C. J. Cherryh

C. J. Cherryh is the slightly modified working name of author Caroline Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), the sister of artist David A.Cherry. She has written more than 50 science fiction and fantasy books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award winning Cyteen. She lives in the state of Washington, USA. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1964 she received a Bachelor of Arts in Latin from University of Oklahoma and in 1965 received a Master of Science in classics from Johns Hopkins University.

Writing style

Cherry often uses a style she calls "very tight limited third person". In this writing style, not only is the story told through the point of view of the current viewpoint character, but the only things that get narrated are what the viewpoint character notices or thinks about. So, for instance, if a starship captain arrives at a space station, the narration won't mention what the space station looks like or how it operates, even though these things might be of interest to the reader, because these are details that the captain is already well familiar with, so he doesn't notice them or think about them. This writing style is sometimes like directly reading the mind of the viewpoint character, in which cases it strongly resembles stream of consciousness.

Works

The Alliance-Union Universe

It is a science fiction space opera series.

The Company Wars

• Downbelow Station (1981)
• Heavy Time (1991)
• Hellburner (1992)

The Era of Rapprochement

• Serpent's Reach (1980)
• Merchanter's Luck (1982)
• Forty Thousand in Gehenna (1983)
• Rimrunners (1989)
• Tripoint (1994)
• Finity's End (1998)
• Cyteen (1988)
  • also published in a 3-volume edition as The Betrayal, The Rebirth and The Vindication

The Chanur Novels

• The Pride of Chanur (1981)
• Chanur's Venture (1984)
• The Kif Strike Back (1985)
• Chanur's Homecoming (1986)
• Chanur's Legacy (1992)

The Mri Wars

• The Faded Sun: Kesrith (1978)
• The Faded Sun: Shon'Jir (1978)
• The Faded Sun: Kutath (1979)
  • The Faded Sun Omnibus (3-volume edition of the above books)

Merovingen Nights (Mri Wars Period)

• Angel with the Sword (1985)
  • Merovingen Nights shared world series, featuring "braided" stories by Cherryh and others

The Age of Exploration

• Port Eternity (1982)
• Voyager in Night (1984)
• Cuckoo's Egg (1985)

The Hanan Rebellion

• Brothers of Earth (1976)
• Hunter of Worlds (1977)

The Morgaine Cycle

• Gate of Ivrel (1976)
• Well of Shiuan (1978)
• Fires of Azeroth (1979)
  • (Above three collected as The Morgaine Trilogy (US) or The Book of Morgaine (UK))
• Exile's Gate (1988)

The Foreigner Universe

• Foreigner (1994)
• Invader (1995)
• Inheritor (1996)

• Precursor (1999)
• Defender (2001)
• Explorer (2003)

Miscellaneous science-fiction

• Hestia (1979)
• Wave Without a Shore (1981)
• Hammerfall (2001)
• The Wilding (2004)

Fantasy Works

• Angel with the Sword (1985)
• Legions of Hell (1987)
• The Paladin (1988)
• Rusalka (1989)
• Chernevog (1990)
• Yvgenie (1991)
• The Goblin Mirror (1992)
• Faery in Shadow (1994)

The Fortress Series

• Fortress in the Eye of Time (1995)
• Fortress of Eagles (1998)
• Fortress of Owls (2000)
• Fortress of Dragons (2001)

Ealdwood

• The Dreamstone (1983)
• The Tree of Swords and Jewels (1983)
  • also published as an omnibus