The Cherryh Odyssey

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The Cherryh Odyssey
CherryhOdysseyCoverScan.jpg
First edition book cover
AuthorEdward Carmien (ed)
Cover artist David Cherry
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Literary criticism, science fiction / fantasy
Publisher Borgo Press
Publication date
September 2004
Media typeprint (hardback)
Pages280 (first edition)
ISBN 0-8095-1071-5

The Cherryh Odyssey is a 2004 collection of essays by various academics, critics and authors about American Hugo Award-winning science fiction and fantasy author, C. J. Cherryh. It was edited by author and academic, Edward Carmien, and was published by Borgo Press, an imprint of Wildside Press as part of its Author Study series. Locus Magazine put the book on its "2004 Recommended Reading List", [1] and Carmien received a nomination for the 2005 Locus Award for Best Non-fiction book for The Cherryh Odyssey. [2]

Contents

The book's cover was painted by Cherryh's brother, David Cherry. He had originally intended it to be used for the cover of Cherryh's 1986 collection of short fiction, Visible Light , but it was "not warmly received by the publisher". [3]

Background

C. J. Cherryh (a pseudonym for Carolyn Janice Cherry) is an American science fiction and fantasy author who has written over 60 novels. She has received several literary awards, including three Hugo Awards for the short story "Cassandra" (1978), and the novels Downbelow Station (1981) and Cyteen (1988). [4] She added a silent "h" to her real name at the suggestion of her first editor because he felt that "Cherry" sounded too much like a romance writer. She also used the initials "C. J." to hide the fact that she was female, at a time (the mid-1970s) when most science fiction writers were male. [5]

Edward Carmien is a fiction and non-fiction author and editor of science fiction, fantasy and other topics. He is professor of English at Mercer County Community College, New Jersey, where he teaches science fiction. Carmien is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA). [6] [7]

The Cherryh Odyssey was compiled by Carmien to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of Cherryh's first two novels in 1976, Gate of Ivrel and Brothers of Earth . [8]

Table of contents

  1. "Preface" – by Edward Carmien
  2. "About the Cover" – by David Cherry
  3. "Introduction: What We Do for Love" – by James Gunn
  4. "The Cherryh Legacy ... An Author's Perspective" – by Jane Fancher
  5. "A Pioneer of the Mind" – by Betsy Wollheim
  6. "Oklahoma Launch" – by Bradley H. Sinor
  7. "C.J. Cherryh's Fiction" – by Burton Raffel
  8. "A Great Deal in Sand: Hammerfall by C.J. Cherryh" – by John Clute
  9. "C.J. Cherryh: Is There Really Only One of Her?" – by Heather Stark
  10. "Shifting Ground: Subjectivities in Cherryh's Slavic Fantasy Trilogy" – by Janice Bogstad
  11. "The Human as Other in the Science Fiction Novels of C.J. Cherryh" – by J. G. Stinson
  12. "A Woman with a Mission; or, Why Vanye's Tale Is Morgaine's Saga" – by Janice C. Crosby
  13. "Of Emorys and Warricks: Self-Creation in Cyteen" – by Susan Bernardo
  14. "Dr. Ariane Emory, Sr.: Psychopath—Or Savior?" – by Elizabeth Romey
  15. "The Literary Life of C.J. Cherryh" – by Edward Carmien
  16. "Selected Bibliography of C.J. Cherryh" – by Stan Szalewicz

Synopsis

The Cherryh Odyssey consists of eight analytical essays on C. J. Cherryh's works, four personal reflections, and a fifty-six page bibliography of Cherryh by Stan Szalewicz. Also included is a preface and a biography, "The Literary Life of C.J. Cherryh" by the editor, Edward Carmien.

In "Introduction: What We Do for Love", science fiction author and scholar James Gunn explains how difficult it must have been for Cherryh to enter the male-dominated science fiction arena in the mid-1970s. He says that she wrote for the love of story-telling rather than for the money. Author and artist Jane Fancher, Cherryh's business and writing partner contributes a personal tribute, "The Cherryh Legacy ... An Author's Perspective" in which she relates Cherryh's childhood and her school and college years. At the age of ten, Cherryh started writing her own stories when Flash Gordon , her favorite TV program was cancelled. In this essay Fancher also analyses Cherryh's writing style, in particular a technique Cherryh calls "Third Person Intense Internal" (TPI-squared), in which the writer only narrates what the viewpoint character sees and thinks about. Betsy Wollheim, the daughter of Cherryh's first publisher, Donald A. Wollheim, gives another personal account of Cherryh in "A Pioneer of the Mind". Wollheim describes the relationship that developed between her father, also a science fiction writer, and Cherryh, and recounts Cherryh's passion for space travel that is reflected in many of her stories. In "Oklahoma Launch", author Bradley H. Sinor gives his views on Cherryh, who later became his friend and mentor. They both lived in Lawton, Oklahoma during their childhood, and crossed paths again at a University of Oklahoma science fiction club meeting. [8]

Translator and poet Burton Raffel explores the literary aspects of most of Cherryh's science fiction novels in "C.J. Cherryh's Fiction". He describes Cherryh as "a master of detail, tone, and emotional wallop." [8] "A Great Deal in Sand: Hammerfall by C.J. Cherryh" is an extract from author and critic John Clute's essay collection, Scores: Reviews 1993–2003. Here Clute analyses Cherryh's Gene War novels Hammerfall (2001) and its sequel Forge of Heaven (2004), and takes her writing to task, complaining about, amongst other things, the "literal back-and-forth slog through the desert" that dominates the story. [8] Heather Stark in "C.J. Cherryh: Is There Really Only One of Her?" questions how one person can write so many books in thirty years. She also examines the ratio of Cherryh's science fiction to fantasy output, concluding that, in her opinion, Cherryh's science fiction works better than her fantasy. In contrast, academic Janice Bogstad praises Cherryh's fantasy in "Shifting Ground: Subjectivities in Cherryh's Slavic Fantasy Trilogy". Here Bogstad analyses Cherryh's Russian trilogy , Rusalka (1989), Chernevog (1990) and Yvgenie (1991), explaining how her use of magic "complicates and questions typical high-fantasy tropes, particularly wizards and magic powers." [8] Bogstad maintains that Cherryh's books are "satires of their respective genres due to the conveyed intensity of the mental and emotional challenges the characters face in their out-of-the-ordinary experiences." [8]

Critic J. G. Stinson explores how human characters in Cherryh's fiction cope with and adjust to alien cultures in "The Human as Other in the Science Fiction Novels of C.J. Cherryh". She shows how they "all absorb elements of the thinking, behavior, and worldview of their 'adopted' cultures", [9] that gives readers a "highly believable window into worlds and minds outside their own." [10] Janice C. Crosby analyses gender roles in Cherryh's four-book Morgaine Saga in her essay "A Woman With a Mission; or, Why Vanye's Tale is Morgaine's Saga". Cherryh's Hugo Award winning novel, Cyteen is the subject of two essays, "Of Emorys and Warricks: Self-Creation in Cyteen" by academic Susan Bernardo, and "Dr. Ariane Emory, Sr.: Psychopath—Or Savior?" by academic Elizabeth Romey. Both examine the relationship between a senior scientist Dr. Ariane Emory and her apprentice Justin Warrick at a research facility on the planet of Cyteen. [8]

The "Selected Bibliography of C.J. Cherryh" was compiled by Stan Szalewicz, a media librarian at Rider University in New Jersey, and is an in-depth 56-page document that comprises: [8] [11]

Reception

Jeff D’Anastasio, in a review of The Cherryh Odyssey in the SFRA Review described the book as "a remarkable anthology of personal tributes and literary analysis." He said it is "a must—not only for all of her fans, but also for anyone teaching her works." [8] David G. Hartwell, publisher of The New York Review of Science Fiction , said that The Cherryh Odyssey is "where all future Cherryh scholarship will begin." [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. J. Cherryh</span> American speculative fiction author (born 1942)

Carolyn Janice Cherry, better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award–winning novels Downbelow Station (1981) and Cyteen (1988), both set in her Alliance–Union universe, and her Foreigner series. She is known for worldbuilding, depicting fictional realms with great realism supported by vast research in history, language, psychology, and archeology.

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Chernevog is a fantasy novel by American science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. It was first published in September 1990 in the United States in a hardcover edition by Ballantine Books under its Del Rey Books imprint. Chernevog is book two of Cherryh's three-book Russian Stories trilogy set in medieval Russia in forests along the Dnieper River near Kyiv in modern-day Ukraine. The novel draws on Slavic folklore, the title of the novel being a variant name of the "black god" Chernobog, and concerns the fate of a girl who has drowned and become a rusalka. It is also an exploration of magic and the development of a young wizard.

<i>Yvgenie</i> 1991 novel by C. J. Cherryh

Yvgenie is a fantasy novel by American science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. It was first published in October 1991 in the United States in a hardcover edition by Ballantine Books under its Del Rey Books imprint. Yvgenie is book three of Cherryh's three-book Russian Stories trilogy set in medieval Russia in forests along the Dnieper River near Kyiv in modern-day Ukraine. The novel draws on Slavic folklore and concerns the fate of a girl who has drowned and become a rusalka. It is also an exploration of magic and the development of a young wizard.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. J. Cherryh bibliography</span>

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<i>Gate of Ivrel</i> 1976 novel by C. J. Cherryh

Gate of Ivrel is a 1976 novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh, her first published work. It is the first of four books composing the Morgaine Stories, chronicling the deeds of Morgaine, a woman consumed by a mission of the utmost importance, and her chance-met companion, Nhi Vanye i Chya.

<i>The Russian Stories</i> (C. J. Cherryh) Fantasy novel series by C. J. Cherryh

The Russian Stories, also known as the Russian Series, the Russian Trilogy and the Rusalka Trilogy, are a series of fantasy novels by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. The stories are set in medieval Russia along the Dnieper river, in a fictional alternate history of Kievan Rus', a predecessor state of modern-day Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The three books in the series are Rusalka (1989), Chernevog (1990), and Yvgenie (1991). Rusalka was nominated for a Locus Award in 1990.

<i>Forge of Heaven</i> 2004 novel by C. J. Cherryh

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<i>Cuckoos Egg</i> (book) 1985 science fiction novel by C. J. Cherryh

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<i>Hunter of Worlds</i> 1977 novel by C. J. Cherryh

Hunter of Worlds is a 1977 science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It was published by DAW Books, first as a Science Fiction Book Club selection through Nelson Doubleday in March 1977 and then in a DAW paperback edition in August of that year. The work is set in Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe and occurs in the far future during the period of the Hanan Revolution, although the events portrayed in the novel take place in another sector of the galaxy.

<i>Hammerfall</i> (novel) 2001 novel by C. J. Cherryh

Hammerfall is a science fiction novel by American science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. It was first published in June 2001 in the United States by HarperCollins under its Eos Books imprint. It was also serialized in two parts as Ribelle Genetico and Il Pianeta del Deserto in the Italian science fiction magazine, Urania, published in issue 1425 in October 2001, and issue 1430 in January 2002, respectively.

Several themes recur throughout the works of American science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh.

<i>Regenesis</i> (novel) 2009 science fiction novel by C. J. Cherryh

Regenesis (2009) is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh, set in her Alliance-Union universe. It is a sequel to Cherryh's Cyteen, and was published in hardcover by DAW Books in January 2009. The teenage clone of a top scientist and political leader unravels the decades-old murder of her "genemother", while also dealing with threats to her own welfare.

References

  1. ↑ "2004 Recommended Reading List". Locus . Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Locus Award Nominees List". Locus . Archived from the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  3. ↑ Carmien 2004, "About the Cover", p. 17.
  4. ↑ "C. J. Cherryh". Future Fiction. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  5. ↑ Carmien 2004, "Introduction: What We Do for Love", p. 19.
  6. ↑ "Scholarly Activities". Newswire @ Rider. March 22, 2005. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  7. ↑ Reid, Robin Anne (2009). Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy: Overviews. ABC-CLIO. p. 347. ISBN   978-0-313-33591-4.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 D’Anastasio, Jeff (April 2005). "The Cherryh Odyssey" (PDF). SFRA Review (272): 16–19.
  9. ↑ Carmien 2004, "The Human as Other in the Science Fiction Novels of C.J. Cherryh", p. 135.
  10. ↑ Carmien 2004, "The Human as Other in the Science Fiction Novels of C.J. Cherryh", p. 146.
  11. ↑ Carmien 2004, "Selected Bibliography of C.J. Cherryh", p. 213.
  12. ↑ "The Cherryh Odyssey" (PDF). Steam Engine Time (4): 39. January 2005.

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