tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post1369958076771452701..comments2024-03-26T17:54:54.592+01:00Comments on Speculiction...: Review of Downbelow Station by C.J. CherryhUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-80378924247646287792014-09-06T22:04:36.356+02:002014-09-06T22:04:36.356+02:00Whoever you are, thank you for stopping by my lone...Whoever you are, thank you for stopping by my lonely blog and dropping the insightful comments you have. Obviously you've spent considerable more time than me thinking the idea over, and for that my post is enhanced.<br /><br />I wonder what other writers there which fall so easily into the Star Trek vein. I would guess none as easily as Cherryh.Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07796098208589965362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-10495968029345558792014-09-06T20:33:55.960+02:002014-09-06T20:33:55.960+02:00I think what is true is that both Star Trek: Deep ...I think what is true is that both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 owed a lot to this novel. As neutral space stations caught in the middle of a space war. Not all of the subsequent Union-Merchanter-Company Wars stories work as well as this one, but Merchanter's Luck and Rimrunners are both classics of 'ordinary people' caught in the middle of a space war. <br /><br />What defines Downbelow Station for me is the character of Signy Mallory, captain of Norway. Both on the one hand a hard nosed b**ch (Captain Janeways of ST Voyager, cubed-- but in ST: V Janeways makes an early and horrific choice that strands them across the galaxy, and that *does* remind me of Signy Mallory) and on the other hand very much Forrester and Hornblower 'the Loneliness of Command'. Mallory as is alluded to, is the captain who once fired on her own people, making her something of a pariah amongst the Company fleet. The Norway crew are a breed apart.<br /><br />The novels have strong roots in the naval novels of CS Forrester and Patrick O'Brian and also of Nicholas Monserrat, who fictionalized his WW2 experiences as the incomparable 'The Cruel Sea'.<br /><br />The other thing of extreme realism is how the neutral meeting point, Pell Station, is forced by events to choose sides, and the consequences for the Konstantin family, part of the oligarchy that has always ruled Pell.<br /><br />ValuethinkerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-19763524796886992782014-09-02T15:56:48.017+02:002014-09-02T15:56:48.017+02:00Then, I'm guessing you're as much a Star W...Then, I'm guessing you're as much a Star Wars fan as Star Trek. :)Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07796098208589965362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-34738786776986483402014-09-02T13:43:54.916+02:002014-09-02T13:43:54.916+02:00When I read this years ago, I nearly stopped...bec...When I read this years ago, I nearly stopped...because the long set up was not working for me. I was not invested (this was my first A-U novel, maybe a mistake)<br /><br />When the fuse finally lit, though, it went off with a bang!Paul Weimerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02444942522624902562noreply@blogger.com