Forge of Heaven

In "Forge of Heaven", Cherryh does her usual, excellent job of bringing an entire new universe to life --- always, always an author whose books simply cannot be put down until finished.

I love this book! I hope there's another sequel in the works. After "Hammerfall"( another AWESOME book), this book can stand on is own merits- I only hope that there's another sequel due out soon!

I enjoyed this book very much. In response to readers complaining about slowness, I'd like to point out that Cherryh books tend to have action within psycologically-driven plots. This is one of the ones with less action than some (The Cuckoo's Egg or The Paladin) but more than others (if I recall correctly, Hellburner and the Fortress series have much longer stretches of introspection.) Just like Down Below Station, there are perspectives from many different sides of the story - different factions on station, and on the planet. If you're looking for sword fights, read the Fortress series, The Paladin (my personal favorite), or The Cuckoo's Egg. If you're looking for more action, read the Foreigner series. If you've read them all, and you're looking for another good book from an excellent writer, this should do it for you.

For thousands of years, Concord Station has hung above a desert world--an desert intentionally created to destroy mankind's aggression. Now, representatives of Earth, the Outworlds, and the alien ondat coexist in uneasy balance, watching the survivors below, interacting with them, helping them, learning for them, but most of all being careful of them. Because one of the survivors is the Ila, the virtually immortal member of the first movement--which almost destroyed both human and ondat civilizations. Others below, in ever-shifting alliance with the Ila, are also immortal, living residences to the nanobe technology that Earth fears so much. Keeping the balance is essential for Concord Station--and that balance is threatened when an Earth ship arrives out of schedule. Aboard it, a registered diplomat demands to talk to Procyon, a 'Tap' and one of the few humans allowed contact with the immortal Marak below. The Earth Governor, and Outworld Chairman, traditional rivals, struggle to deal with this request when their entire existance comes under direct attack. Could the First Movement be loose after so many centuries? Could the Ila have penetrated the galaxy's most secure system? Author C. J. Cherryh is at her best in stories of complex interaction, moral ambiguity, and futuristic societies that have constructed cultures that are both dramatically different from those of Earth while remaining logical. FORGE OF HEAVEN is all of these--and an exciting adventure as well. Life-threatening action plays out in the planet below and in the station above, with Procyon, the Chairman and the Governor playing the major roles (although Marak, the key character in Cherryh's HAMMERFALL is also a significant character.) As with many of Cherryh's books, the reader needs to invest some energy into understanding the culture and background of the world Cherryh describes. Certainly in FORGE OF HEAVEN, the investment pays off. This is a good one.

Forge of Heaven is the second novel in the Gene Wars series, following Hammerfall. In the previous volume, the Human Commonwealth developed a layered defense against genetic and nanotech contamination, with Earth itself at the heavily protected center. Around Earth were the almost as well-protected Inner Worlds. Surrounding these were the Outsider Worlds, where gengineering and even nanotechnology was practiced routinely, but with heavy safeguards; among the Outsider Worlds were the four Ruined planets, where runamuck genetic diversity had caused great devastation during the Gene Wars. Beyond all these, at the border with ondat space, was Concord Station, where Earth, the Outsiders and the ondat have been monitoring the recovery of Marak's World from the devastating Hammerfall.For a while, the Outsider Worlds achieved autonomy from Earth after their abandonment by the mother planet during the Gene Wars. However, Earth has reasserted her rights to dominate all human space and now appoints the governors of each Outsider planet and Station, except Apex. However, the Outsiders elect their own Councils, as well as the High Council at Apex, and thus effectively restrict the power of the home planet.Ila is the only survivor of the Movement. Even after fleeing to the Refugee, Ila controls a powerful inventory of biological and nanotechnical agents and has been using this capability to reform and rebuild the hammered Marak's world. One of the benefits of such genetic engineering is a greatly extented lifetime; thus, Ila is probably the oldest living human, with a lifespan of close to a millennium. With all this experience to draw from, and her expanded lifespan, Ila is capable of implementing very longterm plans. Concord Station exists primarily to prevent Ila from gaining total control.In this novel, centuries after the Hammerfall, the Planetary Office on Concord Station is still monitoring the Hammerfall survivors and their descendants. Marak, Hati and some of the young men are trekking across unexplored territory to observe the slowly eroding Southern Wall, which separates the sea from the lowlands beyond. They have come along the ridge between the Needle River Gorge and the lowlands and have reached the narrowest point. Here they make camp, set up a relay, and prepare for a heavy blow.The next day, the fading storm is followed by an earthquake and multiple aftershocks. All the beshti, except the personal mounts of Marak and Hati, break loose from the tether-line and flee into the early morning shadows. Marak and Hati have to leave the youngsters behind in the camp and chase after the runaway beshti. The tremors have also caused leaks in the Southern Wall and it seems that the sea may break through much sooner than expected. Naturally, the runaway beshti head down toward the lowlands, where they are likely to drown if Marak and Hati don't get them turned around very quickly.Procyon, ne Jeremy Stafford, is the youngest of the Taps ass