The Sword and Laser discussion

I'm with you, Alex! Their simple phrases make their statements feel very genuine and honest. I just love it!

Also, the Hisa's speech pattern kind of reminds me of my grandmother when she speaks English.

It's definitely powerful Took me awhile to get used to. They seemed so... forward. Like talking Bonobos.

I honestly find myself more concerned over the Hisa than most of the humans. I hope that the humans don't screw over the hisa any more than they already have.

However, I do find myself thinking of the hisa like wild care bears or even teletubbies...

When I realized it was possible that some of them might die, I stayed up all night reading only because I couldn't sleep if ANY of these darlings were injured or worse. My favorite humans might die? Acceptable. I wouldn't have lost sleep over them. Satin and Bluetooth in danger? If a hair on their bodies was hurt.....

Omg. Love them!

Teena wrote: "I'm with you, Alex! Their simple phrases make their statements feel very genuine and honest. I just love it!

Also, the Hisa's speech pattern kind of reminds me of my grandmother when she speaks En..."

: D

It took me a while to get used to them, but I agree I too find my sympathies drawn to them more than most of the humans.

I like the fact that they are a genuinely gentle species. Most sci-fi aliens tend to be portrayed as complex and unpleasant like humans. The fact that they are not portrayed like that makes them feel all the more alien...

I think I may have reacted the opposite way to most people in this thread. I think I found the hisa just too lovey-dovey and so they provoked a negative reaction from me.

For me the character I cared about, or was the most interested in was Mallory - not that I liked her, she's a rapist for how she treated Talley at the beginning of the book, using him sexually while he's completely messed up from the brain washing techniques they've used on him. But she was a complex, conflicted, ruthless, thoroughly human character whom I got completely caught up in. If only there were more vividly rotten characters in the book and less 'goodies'!

Jay wrote: "I think I may have reacted the opposite way to most people in this thread. I think I found the hisa just too lovey-dovey and so they provoked a negative reaction from me.

For me the character I ca..."

Yeah, I totally agree with you! I loved reading Mallory's parts. Her perspective was so realistic and commanding. I mean, with just with the opening of the book she became a character that I really wanted to learn more about. She was complex, and that's what drew me to her. Same goes with Talley and his storyline.

But I still have have this soft spot for the Hisa. I really think Cherryh did a great job depicting them, especially when they become that invisible force in the war. Most people in the book underestimate them as just being hairy Downers. They seem to be very simple and caring creatures on the surface, but I think that we just don't fully understand them because their culture is so different and things get lost in translation. There are parts in the book where the Hisa are shown to be capable of hate (Lukas man) and competition (Bluetooth and Big Foot), so they aren't completely good and simple creatures. They observe and make decisions of their own.

Plus, their situation really reminds me of the stories my grandparents told me about WWII--their perspective of growing up during that time and being forced into the middle of this war that was too complex for them to fully understand. It's subtle, but it hits a chord with me.

Jay wrote: "If only there were more vividly rotten characters in the book and less 'goodies'! "

Forgot to mention that I agree with this, too! I remember going through a bunch of Konstantin sections in (maybe) Part 1 and 2 of the book, and thinking, "when is Mallory coming back into the story?" It would have been interesting to include perspectives from more ethically compromised characters.

Jay wrote: "For me the character I cared about, or was the most interested in was Mallory"

Interesting. Personally, my mind lemmed Mallory long ago. I'm listening to the audio, and whenever her parts come up, I tend to find my attention has drifted, and only notice when another character takes the stand again. So to me she is an utter blank. The Hisa I tend to notice more, partly because their horrid voices tend to get my brain to realise 'oh yeah, I'm supposed to be listening to this', but also I actually find their story quite compelling. I want them to be okay.

Mallory was my favorite character. I saw her as a practical realist, someone who is able to accurately focus on what is happening and decide NOW, doing what's best for her ship and crew, her priority. She didn't have much sentimentality. She was a fantastic military four star general-type. Obviously not the best person to perform as a warm and fuzzy soother - that's why we needed the hisas. The hisas were the actual moral center humans pretend to be, whatever their tendencies to minor squabbles. Their first impulses were to help - generally the humans did not help anyone until checking if their weapons were loaded and then thinking about if it was worth it. Not judging! Humans ARE more complex than hisas.

Does anyone have a good mental picture of the hisa. I'm picturing homo erectus or some other human ancester, but maybe I'm forgetting early descriptions.

Emily wrote: "Does anyone have a good mental picture of the hisa. I'm picturing homo erectus or some other human ancester, but maybe I'm forgetting early descriptions."

I pictured them as that, too, or sometimes skinny ewoks.

I sort of viewed them as big talking bears.

I always pictured them as kind of kangaroo-like things. I love the way Cherryh does aliens-- see Chanur for a great set of examples

Alex wrote: "I pictured them exactly like Grunts from the Halo franchise.

(But cuter and not snarling...It might just be their similar mannerisms)

"

I am a little startled.

Emily wrote: "Does anyone have a good mental picture of the hisa. I'm picturing homo erectus or some other human ancester, but maybe I'm forgetting early descriptions."

Orang utans crossed with sloths. But a tiny bit more humanoid.

like this:

Skip wrote: "like this:

"

ROTF!!!!

Skip wrote: "like this:

"

And from now on, Elmo is how I will see all Hisa. I am not yet sure if this is a blessing or a curse. Do they like to be tickled?

Love the variety of answers I'm getting. No one's wrong. Imaging them as halo grunts is making me laugh. Especially the noise when you shoot them. And a large group of elmos is terrifying. Nuke it from orbit.