Devil to the Belt

by C.J. Cherryh

Two classic science fiction novels by the Hugo Award-winning author of Cyteen combined in a trade paperback omnibus edition. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446676535
• ISBN13: 9780446676533
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Aspect
• Length: 608 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Little action, lot of good writing.

Heavy Time isn't very fast paced, just a guy who can't really think straight trapped by corporate circumstance; Hell Burner is about military trials and has the same guy not thinking straight trapped in a military circumstance. Given the other book I read from C.J. Cherryh was Downbelow Station, which had a similar guy coming out of rehab (from brainwash called Adjustment), it's rather disappointing to read basically the same thing over again, twice, with some variation in between. The characters are well portrayed, there aren't many likeable characters, but they're definetly well done despite the fact that little happens in any single novel. Don't expect sublots or sidequests/type adventures, they feel like expanded short stories. However, HB describes how a Rider (an interceptor w/ a crew of 30 that goes at .5 c!!!) works, which makes all of it worthwhile. If you're into technical jargons than this is it. It feels like reading a novel written from the future: it assumes you know a lot of the futuristic everyday things, and slowly explains them through context and situation. If you're looking for some scifi inspiration, this is a must buy! Oh and the way they talk and the way she narrates is kind of choppy, hard for me to read without rereading stuff because of irregular sentence structure or she skips words like "that" and "which" and "as" sometimes. But that's just me.

Everyone must own these two novels.

Normally I don't like Omnibus paperbacks... they tend to be too thick to read without destroying the binding in the process. But these two novels are from the 80,000 word novel era (newer ones tend to be 120,000+ words) and two older novels (instead of three... i.e. The Chanur Saga) still fit comfortably in this paperback.This omnibus collection contains the books Heavy Time and Hellburner. This is where the Alliance/Union universe all starts. C.J. Cherryh is a master at telling the story of her characters while still sneaking in a description of a universe that is so realisitic you'll forget its fiction. Although this omnibus is just the first two novels in the Alliance/Union universe, they are also a complete set. You can stop after reading this omnibus collection, but you would be a fool not to read any Cherryh you can get your hands on, and if you are new to Cherryh, this is the best place to start... at the beginning.For detailed reviews, check out the reviews for individual books in this omnibus collection.

Good to see these back in print.

Bundling Heavy-Time and Hellburners like this is a great idea because, unlike the majority of C.J. Cherry's Spacer/Alliance-Union stories, these two books are best read in the correct order so as to get the best out of them. When I read them first I unknowingly started with Hellburners, which wasn't too much of a problem as it was fairly self contained. Even so, I always thought it would have been better to have them combined - like she is doing with her Chanur books. The new title is rather intriguing, too.

One of my favorite series by Cherryh

I own the original classic novels that this combines in one volume, Heavy Time and Hellburner. Cherryh is great at putting believable characters in crisis, surrounding them with a hard-science SF environment, and showing us what it is to be human. These two books are excellent examples of her work. Paul Dekker is an amazingly talented pilot. His partner is killed to hide illegal activity by a large corporation. His mind is fractured by his near fatal attempt to save her. He ends up being rescued by a young 'belt born' navigator, and his aging earth born pilot - a pair of miners in the asteroid belt. This raises the interesting emotional/pshychological differences in humans raised on earth, those raised in a hypothetical 'space station' environment, and amazing ethical questions. What happens when human culture starts dealing with time dilation between vast distances? Does the culture fracture? Should these two miners 'take' Dekker's ship as salvage, which would finally get them financially ahead of the mining company that is slowly driving them to indentured servitude, or should they stand by him and support him when the company is trying to bury him?These books are full of intigue, action, science, psychology, and an amazing description of skill. Two for one! Highly recommended! If you like this, try Tripoint, Merchanter's Luck, Finity's End, Downbelow Station, Cyteen, etc... She's extremely prolific, so if you give a try and enjoy it, you'll have dozens of novels to read down the road.