Wave without a Shore

Alliance-Union Universe

by C.J. Cherryh

Freedom was an isolated planet, off the spaceways track and rarely visited by commercial spacers. It wasn't that Freedom was inhospitable as planets go. The problem was that outsiders—tourists and traders—claimed the streets were crowded with mysterious characters in blue robes and with members of an alien species.Native-born humans, however, said that was not the case. There were no such blue-robes and no aliens.Such was the viewpoint of both Herrin the artist and Waden the autocrat—until a crisis of planetary identity forced a life-and-death confrontation between the question of reality and the reality of the question…

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novels, Speculative Fiction, Aliens

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Currently resident in Spokane, Washington, C.J. Cherryh has won four Hugos and is one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed authors in the science fiction and fantasy field. She is the author of more than forty novels. Her hobbies include travel, photography, reef culture, Mariners baseball, and, a late passion, figure skating: she intends to compete in the adult USFSA track. She began with the modest ambition to learn to skate backwards and now is working on jumps. She sketches, occasionally, cooks fairly well, and hates house work; she loves the outdoors, animals wild and tame, is a hobbyist geologist, adores dinosaurs, and has academic specialties in Roman constitutional law and bronze age Greek ethnography. She has written science fiction since she was ten, spent ten years of her life teaching Latin and Ancient History on the high school level, before retiring to full time writing, and now does not have enough hours in the day to pursue all her interests. Her studies include planetary geology, weather systems, and natural and man-made catastrophes, civilizations, and cosmology…in fact, there's very little that doesn't interest her. A loom is gathering dust and needs rethreading, a wooden ship model awaits construction, and the cats demand their own time much more urgently. She works constantly, researches mostly on the internet, and has books stacked up and waiting to be written.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an early (circa 1981), experimental novel by Cherryh, and while I appreciated it at some levels, as a novel it is more slog than fun. Imagine a group of philosophy undergrad majors, a bit drunk, passing around a fattie and discussing solipsism. Someone gets the brilliant idea to 'test' this theory on a colonial planet with some aliens and they chart out a story. That, folk, is what this reads like.

The planet Freedom is located on the edge of Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe and still sparely settled by its original colonists, most of which live in the capitol--Kierkegaard. Our main protagonist, Herrin, comes from Camus, a small farming village, who, at a young age, is told he has greatness about him and must come to Kierkegaard to study at the university there. After his study is complete, he is appointed as a Master. Of his colleagues, Waden Jenks and Keye are his only real 'friends' as the rest are beneath the three. Waden has his eyes set to be the 'first citizen', like his father, and rule Freedom; Herrin wants to transform the planet via his art, and Keye specializes in ethical philosophy, becoming partners with both the others.

Now, the 'hook' here is that each person on Freedom lives a solipsistic existence, with their own mind 'translating' the world around them. For what ever reason, they, like most citizens, refuse to see (e.g., acknowledge) the existence of the aliens and 'outsiders' who also live in the city. In this, it is a bit like China Tom Miéville's The City & the City; the 'others' are just not seen by the citizens. The plot is rather simplistic and only serves to build on the hook above. What if you are forced to see the 'others' and must therefore change your own solipsistic views? Trauma!

I like to see authors experiment, but I would not recommend this to anyone except Cherryh completists, unless you dig stoned philosophical discussions. 2 stars.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the least engaging of the three Cherryh books I have read so far. It deals with a cast of untouchables and the fatal curiosity of one individual trying to get close to them. It is a sort of dystopia where the author explores themes of alienation and racism. The Ahnit are somewhat like the Ainu in Japan, a shameful stain on a proud society, better ignored and the stigma that follows anyone that breaks the societal taboo of breaking the silent barrier that separates them from the rest of society. Interesting story, but not as well told as Port Eternity or as epic as Downbelow Station from her.

[Mawgojzeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really reads best after becoming comfortable with the Alliance-Union Universe. I first read it many years back not realizing this. I liked it then, but missed out on the back-story that flesh this out. Another suggestion I would make is to read Forty Thousand in Gehenna just prior to this one. To me, and I would think to others, it will make more clear WHY Freedom was allowed to become the way it is. For those that have already read "Forty Thousand in Gehenna" I will remind you: The colonies Union set up in this particular part of space were meant to be failures, so that when they would eventually be given up to the Alliance (as Union leaders at that time expected to do eventually), the Alliance would have their hands full dealing with the problems. Union sent them and then never made contact or offered assistance again. They chose planets they thought would have problems establishing in a good way. A mess designed to keep Alliance busy and to limit war between Union and Alliance. I am pretty certain that Freedom was one of these colonies, due to its proximity to Gehenna. I will admit, though, that I do not recall in the book any point where the characters claim knowledge of Union roots. If some one does recall this, I would love a mail message and then will edit this spoiler.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Freedom is a planet inhabited by the native ahnit and humans. The humans are all educated in existential dialectic which makes for a strange sort of consensus reality, or even competing solipsisms. The most talented human minds attend University in the city of Kierkegaard, among them: Waden, the son of the planetary First Citizen, a specialist in political manipulation; Herrin, a gifted artist and sculptor; and Keye, a young woman who specialized in ethics. When Waden’s father dies he becomes First Citizen and employs Herrin to create a huge sculpture in honour of him. In Waden’s reality, however, he sees Herrin as a dangerous rival and he eventually has him banished after a physical altercation. Into this strange scenario come the Others - spacers, pirates and military from other planets, who the people’s consensus reality refuse to see (like the natives) and are called invisibles. Waden does not see in his reality that the Others may have designs on Freedom that don’t include him and a decision point arrives where the struggle between individual realities and an objective Universal reality must be decided. C. J. Cherryh has given us a philosophical treatise on political ‘reality’ which, while interesting, is a pretty hard (and confusing) slog for the most part.

[Matt Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious. Too much of this reads like caffeinated philosophy undergrads in a mental pissing contest. Wooden dialogue, static culture, even more static plot. Last third involves fair story advancement and epiphany, but too little too late. Stanislaw Lem did philosophical debate much better, and any other Cherryh book has better character development. Look, I GET the point being made, but the book doesn't merit the cost of slogging through it. Once and done.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. C.J. Cherryh has a real talent for creating interesting worlds and populating them with characters who undergo personal transformations. I also appreciated that this felt more tied into her other Alliance-Union books than some of the other more standalone entries. Just a good time, and quite easy to read for a C.J. novel.

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought-provoking experiment in objectifying the philosophical viewpoints of the main characters. It's as if Cherryh asked, "What if I wrote about a world where people actually tried to live by these philosophies?"

I found plenty of food for thought when I view this book as an example and analysis (hyperbolic, of course) of how we distort objective reality when we interpret it to fit with our subjective belief-frameworks. Whew, that's a pretty heady sentence and I'm no philosopher. But, this snapshot of folks trying so hard to make reality fit their interpretive models resonated with me.

[Suzanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I absolutely didnt like this book (and I am being nice), and after struggling thru half, with no discernable plot , attrocious dialogue, and obnoxious philosophical statements, I asked my son- does this get better? He shook his head, and I shut the book. When I was done with book discussion, I told him to throw it away, but he took it to his room, hopefully to feed it to our pet rats for bedding.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating ideas, poignant prose--Cherryh doesn't always blow my mind, but Wave Without a Shore does.

[Joe Higashi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book... kinda stinks. But the reasons it's not good are instructive, so I wanted to write about it.

The idea of the book seems to be similar to Heinlein's books where he imagines how different societal structures might work. For example, "Starship Troopers" and "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress." But Cherryh is not Heinlein, and doesn't even remotely pull it off. Here are the major weaknesses:

1. The society in question is built around undergrad-level postmodernist nihilism. The problem is that Cherryh is trying to show that such a society can't work. But a society-wide SF book is the wrong approach for that. Because any society that is colonizing a planet and growing in population for hundreds of years is by definition successful. The society in the book eventually breaks down, but I can't figure out how it kept going for even 2 generations. Why does anyone have children? The economy makes no sense, why is everyone not outcast and homeless? It makes no sense from the beginning.
2. There's an old saying "show don't tell." But telling is the right choice sometimes, for example, Heinlein always had someone in the book to explain the parts of the society that didn't naturally come up in the story. The book manages to show when it should tell, and tell when it should show. The whole society is shown and not explained, as I mentioned in 1. But the characterization is all tell and no show. We're constantly told that the 3 main characters are super-geniuses. But Cherryh can't show that, because everything they do is stupid and arrogant.
3. The characterization is awful in general.
4. The dialog is stilted and clumsy. I swear half of it is, "I'm smarter than you." "No, I'm just as smart, but I'm more powerful than you." "No my power is duration." Gag.
5. There's a native intelligent species on the planet, and nothing about them is ever explained. In fact, they are completely extraneous to the plot. The only native character comes into the story as a sterotypical "magical native American spirit guide."
6. The first 2/3 of the book is boring and dry. I almost just gave up many times, but it's a short book, so I thought I could see if the author ever answers all the questions she brings up. Answer, no.

On the plus side, the last third of third of the book does pick up a bit. It's still not great, but it pulls it out of awful. And the author is pretty good at descriptions and setting mood. Better than most.

This book would've made more sense as a satire.

[Howl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cherryh's foreword for this talks about a bit about her education in the classics and her philosophical position as a Stoic. Never having taken philosophy myself, this was somewhat lost on me.

Frankly, I spent the first half to 2/3rds of the book, wondering if this was a rare misfire, and if the whole thing was just going to be a philosophical circle jerk.

And then suddenly philosophy gets trumped by reality and the main character has to learn to deal with the world as it *is* and not as *his* reality. And here Cherryh's ability to write interesting and at least somewhat convincing aliens shines through and suddenly the whole book becomes much more interesting.

I like Cherryh's aliens, and I think she does a better job of aliens than the majority of authors out there, but I did feel that the ones in this book were perhaps a little too *human*. It's necessary for the key moments in the story to work out, there has to be enough commonality for each species to appreciate the other species art, but it did trip my suspension of disbelief somewhat.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* I'm not really sure what to make of this 1981 novel. As all Cherryh's books are, it was well written, with an interesting and well crafted society. My only complaint is that the two main characters were both narcissistic sociopaths: one completely reprehensible and the other, for most of the book, also somewhat unlikeable. The story takes place on the isolated colony of Freedom where humans blindly co-exist with the native population, which formed the basis for exploring several questions. What is reality? What is art? What is legacy? If you don't acknowledge someone/thing, does that mean it doesn't exist? Are the natives a metaphor for truth? Are the ostracized "invisibles" a statement on how we treat the poor? How far will people will go in refusing to accept facts? Many of the themes seemed particularly relevant in today's age of misinformation. There is a lot to ponder in this one and worth picking up for any DAW SciFi fan.

[Hex75 · Rating 3 out of 5]

uhmmm...a volte il giudizio a metà è quello che rende meglio la sensazione che rimane alla fine di certi libri, come quelli che non hanno convinto al 100% ma sono stati comunque capaci di far riflettere.
questo "gli invisibili" per esempio ha dalla sua alcuni dei dialoghi più noiosi che abbia mai letto, con personaggi (a partire dall'inizialmente insopportabile protagonista) che si danno arie da grandi filosofi nichilisti: roba da stroncare il più fedele dei lettori, davvero.
eppure ecco che lentamente emerge un altro romanzo, stavolta realmente più filosofico e con una caratteristica fondamentale che anticipa lo spirito de "la città e la città" di china mieville (non dico nulla per non spoilerare), il protagonista inizia un percorso che per lo meno mette in crisi i suoi assoluti e si arriva alla fine con parecchio su cui pensare.
un brutto romanzo? no. ma neppure perfetto.
eppure questo piccolo libretto è decisamente interessante.
da recuperare, sia il libro che l'autrice.

[John Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another stand-alone novel set in Cherryh’s Alliance-Union universe, set on a planet called Freedom, on which live the colonizing humans and the native aliens known as ahnits, who are “invisible” to the humans. It is a wonderful allegory about race/caste/class distinctions and relations, complete with “elites,” as well as a secondary allegory about the conflict between art and raw political power. It was first published in 1981 and is also a commentary on the pseudo-scientific, New-Agey philosophy of “creating your own reality,” which really started to gain steam in the 1970s. It’s a short book, less than 180 pages. I give it 4/5 stars but it’s a rather peculiar 4 stars. It’s not one of her best-written books. I highly recommend it for its big ideas and powerful allegories but also acknowledge the delivery, especially in the first half, occasionally comes off as a pretentious foray into solipsistic philosophy. Give it a visit.

[January Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time I read this book, I disliked it. It probably takes some personal maturity to better appreciate. I re-read it again a couple times many years later in my life, and liked it lot more. The character roles stick with you, even if the characters do not -- at least for me. Cherryh seems to have at least two modes of writing: totally realized and super engaging characters you feel like you know and love and have lived with after finishing the story (e.g. Pride of Chanur, Gate of Ivrel) and the more esoteric social issue stories that have totally unrelatable and cold characters (e.g. Cyteen, Downbelow Station). This book seems to balance on the edge. It's a somewhat weird mind experiment, but the more one can read into the characters' interiority, the better the story feels. Cherryh's writing here might not be quite as clear, setting-wise, as some stories. She's generally an expert at creating cultures and aliens and languages that seem real and alive and fully realized, but this book is a bit vague in that direction. Still, the emotional, philosophical and bias questions it raises are interesting and the four main characters are individually interesting.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A weird, dense, interesting book. Characters speak in ways no actual person ever would, set in a world of… I’m not well-read enough in philosophy to put the right specific name to it, but the humans of Freedom believe quite literally that reality is defined by the perceptions of the strongest-willed, and are thus incapable of seeing any people or other beings that violate that perception. The characters are monsters of solipsism, and I believe Cherryh is more sympathetic to them than I am as I turn from the news to this story, but the narrative is about how such blindness annihilates both the self and society, and the main character does develop into a more humane person through suffering and loss.

[Caleb Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far one of Cherryh's best works. A fascinating look at how society views academics, art, and the idea of what makes a person important. exploring these themes is not easy - they must be dealt with a compassionate but realistic approach. Cherryh does this in spades! She crafts characters who don't feel like characters. They each have their own morals, history, and opinions. And when these opinions clash, we are left with fascinating existential dialogues. Truly feels like a book made for me!

Adding this to my - Recommend to Dad list!

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The protagonist, Herrin, is such an arrogant, unlikable jerk that I didn't really care what happened to him, which made it difficult to stay invested in the story line, particularly the first 60% or so about the sculpture. It picked up a bit after that, but I was disappointed that we never really learned anything about Keye or the alien civilisation (other than just Sbi).

[jr from the dr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely picks up on the second half. What starts as a somewhat pretentious philosophical diatribe becomes a—thankfully—more grounded exploration of a society wherein reality is seen as a purely subjective and enforcing weapon. The worldbuilding is unique if not a bit shallow, but the short length makes this story worth the one afternoon it would take to complete.

[Guido]

Why you might like it: Institutional and cultural logic rendered rigorously. Rubric match: not yet scored. Uses your engineering/rigor/first-contact/world-building rubric. Tags: alliance-union, culture, politics

[David H.]

Why I didn't finish this: This was a terrible Cherryh to start with. I just got nothing out of this.

[Sue Chant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as her other Allaince/Union books but still quite an interesting read.

[Shanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much abstract, philosophical conversation between egotistical characters. I couldn't stick with it.

[Josh Bizeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a Half Stars

[William Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

First novel I have read by this author… looking forward to reading her other books…

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is no plot, self-indulgent characters that nobody could care about, and tedious discussions about reality. basically this book is utter nonsense that I shouldn't have finished.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was amazing and inspiring and wonderful. It takes place on a distant world, but really it's a Utopia of conception with a race metaphor rolled up into it and it's just delightful.
It starts off with a character, Herrin Law, being selected by an academic as a smart person to be taken from his farm life to the Big City, called Kierkegaard, and trained up as an artist. There, he meets Wade, who is set to become the most powerful man in the city. The relationship between the two is a very conscious power-play that is discussed at great length in conversations between them.
The Philosophical underpinnings are fairly explicit and make me wish I'd taken better notes when reading Sophie's World. The two major cities are Kierkegaard and Camus and there's an unexplored continent on the planet that's referred to as Hesse. Now, I've read some Camus, but I've very consciously stayed away from Kierkegaard (though I can't remember why) and hence keep getting him confused with Kant. But from the structure of the story, I have to draw the conclusion that Kierkegaard has something to do with sollipsism, because that's the main theme of the story. The characters in the story, really every individual in the society, in this city, is trained and bred to be sollipsistic. If they get into fights, their typical response is "I reject your reality" and Herrin, who becomes the Master Artist pretty much, is better at it and seems to go even farther with it than anyone else.
The problem is that there are aliens on this world, too, called the ahnit. Something tells me this is a reference, too, but I'm not sure to what. Anyway, these people, who are described only in the vaguest terms, are so completely ignored by the citizens of Kierkegaard that they are able to pass through the city completely unnoticed, and if anyone does start to notice the ahnit (IF THEY CAN READ THE FNORDS!) they are shunned by the rest of society, as though they've committed a crime by giving in to the inevitability of the reality of outside worlds.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What LeGuin did for Communism in "The Dispossessed" Cherryh does for Nihilism, with an entire planet of people firmly in the grip of a philosophy taking it further than expected.
The difference being, of course, that Nihilists are jerks.
Heh. Okay I over-simplify. But I did enjoy this book a lot - couldn't put it down - despite finding all the main characters for the first 2/3 to be really irritating. It makes the climax and resolution all the sweeter, though.

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strong novel with fleshed-out characters and a psycological and spiritual plot that keeps the mind working and reading moving along.

The tone of the novel smoothly changes from a distant omniscent narrater to intensely personal and psychological. The change is gradual and I only noticed over the reading of chapters. A novel that greatly changes tone comparing the beginning and end shows great control of craft and provides a satisfying read.

Ideas bust out all over; existential philosophy is the base of the human culture and practiced by all the colonists. I think about a society where everyone tries to be an Ayn Rand superman. Gradually we are shown the conflict within the characters as they interact with each other and how the society as a whole is warped. As the novel progresses, another way of being develops with strong Christian themes and archtypes. All this is done in a deft, light way that folded into the plot. It is lacking in the beat-you-over-the-head-with-what-I-believe that is too often found in novels of ideas. Instead all the ideas are part of the plot and the characters, and are essential to the flow of the novel. I guess I want to say that I had a thoughtful read, but never felt that the ideas broke the flow and development of the novel.

I think Cherryh has more popular series and novels, but this has got to be one of her best. A must-read.

[Ken T · Rating 3 out of 5]

A truly bizarre, but pleasurable read. The conflict between the artist and the autocrat with their political scientist love interest thrown into the mix gives the reader a glimpse into an almost impossible world where power - as perceived by the individual. The artist seeks to encapsulate the autocrat, the autocrat seeks to employ the artist, and the political scientist seeks to guide the two powerful men through this crisis. What makes the society presented here so alien are not the actual aliens that populate the streets, but that all pretend not to see, but the machiavellian twists and turns each person takes in their own pursuit of power.

This may not be Cherryh's best work, but it is a fine example of the way she can take a rather introspective topic and make it enticing.