Cyteen

Cyteen, Books 1-3

By: C. J. Cherryh

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Jonathan Davis

Length: 36 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

The saga of two young friends trapped in an endless nightmare of suspicion and surveillance, of cyber-programmed servants and a ruling class with century-long lives - and the enigmatic woman who dominates them all. Narrators Jonathan Davis and Gabra Zackman skillfully split up this sweeping sci-fi epic that is "at once a psychological novel, a murder mystery, and an examination of power on a grand scale." (Locus)

©1988 C.J. Cherryh (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award, Best Novel, 1989

“Strongly recommended…. A future as detailed as that of Herbert’s Dune, with dozens of complex characters…. all the paranoid tension of a spy thriller.” (Newsday)

“A massive, multifaceted novel that tackles a variety of ethical, social, and political issues…. Cherryh’s worldbuilding is ambitious and her main characterizations are well-individualized…. Ultimately fascinating in concept and detail. Decidedly a major work.” (Booklist)

Great read

Very much enjoyed. I am not used to stories of this length and thought it would be hard to follow, it was the complete opposite I could not stop. Left me wanting more.

Absorbing, rich, complicated, compelling

I will confess it up front. I love this book.

Yes, it's long. It was originally published in three volumes in paperback, in the late 1980s. That made sense from a physical size point of view; it doesn't make sense in terms of the story. This is, like The Lord of the Rings, a long, single novel.

It is, as another review commented, a murder mystery in which the mystery is never solved, and features a conspiracy which is partially but never completely explained. We don't get all the answers.

That's part of what makes it the fascinating, complex book that it is.

Ariane Emory is over a century old, a scientist, head of Reseune, the primary cloning facility on Cyteen, the primary planet of the political entity Union, in Cherryh's Union-Alliance universe. Union and Alliance have a lot of reasons for their conflict, but one of them is the azi, Reseune's clones. Along with being genetically designed to have certain aptitudes and traits, they are also tape-trained from birth to both educate and condition them to their intended roles. They don't have a normal range of free will, though neither are they anything close to automata. There's also internal conflict, both inside Union, and inside Reseune. We see Ariane Emory, or Ari, as very intelligent, very capable, with what may be good goals, but very, very Machiavellian. She's involved in a contest of will that in part involves another clone designer, Jordan Warrick, his cloned son Justin (a clone, but not an azi; Justin is a citizen), and Justin's azi companion, Grant.

And then, quite suddenly, Ari is dead, and it appears to be murder, and of all the people who might have wanted her dead, Jordan Warrick is the one who was there.

The bulk of this novel is about Ari II, a clone of Ariane Emory, initially a deep, deep secret. She's not just a clone, like Justin. She's intended to be a true recreation of Ariane Emory, with all her abilities and ruthlessness.

It's not the plotters we identify with. It is, on the one hand, Justin and Grant, living under constant suspicion and surveillance, and on the other hand, Ari II, struggling to understand how she's being manipulated and why. As a young child, friends she has too much conflict with disappear, they and their families being transferred to distant locations like Fargone Station. Her Maman, Jane Stassen, gets transferred to Fargone without Ari, when she's barely preteen, for reasons that never make sense to her. Her uncles, Denis and Geraud Nye, major powers in Reseune, are her guardians--and Denis at least seems loving and kind, but even at this young age she knows there's more going on than she's being told.

It's not clear how much the Nyes and their allies understood how determined and devious young Ari would be in looking for the answers.

And along the way, Ari is introduced to the resources Ari I left behind for her, because Ari did plan this even if her death didn't happen as she anticipated, and we start to learn a great deal more about the original Ari, about Reseune, about Union, and about the Nyes.

Ari II also starts to acquire friends and allies of her own.

Everyone here is more complicated, layered, and conflicted than they appear at first glance.

It's long, complicated, intricate, absorbing. Highly recommended, though I reluctantly concede that no, it's not for everyone. But, really, highly recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

good narration, amazing story

loved it! sad that "regenesis" doesn't seem to be available in audio format here.

Too much detail, boring.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No

Would you recommend Cyteen to your friends? Why or why not?

No

What about Gabra Zackman and Jonathan Davis ???s performance did you like?

I have listened to Gabra Zackman before and enjoyed her work.

Was Cyteen worth the listening time?

No

Any additional comments?

I quit listening 2/3 of the way through the book. I kept waiting for the book to get good and it never did.

Still stands the test of time

I love all cj cherryh's work. This is one of my favorites. Read it in the 1980's and several times since then. Worth t by e credit.

A great work!

What made the experience of listening to Cyteen the most enjoyable?

Very rich charters, micro and macro details well merged to keep the story interesting. The booked on based on technology that is perhaps not too far off.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like Dennis, a behind the seen guy very important in the book just like the real world but has little of glory, like in the real world.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Too long to read this in one sitting but it is gripping enough that I stay up too late listening to it.

Great Author, Solid Science Fiction

Where does Cyteen rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Cyteen won multiple award when it came out because it explored the future of a humanity that could shape itself and how the limits of the universe, time, and distance would change humanity. It is a great and DEEP novel.

Having said this, I don't consider it her best work. The book lumbers through detail and the first third of the book has not real main character, until the woman who dies at the beginning starts to grow up. To me Cyteen is not as tightly written as Cherryh's later work. But Cyteen does a good job of exploring the effects of genetics, environmental control, and human evolutional limitations.

This book is not among my top 10 audio books, though it was an thought provoking book. I am glad I listened to it.

I love C. J. Cherryh books. I wish they had started with any of her other series like the Chanur and Foreigner series. I love her exploration of human/alien relations.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cyteen?

When you realize the Hindu religion may have been truly started with control of human genetics and rebuild of a life.

What about Gabra Zackman and Jonathan Davis ’s performance did you like?

I liked the use of the male voice in a dry archivist manner. Those passages were a more academic exposure to the books underlying theme. However, the author and original editors should have shortened and tightened these passages. BUT Jonathan's voice acting went well with the material.

Gabra did better with the women's voices. The main male character sounded too whiney in the voice she gave him. It portrayed him more as a childish whiner than as a troubled "special". But I liked her voice very much and would love to here it in other strong female lead sci fi. I loved her portrayal of the main female older self.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It was too slow in the first third and too long at 36 hours.

Any additional comments?

If you are not one to explore deep subjects, then avoid this book. If you want to hear thoughts on a very deep subject we are just starting into, this is a good listen, not a great one, but solid.

Excellent Representation of the Book

Would you listen to Cyteen again? Why?

I would absolutely listen to this again. I've read my hardcopy so many times that the binding is starting to wear out.

I love C. J. Cherryh's writing and Gabra Zackman and Jonathan Davis did an excellent job in splitting the narration of the piece and bringing it to life.

It's a very cerebral novel, so I have to be doing something that lets me focus on the story while my hands work, or driving, that sort of thing. This isn't Harry Potter - it's not a light read. It gets you thinking. If you were to go into it expecting light fare, you'll be disappointed. If you want a sociological, psychological, reflective novel that really gets your noodle baking, something to stretch your mind, this is the book for you.

What other book might you compare Cyteen to and why?

Cyteen, to me, falls into the class of books, like George Orwell's 1984. It's a book that can get you thinking, make you pause and reflect on your views of society. If you think about the book, and about yourself, you can start to dig in and understand what makes you YOU. It also helps you take a wider view of the world we live in, trying to understand the different sociological inputs that create your local blend of culture.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did want to listen to it all in one sitting, but it's so rich and in depth it was pleasurable to use it on my way into and out of work, something to definitively shift gears and get me focused elsewhere.

Any additional comments?

Highly, highly recommended, but remember - this isn't something light and trivial. If you're looking for that, go elsewhere.There's a reason that C. J. Cherryh has won the Hugo, and Locus Awards for Cyteen.

As good as, or better than, reading it.

I've read this book probably two dozen times, but the performance was even better.

Growing up clone girl

Even in a futuristic sci-fi world, the life of a preteen girl is boring. Even when she's a clone of a pedophile genius. I get that this is a multiple award winner, but I'm not a judge. A more accurate description of this book is the life of a rich spoiled young girl, with sprinkles of politics and cloning ethics mixed in. Most of the book is desperately boring, for 20+ hours. I won't be rereading this book anytime soon. Might even return it.