DBS: Book Three Discussion (Spoilers for Books 1-3)

[Rob, Roberator]

Rules of this thread
All spoilers up to the end of Book Three are fine. No need to use spoiler tags.

Try to keep your posts about events in Book Three but it's OK to refer back to stuff from a previous book as needed.

Please refrain from posting anything from later books or other books in the series.

[Jo]

Things are really heating up. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a big space battle to start book 3, but I get the feeling that there will be one in 4 or possibly 5.

The situation in Q is probably going to boil over soon, and with the marshal law in place on the station, it seems like it will be pretty bad for everyone on station. Curious to see whether anything will come of the murder of the downer.

I am really sucked in now.

[AndrewP]

It does get a lot more interesting in book 3:)

In a way I am glad there was no big space battle because that would have lead to inevitable comparisons with David Weber and the like.

When the military went down to the surface it set off a red flag for me. I am hoping the Downbelow part of the story doesn't turn into another Vietnam, Dance with Wolves, Avatar type story.

My biggest complaint is that I do not find any of the main characters distinct or appealing. If any, or all, of them meet a gruesome death that would still be okay with me at this point.

[Adam]

As far as book 3 is concerned I have come to love the character of Ayres. He has become the best storyline in my opinion. I have found myself wondering if I would have been able to hold up, or if I would have been able to make the hard decisions that he has in the game of politics/diplomacy that he is playing. This on top of the fact that he knows they probably already have figured out what he is really about.

[Timm]

Andrew, I definitely agree that I was afraid of an Avatar-esque finale with the hisa driving out the military. In fact, they still might do it in book 4 or 5. But my main concern would have been that I dislike the black-and-white morality lessons that those stories always seem to contain. At this point, with so many factions at play, it's a real tough call deciding who's "good". We've been comparing Downbelow Station to the Song of Ice and Fire series a lot, and in the same way GRRM made it seem like his story was about the good Starks versus the mean old Lannisters and then made things a LOT more complicated, I feel like the complexity has already gone too far in Downbelow for a simple Hollywood resolution. The hisa are just one faction among many. I can't wait to see how this develops.

[David Sven]

All the action and space battles at the moment have been implied rather than fleshed out. We never actually saw the retreat of the Fleet from Viking. We see the build up and ra ra before Mallory's troops are about to take Pell but we never actually see the taking of Pell. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. I'm guessing that the Union got the military codes for the fleet and Pell from Marsh. That's why he was always stressed and eventually suicided I'm guessing

[Rich]

I'm not sure that I'm in love with the way she's skipped important moments. The space battle that wasn't was the most obvious instance, and I'm sure that anything she might have done would have been dramatically superior to anything Webber has done except in the technical typing category.

I think she's saying that the human parts are more important than the action, and that by skipping them altogether, she's emphasizing that aspect of her writing. Still, space battles are fun to read, but then again, the book is already pretty long even without the extra bits.

[Rob, Roberator]

I found this book compelling. I'm hoping the space battles come as part of the finale and the political intrigue carries the next book still.

Things are really starting to look bleak for all involved.

Do we know what secrets Damon/Talley have on Mallory at this point in the story? I suspect she may have used him for sex while he was in a state not to do or say about it, but I don't think it's been explicitly stated.

We do know he wants to kill her, and so far she's content to leave him to Damon.

[James]

I'm so into this book now. I'm liking nearly every viewpoint for different reasons. I love Damon because he's probably the biggest hero in the book. I love Talley because he's so messed up. I love Emilio because it's cool to see what's going on planetside. I love Kressich because what's happening in the Q could almost be a book unto itself.

Everything is coming together now in such a cool way that I'm really looking forward to seeing how it pans out.

I don't really care about space battles, I guess. I don't feel like I'm missing anything by Cherryh skipping those scenes. I think that the personal drama is much more interesting, and really can't imagine how a space battle would fit into the story that she's telling here.

I have a feeling that after this book, I will be reading much more of Cherryh. I love it.

[Michelle]

David Sven wrote: "We see the build up and ra ra before Mallory's troops are about to take Pell but we never actually see the taking of Pell. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. I'm guessing that the Union got the military codes for the fleet and Pell from Marsh. That's why he was always stressed and eventually suicided I'm guessing..."

I was under the impression that Ayres was quite clear that Marsh didn't know of anything that would be damaging. I'd imagine that these codes (what are they: communication channels or like the back-entry for control?) are pretty damaging given the Fleet's response to it/the fear at Pell. But then again, I am having difficulty understanding what these codes actually are so I'm afraid that any kind of analysis on this part would be faulty.

I'm holding on to the hope that things work out all happy and dandy at the end, because there is something about this book that makes me feel stressed. There is a certain level of anxiety in reading it with no release by any real sustained action. So consequently, I find myself reading slowly through a lot of the exposition parts, feeling anxious about when things are actually going to BAM. :-/

That said, I'm liking the story a lot more after Book Three than how much I did after Books One and Two.

[David Sven]

Michelle wrote: "That said, I'm liking the story a lot more after Book Three than how much I did after Books One and Two."

Same here. I started getting caught up in the events around about here.

[Chris]

I feel like a little description of a space battle would be nice.

So far I think the hisa are my favorite characters. Maybe because they seem purely innocent.

I am trying to guess which Konstantin is going to be killed first. All three are almost the exact perfect heroic character. Each with a perfect wife (granted one wife stuck in bed all the time). At least one of them will die when it all hits the fan. Unless Lucas has a change of heart and gets in the way.

I was pro-Mazian fleet before this chapter. Did not like them taking martial law on Pell. Now I don't think there is a difference between them or Union ruling Pell. Both equally crappy for the people of Pell.

Think the end might have each fleet destroying each other, along with Pell. Then the hisa come out of the caves and continue living like humans were never there.

[Dawn]

The first 20 pages of this all I could think of was Firefly!!!! Gogo Mal lol

[Chris]

Dawn wrote: "The first 20 pages of this all I could think of was Firefly!!!! Gogo Mal lol"

I am huge fan of Firefly and I am disappointed I did not put that together. Thank you for enlightening me!