The Faded Sun Trilogy

By: C. J. Cherryh

Narrated by: Paul Woodson

Length: 30 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

All three books in C. J. Cherryh's epic The Faded Sun trilogy - Kesrith, Shon'jir, and Kutath - collected in one volume.

They were the mri-tall, secretive, bound by honor and the rigid dictates of their society. For aeons, this golden-skinned, golden-eyed race had provided the universe mercenary soldiers of almost unimaginable ability.

But now the mri have faced an enemy unlike any other - an enemy whose only way of war is widespread destruction. These "humans" are mass fighters, creatures of the herb, and the mri have been slaughtered like animals. Now, in the aftermath of war, the mri face extinction.

It will be up to three individuals to save whatever remains of this devastated race: a warrior - one of the last survivors of his kind; a priestess of this honorable people; and a lone human - a man sworn to aid the enemy of his own kind. Can they retrace the galaxy-wide path of this nomadic race back through millennia to reclaim the ancient world that first gave them life?

©2000 C. J. Cherryh; The Faded Sun: Kesrith copyright 1978 by C. J. Cherryh; The Faded Sun: Shon'jir copyright 1978 by C. J. Cherryh; The Faded Sun: Kutath copyright 1979 by C. J. Cherryh (P)2018 Tantor

always check with the author

this is a superb story complex rich phenomenal death. It's CJ cherryh at her finest. when our daughter was born 27 years ago my late husband wanted to name or Malein. I had the opportunity to meet Miss Cherryh at a science fiction convention Atlanta. ..Have a picture of her holding the baby :-) and we asked her the correct pronunciation of the name " Meh-lay-in".

NOT "Meleen" or "Melain"

its worth while to the listeners who know the books and who find it important to discover the author's intent and preference of the pronunciation of the names that create. This particular name Cherryh had thought original but a friend who had been studying ancient languages told her that it actually was a real name and that it meant do as you intend. Which suits the character very well and also siuits my daughter very well.

Very intriguing, very original..No Spoilers.

This is the first series I've read (heard) where I can say it's strengths were also it's weeknesses. The interactions between the 3 races is the meat and potatos of these books. The insight and development of such diverse ways of thinking (indevidual and societal) is superbly delivered. Multiple times I was stunned to the point of pausing the book and reflecting on what connections the different races made regarding another race's way of thought. Very intriguing. The concept of how lying (verbalizing untruths) being anathama to the Regal due to the their idetic memory and way of passing facts and knowledge onto their next generation is intelligent, fascinating and thought provoking. My only quam with the story is: the author went so extensively into the aliens' customs and thought processes, I felt bogged down and lost in places. Almost like too much of a good thing. Not the worst criticism I suppose. Also, the narration seemed very slow. But that was easily remidied by moving the speed to X1.10. Great read if you're looking for something off the beaten "Space Opera/Alien Sci-Fi" path.

Classic

Have read the book twice and just finished the satisfaction of listening to with an outstanding performance. This story is classic storytelling: memorable and strong characters, exploring new lands and new cultures, growth of all characters and satisfying storyline. One of my top five stories!

An Earlier Work From a Grand Master

A stranger in a strange land epic about the last of a people turning homeward.

Hard to pick a favorite among the Cherryh books ..

but this one is way up there. It has the feel of Foreigner somewhat, although the two cultures are totally different. The author does such a wonderful job of creating an alien which is truly alien in every way. Although I've read this book several times, the audio version is much better at creating the pictures in my mind. Loved it.

Mixed feelings

I have mixed feelings about this series. I’ve read the entire Foreigner series, so the author’s style is familiar to me. As usual, she does a great job creating “peoples” with different thoughts, cultures, and motivations. They are truly alien to each other. Somehow, in this series, I didn’t like any if them-including the humans. Perhaps it was the narration, but the thoughts and interactions of all the characters seemed negative. Midway through the third book I gave up. By then the story is bouncing between six or seven viewpoints and I still didn’t like any of them. In spite of that, I admire her ability to stay true to each species. I think, because the story bounces around so frequently, I might enjoy this series more if I read it rather than listening. If you enjoy this kind of story, I’d still recommend giving it a shot. Especially since it is a collection of all three books for one price.

A really wonderful, engaging story

All the viewpoint beings in this trilogy have some well-fleshed-out motives and eccentricities. Cherryh does a great job of making Alien races that have their own general concepts and taboos, while showing extremes in all cases, not falling into the all-too-common trope of monolithic group-think.

The narration is a bit stilted and there isn't much variance from one character to another, with a few good exceptions.

An old favorite perfectly narrated.

Wonderful to reenter these worlds and hear CJ Cherryh's beautiful prose narrated so well. The experience was even better than I hoped and I was very very hopeful. I will treasure this.

Aftermath of a war with two alien races

C J Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy is a tale of a shaky postwar peace.The story opens on the desert world of Kesrith that the Regul are ceding to the humans as a war trophy. Also on Kesrith are the remaining Mri, a distinct alien race, employed by the Regul as their mercenaries. The Regul attempt to exterminate the Mir, but two survive. With the help of a disaffected human, they manage to recover a sacred Mir artifact that turns out to be a navigational tape that presumably leads to the Mir homeworld. The human and the Mir take off for the Mir homeworld, but followed by Regul and human ships. The journey is extensive reaching dead world after dead world. When finally reaching the homeworld, they encounter nomadic Mir tribes. The Regul attempt genocide, but eventually the human force intervenes.

While Cherryh crafts two alien races whose cultures and thought processes are distinct from humanity, the overall trilogy is quite weak. There is no explanation for the prior 40 year war with the Regul, nor how human victory was secured. The defeated Regul behave as if they plan on reneging on the peace treaty all the time. The Mir mercenaries are also poorly detailed. It's difficult to reconcile theri mercenary nature with a rigid caste system that does not permit their warriors to learn to read or write. They are decidedly preindustrial resembling medieval knights in terms of attitudes and skills. How they managed to wage space warfare or why someone would even want to hire them is never outlined. In addition, after returning to their homeworld after thousands of years of separation, the language and cultural practices remain unchanged. This extent of such a static culture and biology seems incompatible with long term survival.

The narration was excellent with good character separation and brisk pacing, in spite of the length.

One of the Best

This was one of the best sci fi series I’ve read in many years. Interesting story line, focusing on people and cultures rather than battles. Good writing. Fantastic narration. This is up there with Dune in quality.