The Faded Sun: Kesrith

by C.J. Cherryh

Book Overview

This is the story of three people: Sten Duncan, a soldier of humanity; Niun, last warrior of the mri, humanity's enemies; and Melein, priestess-queen of the final fallen mri stronghold. It is the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879973935
• ISBN13: 9780879973933
• Release Date: August 1978
• Publisher: Daw Books
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

truly showcases Cherryh's talents in alien portrayal

Those who know Cherryh generally consider aliens to be her greatest strength. Cherryh's aliens are *really* alien, with alien concepts that humans often won't comprehend. Therefore, while the story unfolds, you also see the unveiling and description of a culture with a completely different set of assumptions than you're used to.The _Faded Sun_ series is strongly recommended as space opera, as a study in human/alien and alien/alien interaction, and as the painful story of single human warrior's journey from one mindset to another. Definitely get all three books (search on 'Faded Sun').

Excellent character-driven sf in a realistic universe.

C.J. Cherryh's "Faded Sun" trilogy, set in her Merchanters/Union Universe, between wars, is a beautifully developed character study of a young man caught in a situation not of his making, and driven by his conscience. He becomes involved in a struggle to help an alien race that should be his sworn enemies, and on three different worlds the saga reaches a fascinating climax. Cherryh's ability to create believable characters and believable alien societies, and at the same time tell a compelling story, is a great gift to the sf field. The "Faded Sun" books are destined to be classics.

Excellent piece of work - really leads you on.

Really enjoyed the "Faded Sun" series. Kill to get it. This foreshawdows some of the deep political thinking that goes on in the Chanur series.

For the trilogy, five stars

Some years ago this was the first time I read Cherryh. She is still a bit raw around the edges in this series, and some bits don't hang together as well as they ought, but I rate the series in the first 50 of the 100 best sci-fi/fantasy books. For any fan of sci-fi, space adventure, fantasy - this is a must read. It shows all the promise later to be fulfilled in her space opera series, and yet is so full of energy, it surpasses them. Don't hang around for it to go out of print, get it now. You won't be disappointed.

A culture near extinction fights for survival

C.J. Cherryh envelops the reader in a tale of one culture's struggle for survival in the face of overwhelming odds, and does so in the context of a riveting narrative. Cherryh has created, in her science fiction, one of the most cohesive futures I have ever encountered; this novel deeply explores one ancient culture living in that future. In a time when so many cultures and ways of life are vanishing from the earth, this tale set on a distant world hits very close to home. When the Mri, a proud and noble race of warriors serving as mercenaries in exchange for a planet to call home, confront the human enemies of their employers, they encounter a method of warfare alien to their system of honor. No match for the Mri one to one, despite their similar physiology, the humans fight without honor, driving the Mri to extinction with superior numbers and firepower. Both the humans and the regul - former employers of the Mri whose trade disputes with humans sparked the war in which the Mri were slaughtered - see them as nothing more than professional warriors, the most dangerous killers in the galaxy. They take no prisoners, they have no fear of death, they keep the company of dangerous beasts. And yet there is a deep and powerful truth at the heart of Mri culture, hidden even to the warriors, who are the hand of contact with the outise world. True secrets of Mri culture have never been known to the outside, until one human being makes direct, personal contact. To understand their ways, he will have to become more Mri than human... --Phil MacEachron