Shon'jir

The Faded Sun #2

by C.J. Cherryh

Sten Duncan had saved the lives of the last two of humanity's deadliest enemies, during the takeover of their planet Kesrith. Sten therefore felt responsible for them and for their future -- if any. For though the two mri were brother and sister, they represented different power-castes of their ancient warrior-race. Niun was the last of the bred samurai. Melein, though young, was perforce the last priestess-queen. But struggle and mutual danger had sealed Sten Duncan to their loyalty. As their blood-brother, he would have to help them flee mankind and take the long, long evasion-route across the cosmos to a legendary lost planet which might afford the mri one more chance.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Audiobook

253 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

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

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

SF legend John Campbell once challenged his colleagues to show him an alien that thinks "as well or better than a man, but not LIKE a man." Well C.J. Cherryh said “you got it big boy” and has made a living doing just that. The Faded Sun Trilogy, is another strong example of Cherryh’s talent for creating well-drawn, three-dimensional alien races that are highly intelligent but differ from humans in both their motivations and their outlook.

Overall I liked this story and enjoy Cherryh’s detailed description of alien cultures….. …..BUT……..prepare yourself, caveats and qualifications dead ahead……. Nonetheless, I must WARN you that the pace of this book is slooooooooooooooooooooooow to the point of being glacial and is almost completely devoid of action. Instead, Cherryh gives us a layered, psychological study of the interaction between our human and alien main characters as they struggle to overcome the biases of their societal world-views in order to connect and reach a place of understanding. Most of the conflict and drama of the story stems from the internal battles of the characters as these cultural barriers are broken down.

Now I enjoy this kind of story as a pleasant change of pace from the action-orientated SF stories I often read. However, if the above sounds eerily similar to watching paint drying, than you may want to just move along as this may not be for you. However, if you do decide to pass on this then you will miss out on book 3 which I understand is much more action-orientated and a great conclusion to the series. Your choice….decisions, decisions.

BRIEF RECAP OF BACK STORY:

This series takes place within the Alliance-Union universe where most of Cherryh’s stories are set. This trilogy focuses on the human war with the alien Regul. The Reguls are obese, sedentary “Jabba the Hutt” type merchants who don’t personally engage in combat, but fight through mercenaries, specifically a group of bad-ass desert-dwelling, monk-like ninjas who can really bring the pain. However, despite the Mri’s elite killing ability, the humans, through sheer numbers, have gained the upper hand and the Mri are on the brink of extinction.

This military setback has damaged the influence of the more “hawkish” Regul political factions and allowed the “dovish” Regul faction to gain the upper hand and sue for peace with the humans. Thus, the first book, Kesrith, dealt with the aftermath of the human-regul peace treaty and the ceding of disputed territories, including the home planet of the Mri known, to the humans.

In preparation for a human takeover, ambassador George Stavros and his assistant, former special forces soldier Sten Duncan were transported by the Regul to Kesrith in order to begin the orderly transition of administration of the planet under the terms of the new treaty.

PLOT SUMMARY:
**For those of you that have not read the first book in the trilogy, the plot summary below will contain some spoilers regarding the events of Kesrith so you may want to blur your vision and skip over the Plot Summary and jump to “Thoughts” below.**

Shon’Jir begins in the aftermath of the mostly successful attempt by the alien Regul to exterminate the Mri living on Kesrith. The only surviving Mri, Niun and Melein, have been badly injured and are help captive by the human forces where they are given medical attention for their owwies.

Sten Duncan, who has grown to admire and respect the Mri, is outraged by the Regul’s attempted genocide, but the powers that be (i.e., Ambassador Stavros) is unwilling to take action due to the fragile political situation. Instead, Duncan and the two Mri, once recovered, are provided coordinates transcribed from a Mri artifact that may lead to the legendary homeworld of the Mri.

The three set off...but they are not the only ones interested in finding the Mri homeworld and intrigue, tension and much maneuvering ensues.

THOUGHTS:

Cherryh is terrific at fostering in the reader a sense of understanding and connection with an alien culture and she succeeds again in this book. By the end of this installment the Mri remain both alien and yet very relatable. This is where I find other writers often fall down in their treatment of alien cultures. Too often, the alien culture becomes more relatable by becoming more “human” which really defeats the purpose of an alien culture. Cherryh, as usual, avoids that.

Despite the positives, this installment gets dropped down a star from book 1 for two main reasons. The first is the pacing, which as I mentioned above is sometimes geological in its slowness. In addition, the writing is at times a bit dry. We’re not talking stale, unbuttered toast here, but just a casual dryness that will leave your peepers a little parched for moisture. I don't need ray guns and space battles, but was hoping for a bit more oomph from the story and ended up a little disappointed even though I enjoyed it.

You may be thinking that slow pacing and dry prose don’t often get rewarded with even 3 stars, but that is a reflection of the quality of the story and Cherryh’s excellent writing skills which make this book worth the effort in my opinion. Plus, the ending of this installment was superb and leaves book 3 poised to be a very satisfying ending to the trilogy. Book 1 being as good as it was and book 3 looking as promising as it does, you just have to kind of work your way through book 2. Heck, it's still good and is not what I would call a chore to get through.…just keep some eye drops handy.

3.0 stars.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I start: this second volume picks up on the action immediately after the events at the end of Kesrith, so the book is not a stand-alone and readers should not start the epic in the middle. There also may be slight spoilers in my review regarding the same events at the end of Kes'rith that directly led to the plight of the last survivors of the mri culture, exiled from their homeworld in the aftermath of the human-regul galactic war in which they served as mercenaries.

Shon'jir is an important concept in the mri culture. It translates into a sort of song of passage, a remembrance of past holocausts and a departure from the known world into the Dark. It is a song usually sung at funerals, but in a larger interpretation it is the philosophy of abandoning everything that defines your life and your civilization and starting again from scratch, breaking all ties to the outside world and relying exclusively on the ancestral and secret traditions that only the priestly sen caste are privy to. The issue here may be whether the mri martial prowess and their strict adherence to a rigid social code is the cause of their downfall or their only chance of survival in the face of human and regul determination to eliminate them once and for all from the galactic chess board.

They are probably the most efficient killers in all creation; but we didn't bring them to extinction, nor did the regul nor did you. They are dying because they have no interest in comprehending any other way of life. No quarter, no prisoners, no negotiation or compromise: everything is black and white in their eyes, nothing gray. I don't blame them for it; but their way of life was destruction, and they're dying now by the same standard they applied to others: nature's bias, if you like, not mine.

I have compared the opening novel in the series with Dune by Frank Herbert. The second book is very much a middle of the series installment, more focused on character development and on setting up the conditions for the final blow out in the third and final book. Most of the plot is about three people locked inside an automated starship, jumping from one solar system to another on a pre-programmed path, leaving behind a wasteland and heading for an improbable haven. The last ke'len warrior / samurai (Niun) is accompanying the last priestess / queen (Melein) who caries away from Kes'rith the holiest relic of the mri people, an artefact containing the history of past shon'jir exiles going back hundred of thousand of years and almost one hundred of planetary systems, all left sterile and uninhabited in the aftermath of the previous mri visit. My analogy now would be to the classic SF from Barry Longyear: Enemy Mine. Sten Duncan must learn to live and think like a mri if he wants to survive the journey. Once bitter adversaries in a no quarter war, he and Niun must now each discover that the archenemy is a person with a rich heritage and as strong sense of honor and duty as his own side, and that they need each other in order to survive. A second analogy could be made with the movie The Last Samurai , where a human (white man / Westerner/ civilized hero) is destined to save the barbarians / uncouth/ radicals from the destruction brought about by their refusal to accept civilization's march forward. I am not happy about this second comparison, not because of the concept but on behalf of the execution in the hands of Tom Cruise et Co.

C J Cherryh demonstrates here how good she is at creating tension and writing great characters in a confined space, turning what was probably a dreary and boring years long slog from one FTL jump to another into another page turner and into a strong debate on military versus scientific worldviews, one that responds to unknown factors by blasting them out of existence, the other that asks uncomfortable questions and struggles with the moral implications of the decisions taken. Beside the three major protagonists, there are two other lines of development : the regul continual pursuit of total genocide against their former mercenaries, and the attempts of a human scientific team to influence policies decided by the military commander of the Kesrith expedition.

Shon'jir suffers slightly by a middle of the series syndrome, with major revelations delayed for the final installment, but it was another page turner and provided enough material and enough unanswered questions to make Kutath an immediate pick. Will the mri find shelter and peace at the end of their journey into the Dark? or are they carrying with them the seeds of destruction that left behind almost one hundred planets empty husks devoid of any sign of life?

Peace was four words in the hal'ari. There was afa, that was self-peace, being right with one's place; and an'edi, that was house-peace, that rested on the she'pan; and there was kuta'i, that was the tranquility of nature; and there was sa'ahan, that was the tranquility of strength.
Treaty peace was a mu'ara word, and the mu'ara lay in the past, with the regul, that had broken it.

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a marked change in perspective in this second Faded Sun novel. First of all, there is the shift of emphasis from Niun to Duncan. That’s not to say the Mri do not get their time, but it is Duncan's sacrifice and character development that drives the narrative. Much has been said about the novel’s pacing, but consider the meaning of the title, Shon’jir. It is the passing song of the Mri, and this is a novel of “passing” if nothing else. It details the passing of the last known Mri from Kesrith to Kutath (or, the passing between the Darks, if you will). There are other parallels as well, such as the changes in Sten Duncan, who learns the "passing song" both literally and figuratively as the novel progresses.

It is a poignant and powerful story. I’m reading the omnibus edition (The Faded Sun Trilogy) so I’m not reading the novels as “separate” books, which might be why I didn’t experience any difficulties with the slower portions. It’s often easy to be frustrated by the Mri, though: their naiveté and stubbornness; their tradition based value system; the way they perceive outsiders. This goes a long way in putting the reader inside Duncan’s mind and making the experience real.

The novel deals with a cultural mystery: what are the Mri? It’s just a really great story. Add to that the fact that Cherryh really writes beautifully here…

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shon’jir is a masterclass.

A masterclass in Character. A masterclass in the creation and animation of a plausible alien culture.

Most of all though, it’s a masterclass in how to tell a story where great sections of the narrative contain almost no action, no big plot devices, no stars going nova or railgun rounds bisecting hulls.

C.J Cherryh’s novel is not what I would call action packed. It is, however, one of the best slow-burning SF stories I’ve read.

Like Kesrith before it Shon’jir follows the fate of the rigid, warrior-like race known as the Mri. And boy, these guys do rigidity big time – they make samurai, religious fundamentalists and the Republican Party look like flexible, anything-goes types. They would literally rather die than break their honour code, step outside their designated caste or even accept foreign medical care.

After the events of Kesrith there remain only two individuals from this dying race – the soldier Niun and his priestess/leader sister Melein. With them is human soldier Sten Duncan, their once-prisoner turned saviour who foiled the genocide attempted upon their race by their former employers, the Regul.

While it continues from Kesrith, Shon’jir differs from its predecessor in that it does not carry the aroma of a particularly sand-wormy Great Book Of SF. This novel is very much its own beast, and Cherryh’s series really feels like it comes into its own here.

Shon’jir also differs from its predecessor in its focus. This is really Sten Duncan’s novel, and as the book begins he has saved his Mri frenemies from death and sets about finding a way for them to get offworld to follow the navigational trail set by an ancient Mri artefact.

When Duncan, Niun and Melein flee to the stars with humanity and the Regul in pursuit, their tiny vessel becomes the setting for a fascinating clash between Mri and Human culture. The two societies’ wildly different values threaten to spark violence between Duncan and his former captors at any time, and the ways that the protagonists are forced to flex and change in their values to survive is the primary focus of the novel.

I don’t usually enjoy stories as slow moving as this one. I loves me an action sequence, a big reveal, a gasp-inducing plot development. Shon’jir however, completely sucked me in.

Duncan is a fascinating and sympathetic character - a rootless soldier who has spent his life landing on distant and exotic worlds, adapting, fighting and then moving on. This drifting man, now without even a war to give him purpose, finds himself both drawn to and repelled by the severe culture of the Mri, with their warrior ways and strict discipline, their inexorable sense of purpose and their almost zen-like mindset.

In lesser hands Duncan’s emotional and cultural journey into the ways of the Mri could have felt contrived and lacking heft. Not so in Shon’jir. Cherryh builds Duncan’s character exceptionally skilfully, at the same time illuminating ever more of the culture of the Mri, a culture that in Kesrith sometimes seemed comically rigid, warlike to the point of absurdity. In Shon’jir this culture is shown more deeply, its rigidity revealed as a strength, it’s discipline as a survival mechanism, rather than the self-indulgent foibles of a dying race.

It is common for SF to take readers to faraway places and introduce them to strange alien cultures. Shon’jir does this, but it goes far beyond the surface level ‘alien weirdness’ presented in many other novels.

While reading this book you will feel the confusion and anger that can occur when very different values clash, and you will tense with worry when each side teeters on the verge of violence. Finally you will experience genuine joy when despite these clashes genuine friendships are formed, and a man adrift finds his place in the universe.

Five unintentionally offended aliens out of five.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trilogy continues to be simply excellent. And as always with Cherryh, I never know what to expect of the plot. Her writing just works for me, in a deeply compelling manner. On to the concluding volume next.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shon'jir is really the second part of one tale and thus hard to review without spoilers from the first installment. The first book, Kesrith is named for the homeworld of the mri in regul space. yet, the mri have had many 'homeworlds' in the past as they are akin to nomadic warriors. Kesrith ended with the obliteration of the last mri ship and all hands, leaving just two mri alive (and that just barely). Duncan, the 'liaison' of the humans with the mri had taken the two mri to the 'holy of holies' deep in the outback of Kesrith. It turns out that this is actually star navigation charts that go all the way back to the mri's original homeworld.

After some shenanigans and such, the humans give Duncan and the two mri a ship that is programed to return to their homeworld, and most of Shon'jir concerns the trip there. Cherryh goes deep into the sociology of the mri here, as Duncan must 'forget' his humanness and become mri; easier said than done. Really an engaging read, but like the first installment, came nowhere near a conclusion. This series should really be just one long book and thankfully, Daw did produce an omnibus! 4 stars!!

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book that immediately follows on Kesrith and builds the relationship between the primary protagonists who are distrustful of each other at first and over time develop bonds of friendship in surprising and refreshing ways. All of the characters were equally interesting and their stories just grabbed me and didn't let go. Cover to cover, it is only a few hours of reading, but just so enjoyable. I couldn't wait to finish this series off in Kutath.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just as fantastic as a re-read as the first time. She certainly can write a darned good tale!

This begins directly after the finish of the first book. The last two Mri are now in the hands of the humans, which is not a good thing. Niun in particular has been robbed of his innate dignity and is treated as a lab specimen. It made me very angry on his behalf!

Duncan is disturbed by the treatment of the Mri and comes to a semblance of an agreement with Stavros. The humans are busy politicking with the treacherous Regal, and want to strengthen the relationship with that species. The Mri are hated and feared, so their welfare is not paramount.

Suffice to say, Duncan and the two Mri are seemingly set free to make the long arduous journey to the Mri home planet of their ancestors. Of course since humans are involved, there are conditions.

This one had some excellent character development. I truly enjoyed the evolving relationship between the Mri and the human. Actually, and the dusai. It was so intriguing! I'll definitely be finishing my trilogy re-read.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuff I Read – The Faded Sun: Shon’jir by C J Cherryh Review

Well at long and last and after a number of interruptions by GoodReads books that I have been obliged to read, I have gotten through the second book of the Faded Sun trilogy, and the story and characters continue to impress. It amazes me to what extent this story is so focused on what is happening inside these characters heads and between these characters that if you look at the actual action of the book there isn’t a whole lot you can point to as big things. That is in no ways a criticism, though, as the novel zips along, giving ideas and actions time and room enough to have significance and weight. This is still technically part of my attempt to read more female writers of science fiction and fantasy, but this is something where I probably wouldn’t have easily realized that the writer was a woman had I not known it going in. The writing is accessible and engaging and just good, showing that regardless of gender, good writing is good writing.

And as I said, the argument could be made that not a lot happens in this book. The main action is the slow transformation of Duncan from a human, from the soldier that first arrived in Kesrith, to a Mri, or at least to something between human and Mri. It is an interesting thing, because it is obvious that he does not truly make the transition, that he cannot truly become Mri, and yet his struggle with that, his attempt to do what he feels is right, is what keeps the story going forward. Less emphasized here are the stories of Melein and Nuin, who both recover from their injuries and try to make Duncan into one of them, both because they feel they owe him something and perhaps for Melein because she sees some use in him. But most of the novel takes place with only the three of them (along with two Dus) aboard a small ship as it retraces the Mri’s journey through the galaxy.

And there is definitely a weight to the journey, to the Mri’s return to their true homeworld while Duncan struggles to change, while he learns what it is to be Mri. He is stripped of the trappings of humanity, is changed in many ways that make him seem Mri, to the point that he is accepted, but through it all he is still human, is still defined by his human ability to adapt, to bend without breaking. It is a theme in the story so far, that the Mri are strong but brittle, that humanity is weaker but more adaptable, and that Duncan’s transformation is taking away some of that, is forcing him to be harder, less flexible. At the same time it can be argued that what Duncan is becoming is something in between, trying to take in the best qualities of both humans and Mri while retaining some of himself. How well he will ultimately succeed in that is something the last book will tell, but so far he has managed to stay true to himself, and that is something.

This is quite a cerebral book, the solitude palpable in the writing, the yearning to forge connections that binds Mri and humanity in a common need. And then at the end, with the landing on the Mri homeworld and the discovery of living Mri, the situation is changed yet again, because now Duncan has to face a situation where he is suddenly extra, where he is not really needed. I am quite interest to see how that will play out as the story moves towards its conclusion. The conflict between the humans and the Mri and the regul is also reaching toward its conclusion, as they all start to see that Mri homeworld after homeworld have been destroyed. It is a lingering mystery, one that I’m hoping will be answered in the last book. It is not entirely clear what happened, except that the Mri have left a path of death behind them. Whether they were the ones to deal it or whether they were merely fleeing it remains to be seen.

And so at the end of the day the book succeeds in about every way that I could have hoped it to. The character work is solid, the emotions real. The only real complain I would have is that the plot is a little lacking, that it would be nice to have something a little more than what is going on, but things start to pick up at the end, and I’m hoping that the last book in the trilogy marks the high point for the story. Still, this novel was fun and meaningful, an excellent look at the realities of space and culture, specifically alien culture. It is interesting that here humans greatest strength seems to be a lack of conviction, a lack of strict codes of law and morals. It is an interesting point to me, and one I think comes off well throughout. But, before I go on about this for another few pages, I shall end and simply give it an 8.75/10.

[Roxane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I want half-stars, GR. Come on.

I didn't like it as much as the first one, but it was still a damn good read. Really happy to have found this series.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Why," he asked Niun, when he had words enough to ask, "do you play to harm your brothers?"

"One plays shon'ai," said Niun, "to deserve to live, to feel the mind of the People. One throws. One receives. We play to deserve to live. We cast. Hands empty, we wait. And we learn to be strong."

There was a threshold of fear in the Game, the sure knowledge that there was a danger, that there was no mercy. One could be secure in it a time, while the pace stayed within the limits of one's skill, and then one realized that it was in earnest, and that the pace was increasing. Fear struck, and nerves failed, and the Game was lost, in pain.

C.J. Cherryh's Shon'Jir, the second book in The Faded Sun series, expands the setting established in the first book, Kesrith. In three main acts, Cherryh moves the action from the surface of Kesrith to the starship Fox, and concludes on the surface of the mri homeworld Kutath. The story centers on the transformation of Duncan's character, as he wrestles with his personal conscious as well as the consequences of his decisions in responding to events of galactic import around him.

And that's what I enjoy about this space opera: Cherryh never wavers her focus on the individual and personal within this epic saga. Whole galaxies may be annexed or fought over, but, in the end, the reader wants to see how characters respond and react to these events. While there are flaws within characters and the plot, I found them easy to dismiss with the creativity and wonder Cherryh continually brings forth. The story has heart--and heart goes a long way with a story like this.

I was engaged after the first book. I cannot wait to finish the concluding book.

Excellent series.

"I'll tell you something, Duncan, and you listen to me. I don't share your enthusiasm for preserving the mri. They were a plague in the universe, a blight, at best an anachronism among species that have learned their lessons of civilization to better advantage. They are probably the most efficient killers in all creation; but we didn't bring them to extinction, nor did the regul--nor did you. They are dying because they have no interest in comprehending any other way of life. No quarter, no prisoners, no negotiation or compromise: everything is black and white in their eyes, nothing gray. I don't blame them for it; but their way of life was destruction, and they're dying now by the same standard they applied to others: nature's bias, if you like, not mine. Convince me otherwise if you can."

[Fraser Simons · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book changes it up, surprisingly going for an even slower pacing than the first book, which I considered a ‘down beat’. Maybe pacing was just different from old sci-fi though?I suspect readers were a lot more fervent and authors had people’s attention, possibly. Plus it’s serialized initially; I’m sure that played a part.

This book is almost all about one particular character learning about his companions’ culture. I found it pretty interesting and again, for me, this is a really fast book, especially via audio. Good narration makes everything easier and I was pretty interested in the tension between cultures, their modes of thinking, and how that informed said tension. Characters seemed more fleshed out and interesting too.

I guess the third book will be the climax, more so than the first two books having one structurally built in. Which is weird but alright, considering the length of each. As with the first it’s not blowing me away or anything. It’s worth a read but fits well within expectations, for better and worse.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second novel in the Faded Sun series has Sten Duncan, a human, that we meet in the first novel continuing to develop his relationship with two of the Mri. Melien and Niun a brother and sister who now lead the remainder of their race as they and Duncan head back to the planet that is their ancestral home as they are being pursued by humans and Regul alike. In the process, Duncan, slowly accepts and understands their culture and mythology and begins to become Mri in his thoughts and actions.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A step up from the previous book, but still not entirely satisfying as a novel in its own right.

[Francesco Lanza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was positively entranced by this grim, alienating pavane of a book. Say what you want, laser and feelings are a thing, especially if the feelings are despair and anxiety. Not an action book by any stretch of the imagination, it still asks the good questions, keeps to a steady, marvelous rhythm, and shelves up neatly the chilling array of "what ifs" that get the spotlight time and again in sci-fi literature.

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about warriors that is almost entirely introspective, with small gestures holding great significance. Duncan becomes mri, and Stavros becomes regul. I adore these sorts of culture clash stories, and the promise of the first book is paid off quite strongly. The depth and speed of Duncan's transformation might be a bit too much for some, but Cherryh goes into great detail with the process. I found it creditable, almost like a cult initiation, in extreme and isolated conditions. There is ambiguity in how much of it is a pose, how much of humanity remains in him, and whether he'll be able to make it the rest of the way. The moral contradictions of his journey are intriguing.

While there's clearly more to go, this book has a much more ending-like ending. It feels like an ending, though ambiguous. The human chapter of Duncan's life is clearly closed, and the question is how the coming book will portray his next. My hopes are some kind of reunion or confrontation between Duncan and Stavros, the two men who once had some kind of unspoken brotherhood as two humans among aliens, and each transformed in a different direction. It's such a rich concept for drama, and Cherryh shows some skill for it.

The deeper mri-lore is expanded, though not in any extreme detail. Nothing too crazy, I have to wonder if it will be expanded on, or if the final volume will be solely about the present situation and the cast of the future, the "throw" of the mri philosophy. The dusei are going to turn out to be a precursor civilization that reverted to psychic animality, like the Couerl of Space Beagle, there's no other way it can be. Once you read enough of this stuff, you see the innumerable micro-cliches that permeate the field, and you either turn away with disgust, or you go all in. I'm all in.

Summary: Niun and Melein are stabilized and sedated on the ship Flower, and Duncan accuses Hulagh of masterminding the attack on the mri. He travels to the destroyed shrine, and helps two of the dusei to get onto the Flower, under partial psychic compulsion. The Pana is opened, and it contains navigational coordinates etched on gold plates. Stavros gives Duncan a ship, and orders him to take Melein and Niun off-planet and follow the coordinates.

Duncan awakens Niun and Melein on the ship. A human warship follows them, and he realizes it is meant to follow and destroy whatever mri world might be found. He jumps early to lose them, and the ship is commandeered by Niun and Melein. She tells Duncan he must either live as a mri, or die, as no non-mri will be allowed where the ship is going. He agrees, secretly hoping to return to humanity one day. Hulagh pieces together what has happened, and confronts Stavros. Stavros admits that he fears that doch Holn (a rival regul clan to Hulagh's doch Alagn) may have more mri in reserve. Hulagh confirms their alliance in investigating the mri.

Duncan is barred from the part of the ship where Melein resides, until he can be presented as a full mri. Niun destroys all of Duncan's possessions (Kel have none, except weapons and clothing), and all medication on the ship (mri heal, or die naturally). Duncan is distraught, as ship jumping produces extremely strong side effects in humans, treated with drugs. Niun attempts to teach Duncan everything that he was taught as a child, and instructs him to unlearn all human knowledge. Duncan begins learning hal'ari, the mri sacred language, since even the common language of the mri must be forgotten during the shon'jir voyage to a new world. They strip the ship of everything that is un-mri, including scientific equipment. Niun teaches Duncan shon'ai, the mri passing game. Among Kel, a pair of swords are thrown back and forth between players, with more swords the more players there are. Those who cannot keep up, die. Duncan is taught with rods as a child would be.

The ship begins executing a series of rapid jumps, leaving Duncan bedridden and in extreme pain, while the mri are unaffected. He becomes convinced he will die, and Niun abandons him to survive on his own. After a few days pass without jumps, he is able to play shon'ai again. He begins to understand the philosophy of the game, and is able to weather the next jump. He resolves to abandon his humanity and become completely mri. Niun takes him to their makeshift shrine to worship, and allows Duncan to play shon'ai with knives, where Duncan is slightly injured. One of the dus aboard attempts to bond with Duncan, but he fears their emotion-inducing psychic powers. Niun commands that he can only become mri when he can speak hal'ari easily, play shon'ai with swords, and sleep among the dus without fear.

Melein rejects Duncan as a mri, as his betrayal of his people to become a mri is itself something unbecoming of a mri. Melein causes Duncan to be envenomated by his dus, which will cement their bond if he lives. He is called in to fix a navigational problem, and observes that every planet the ship has passed is dead. He accuses the mri of exterminating every civilization they have encountered over their 80 000 year history, and Melein can produce no answer. Relations repair, and they arrive at Kutath, the original mri homeworld. Though appearing dead, it has some life and working machinery. Duncan secretly leaves a signal in orbit, promising friendship. They travel to a city, finding a ruin, and locate an edun (fortress). There, Melein communicates with a computer, identifying itself as the city An-ehon, which recognizes her as a she'pan. It informs her there are other cities that are still powered, and that mri survive on Kutath. She activates a signal to any mri able to see it.

The three travel out of the city, to meet the Kutath-mri, the ja'anom tribe. Melein challenges the she'pan, declaring she will rule all of Kutath, and return the mri to glory. Niun slays her rival's champion, and she takes control of the ja'anom. She instructs them to accept Duncan as one of them, though they are still obviously distrusting of him. Melein recaps the history of the mri, that originally four races lived on Kutath, the mri, elee, surai, and kalath. The elee wiped out the surai and kalath, and the mri served the elee, who built the cities of the world. Some mri departed Kutath to colonize other worlds, but the elee rejected the plan, and these mri became the wanderers who served as mercenaries to other races over the eons. A Sen informs her of Kutath's recent history, that they repelled an invasion of Kutath by an alien race, but eventually the elee-mri civilization collapsed, the elee went to war with each other, and there are now very few elee. The mri of ja'anom fled the city An-ehon, and live in the mountains outskirting it. Melein declares she will reinvigorate the mri, and Duncan fears she may establish an empire which will wipe out all other races.

They travel to back to the edun, where Niun and Duncan spend a night with the child-bearing Kath women, though Duncan does not attempt to have sex with the woman given to him, Sa'er. The next day, an alarm is raised, as ships begin bombing runs on the cities, since a regul commander Sharn had disregarded the friendship signal. Duncan begs to be allowed to communicate with the attackers, but Melein disregards him and orders an evacuation. Many are killed, including Sa'er, and Duncan is looked on with hate. Duncan sees a ship landing, and resolves to travel to it, confirming his loyalty to Melein before he leaves. On the way, he is accosted by six young dusei, the children of the two he brought to Kutath. The young are filled with hate and revel in the destruction they see in his mind, but his bonded dus keeps him safe.

He makes it to the ship, which is the Flower. He now finds the company of humans strange, and is uncomfortable removing his veil among them. He is taken to the commanders of the expedition, Sharn and the human Koch. Sharn urges Duncan's execution and the destruction of the mri. Duncan claims the mri will not seek revenge, can be dealt with peacefully, and any attacks on the bombing ships were from automated defences. Koch reveals that Duncan's defection was anticipated by Stavros, and he has been released from military service and empowered to mediate between humanity and mri. Koch promises to stop bombing the cities. On the way out, he is attacked by a regul, and kills Sharn with a pistol. Duncan debriefs with Boaz, a female xenologist he had been friendly with, and is flown back to the mountains by Lt. Galey, who had accompanied him on Kesrith.

[Levi Hobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shon’jir is basically just a long, tense voyage through space. And yet, surprisingly...I actually still enjoyed it quite a bit.

Three unlikely companions—Niun, the last surviving male warrior of the mri; Melein, newly elevated she’pan (priestess and leader); and Duncan, the human soldier becoming one of them—travel aboard a human ship, crossing vast reaches of the galaxy to visit one dead world after another. They’re retracing the ancient migrations of the mri, following old navigation records to see if any of their kind still exist beyond the ruined planet Kesrith, or if their people are truly extinct.

It's a litany of dead planets.

Each stop is another grave marker—desolate, abandoned worlds where the mri once thrived but are now long gone. The journey becomes less a hopeful search than a ritual of mourning, stripping away the last illusions of survival. It’s bleak, repetitive, and suffused with a sense of cosmic loneliness. It reveals the savage warriors the mri are--they leave only death in their wake, never life.

This adds to the mystique of the mri's legendary warrior race but it also after a while makes you question what the point of the story is. If the mri are apparently all wiped out and there's only the two of them left (three, if Duncan counts), what's the point? Nevertheless, I persevered.

Duncan’s story is the heart of the novel and the one thing that still makes it kind of great. He’s basically Ender before Ender’s Game—a man obsessed with an alien species he inadvertently helped destroy, now determined to save what remains of them at any cost. He’s training to live as a mri, shedding his human instincts and adopting their code of silence, discipline, and ritual austerity. The process is physically and psychologically brutal, but fascinating to watch.

There’s something deeply appealing about the fantasy of being inducted into an ancient, elite warrior brotherhood like that. I think a lot of men feel that pull—the dream of belonging to something disciplined and honorable, tested by endurance and loyalty instead of words.

Niun looks on him with disdain at first becomesm of Duncan's various human weaknesses. He keeps training Duncan but warning Duncan that at any point he could fail his training and end up dead. It reminded me of the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride: "Good work today Wesley, sleep well, I'll most likely kill you in the morning."

Niun slowly comes to accept Duncan as a comrade-in-arms. Melein, remote and inscrutable, allows Duncan’s initiation to proceed and includes him in the formal patterns of mri life. The dynamic among the three is subtle, tense, and occasionally just the slightest bit tender—a fragile mix of hierarchy, faith, and grief.

Meanwhile, their ship is being tracked. Both the humans and the regul are following, each with their own fears and motives. The regul—who once employed the mri as mercenary warriors—are terrified of vengeance. They know they betrayed their former allies at Kesrith, and they’re haunted by the idea that the mri might one day rise from the ashes to take revenge.

The humans are a mixture of curiosity and unease. They fought the regul in the last war and encountered the mri as enemies—mysterious, disciplined, nearly unbeatable. Even though everyone believes there are only two mri left alive, both species fear the possibility that mri space still hides unknown powers or worlds. It’s paranoia wrapped in guilt, and that tension hangs over every page.

As the pursuit continues, Niun, Melein, and Duncan jump from one dead world to the next, following the trail ever closer to the rumored origin planet. World after world, silence after silence—it’s relentless.

Honestly, this is where the book starts to drag.

It’s well-written, but it also gets tiring. It’s not until about three-quarters of the way through that there’s finally a glimmer of hope.

Following the last of the ancient navigation data, they reach Kutath, the original mri home planet. And there, at last, something changes. After hundreds of pages of dead worlds, we find one world that isn’t.

There are living mri tribes still surviving on its surface—harsh, isolated, but alive. It’s a powerful moment: after so much emptiness, this single discovery reframes the entire journey. What seemed like the end of a species becomes a return to its beginnings.

But the humans and regul have arrived too. Both want to claim knowledge of Kutath for their own ends—the humans out of scientific curiosity and strategic anxiety, the regul out of sheer panic. The regul, driven by genocidal fear, strike first with an unprovoked attack.

In the chaos, Duncan kills the regul elder. It’s probably the best moment of the whole novel. It's shocking and yet inevitable in hindsight, and it is the culminating act of Duncan becoming truly mri, "going native," which is really the point of the book.

Also, that moment becomes the spark that ignites the political and military chaos opening the final book, Kutath.

Along the way, Cherryh sprinkles in small details that make the culture of the mri feel alive. I really like the dus, these giant teddy-bear-like bodyguards who will happily tear someone’s arms off if they look at you wrong; the deadly mri weapon-tossing games; the intricate rituals of silence and restraint. There are also one deep-cut betrayal and some political headgames between species that give the novel a thread of intrigue to hang onto--but the intrigue element is mild at best.

Structurally, it becomes clear that the series is shaping up into that Last Samurai / Dances with Wolves pattern—“go live with the natives, learn their ways, become a warrior, defend them.” I enjoy that framework, and Cherryh writes it with more psychological realism than most.

But I wish there was just more going on. For hundreds of pages, the human and regul subplot barely moves. They’re just… following. Still following. Meanwhile, the main plot—Duncan’s training—is interesting, but not enough to carry a whole book by itself.

It’s not that Shon’jir is a BAD book. The internalization of characters, the worldbuilding, and the mri culture is as rich and alien as anything in science fiction. Duncan’s transformation feels real and earned. But the story feels unbalanced. There’s too much repetition, not enough progression. This entire middle volume could’ve been condensed into the first quarter of Kutath without losing much narrative force.

Still, I kept reading—for the mri, for Duncan, for that strange, austere beauty Cherryh conjures out of silence and discipline. I feel like if you want to read the third book you have to read this one first, if for no other reason than to get the cool training montage. Duncan getting initiated into the mri culture is really the heart of the whole story of the trilogy.

[Zarul Afandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starting this series, I was told it's one of the greats, a must-read for scifi fans...

Bruh, you made me spend half of this book stuck in a spaceship with people who didn't wanna be near each other. It was suffocating, uncomfortable, and worst of all...kinda boring.
The climax (if you can call it that) had no proper build up to it, it just kinda happens and everyone nods to acknowledge that...it happened!
Guess I'll just continue with the next book just to see how it ends.

BUT for the sand-story lovers out there, here are things you might like:

- More deserts in space
- Sequel desert
- Same desert with new people
- New desert with the same people
- Desert attire in spaceships
- No dunes
- Desert dogs
- Desert dogs in spaceships
- Best of all...New desert community

[Alec · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a continuation of the Faded Sun trilogy, C.J. Cherryh picks up the tale of the Mri in the aftermath of their genocide on the planet Kesrith at the hands of the Ragel. Most of this book is spent in transit from the planet of book one to the home planet of the two surviving Mri. They and their human escort, Sten Duncan, are the primary focus of this book. I mentioned in my review of Kesrith that the book felt alien. The interesting thing in this book was Ms. Cherryh's ability to help the reader understand the Mri and their ways through Sten's experience being adopted as one of theirs. This wasn't a case of someone "going native" as much as it was an adapt or die situation. In the process, however, not only did Sten come to see them with fresh eyes, but Ms. Cherryh was also able to help her readers understand them in new ways as well.

As I read the the final pages of this book, I knew I'd need to finish the trilogy as I'm so curious how things are resolved between the humans, Ragel, and Mri. I appreciate that the second book wasn't a typical second in the trilogy book, things are so bleak as to seem insurmountable, our heroes aren't imperiled in the typical cliffhanger way, but Ms. Cherryh's ratched up the interspecies tension and left things on a knife's edge. I'm curious and excited to finish.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last two surviving mri in the universe are under sedation and locked up while the hoomans and the regul decide what to do with them. When they find that the special mri egg contains a map they decide the best thing to do is to send them on their way to get rid of them. They send Sten Duncan to drive the ship, which runs on automatic, mostly because he has gone native and they want to get rid of him as well. They also have some other motives which they do not let Duncan in on.

In a ship they cannot control that is going they do no know where Duncan wakes up the mri and they take over the ship. They decide to teach him how to be more mri and much of the book is spent with Duncan learning their ways and not always succeeding in adapting them. They find some disturbing stuff along their voyage, and when they get where they are going they get more surprises.

The book is Duncan learning from and arguing with the mri on a long space trip, then arguing with and learning from the mri on a long desert hike. Stuff happens before and after, but the interaction between hooman and mri is the main focus. It's "A Man Called Horse" in space. Including the part where Duncan gets used as a baggage animal. It's well written, a good continuation of the previous novel, but does end rather abruptly. Good if you liked the first book, but not as good as that book.

[Gena Kukartsev · Rating 4 out of 5]

See also notes to the #1 in the trilogy (Kesrith). This book develops the same topics in my mind, it is really a continuation/final of the same book that started in #1. (This one, by the way, could be the end - it has a reasonable finale unlike the first one, which ended almost nowhere.)

Again, the main topic for me in this book is the idea of reaching some common ground, understanding, and peace or at least cohabitation in some sense for vastly different and rather uncompromising cultures and persons. This book too drove me up the wall often enough - when a character just refuses to act rationally, or in their own self-interest. Of course, that's rationality and self-interest as I understand it not as they understand it.

It teaches value of patience beyond patience. What do you do if you are humiliated and even your life is threatened by someone who you are trying to save? And they do it with full understanding? Well, the conclusion I draw from this story is that you bear it as long as you can. You keep the goal in sight. You allow yourself to be humiliated, you risk your life for the goal. When you put it like that, it sounds almost cliche but when you have to endure injustice from someone you are helping it is infuriating.

[Ben Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a massive improvement over the first volume. So why the same score? The first volume is at about a 3.75 out of 5 for me. This one is more like a 4.25 for me. I enjoyed it more but can't quite give it five stars yet.

With the world building thoroughly established in the first volume, this one feels more like a story. The focus is Duncan's training as he sets out to become one of the mri. I really love how the story found a completely natural way to give the characters time to train Duncan and acclimate him into their culture while not slowing the book down. We didn't need a huge jump forward in time to represent the lengthy journey to the mri home planet. It also delved deeper into how the lives of Duncan, Niun and Melein are now connected.

I also felt like it handled part of the ending well. Other ships track these three down to the secret homeworld, thereby making the remaining mri believe that they have been betrayed by their human companion. It's up to Duncan to prove his loyalty to his new companions.

The ending felt very abrupt, and I had to reread it to catch the climax, which came suddenly but without any appropriate buildup. I'm confident the final volume in the trilogy will stick the landing and bring everything together.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great mix of space opera and politics and, as always, Cherryh is a master of world building.

Only downside is this is very much the 'Empire Strikes back' part of the trilogy, so the ending is a bit dissatisfying and while I understand the idea behind it, so much of the plot relies on nobody listening to the couple people who actually want to help that it becomes very frustrating and leaves you with the impression that some characters you are supposed to root for are knuckleheads and you aren't sure if you care if the succeed or survive.

So, politics, basically.

Love the alien bear things and are convinced they are the true heroes of the saga.

[Daniel Heimstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book was a bit of a slow burner. It felt like an introduction to the series: It's characters, their world and the creatures of this world (mainly, the Dus.)

In the second book the author takes such an advantage of this set up that I was impressed. Every chapter, from beginning to end, pushes the story forward. Unveiling ;) the plot, the characters and their history, as well as character development. I was thoroughly impressed by how much this second book changed compared to the first.

Excited to see how this trilogy will finish and if the third book can top off the second installment.

[Brian Washines · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm realizing that Cherryh's Faded Sun books comprise what is essentially a Sanka version of Dune and this wouldn't be bad in itself except for Cherryh's talent as a sci-fi author in her own right on display here. Shon'jir is the segment of the epic where the outsider, Duncan, has to learn mri ways to get the surviving aspects of that decimated culture to safety. Back when tape-running CPUs were considered efficient enough means for humanity to circumnavigate the stars and systems. Otherwise I feel like Cherryh hadn't taken this concept to any new or nascent territory except to make for decent space truckin. Onward and upward.

[Drew Huguelet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following directly from its predecessor, Shon'jir is a far more political and cultural book than Kesrith. We get a far more solid view of the mri and get to see just how different their thinking is from a human's through the eyes of Duncan and Niun. Overall, I enjoyed it far more for that than the previous, since in this I truly got to see the characters I already reasonably liked play off each other on better footing. Those interactions easily raised this from a tolerable read to one I kept wanting to get back to. Keep in mind this book is mostly a cultural treatise on mri and a character-driven narrative and you will love it.

[Suzanne Thackston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure why this one didn't work better for me. It has all of the trademark Cherryh stuff that I love, but I didn't ever really connect with the characters in this or the 1st of the series, and without that, the lovely writing and world-building just don't quite get me there.
I'm not going to read the third, and I'll donate the trilogy. Makes me sad to lose Cherryhs from my shelf, but I won't re-read them and someone who may appreciate them more should get to.
That being said, the writing and world-building ARE wonderfully, magically Cherryh. And that's good stuff.

[S.H. Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full disclosure: although I'm a huge Cherryh fan, I did not enjoy Book 1 of this series very much. Book 2 continues with some very interesting worldbuilding as Sten finds himself in position to learn much, much more about the mri and their culture, but I found myself continuing to be frustrated by the slow pace and characters that I couldn't relate to very much. All of them are very alien (in all senses of the word), but it may be that they were too alien for me.

[Caleb Mattson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed this series so far. Cherryh is incredible at documenting the alien mind. Her transformation of Duncan is so subtle and you don't realize how much he's adapted until the very end of the book.

This book was a little slow but still very interesting from a psychological and anthropological point of view. As long as the series finishes with bang, all this setup will be fully worth it.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely my favorite kind of story. Much of it is set during a long voyage in which the main character has to undergo a deep, personal transformation. Acculturation is a fascinating thing to me in the context of sci-fi/fantasy where the culture is significantly different from our own. Great character work, great worldbuilding. I had a blast with this one.