The Pride of Chanur

Chanur, Book 1

By: C. J. Cherryh

Narrated by: Dina Pearlman

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

No one at Meetpoint Station had ever seen a creature like the Outsider. Naked-hided, blunt toothed and blunt-fingered, Tully was the sole surviving member of his company -- a communicative, spacefaring species hitherto unknown -- and he was a prisoner of his discoverer/captors the sadistic, treacherous kif, until his escape onto the hani ship The Pride of Chanur.

Little did he know when he threw himself upon the mercy of The Pride and her crew that he put the entire hani species in jeopardy and imperiled the peace of the Compact itself. For the information this fugitive held could be the ruin or glory of any of the species at Meetpoint Station.

©1982 C.J. Cherryh (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Just as good as I remembered

Humans first encounter with alien civilisation sets off a ripple of consequences that stress the fragile alliances among existing spacefaring species. Told from the point of view of a non human ship's captain who rescues the sole survivor of the humans' disastrous first encounter with an emerging strongman who has been consolidating unprecedented power in his own culture at a time when the trading alliances have been in a period of stability for some time. Cherryh highlights the difficulties of cross-species communications, negotiating trust and balances of power, and touches on how broadening cultural horizons can set off evolutionary culture change. Her Hani are delightfully based on prides of lions where the females are the hunters and naturally also assume the role of space traders. Fast moving and fun, this was a delightful read, and for me a trip back in time to my late teens and early twenties when I was reading mainly sci fi. Not my usual, these days. I plan to revisit the rest of her work as well. Perfect for listening while traveling and commuting!

very good narrator.

narrator is pleasant to listen to and puts enough emotion to feel for each character. have loved this story for a long time.

Alien political machinations

C J Cherryh's The Pride of Chanur is an alien tale that while set in her Alliance-Universe takes place in a part of space not only devoid of humans but consisting of diversity of alien species including methane breathers. The title derives from the name of a spacecraft manned by the Hani. The sole surviving human captured by the Kif (another alien species) escapes and is taken in by the Pride at a central space station. This precipitates a nearly all out war with lots of political dealings as well as double crossing. In the end, the Earthman is reunited with his people.

Cherryh crafts a complex universe with a wide diversity of alien races each with unique sociocultural behaviors which descriptions concerning take up the bulk of tale. The Hani are rather leonine like with a single male head of household or clan, although gender segregation is breaking down by the end. The story is unique with alien contact perspective from the point of view of the alien, rather than a human.

The narration is well done with reasonable character distinction and brisk pacing.

Excellent

I’ve been a Cherryh fan for years and have read this particular book many times. I was thrilled to find it in Audible. I was mildly disappointed with the narrator’s voice, imagining Hani having a more gravely sound, but I soon overcame that. I particularly love this book because it’s the one where contact is made with their first human, Tully. Cherryh’s plot is tight and keeps you reading, in this case listening. Love it.

Loved it!!!

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

You get caught up in the story and forget you are in your own house!

Oldie but still goodie

I remember reading this book when I was much younger. The Audiobook captures the feeling of the text book and made it a pleasure to revisit.

Good but Hard to Follow

This is a great book that convincingly portrays an alien culture from the perspective of the aliens. Other books in the series give you a good look at the Mahe and the Kiff as well. I love the inclusion of a single human into the mix, and that we never actually get his perspective. You are solidly in Pyanfar's shoes the whole ride. The major issue with this book is the awkward language. I understand that cross species communication is hard, but Pyanfar and crew continue using this weird pidgin even when speaking to each other and thinking in their own minds. The author will then insert phrases like "they did it Catholic." I don't even understand what that means, and it sounds very strange coming from a bunch of aliens. So much for some form of linguistic authenticity. A lot of words are blatantly misused. I heard that some of these incidents are narrator mistakes, rather than mistakes in the writing, but overall it makes the story very hard to follow. Pyanfar will ruminate about what people's true motives are, and who might betray who, etc., and I just can't follow the conversation. I have no clue what she is talking about. It makes it hard to enjoy the twists and turns. Another issue is that no one seems curious about humans at all. At first they seem to want to trade with humans. That gets dropped completely after book 1 for some reason. They meet whole human crews and make no effort to learn about them or communicate with them. Tully is capable of saying a lot about Earth, especially in later books, but no one seems to care. It's bizarre and frustrating.

love this series. love the reader.

cherryh's writing style was a little hard to read at first. once I got used to it, I finished this entire series and have read a short story collection of here. the reader brought new depth to the characters and world. I highly recommend the chanur saga if you enjoy sci-fi and well developed races who are meeting humanity for the first time.

Wonderful romp!

Really fun light hearted sci-fi with a great variety of interesting and unique alien species and cultures. I always adore sci-fi from an alien perspective as well.

An old fan finds new pleasure

CJ Cherryh is one of the best SF authors, ever. I have read all of her books. I am starting with an older book (hopefully remembering less) and have had the pleasure of experiencing her genius all over again. She is able to look at us from the outside, from a different perspective. Her writing skills are superb and her ability to paint pictures with words is extraordinary. I was waiting for her books to "become" audible and now they have arrived. I would suggest you listen to them in order. For those of you who are long time fans of CJ Cherryh, I need say nothing. For those of you for which she is a new author, you are in for a special treat. The narrator did a very good job.