Merchanter's Luck

Merchanter's Luck (1982) is an SF novel in the Alliance-Union Universe. After the Company Wars, the Alliance and Union try to restore the old trade routes between their spaces. Rumors have associated Pell Station with the new routes. In this novel, Sandor Kreja is a minor merchanter within Union space operating under false papers and a false name. His ship -- lately called the Lucy -- is really Le Cygne, an almost forgotten vessel. He docks Lucy on Viking Station and goes looking for crew to replace the man rejoining his ship at the port. He takes a few credits to buy drinks and talks to a couple of potential crewmen. Then he encounters Allison Reilly, a tall dark-haired silver-clad woman from the Dublin Again. He loses track of his conversation and just stares at the Allison. Then she stares back briefly and walks out of the bar. Sandor pays his bill and follows her out. She isn't anywhere in sight, so he checks the adjacent bars and finds her again. They eventually go to a sleepover and slake their lust. The next morning, Allison has to return to her ship. Sandor learns that her ship is heading to Pell Station in Alliance space and vows to meet her there. Despite being alone on a three jump route, the Lucy arrives only a couple of hours after the Dublin Again. In this story, Sandor has his visage spread throughout Pell station. He has somehow become a popular hero. But someone makes a complaint about his past activities and the dockmaster calls him in for questioning. After discussing his reasons for coming to the station, Sandor applies for papers allowing him to trade within Alliance space. Allison gets her ship council to agree to a deal with Sandor. They will pay loan him half a million for cargo and another hundred thousand for other expenses in return for a share of the profits. In return, Sandor will accept four crewpersons from the Dublin Again to help operate the Lucy. Naturally, Allison will be his second in command. Sandor also has a talk with Captain Mallory -- commander of the AS Norway -- about the arrangement. She provides a briefing of the situation and replaces his intended cargo with military goods. Sandor is barely functional with Mallory, a former Mazianni captain. He keeps thinking of the Mazianni boarding party that had killed most of his family. This tale is an early novel in the Alliance-Union series, depicting some consequences of the Company Wars. Captain Mallory from Downbelow Station has several cameo appearances in this novel, but it is by no means a sequel to the previous work. Still, this novel has much the same feel. Highly recommended for Cherryh fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of deep space, military intrigue, and a touch of romance. -Arthur W. Jordin

C.J. Cherryh is one of the best sci-fi writers of the last twenty years. I won't say the best sci-fi writer ever because such extreme generalizations open one up to refutations on a not inconsiderable scale. Suffice it to say she never fails to impress. Her combination of strong, compassionate characterization and hard sci-fi marks her as one of the greats. Her well-imagined future is a remarkable achievement, being a grab-bag of military, political, sociological issues with some villains but mostly flawed individuals trying to survive in a grimy but not unhopeful universe. On to the novel! Merchanter is a short read. In a way, it is more a novella than a novel. The characterizations are much sparser than in such novels as Cyteen and Invader. The plot is relatively simplistic, moves quickly and is elegantly constructed. Typical for C.J. Cherryh, the reader's interest is caught and held by the slow, manipulative maneuverings within a tight plot. Also typical for C.J. Cherryh, Merchanter ends abruptly, leaving the reader wanting more. Occasionally, such Cherryh endings are anti-climatic, but in this particular case, it is exactly right. Recommendation: Buy it.

What a gem of a book MERCHANTER'S LUCK turned out to be. It's short and it packs an emotional punch. At its heart, the book is about trust. How do you know when to trust someone? What can it cost you? Set in Cherryh's brilliantly rendered universe, it can cost you your life and your very heart and soul. The universe feels lived in and the characters all ring so true you'd swear they were real (in spite of the fact that they are cruising the galaxy in spaceships!). People who complain that hard science fiction is only about ideas and never gives you characters you can care about have clearly not read C.J. Cherryh. She gives you both and by doing so, her books transcend the genre.

A gorgeous little gem in the fabulous Merchanters Universe series from Cherryh. Because its shorter than most in the series I highly recommend it as a starter novel to introduce you to the fascinating lives of the shipborn-and-bred spacefaring merchanters in their giant trading ships that thread their way across a complex human-occupied section of space. Don't expect a simple piece of Space Opera - yes, there's excitement, danger and even combat - but Cherryh's characters, motivations and multiple societies are COMPLEX. Underneath it all this is a book about trust - and redemption - and it is a mind-enhancing read - BUY IT!

This is a must read book for those that like to think about what kind of cultures could develop in the future as humans expand into outer space. The book dicusses the hardships of a family ship raided by space pirates. The one survivor tries to keep his family memories alive by aligning himself with one of the major merchant powers. The book also gives the other side of the story from the eyes of the corporate family. It gives a realistic feel of what it may be like to live in a corprate ship with long lived family members. The book also gives the reader with a dream he or she can identify: "To be free but to live your traditions."