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The Gene Wars #1
Hammerfall
One of the most renowned figures in science fiction, C.J. Cherryh has been enthralling audiences for nearly thirty years with rich and complex novels. Now at the peak of her career, this three-time Hugo Award winner launches her most ambitious work in decades, Hammerfall, part of a far-ranging series, The Gene Wars, set in an entirely new universe scarred by the most vicious of future weaponry, nanotechnology. In this brilliant novel -- possibly Cherryh's masterwork -- the fate of billions has come down to a confrontation between two profoundly alien cultures on a single desert planet.
"The mad shall be searched out and given to the Ila's messengers. No man shall conceal madness in his wife, or his son, or his daughter, or his father. Every one must be delivered up." -- The Book of the Ila's Au'it
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 Ila's 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.
Written with deceptive simplicity and lyricism, this riveting, fast-paced epic of war, love, and survival in a brave new world marks a major achievement from the masterful C.J. Cherryh.
"The mad shall be searched out and given to the Ila's messengers. No man shall conceal madness in his wife, or his son, or his daughter, or his father. Every one must be delivered up." -- The Book of the Ila's Au'it
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 Ila's 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.
Written with deceptive simplicity and lyricism, this riveting, fast-paced epic of war, love, and survival in a brave new world marks a major achievement from the masterful C.J. Cherryh.
457 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2001
186 people are currently reading
936 people want to read
About the author
C.J. Cherryh
292 books3,559 followersCurrently 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.
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March 22, 2025
I feel like I just discovered my new favorite writer.
C.J. Cherryh has been writing sci-fi novels since the 70s. She has more than 80 books under her belt and just keeps going. She has really strong and deep worldbuilding and really strong character voices. She’s perfectly up my alley, and yet I’m only just now discovering her!
Hammerfall is the first book in a series called The Gene Wars. Knowing only that, I picked this one up and started reading. From the first page I was electrified. The main character, Marak, has a lot of ample rage in his past that gives him fuel. His father is the leader of a confederation of tribes that tried to rebel against a centralized leader, the Ila, on this desert planet. In recent history, Marak’s father led a rebellion that got all the way to the Ila’s capital before losing the war outside the walls of the great city. Marak and his father fought together, lived their lives together. And now, his father has betrayed him and given him over to his own mortal enemy, the Ila.
This shocking detail takes a moment to digest. Why in the world would his father do that? The answer is that his father found out a life-long secret that Marak has been hiding. Marak is one of The Mad.
All over the planet there are these people who are born mad. They have voices in their head that pull them to the East across the great desert, obsessing constantly, telling them to go East, go East, go East. I love the premise of this book. Mad men and women are being called across the desert with visions and sensations, and here’s the thing: these very lowest dregs of society, these outcasts, actually turn out to be the key to saving this planet from imminent destruction. I love that.
The mad are treated with utter contempt in society; it’s worse than being born a leper. Once people discover that you are mad, they turn you over to the Ila, who collects them for mysterious reasons. Marak has been sold by his own father. And if that wasn’t bad enough, his father disowned his mother and threatened her life…as if it’s her fault for giving birth to a son who turned out to be “mad.” By extension, his sister’s life is also in jeopardy. Turns out that his father is a real a-hole. I felt Marak’s hatred for his father and felt a strong urgency for him to overcome his father in a power struggle they end up having by the end of the book.
But suffice it to say: when our story begins, Marak is not only worried about his own life but also the lives of his mother and sister back home. And not only that: he is a captured mad slave being turned over to his mortal enemy, the Ila, by her men, and is extremely powerless. It’s a perfectly low beginning, wondering how in the world he can win through. And the story does not disappoint.
Based simply on the name of the series that this is a part of (the Gene Wars) you must be able to guess that there must be some kind of gene manipulation technology going on. But throughout the story, it’s all told from Marak’s perspective, and he (as well as almost everyone on the planet that we come in contact with) know nothing about that, nothing about where they really come from (aside from mythologies that vaguely intimate the truth), and no idea of what is actively going on in themselves and the other species. The peoples of this planet live lives that are alternatively feudal or nomadic, and they believe in magic and see things that way, but of course we the reader have the inside knowledge that the “magic” that’s happening must have a scientific explanation, because this is science fiction after all, not fantasy. Reading between the lines is one of the joys of this novel.
And the way it plays out is really cool. We don’t have to wade through a bunch of science fiction infodumps. Instead we just experience this world through the eyes of a guy who has no idea who “the gods” that have shaped his world really are or what tools they have used. But throughout the story, he discovers more and more the true nature of his world, which extends to all kinds of peoples and animals and places, the history, the fact there are different factions warring over this planet, their different philosophies, etc. But he doesn’t start with any of that information. He just starts with these mad visions and voices, and as the story goes along, the mysteries unfold. I loved it.
As for Marak’s character, I greatly enjoyed him. I love that what makes Marak unique is his ability to resist the voices in his head better than anyone else with his madness. I love his iron-clad will and his unwillingness to simply buy whatever lies are told him. He’s also a quite sympathetic character when cast in contrast to true tyrants like his father. He’s a bit ahead of his time, much less misogynistic etc. than those around him. Cherryh manages to balance on that fine line between having a character in a medieval setting whose mindset is too much like a modern person’s (which always feels anachronistic) or too much like the typical person who actually lived in feudal times (which is very off-putting at a minimum, usually profoundly unlikable). Cherryh has done a masterful job all-around.
I also loved the atmospheric way that she writes. Being set on a desert planet, Hammerfall has Dune vibes and will inevitably be compared. But this book is so much better than Dune, for its characters are far more realistic, relatable, and three-dimensional, and on the whole this book is much more accessible. But it does share with Dune the quality of being a thoroughly fleshed-out, atmospheric setting on a desert planet. Everything about the experience is atmospheric: the cultures, the desert they are in, the Ila, her honor guard, the caravan traders, the way they travel and setup tents, the horrors of the desert vermin mobs, and especially the beshti!
Beshti are a wonderful invention of Cherryh’s that I can’t help but divert to write about. I imagine them being kind of like the tauntaun’s in Star Wars (the creatures they ride on the ice planet Hoth) except that beshti have the fur of wooly mammoths and are adapted for traveling across the desert rather than an exceedingly cold place. Or alternately I imagine them as a really tall camel with only two legs. You can’t just jump onto the back of a beshti; you have to climb up their sides to get to their backs. And they have a strong pack instinct, they are easily spooked like horses, they have personalities, they can smell things from great distances…I feel like half of this book was learning how to care for your beshti. I really want one now.
This book is essentially split into two parts. The first part is a quest, searching for answers across this great barren desert. They get some answers, Then they go back. And the second half of the book is essentially
The end turns into a madness-inducing survival ordeal that they go through. Big body count. Shock and awe. I felt compelled to fly through the pages.
This book is perfect. I can’t wait to read the sequel. I recommend it to any science fiction readers who enjoys strong characters and atmospheric worldbuilding.
One other note. You should read Hammerfall first. But if anyone wants to also read my own latest attempt at producing an atmospheric science fiction story with deep characters, I have a short story titled Charon Sunrise published on substack. Feel free to read it and give me feedback here:
https://levihobbs.substack.com/p/char...
C.J. Cherryh has been writing sci-fi novels since the 70s. She has more than 80 books under her belt and just keeps going. She has really strong and deep worldbuilding and really strong character voices. She’s perfectly up my alley, and yet I’m only just now discovering her!
Hammerfall is the first book in a series called The Gene Wars. Knowing only that, I picked this one up and started reading. From the first page I was electrified. The main character, Marak, has a lot of ample rage in his past that gives him fuel. His father is the leader of a confederation of tribes that tried to rebel against a centralized leader, the Ila, on this desert planet. In recent history, Marak’s father led a rebellion that got all the way to the Ila’s capital before losing the war outside the walls of the great city. Marak and his father fought together, lived their lives together. And now, his father has betrayed him and given him over to his own mortal enemy, the Ila.
This shocking detail takes a moment to digest. Why in the world would his father do that? The answer is that his father found out a life-long secret that Marak has been hiding. Marak is one of The Mad.
All over the planet there are these people who are born mad. They have voices in their head that pull them to the East across the great desert, obsessing constantly, telling them to go East, go East, go East. I love the premise of this book. Mad men and women are being called across the desert with visions and sensations, and here’s the thing: these very lowest dregs of society, these outcasts, actually turn out to be the key to saving this planet from imminent destruction. I love that.
The mad are treated with utter contempt in society; it’s worse than being born a leper. Once people discover that you are mad, they turn you over to the Ila, who collects them for mysterious reasons. Marak has been sold by his own father. And if that wasn’t bad enough, his father disowned his mother and threatened her life…as if it’s her fault for giving birth to a son who turned out to be “mad.” By extension, his sister’s life is also in jeopardy. Turns out that his father is a real a-hole. I felt Marak’s hatred for his father and felt a strong urgency for him to overcome his father in a power struggle they end up having by the end of the book.
But suffice it to say: when our story begins, Marak is not only worried about his own life but also the lives of his mother and sister back home. And not only that: he is a captured mad slave being turned over to his mortal enemy, the Ila, by her men, and is extremely powerless. It’s a perfectly low beginning, wondering how in the world he can win through. And the story does not disappoint.
Based simply on the name of the series that this is a part of (the Gene Wars) you must be able to guess that there must be some kind of gene manipulation technology going on. But throughout the story, it’s all told from Marak’s perspective, and he (as well as almost everyone on the planet that we come in contact with) know nothing about that, nothing about where they really come from (aside from mythologies that vaguely intimate the truth), and no idea of what is actively going on in themselves and the other species. The peoples of this planet live lives that are alternatively feudal or nomadic, and they believe in magic and see things that way, but of course we the reader have the inside knowledge that the “magic” that’s happening must have a scientific explanation, because this is science fiction after all, not fantasy. Reading between the lines is one of the joys of this novel.
And the way it plays out is really cool. We don’t have to wade through a bunch of science fiction infodumps. Instead we just experience this world through the eyes of a guy who has no idea who “the gods” that have shaped his world really are or what tools they have used. But throughout the story, he discovers more and more the true nature of his world, which extends to all kinds of peoples and animals and places, the history, the fact there are different factions warring over this planet, their different philosophies, etc. But he doesn’t start with any of that information. He just starts with these mad visions and voices, and as the story goes along, the mysteries unfold. I loved it.
As for Marak’s character, I greatly enjoyed him. I love that what makes Marak unique is his ability to resist the voices in his head better than anyone else with his madness. I love his iron-clad will and his unwillingness to simply buy whatever lies are told him. He’s also a quite sympathetic character when cast in contrast to true tyrants like his father. He’s a bit ahead of his time, much less misogynistic etc. than those around him. Cherryh manages to balance on that fine line between having a character in a medieval setting whose mindset is too much like a modern person’s (which always feels anachronistic) or too much like the typical person who actually lived in feudal times (which is very off-putting at a minimum, usually profoundly unlikable). Cherryh has done a masterful job all-around.
I also loved the atmospheric way that she writes. Being set on a desert planet, Hammerfall has Dune vibes and will inevitably be compared. But this book is so much better than Dune, for its characters are far more realistic, relatable, and three-dimensional, and on the whole this book is much more accessible. But it does share with Dune the quality of being a thoroughly fleshed-out, atmospheric setting on a desert planet. Everything about the experience is atmospheric: the cultures, the desert they are in, the Ila, her honor guard, the caravan traders, the way they travel and setup tents, the horrors of the desert vermin mobs, and especially the beshti!
Beshti are a wonderful invention of Cherryh’s that I can’t help but divert to write about. I imagine them being kind of like the tauntaun’s in Star Wars (the creatures they ride on the ice planet Hoth) except that beshti have the fur of wooly mammoths and are adapted for traveling across the desert rather than an exceedingly cold place. Or alternately I imagine them as a really tall camel with only two legs. You can’t just jump onto the back of a beshti; you have to climb up their sides to get to their backs. And they have a strong pack instinct, they are easily spooked like horses, they have personalities, they can smell things from great distances…I feel like half of this book was learning how to care for your beshti. I really want one now.
This book is essentially split into two parts. The first part is a quest, searching for answers across this great barren desert. They get some answers, Then they go back. And the second half of the book is essentially
The end turns into a madness-inducing survival ordeal that they go through. Big body count. Shock and awe. I felt compelled to fly through the pages.
This book is perfect. I can’t wait to read the sequel. I recommend it to any science fiction readers who enjoys strong characters and atmospheric worldbuilding.
One other note. You should read Hammerfall first. But if anyone wants to also read my own latest attempt at producing an atmospheric science fiction story with deep characters, I have a short story titled Charon Sunrise published on substack. Feel free to read it and give me feedback here:
https://levihobbs.substack.com/p/char...
December 27, 2011
I'm back! Some health issues--and a volunteer project had delayed reviews. You didn't think you were going to get rid of me THAT easily, did you?:)
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Marak had always known he was mad. since his sixth years he had heard voices in his head! "Marak! Marak! Marak!" and the compulsion to go east.
As the son of a chief his mother proected him and his father pretended to ignore it. Then, the secret came out. Marak's father disowned him; surrended him to the Illa's men.
After a long walk across the desert, a prisoner along with other mad ones, Marka is brought before the powerful Illa, the ruler of the world. To his surpise, Marak is not to die.
The Illa strikes a bargain with him. She wishes to know what is causing this epideic of madness. Marka will use his warrior skills and go east to see wy the voices always urge the mad to go east. In return, the Illa will protect his mother and sister (his father threw them out also). for the sake of his mother and sister, Marak agrees to seek the source of the madness---and heads east, where no caravan has ever gone.
This is a good beginning of a new world built by C. J. Cherryh. I rate it a solid three stars. Not as outstanding as some of her series, but well worth your time.
The characterization is four stars--Marak, Hati and Norit are really well drawn, as well as many of the secondary characters. The worlds is well designed. The pace drages a bit in spots. For example, Marak has to make a desert crossing three times. Cherryh tries to vary the description a little, but the details are the same--desperate for water, stop at noon, travel at night, trouble with the beasts, etc etc. get a bit repititious after the second time. The ending also seemed a bit rushed in the last chapter. We skip through a lot of events--Marak has grandchildren? We missed some years in between here. Possibly left out on purpose because of a planned next book?
Nevertheless, a three star by C. J. Cherryh is worth a four star for many other authors. Interesting characters and a new world for her will create a enjoyable experience. Recommended for all SF fans---fantasy fans would still enjoy it also!
******************************************************************************
************
Marak had always known he was mad. since his sixth years he had heard voices in his head! "Marak! Marak! Marak!" and the compulsion to go east.
As the son of a chief his mother proected him and his father pretended to ignore it. Then, the secret came out. Marak's father disowned him; surrended him to the Illa's men.
After a long walk across the desert, a prisoner along with other mad ones, Marka is brought before the powerful Illa, the ruler of the world. To his surpise, Marak is not to die.
The Illa strikes a bargain with him. She wishes to know what is causing this epideic of madness. Marka will use his warrior skills and go east to see wy the voices always urge the mad to go east. In return, the Illa will protect his mother and sister (his father threw them out also). for the sake of his mother and sister, Marak agrees to seek the source of the madness---and heads east, where no caravan has ever gone.
This is a good beginning of a new world built by C. J. Cherryh. I rate it a solid three stars. Not as outstanding as some of her series, but well worth your time.
The characterization is four stars--Marak, Hati and Norit are really well drawn, as well as many of the secondary characters. The worlds is well designed. The pace drages a bit in spots. For example, Marak has to make a desert crossing three times. Cherryh tries to vary the description a little, but the details are the same--desperate for water, stop at noon, travel at night, trouble with the beasts, etc etc. get a bit repititious after the second time. The ending also seemed a bit rushed in the last chapter. We skip through a lot of events--Marak has grandchildren? We missed some years in between here. Possibly left out on purpose because of a planned next book?
Nevertheless, a three star by C. J. Cherryh is worth a four star for many other authors. Interesting characters and a new world for her will create a enjoyable experience. Recommended for all SF fans---fantasy fans would still enjoy it also!
September 5, 2016
Bedouins travelling on what is -obviously- camels repeatedly through the same desert doesn’t need 478 pages. Not even, if they do it 3 times. SciFi? Not so much.
Everybody who reads this book will be absolutely certain, Marak is not mad. From the very start. So, why insist, he’s battling insanity?
Some persons, who -obviously- got to this world on some kind of starship and manipulate the world via nanotech force the entire native population to a month-long trek through the desert? Why?
The Ila. To the main character “it is known where she came from”. Oh, thank you very much ... why not tell us, the readers, too?
I’m not following up with “The Forge of Heaven”. Giving up. Right here.
Everybody who reads this book will be absolutely certain, Marak is not mad. From the very start. So, why insist, he’s battling insanity?
Some persons, who -obviously- got to this world on some kind of starship and manipulate the world via nanotech force the entire native population to a month-long trek through the desert? Why?
The Ila. To the main character “it is known where she came from”. Oh, thank you very much ... why not tell us, the readers, too?
I’m not following up with “The Forge of Heaven”. Giving up. Right here.
July 10, 2012
Premise: Marak Trin is a madman. Like many, he tried to hide it - did successfully hide it for years. But finally the visions and the voices were too much, and when the Ila's men came rounding up the mad, his father the rebel leader surrendered him to the soldiers, and made a kind of peace with the Ila. All the mad are being brought across the desert to the holy city, for the Ila herself to judge. The Ila knows an opportunity when she sees one, and Marak will have a chance to solve the riddle of the visions. He has to try, if he wants to rescue his mother, himself, and possibly all the people living on the Lakht.
Like most of Cherryh's work that I've read, this started a little slow, but the story was so intriguing that I didn't mind.
It's an especially strong entry in the sub-genre of books which don't start out looking like science fiction, but get there in the end. For the first part of the book, it's simply an intriguing story of a group of oppressed people in a desert country who are just trying to make their way in the world. Eventually it becomes clear (no surprise, given the series' title) that the people of the Lahkt are about to be caught up in a war between races with incredible powers of bioengineering. Marak and his companions never fully understand what is going on, it's so far removed from their daily life. They can only guess as best they can at the motives of people who seem to them to be gods.
The portrait of the Ila's created society eventually explains many of its more illogical aspects. The balance between explanation and mystery is well done.
I really liked the character of Marak: divorced from everything he'd known or been taught, he finds within himself an ability to grasp the ineffable and a determination to protect others that he'd hardly suspected. Hati, a fierce tribeswoman among the mad, is also a fascinating character.
The descriptions of travel across the desert were full of delicate detail and seemed realistic. By the time the book switches gears into a race against time, I understood the magnitude of what the characters were up against.
Overall, a solid, engrossing read.
Like most of Cherryh's work that I've read, this started a little slow, but the story was so intriguing that I didn't mind.
It's an especially strong entry in the sub-genre of books which don't start out looking like science fiction, but get there in the end. For the first part of the book, it's simply an intriguing story of a group of oppressed people in a desert country who are just trying to make their way in the world. Eventually it becomes clear (no surprise, given the series' title) that the people of the Lahkt are about to be caught up in a war between races with incredible powers of bioengineering. Marak and his companions never fully understand what is going on, it's so far removed from their daily life. They can only guess as best they can at the motives of people who seem to them to be gods.
The portrait of the Ila's created society eventually explains many of its more illogical aspects. The balance between explanation and mystery is well done.
I really liked the character of Marak: divorced from everything he'd known or been taught, he finds within himself an ability to grasp the ineffable and a determination to protect others that he'd hardly suspected. Hati, a fierce tribeswoman among the mad, is also a fascinating character.
The descriptions of travel across the desert were full of delicate detail and seemed realistic. By the time the book switches gears into a race against time, I understood the magnitude of what the characters were up against.
Overall, a solid, engrossing read.
December 11, 2016
I adore C.J. Cherryh's Faded Sun Trilogy for its sparseness and portrayal of a plausible alien warrior culture. Hammerfall has many similarities, but is a much different work. It's like Walking Drum and Dune rolled into one story. In the book, Marak Trin Tain is a desert raider, and would be revolutionary, who finds himself in an unlikely alliance with his former nemesis as his madness barely allows him to function in the world. Both he and the God-Queen Ila are searching for the source of this madness and Marak discovers it with her material assistance. Some of the mystery is taken away when we discover the madness is simply nano-technology being employed on the world's citizens, but the ensuing struggle of a world full of people crossing the desert to safety (the nano-technology was essentially an early warning indicator of planet-wide destruction), keeps the reader going. This book isn't for everyone. It is no fast-paced, action-packed space opera. But if you like well-fleshed out worlds, lean desert warriors, and constant, unresolvable tension then this is your book. Not quite the literary quality of Dune, and admittedly I slowed down in the last half of the book, but still well worth the read. Solid 4 stars.
April 4, 2015
I found this a little disappointing, given the quality of the author's other books. While it started off well, with the intriguing mystery of the call that pulled the various disparate travellers across the desert, the explanations that were offered midway through the story were less than satisfactory.
Given the technological advances available to the visitors who presumably were able to ward off the planet wide catastrophes, why was it necessary to compel the planetary population to migrate across the forbidding desert? And the descriptions of the difficulties of desert travel start to pall after a while.
Given the technological advances available to the visitors who presumably were able to ward off the planet wide catastrophes, why was it necessary to compel the planetary population to migrate across the forbidding desert? And the descriptions of the difficulties of desert travel start to pall after a while.
January 13, 2011
I expected to love this book. The first 130-odd pages flew by in what seemed an instant. Then it got repetetive. Expected revelations weren't. Paragraphs started to seem too similar to what I'd already read. Characters' relationships didn't change. The urgency was lost. I was sad. If you've never read Cherryh before, I would recommend starting with Cyteen or the Faded Sun trilogy for SF lovers, or the Fortress trilogy for fantasy lovers.
August 25, 2017
This is the second sci-fi book I read where the journey (in this book journeys) went on way too long. Oh, the sand, and the water problems, and the vermin, and the wind, and the sand, and the water problems, and the vermin, and the wind, and so on. I know this book has been out for awhile but maybe just saying that the same thing happened for 30 days instead of giving us a blow-by-blow would have made this book better. The dialogue/action parts (except for the journeys) was good but the monotonousness brought this book down a star.
March 22, 2025
First published back in 2001, this science fiction novel works well as a standalone volume, though a sequel exists. For me, indeed, it worked very well. The situation fascinated me. The main character pleased me. I liked how the book let the reader understand aspects of the events better than the protagonist.
Mild spoilers ahead.
Is this my favorite book by C. J. Cherryh? No, but that's a high bar. Would I usually have awarded it a five-star review? Probably not. But I read it while on chemotherapy, and it entertained me in a most satisfactory manner from start to finish. Book appreciation depends not only on the particular reader, but also on the season in which they read the book. Therefore, I shall give this 4 and a 1/2 out of 5 hammering stars, rounded up.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
Mild spoilers ahead.
Is this my favorite book by C. J. Cherryh? No, but that's a high bar. Would I usually have awarded it a five-star review? Probably not. But I read it while on chemotherapy, and it entertained me in a most satisfactory manner from start to finish. Book appreciation depends not only on the particular reader, but also on the season in which they read the book. Therefore, I shall give this 4 and a 1/2 out of 5 hammering stars, rounded up.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
September 2, 2013
Cherryh is a fantastic writer but this is not one of her best works. It started out well enough and drew me immediately into the mystery of the "mad", but once the answer to the riddle was delivered, the story fell apart. Despite pages and pages of desert danger it was really boring. I found myself skipping pages and pages of the book to get to the part that actually advanced the story line. Sadly these parts were limited to about 25% of the book.
I think she also missed opportunity to flesh out characters and relationships. In most cases she simply threw people into the story and told us how great they were instead of taking the time to show us. Considering the amount of filler in the book, it could have been put to better use.
I think she also missed opportunity to flesh out characters and relationships. In most cases she simply threw people into the story and told us how great they were instead of taking the time to show us. Considering the amount of filler in the book, it could have been put to better use.
April 18, 2022
This one started so well and had so much potential. Unfortunately it was largely squandered among the endless scenes of travelling back and forth the same desert, dealing with the same issues (lack of water, sandstorms etc.). While the author must have done a lot of research into it, it just wasn't that gripping especially combined with the sexual drama that dominated the first half of the book and the fact that the characters weren't that interesting. The ending also feels a bit too abrupt.
What I liked was the science fantasy feel of the world. This, in my opinion, is a very underutilized genre. The hints of the greater setting and conflict behind the scenes were also really nice and I wish we received more of that.
What I liked was the science fantasy feel of the world. This, in my opinion, is a very underutilized genre. The hints of the greater setting and conflict behind the scenes were also really nice and I wish we received more of that.
April 26, 2017
I have just a few days ago finished this book for the 2nd time and I salute Ms. Cherryh for what I believe is some of her best work. She takes on an interesting challenge in a story which at it's core is science fiction, yet so much of the outer layers are pure fantasy as she explores a desert culture and environment rife with superstition, religion and intolerance. The nominal ruler of the very human population is more a god than a normal ruler; apparently long-lived in the extreme if not immortal and ruling with an iron fist. Ms. Cherryh does a wonderful job of introducing the characters such that each gets a foundation before the next is added. She then fills in details proportionate to their importance to the story. Well before the halfway point Marek becomes as close to being a real person as a fictional character can; and Hati gets there close behind him. The Ila handed to us as the villian refuses to conform as one Would expect. I love the fact that the author keeps us guessing till the very end as to who the villian(s) is/are; yet we never doubt for a moment the true heroes of the story despite their sometimes harsh & violent actions. I'll stop there so as not to give away to much. I found I enjoyed my second read through even more than the first time since I was not distracted at the start working out the who, what and where of the story. On top of that I think that my connection to both Marek and Hati became even more real as already remembering the basic story I could focus on the details this time. The sign of a true master storyteller is one that can keep you focused and immersed in their world again and again not just with a new book but rereading all the previous stories too. So my one sentence review of "Hammerfall" is thus... I strongly recommend fans of fantasy & science fiction both read it as the blend of each genre grants both enough to satisfy all. Once Marek and the mad set off to the east the action and suspense builds continously till the final chapter. The story is not only thrilling but thought provoking; in a world that does not suffer fools, may kill any who show compassion and reward the selfish and liars; can a truly honest man survive?
And is survival even an option if it requires the sacrifice of his humanity... and sanity?
All in all "Hammerfall" succeeds on all levels. It entertains, poses puzzles, presents an system of morals/ethics only somewhat like our own and finally gets you intertwined with the characters such that you will truly laugh, cry from joy and sorrow, not to mention share frustration/anger when "superior" beings show just how stupid they can still be.
Len Evans Jr
January 3, 2010
For those that don't read sf, they might find the first 5-10 pages of most sf novels hard to deal with because most sf authors make assumptions about the reader. And, subsequently, most sf readers know to "hang in there" because soon enough it will start to make sense. Cherryh probably takes this assumption about the reader and extends it double or triple.
It really took a lot of "hang in there" to get to the point where I felt like I knew what was going on. Having finished the story, there is still a lot of vagueness in certain areas, but overall, I like the story. And while I never could say I liked "the point-of-view" -- which consisted 100% of the world as seen through the primary character, Marak -- it was put to fairly good use, albeit confusing.
Most of the confusion came into play because Marak's world was so odd and different from our own. But there were many times Cherryh could have done a bit more exposition so that the reader better understood what was going on around Marak. My biggest peeve was "vermin." Only once was there a mention of what form this vermin might take -- a beetle -- but that was just for a moment, and never revisited. Only in the last few pages did she expound on details that the previous 99% of the story had you guessing. So, in that, she didn't trust her readers.
There was also this pounding "Marak, Marak, Marak..." throughout the story and, well, we GOT it! It may have been Cherryh's point to make it as tedious to us as it was to Marak, but it got old... real quick.
On the positive side, if we ignore the irritating issues I've discussed, the story was excellent and the characters all very well developed, as you'd expect. The world was fairly one-dimensional -- populated only by people, vermin and besha (camels) -- but that might have been part of the the point of the story. (To say more about that would spoil it.) So, overall, I did like it and could recommend it, but would temper it by saying, only for hard-core sf fans.
It really took a lot of "hang in there" to get to the point where I felt like I knew what was going on. Having finished the story, there is still a lot of vagueness in certain areas, but overall, I like the story. And while I never could say I liked "the point-of-view" -- which consisted 100% of the world as seen through the primary character, Marak -- it was put to fairly good use, albeit confusing.
Most of the confusion came into play because Marak's world was so odd and different from our own. But there were many times Cherryh could have done a bit more exposition so that the reader better understood what was going on around Marak. My biggest peeve was "vermin." Only once was there a mention of what form this vermin might take -- a beetle -- but that was just for a moment, and never revisited. Only in the last few pages did she expound on details that the previous 99% of the story had you guessing. So, in that, she didn't trust her readers.
There was also this pounding "Marak, Marak, Marak..." throughout the story and, well, we GOT it! It may have been Cherryh's point to make it as tedious to us as it was to Marak, but it got old... real quick.
On the positive side, if we ignore the irritating issues I've discussed, the story was excellent and the characters all very well developed, as you'd expect. The world was fairly one-dimensional -- populated only by people, vermin and besha (camels) -- but that might have been part of the the point of the story. (To say more about that would spoil it.) So, overall, I did like it and could recommend it, but would temper it by saying, only for hard-core sf fans.
December 18, 2016
I have enjoyed Cherryh in the past, but maybe I was more flexible back then. I am finding her less satisfying lately. I don't understand why these societies of hers must have, for example, slaves. Why can't the people who arrive in these feudal-ish places, desperate to save the world from destruction, take the short-cut of sending, say, sir questing person on some kind of flying machine with his message, instead of sending him all the way back the way he just came via camel-ish beast, whereupon he must return yet again, the way he just came, forcing us to endure a third time, a description of the same landscape, blah blah... I dunno.
It started out with an interesting-seeming premise, but it got awfully dilated, as I hope I have indicated.
It started out with an interesting-seeming premise, but it got awfully dilated, as I hope I have indicated.
June 2, 2009
Found her through Sargent's sci-fi collections. Cherryh is one of the few female hard/military sci-fi writers (see Downbelow Station). This one is not though and may even be considered more fantasy: on a desert planet, an unlikely group of people plagued with voices and visions of similar ilk, heading east to seek the source of their madness.
Cherryh's prose is unique, something I have found on the back of nearly every book of hers I pick up as well as reader reviews here and other book sites. It is lovely, clipped writing--though I wonder if she is successful at transporting her vision to the reader. Sometimes it falls kind of flat, like a wet newspaper flung one your welcome mat that you have to peel out of the plastic and sully yourself with if you want the good bits inside.
The beginning chapters of the story are the best, the idea is a good one, however by the end we are in our third trek across this small desert planet and know pretty much exactly how things are going to wind up and there are no surprises at the end. It all becomes pretty predictable. I did enjoy the book--for much of it I read voraciously, but I am left not caring too much about the characters and I am not driven to go and immediately grab the sequel, Forge of Heaven. I might get to it one day.
Cherryh's prose is unique, something I have found on the back of nearly every book of hers I pick up as well as reader reviews here and other book sites. It is lovely, clipped writing--though I wonder if she is successful at transporting her vision to the reader. Sometimes it falls kind of flat, like a wet newspaper flung one your welcome mat that you have to peel out of the plastic and sully yourself with if you want the good bits inside.
The beginning chapters of the story are the best, the idea is a good one, however by the end we are in our third trek across this small desert planet and know pretty much exactly how things are going to wind up and there are no surprises at the end. It all becomes pretty predictable. I did enjoy the book--for much of it I read voraciously, but I am left not caring too much about the characters and I am not driven to go and immediately grab the sequel, Forge of Heaven. I might get to it one day.
August 25, 2014
This author lost me here, I was looking for Science fiction, but after that orgy in the desert,no thanks. What did any of the things that has happened sexually has to do with SCI FI?
Why is that the black woman always a barbarian, uncooth and demands to have another woman in bed with them. I mean really, I was truyly enjoying this book until that episode in the desert. I thought it was going to be the strong woman having her mans back once they got together, but spoils it with what was a menage. I stopped giving a damn because they all turned out not only nuts but the women whores, the men perverted freaks. what's worst she made it seem as though the dessert (black woman) forced the man and other woman to have sex with her in a tent with a lot of other people doing who knows. I read sci fi to get away from that sort of thing, it's not science and it ain't fiction.
After that I stopped caring about what happenes to any of them, I stopped liking or even respecting both the male and female characters.
I enjoyed her foreigner series and was surprised this was one of hers.
I will be more careful what I read from this author in the future.
Why is that the black woman always a barbarian, uncooth and demands to have another woman in bed with them. I mean really, I was truyly enjoying this book until that episode in the desert. I thought it was going to be the strong woman having her mans back once they got together, but spoils it with what was a menage. I stopped giving a damn because they all turned out not only nuts but the women whores, the men perverted freaks. what's worst she made it seem as though the dessert (black woman) forced the man and other woman to have sex with her in a tent with a lot of other people doing who knows. I read sci fi to get away from that sort of thing, it's not science and it ain't fiction.
After that I stopped caring about what happenes to any of them, I stopped liking or even respecting both the male and female characters.
I enjoyed her foreigner series and was surprised this was one of hers.
I will be more careful what I read from this author in the future.
February 26, 2025
Waiting, and waiting, and waiting... for the Hammer to Fall.
I love most of Cheryh's work, but not this one which took me forever to read, likely due in large part because the book was such a drag. The writing style and prose is often quite good as typical with Cheryh, but inn the context of what occurs it is all so drawn out, repetitive, and monotonous that it was hard to enjoy and make it to the few interesting or truly emotional bits.
The novel is barely sci-fi in that it does deal some with how not one, but two genetic & nanotechnology engineers might effect an ecosystem, and how some might survive a extinction level event to adapt and construct a new ecosystem. But the majority of this overly-long novel is a fantasy telling of a quest-like mythic journey. It involves not one, but FOUR long jouneys through a relatively barren desert landscape told in minute and boring detail. The main character is a bit of Gary Stu too, in my opinion.
Read it if you are a big C. J. Check fan and completionist, but be prepared for monotony. And if you have never read Cheryh before, do NOT start with this book.
I love most of Cheryh's work, but not this one which took me forever to read, likely due in large part because the book was such a drag. The writing style and prose is often quite good as typical with Cheryh, but inn the context of what occurs it is all so drawn out, repetitive, and monotonous that it was hard to enjoy and make it to the few interesting or truly emotional bits.
The novel is barely sci-fi in that it does deal some with how not one, but two genetic & nanotechnology engineers might effect an ecosystem, and how some might survive a extinction level event to adapt and construct a new ecosystem. But the majority of this overly-long novel is a fantasy telling of a quest-like mythic journey. It involves not one, but FOUR long jouneys through a relatively barren desert landscape told in minute and boring detail. The main character is a bit of Gary Stu too, in my opinion.
Read it if you are a big C. J. Check fan and completionist, but be prepared for monotony. And if you have never read Cheryh before, do NOT start with this book.
February 28, 2016
Kept my attention throughout.
June 29, 2018
It's been a while since I've read any sci-fi, and this is certainly some good, old-fashioned, 'hard' sci-fi. Shades of Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. I thought it was mostly well-done. The plot ain't thrilling - there are more trips across the desert than some might find necessary in one book - but what makes for me is Marak's development as a leader over the course of these trips and the politics at play. Super interesting to me. And I did get caught up into the drama of 'will they make it??' I also liked the portrayal of how science/technology looks to people who don't have it - as one of my friends says, after a certain point science and magic are virtually indistinguishable, and to Marak and his world, they really are.
I thought the depiction of sex and gender was confusing, because there were some great feminist moments and some really un-feminist moments throughout the novel. Maybe this dates the book. There are many many strong, vivdly portrayed female characters - they outnumber the strong male characters, actually - but also Marak's relationship with the women closest to him isn't always that of equals. So I'll reserve judgement until I read another one of her books.
I thought the depiction of sex and gender was confusing, because there were some great feminist moments and some really un-feminist moments throughout the novel. Maybe this dates the book. There are many many strong, vivdly portrayed female characters - they outnumber the strong male characters, actually - but also Marak's relationship with the women closest to him isn't always that of equals. So I'll reserve judgement until I read another one of her books.
January 25, 2025
Marak, the protagonist of Hammerfall is the son of an ambitious village chieftain who has plotted to overthrow 'the Ila' -- the woman who rules everyone but the few tribes that have moved out of her reach -- . At first it is a little unclear why he has this ambition, but his son Marak is loyal and is proving himself to be better and stronger than his father. Uh oh. Marak also turns out to be one of the 'mad' -- people who have visions of apocalypse and fits of collapse and are usually driven to travel 'east east east' Dad, who is worried about Marak's competition, has his son rounded up with the new crop of the mad and sent to the Ila who lives in a giant tower. Have I said this is a world with scant water? Essentially desert? The Ila has water so she has a big city around her tower, which you the reader begin to wonder about because you (and me) like Marak have no clue what is really going on. But the Ila has some plan and she sends this latest crop of the mad east to see what is there. What is there is another huge tower . . . . with two people living in it who are utterly different. And Marak and his cohort learn that they have been 'infected' with nanoceles by both the Ila and these new people and that there is a battle going on between them in their bodies part of the greater struggle to resolve and maintain peace with an alien race and up there are two stations, one of humans, one of the mysterious ondat whom the humans have wronged and damaged with their careless use of nanotechnology . . . anyway, that gives you the idea. Throughout Marak is the sanest, steadiest person of all and he is probably among the most 'lovable' (if such is possible) of Cherryh's characters, and he is also believable despite being so great. The story is perhaps a tad too complex but really I'll take on Cherryh anytime.
Sorry this is so long! ****
Sorry this is so long! ****
December 20, 2017
Cherryh's Gene Wars series is made up of "Hammerfall" and "Forge of Heaven". It is a universe updated due to scientific changes since the creation of her Alliance-Union construct, however, it is still very indebted to the original concepts of Stationer culture. What has changed is gene engineering and alien contact.
"Hammerfall" is basically a cross between Lawrence of Arabia, Dune, and the Exodus. The author explores a desert based culture with a deus ex machina embedded in the genetic substrate. A harsh and isolated culture dominated by its environment thrown into turmoil by extraplanetary agents. It is a sparse but vivid world that one cannot question its veracity while immersed in the story.
"Forge of Heaven" takes the series into the realm of Robinson's "Red Mars" and Herbert's "God-Emperor of Dune" but only on a superficial level. In reality, it is a good old fashion Stationer action story. It explores multiple levels of society encapsulated in the Concord Station orbiting the planetary setting of "Hammerfall". While the first novel is an experiment, "Forge" is the well-known ground of the author's success. What she adds to her body of work is the impact of a thoroughly wired world and a cosmetic genetically enhancement society. The sequel delivers the goods.
Both books produce the excitement and action Cherryh fans have come to know and love from this veteran SF author. You won't be disappointed.
"Hammerfall" is basically a cross between Lawrence of Arabia, Dune, and the Exodus. The author explores a desert based culture with a deus ex machina embedded in the genetic substrate. A harsh and isolated culture dominated by its environment thrown into turmoil by extraplanetary agents. It is a sparse but vivid world that one cannot question its veracity while immersed in the story.
"Forge of Heaven" takes the series into the realm of Robinson's "Red Mars" and Herbert's "God-Emperor of Dune" but only on a superficial level. In reality, it is a good old fashion Stationer action story. It explores multiple levels of society encapsulated in the Concord Station orbiting the planetary setting of "Hammerfall". While the first novel is an experiment, "Forge" is the well-known ground of the author's success. What she adds to her body of work is the impact of a thoroughly wired world and a cosmetic genetically enhancement society. The sequel delivers the goods.
Both books produce the excitement and action Cherryh fans have come to know and love from this veteran SF author. You won't be disappointed.
July 1, 2019
I’m always somewhat suspicious of books that I’ve never particularly heard of being praised by random critic quotes on the dust cover as masterpieces. Preferring to form my own opinions, I reserve judgment until the book is actually read.
My verdict? Masterpiece is vastly overstating it. While I’ve gotten back into reading C.J. Cherryh with Downbelow Station, greatly appreciating the psychological twists and turns st within an expanding human destiny spreading throughout the stars, Hammerfall feels like Dune seen from the perspective of Rosencrantz or Guildenstern. Desert tribes have mad people among them, driven to the same point. The son of a chieftain disowned by his father is given over to the mad troupe traipsing across the desert. We only see the power and the influence of those who are struggling for the control of the planet offhand whenever said son interacts with the one who is sending him out to basically find out about the plans of her otherworldly enemies. Because it turns out that the madness is a beacon to save the native inhabitants of the world from the coming apocalypse. Shades of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, dark version. We don’t learn about the great machinations and the centuries-long struggles for control over the world until it’s on the brink of massive upheaval. Having to wade through an entire novel to have this dangled before me as an incentive to read the next one holds no interest.
My verdict? Masterpiece is vastly overstating it. While I’ve gotten back into reading C.J. Cherryh with Downbelow Station, greatly appreciating the psychological twists and turns st within an expanding human destiny spreading throughout the stars, Hammerfall feels like Dune seen from the perspective of Rosencrantz or Guildenstern. Desert tribes have mad people among them, driven to the same point. The son of a chieftain disowned by his father is given over to the mad troupe traipsing across the desert. We only see the power and the influence of those who are struggling for the control of the planet offhand whenever said son interacts with the one who is sending him out to basically find out about the plans of her otherworldly enemies. Because it turns out that the madness is a beacon to save the native inhabitants of the world from the coming apocalypse. Shades of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, dark version. We don’t learn about the great machinations and the centuries-long struggles for control over the world until it’s on the brink of massive upheaval. Having to wade through an entire novel to have this dangled before me as an incentive to read the next one holds no interest.
June 30, 2024
Relentless travel and more travel
Alternate universe, SF, survival, apocalypse
Grim and erudite, the story of people battling the harsh desert environment to survive as the terraforming by an alien race forces all the humans to flee, under the leadership of those deemed mad, mentally driven by the advanced humans that came to save them from coming apocalypse. Dense story that conveyed both the desert nomadic lifestyle, and the near impossible task given by their would-be saviors.
The tribes were honed by their desert environment and nomadic lifestyle. How will they adjust to a more temperate climate, and how much will it change the survivors? Human can alter their environment, but any society, especially in its foundational period, is framed by the environment in which it endeavors to survive. Sometimes all that matters is not whether one good or evil, kind, or cruel, but merely if one is lucky. The rest simply perish.
A few typos due to scanning issues, though the text blocks quoted at the start of each chapter were set to a quite tiny size, much smaller than the main body, and difficult to read. And changing the book to block paragraphs was another weird choice.
Alternate universe, SF, survival, apocalypse
Grim and erudite, the story of people battling the harsh desert environment to survive as the terraforming by an alien race forces all the humans to flee, under the leadership of those deemed mad, mentally driven by the advanced humans that came to save them from coming apocalypse. Dense story that conveyed both the desert nomadic lifestyle, and the near impossible task given by their would-be saviors.
The tribes were honed by their desert environment and nomadic lifestyle. How will they adjust to a more temperate climate, and how much will it change the survivors? Human can alter their environment, but any society, especially in its foundational period, is framed by the environment in which it endeavors to survive. Sometimes all that matters is not whether one good or evil, kind, or cruel, but merely if one is lucky. The rest simply perish.
A few typos due to scanning issues, though the text blocks quoted at the start of each chapter were set to a quite tiny size, much smaller than the main body, and difficult to read. And changing the book to block paragraphs was another weird choice.
August 27, 2020
I can't remember ever dragging myself to the end of a book like this. I was hoping for development of the interesting parts in the middle of the book, but instead I got crossing the same desert four different times.
The brutal moral calculus of the final trip could have been engaging, but that was left on the sidelines in return for a lot of generic desert hardship and the revenge arc. I could have done without the physical conflict completely, though that wasn't the worst offender for padding out the book.
Given the level of technology the spacefarers have, using the nanomachines to scream incessantly in people's heads makes no sense. It isn't rational, it isn't interesting, and I don't think it even raised the dramatic tension all that much. The same names and apocalyptic visions were repeated literally dozens of times throughout the book and they just grew tiresome.
Cherryh has written some great books. How, of all her work, did this one get on my TBR list?
The brutal moral calculus of the final trip could have been engaging, but that was left on the sidelines in return for a lot of generic desert hardship and the revenge arc. I could have done without the physical conflict completely, though that wasn't the worst offender for padding out the book.
Given the level of technology the spacefarers have, using the nanomachines to scream incessantly in people's heads makes no sense. It isn't rational, it isn't interesting, and I don't think it even raised the dramatic tension all that much. The same names and apocalyptic visions were repeated literally dozens of times throughout the book and they just grew tiresome.
Cherryh has written some great books. How, of all her work, did this one get on my TBR list?
August 6, 2025
Spoiler alert (sort of). It's not really a spoiler because there is no real mystery or big reveal or plot progression. The reason this is not a 1 star review is quite simply because the style of writing is pleasant to read. However, there are a very large number of highly repetitive, highly descriptive passages/pages/narratives with zero or near zero plot progression. The story itself probably could have been told in about 20 pages. I have issues with the fact that the more technologically advanced characters communicate with the less technologically advanced characters in a stupid and unlikely manner. It just doesn't make sense. This is my first C.J.Cherryh book and I am too afraid to try any more. At one point I was skipping ten pages at a time and reading one sentence and not missing anything for about 50-80 pages...............AVOID
October 8, 2023
I don't think this book needed to be in the Gene Wars history, and may have even hurt it.
This book *reads* like any Conan or Tarzan novel. There's a protagonist who has to use both intelligence and physical prowess to succeed. There is a love-interest. There are powerful religious institutions and leaders. There are people to rescue. There is foreign culture and exotic lands.
If the book had *only* been about solving the mystery of what was falling from the sky (and the struggle to avoid it) it would have been a perfectly entertaining and intriguing book. Instead, the author needs to tie it to a larger story, I suppose, to make it "larger" than it really is.
As it is, it's "fine" if all you're expecting is a romping adventure, but try to ignore the distractions.
This book *reads* like any Conan or Tarzan novel. There's a protagonist who has to use both intelligence and physical prowess to succeed. There is a love-interest. There are powerful religious institutions and leaders. There are people to rescue. There is foreign culture and exotic lands.
If the book had *only* been about solving the mystery of what was falling from the sky (and the struggle to avoid it) it would have been a perfectly entertaining and intriguing book. Instead, the author needs to tie it to a larger story, I suppose, to make it "larger" than it really is.
As it is, it's "fine" if all you're expecting is a romping adventure, but try to ignore the distractions.
January 26, 2019
I've barely scratched the surface of Cherryh's huge output of SF and fantasy, but what I have read shows a remarkable consistency of quality and style. Her writing is quite distinctive, and anyone familiar with her work would probably recognise one of her novels without having to look for her name on the cover.
Hammerfall is very typical Cherryh - not just in the style, but in the strong characters, exotic locations and complex plots. Her depiction of travel through a harsh desert landscape is especially vivid. I did find the story a little slow in parts, but as the plot gains pace the tension is skillfully ratcheted up to reach a powerful climax.
Hammerfall is very typical Cherryh - not just in the style, but in the strong characters, exotic locations and complex plots. Her depiction of travel through a harsh desert landscape is especially vivid. I did find the story a little slow in parts, but as the plot gains pace the tension is skillfully ratcheted up to reach a powerful climax.
July 29, 2024
I’m DNFing this one, I guess. It’s my second attempt at this author and I’m beginning to think I just don’t jibe with her writing style. The idea of the story that I fashioned for myself upon reading the blurb seemed cool. The problem was that my idea and what the book actually is do not match. The cover art and blurb promise a SF story but I tell you I’m a good way into the book and it reads far more like a fantasy, with talk of demons and other concepts more often found in fantasy. The sleek otherworldly construction on the cover hasn’t shown up yet and I’m really bored of these demon-possessed people and their never-ending trek to find the source of their demon-visions.
March 19, 2020
++Cherryh wrote about nanocells infecting human's on a wide scale in this novel printed 2001. The planet involved is somewhat like the earth's deserts, except they are almost 100% of the terrain there. The nanocells called makers and nanoceles in the novel have driven them mad, but allow them to heal quickly and perhaps live longer. One incredible journey follows another, families are formed and dissolved, betrayal exists at all levels, but new friendships are also made under incredible hardship. The planet face is being changed.++
July 24, 2022
The plot seemed interesting, a unique world with the protagonist a low tech nomad in a world with far greater tech than most on his planet suspected. However, it was just boring and I gave up at about 30% when I realized I didn't really care about anyone, including the main character or his love interests. I vaguely remember reading this decades ago so I remembered the main plot which is probably part of the problem. I think the book is much more interesting on a first read when everything is a mystery and not so interesting on a reread when it is just plodding.
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