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)

C. J. Cherryh's masterpiece, expertly narrated.

The fascinating story of death and resurrection , lies and deceits, aand love, all expertly narrated.

Classic Cherryh

Would you listen to Cyteen again? Why?

Yes, I will as new ones are brought to audio books. I've listened to most that are already available in audio format. There are several classics that I would love to see recorded. Can't remember titles after a number of years but she had written a series many years ago about a female warrior and her companion. Great series.

What did you like best about this story?

The many things that I like about all of Cherryh's writings. A believable futuristic society; well-developed, sympathetic characters and interesting aliens.

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

If a narrator is good you are caught up in the story and not derailed by the narrator's voice or speech characteristics. Both of these narrators had me listening to the tale without thinking about their voices.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Cyteen is an excellent title for a movie as well as the book.

Classic Science Fiction, at it's best

I dearly love this book for all the hard questions it asks about nature vs nurture. It's one of Cherryh's very best out of so many excellent books. I think its' harder to sit down with a trilogy, which is how it was first written, all in one lump.

The politics are a huge part of it, but I was much more fascinated with what makes us who we are, and how our agonies form us into something perhaps more able, more strong.

I'm hoping for audible to cover more of Cherryh's work

Cyteen

This is an interesting world, and the ideas at play in this book are fascinating. The idea of politics being played in some future, where the rules of the game are pretty similar to today, was interesting only in seeing how the characters internalize the game. There are questions about value and your value as compared to the others around you. What makes a person special, or just Azi. And some ideas were wonderful, for instance I do wish I could just go in and get new tape, so I could do a new job or learn a special skill.

At the beginning of the book I was a little worried it would all be politics, but as the characters develop I was mesmerized. My husband on the other hand just never cared... so while I get why it was a Hugo Award winning, my husband didn't get it :o)

I do recommend this book if you love science fiction and have some time, as it's a long one.

Forget Red Hair and Green Eyes, I want......

Future worlds, political intrigue, ambition and most of all psychological genetic manipulation. If you can fit all of these things under your hat, then you will need to strap-in for this entertaining listen. I was willing to accept the transfer of personality traits from donor to next iteration host (we are still talking Sci-Fi right.....). All you need is a master plan and the time to make it happen, oh yeah, a bio-mass recycler and no one else smarter than you to get into your way.

A comfortable universe

I've read that some print versions of this book have been released as a trilogy. Were that the case on audio, I probably wouldn't have finished the second and third. And frankly, from the book's description, I almost expected a bodice-ripper with space ships and ray guns. Fortunately, we didn't get one.

The truth is that this book gets off to a pretty rocky start. The backstory for the universe is delivered in a rush, almost like the opening theme song to a 70s era sitcom, except that it didn't have a melody to engage you. Mostly, it's hard to care because there's little in the beginning to really snare you.

Likewise, the ending is rather obvious and you'll pretty much know where everything's going to end up very early in the story.

The book's strong point is its storytelling. It is a comfortable universe that moves at a comfortable pace. While with most audio books, I can get so caught up in the story that I want to hear it all in one sitting - with the requisite let-down that it's over and there's nothing to listen to, this provides a nice place that you can keep going back to over and over.

The narrative (excepting the beginning and end) moves at a realistic and even pace. You get to see the main characters develop, understand their motivations, and actually care about them. Better still, they aren't one-dimensional cut-outs that you so often get in space opera.

This may sound like a very lukewarm review, but the overall effect made it one of the better audio books I've "read" all year, and I "read" about a hundred each year.

Great SF

Any additional comments?

I thought the book was one of the best SF books I've listen to. Deep character development, and an involved story. Great reading performances.

Excellent if long and slow

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Perhaps. The pace of the writing is very slow and it took a couple false starts before I could finish the book.

Have you listened to any of Gabra Zackman and Jonathan Davis ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I thought the narrators did an excellent job. I wish we could have heard more from Jonathan Davis (he's my favorite narrator and the reason I bought this audiobook) but Gabra Zackman surprised me. Personally I liked her male voices. Were they as believably as if a man had done them? No, probably not but she made strong choices, carried them through a 20+ book were all the characters aged significantly, and conveyed a lot of subtlety.

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

The first few hours were painful without having the context of any other books by this author—just political "he said, she said". The book gets really gripping about a third of the way through but I agree with others that the end was a bit anticlimactic.

Any additional comments?

I'm very interested in more of this author's work now as well as other books narrated by Gabra Zackman.

A most excellent listen!

Difficult to decide between science fiction, murder mystery, or social commentary, but I LOVED every minute of the listen and the hard-working plot twists from beginning to end! ☆HIGHLY☆ recommend this book to one and all, REGARDLESS of genre of preference, and it's become a treasured and appreciated addition to my library. Thank you, Audible!

A special book, in most ways

I just listened to this book for the second time. It contained very interesting and intricate plot lines, rich character development, and a deep exploration of the question "what is it to be human?" which, in my opinion, Science Fiction does best, and this book addresses that question in a provocative way, with the best of them. I cannot imagine better narration, and have (and will continue to) seek out these particular narrators. Overall a supremely enjoyable, and thoughtful, way to spend 36 or so hours of listening time.

Two problems: First, the language is a bit juvenile, but the issues discussed are not. The language made it come off a bit YA (can't we think of words other than 'really' and 'alright?'). It's not so much that I think the book inappropriate for YA readers, although a bit of the sexual content was disturbing, so not for very young readers -- it's just a bit too serious and complex. Not that I don't personally enjoy a good YA read, nor do I consider them to be trivial -- but they're usually more filled with action, angst, and/or romance and less with psychological intrigue. I have only read 3-4 of Cherryh's books, none recently, and they did not leave strong impressions, although overall favorable, and the dichotomy between the level of language (perhaps 6th grade?) and subject matter may be why; I don't remember.

Second, and this really surprised me, and what caused me to re-listen about a year later, thinking maybe I'd missed something: It seemed as if the author couldn't really decide how to end it, so just stopped (no spoilers here, otherwise). Post-climax, to be sure, but there were so many climaxes in this book that I'm not sure what in the author's mind made the final climax...well, final. There were still many unresolved issues, and no real direction as to how some of the major characters, especially those who were so richly multidimensional, would deal with them. That is a pet peeve of mine in popular literature, and it may not bother others as much -- I note that no other recent reviewer commented on that. But to me, that made it seem one book in a series, rather than a standalone novel, which this book seems to be.

Still, this was a credit very, very well spent.