Forge of Heaven by C.J. Cherryh

Title:  Forge of Heaven
Author:  C.J. Cherryh
Pages:  405
Genre:  Science Fiction
Publisher:  EOS, 2004
Series:  The Gene Wars, Book 2

This one held surpises. Like the desert. Like the sea. This one broke the rules wisely. Like him. Like Hati.

Synopsis:  At the far edge of the galaxy, tiny Concord Station holds a unique place in the universe - the one place where humans from Earth, the strange Outsider worlds, and the extremely powerful, alien ondat all coexist, bound together to the fate of the fragile world below. Scarred by vicious nanotechnology unleashed by the powerful ondat, this lone desert planet acts as the crucible to determine whether there can be peace between the far-spanning empires of the universe, or unending, unstoppable war to rival even the cataclysmic Gene Wars that once devastated untold galaxies.

The fate of one man could decide the future of human and alien alike ... and the ondat are watching.

Review:  This book took me a week to read.  A week!  It is a good book, a great story, and very original, but it was not an easy read.  So much technology and so many societal changes make for a difficult journey in some places.

Still, the planet is awesome.  The characters are wonderfully written.  Marak and Hati are still around, thanks to the near-immortality they got from the nanisms they were given by Luz (who is also still around).  The Ila is still playing her little self-centered games.

The new characters on the scene, in the Concord Station, are what make this story really special.  Procyon and his sister, Ardath, are two very unique individuals.  The ondat are alien and completely unknowable and scary, but not aggressive.  While I don't know that I believe our society will ever be like the one described in this book, it's impressive but also very sad.  Genetically altering your looks has become almost as easy as getting a haircut.

It would seem the answer to most of my questions is this -- humanity discovered how to easily genetically alter themselves.  Some people thought this was a great idea, others didn't.  Some people thought it would be a great way to open new worlds to colonization, others disagreed.  Thus, The Gene Wars were fought.  The end result has effectively left planets where this genetic altering was used (like Marak's) in a state of exile.  No one is allowed on the planets and no one is allowed off.  Entire governmental agencies have been created to keep the 'no longer human enough humans' contained.  Earth and the closest colony planets want very little to do with the outer planets and nobody wants anything to do with the 'contaminated' (and, according to the more paranoid, contagious) planets.  In this future, we can add to our long list of -ism's a brand new one - speciesism.

Rating:  7 / 10

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #4

It's Monday!  What Are You Reading? is hosted by The Book Date.  Visit the link to learn more.

Last Book I Read:  Hammerfall by C.J. Cherryh -- I loved this.  Great science fiction!

Book I'm Reading Now:  Forge of Heaven by C.J. Cherryh -- This series is keeping me guessing until the very end.  I'm almost done and can't wait to discover the answers!

Up Next:  I'm still deciding, but I think I'm going to try The Street Lawyer by John Grisham.  His books are always fast reads and full of thrills!

Blogging from A to Z

I've never done a blogging challenge and I'm taking the chance this year.  Sign-ups started today.  

The challenge is to blog for 26 days in April, each day for a different letter of the alphabet.  I've already chosen my theme.  I'm excited and nervous and pretty much scared to death that I can't do it.  Or that I will do it, but nobody will read it.  But, I think it'll be fun and a real learning experience, so I'm gonna try!  

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #4

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Forge of Heaven

Author:  C.J. Cherryh

The Beginning:  Grozny was where Lebeau Street mingled with the Style, where the low haunts of Blunt Street flowed into the Trend and rubbed shoulders with the rich and carefree.

The Friday 56:  (from page 56)  He was tired of fighting his parents' taste.  There were greater problems in the universe, and the parentals he was convinced wouldn't remember next month what gift he'd gotten them this year or last, as long as it didn't scare them or offend them.

Comment:  This sequel to Hammerfall is really a great science fiction story.  Many of my questions have been answered and I have faith that the rest of the answers are coming.

Teaser Tuesdays #3

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by A Daily Rhythm.  Visit the link to learn more.

Book I'm Reading:  Forge of Heaven by C.J. Cherryh

Teaser:  The original Old Ones not only had learned Outsider science, they had a personal memory of the Hammerfall:  that was one thing.  The Ila, oldest of all, had the memory of the Gene Wars and the Landing, and had originated the nanisms that had reshaped the ecology, a life span that staggered the mind even to contemplate.  (pages 39-40)

Comment:  So far, this has turned out to be an awesome science fiction series.  I'm excited to find out what happens next!

Hammerfall by C.J. Cherryh

Title:  Hammerfall
Author:  C.J. Cherryh
Pages:  390
Genre:  Science Fiction
Publisher:  EOS, 2001
Series:  The Gene Wars, Book 1

"I have set my seal on Kais Tain," the Ila said, "and have all persons therein under that seal. Write it!"

Synopsis:  Marak has suffered the madness his entire life. He is a prince and warrior, strong and shrewd and expert in the ways of the desert covering his planet. In the service of his father, he has dedicated his life to overthrowing the Ila, the mysterious eternal dictator of his world. For years he has successfully hidden the visions that plague him -- voices pulling him eastward, calling Marak, Marak, Marak, amid mind-twisting visions of a silver tower. But when his secret is discovered, Marak is betrayed by his own father and forced to march in an endless caravan with the rest of his world's madmen to the Ila's city of Oburan.

Instead of death, Marak finds in Oburan his destiny, and the promise of life -- if he can survive what is surely a suicidal mission. The Ila wants him to discover the source of the voices and visions that afflict the mad. Despite the dangers of the hostile desert, tensions within the caravan, and his own excruciating doubts, Marak miraculously reaches his goal -- only to be given another, even more impossible mission by the strange people in the towers.

According to these beings who look like him yet act differently than anyone he has ever known, Marak has a slim chance to save his world's people from the wrath of the Ilas enemies. But to do so, he must convince them all -- warring tribes, villagers, priests, young and old, as well as the Ila herself -- to follow him on an epic trek across the burning desert before the hammer of the Ila's foes falls from the heavens above.

"These are the makers," Luz said. "The Ila understands. Now you know what she knows. The makers flowed out into the pool and the beasts she had brought drank, and bred, and changed as the Ila directed. The beasts changed, and men changed to fit this land."

Review:  I'm not exactly sure what has happened yet to Marak and the other people who suffer from the madness, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with genetic engineering.  These people see such horrible visions and hear voices to the point that they almost cannot lead normal lives.  But, they are somehow the answer to a far worse problem.

The Ila, their goddess and ruler, somehow peopled this planet with what seem to be humans, only slightly altered to be able to exist in the harsh environment.  Now, more of the Ila's people have come and changed some of the people yet again into the mad ones, to try to stop the entire civilization from being destroyed.

The ondat are the Ila's enemies and they are going to wipe out all life on the planet, except in one very small corner of the world.  This is where Marak must lead all the people and their self-centered and egotistical ruler.  And, time has run out.  The planet is being hit by space debris sent by the ondat and the hammer is coming.  The hammer is a planet killer and it's just days away.  

This was a really good story.  It left me breathless in some places.  I could see the Lakht and the Holy City and the tower and everything else as if it were real.  It was not, however, an easy read by any means.  Much re-reading of paragraphs was necessary.  The story is told from Marak's point of view and he does not understand what has happened to him and his people.  So, little is actually known of what has happened to cause all this chaos, even at the end of the book.  I'm glad there's another book in the series and trust that it will answer many of the questions.

Meanwhile, Marak and his wives Hati and Norit are great characters.  And there are many others, too numerous to mention.  The setting is realistic and the threat to the planet believable.

Rating:  8.5 / 10

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #3

It's Monday!  What Are You Reading? is hosted by The Book Date.  Visit the link to learn more.

Last Book I Read:  The Door to December by Dean Koontz --- so scary and thrilling!  Impossible to put down!  I loved it!

Book I'm Reading Now:  Hammerfall by C.J. Cherryh --- a very original dystopian science-fiction novel!  Not sure where the story is heading, but I'm going to find out.....

Up Next:  Forge of Heaven by C.J. Cherryh -- the sequel to the book I'm reading now!  Because I have to see how it all ends up!

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings #3

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Visit their links to learn more.

Title:  Hammerfall

Author:  C.J. Cherryh

The Beginning:  Distance deceived the eye in the Lakht, that wide, red land of the First Descended, where legend said the ships had come down.

The Friday 56:  (from page 56)  But she went veiled, and disconsolate, and brooded.  Marak shared a tent with her and never had seen her face.

Comment:  Great story and great science fiction.  I love this author!

The Door to December by Dean Koontz

Title:  The Door to December
Author:  Dean Koontz
Pages:  510
Genre:  Horror / Thriller
Publisher:  Signet, 1994
Series:  Stand Alone

"It's like...the window to yesterday."

Synopsis:  Little Melanie had been kidnapped when she was only three.  She was nine when she was found wandering the L.A. streets, with blank eyes.  What had become of her in all those years of darkness...and what was the terrible secret, clutching at her soul, that she dared not even whisper?

Her loving mother and the police desperately hunted for the answer.  they needed Melanie to get to the bottom of the most savage scene of carnage the city had ever seen.  And they would do anything to save her from whatever dreadful force or thing had invaded her young life.  But first they would have to save themselves from a rising tide of terror....and from an icy evil howling through.......THE DOOR TO DECEMBER.

Review:  This was a fast paced, horror-filled trip, taking you to the depths of what humans will do to one another to get what they want.  It forces you to ask yourself -- do you believe in psychic abilities and if you do, do you really know what powers you are tapping into?

Melanie's mother Laura, who hasn't seen her daughter in 6 years, is desperate to know what her ex-husband has done to their child.  He was a research scientist who was obsessed with the occult.  It becomes increasingly obvious as the novel proceeds that he used his young daughter as the subject of a long and painful experiment.

But now, all the people who were directly involved in the experiment are being killed brutally.  It seems no one, including Melanie, is safe from the nameless presence that came from beyond the door.

I think this is my favorite of the books that this author has written.  He's written quite a few good books (and some not-so-good ones too), but this one is just impossible to put down and so scary.  I loved it!

Rating:  9 / 10