Title: Downbelow Station (Company Wars #1)

Author: C. J. Cherryh

Genre: Sci-fi

Publisher: Daw Books
Publication date: December, 1981
My version: Paperback, 526 pages (started with the audiobook)


Back cover:

The Beyond started with the Stations orbiting the nearest Earth. The Great Circle the interstellar freighters traveled was long but not unmanageable, and the early Stations were dependent on Mother Earth. The Earth Company which ran this immense operation reaped incalculable profits and influenced the affairs of nations.

Then came Pell, the first Station centered around a newly-discovered living planet. The discovery of Pell's World forever altered the power balance of Beyond. Earth was no longer the anchor which kept this vast empire from coming adrift, the one living mote in a sterile universe.

But Pell was just the first living planet. Then came Cyteen, and later others, and a new and frighteningly different society grew in the farther reaches of space. The importance of Earth faded and the Company reaped ever smaller profits as the economic focus of space turned outward. But the powerful Earth Fleet was still a presence in the Beyond, and Pell Station was about to become the final stronghold in a titanic struggle between the vast, dynamic forces of the rebel Union and those who defended Earth's last desperate grasp for the stars.

So, my main reason for reading this book was that it was Sword & Laser's book of the month for March 2013. And I was so happy they picked it! It was hard to get a hold of it in France (although I think they would've had it in British Amazon, I forgot to check that one) or you could get it but it took weeks. So, I got the audio version to start with. But what I learned (which I already suspected) was that I'm not an audiobook person. I'm very picky about the reader and I just don't take the time to listen. And when I do have time, I have all these podcasts I want to listen. But once I got the book (I was about 40 % done by the time), I finished it quite quickly: because it was awesome! I love multiple point of views and character driven stories. I loved that you could see many sides to the conflict, although I think you can see which people the writer prefers.

My definite favorite of the characters was captain Signy Mallory and I wish there was more about her. She was totally awesome, but flawed which made her a real person and she just didn't take crap from anyone. And I love the way she's unapologetically selfish and knows it. She wants to do things her way, but at the same time she's a fair leader and the crew knows they can trust her. Also, what I love about the book is, that in general there was women as well as men in all the levels of hierarchy. And it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't in any way commented, it was just characters interacting with each other. And also: some people just are married and that's that. It's not like they have to have all these crises and other women/men, that's just part of their life. Well, that's life in general, but sometimes I feel this is forgotten, especially in the sci-fi genre.

What I was really surprised about was that I hadn't heard of this book before. I mean it is a Hugo winner, after all. And yes, I haven't read that much sci-fi, so this might be the reason, but then again I have heard writers like Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert even before I read them. Well, I actually haven't read them... Only The Foundation from Asimov. But that's my point. This was SO MUCH BETTER! I don't know if Cherryh is just undervalued because she's a woman, or if the character driven stories have been undervalued in sci-fi in general. But that was the main weakness in Foundation in my opinion. I mean, they talk about psychology and how everything can be predicted, but if you read any history or science books about human behavior you learn, that humans are actually quite unpredictable. I just found Foundation very unbelievable. But Downbelow Station was totally believable and I can't wait to read more of the series.

Cheese slices: