'Technology = doom'.

It was the ass end of the Cold War, so I can imagine that having been an adult at the time, it colored how Cherryh saw politics, but yeesh was it really this bad? I graduated from high school around the time this book was published and don't remember the future feeling this hopeless and constrained.

I will slog through the rest of it, but I'm not enjoying it. I may have to buy another Pratchett to restore my equilibrium later.

[Paul]

"It was the ass end of the Cold War, so I can imagine that having been an adult at the time, it colored how Cherryh saw politics, but yeesh was it really this bad? "

Yup it was. Reagan and Thatcher's love in spawning the threat of nukes and a free market gone crazy ape poop of which we reap the rewards today.

[Firstname]

Paul wrote: ""It was the ass end of the Cold War, so I can imagine that having been an adult at the time, it colored how Cherryh saw politics, but yeesh was it really this bad? "

Yup it was. Reagan and Thatch..."

Heh, the Thatcher hate. Every ex-pat Brit I meet just seethes with it, like a fire to warm one's bones by.

[Joseph]

Just as I'm reading through the discussion here and in the other threads, I'm starting to wonder if part of the reason I love this book so much is because I first read it back in high school in the early 1980's, and because Downbelow Station (and Merchanter's Luck and The Pride of Chanur) were instrumental in shaping my views of SF as a genre.

[Jason]

I was about to comment that I'm disappointed that it's been so hard to find this book used, and that I may not be able to get it by the end of the challenge, but reading this thread kind of makes me glad I haven't spent any money on it. Maybe I'll just consider myself lucky that I didn't find it.

[Christopher]

Damn it. I just can't make myself give up. Though did take a break for a week. Why do I hate myself.