Hammerfall (C. J. Cherryh) Conclusion

Okay, so we do finally get a glimpse of the “ondat” whoever or whatever they are; but just the merest glimpse!  Marak is finally shown a vision by Luz of where the ondat are located; “Then a strange thing appeared in the night, white, and looking like a village from a distance.” … “It glittered with lights, some that blinked, others that lit its walls.”… “Ondat, his voices said to him.  ‘Do you see it?’ he asked Luz … ‘Do you see a village in the night sky?’  ‘I see something white,’ Hati said … ‘It could be a village.  But its towers go off in every direction.’” And, upon, being interrupted by Tofi, “The vision of the tower in the stars broke apart, became irretrievable, something beyond imagination.”

Throughout the narrative, Cherryh has been largely successful at depicting these people as primitives who know nothing of the universe outside their immediate world.  Hati’s description of a space station is as close as they’re likely to come, until Luz decides to elucidate further.  After having seen a vision so unlike anything they have ever experienced (the space ship at Luz’s camp having been identified only as a “tower,” and very admirably depicted on the cover of the book), it would, indeed, become “irretrievable” to their memory and “something beyond imagination.”  Even a reader who is generally unfamiliar with conventional Sci-Fi concepts and imagery, like my mom, would struggle with this.  Cherryh knows her audience, and she doesn’t waste a lot of words trying to help the uninitiated to “get it.”  The rest of us appreciate that, and admire her choice of words and economy of description.

At the beginning of the book, we noted the similarity to the Star Wars opening situation; an off-the-beaten-path desert world, the protagonist’s family having just been destroyed or torn apart by evil political forces.  Sure enough, we end with a showdown between the hero and his father, who has become his nemesis!  What a relief that Marak didn’t scream, “Nooooooo!”  when he discovered his father in the last place he would have imagined!

Some things we saw coming…  After the planet wide catastrophe that the book was titled for, with the “hammer” falling into the “bitter water” (salt water of the nearby sea, for the non-Sci-Fi types) the people would suddenly see rains and overcast skies like they’ve never seen, leading to major flooding.  Memnanan’s baby boy being born in the same tent in which Norit’s baby girl was riding out the storm led, in the future, to their becoming husband and wife with kids of their own.  The hammerfall, though it didn’t wipe out humans, thanks mostly to our hero(s), does seem to have wiped out the “vermin.”  These creatures  were interestingly left undescribed, for most part.  Though the beshti were very thoroughly fleshed out, the scavengers were not, perhaps subscribing to the Negligee Factor; “the more you leave to the imagination, the more enticing it is.”  It mostly works here, with occasional hints.  At one point our heroes are “hissed at” by something that disappears into the rocks.  Some of them are denoted as flying creatures.  They scuttle, they slink, they mob and the big ones eat the little ones, which are frequently crushed under the feet of the beshti.  One particularly nasty one comes up to about knee-level on a beshti.  That’s about it.  Again, the author gets points for showing her faith in her readers to fill in the grisly details as our imaginations deem fit.

Was the book too long and tedious in places?  For myself, I have to say it was.  I think authors tend to write for the readers who read the way the author does.  Cherryh is probably a much faster reader than I am – as many people are.  Each reader must judge for him- or herself.  This book does make me want to go back and re-read her fast-paced Chanur novels!  And I have still yet to read her most acclaimed work, “Downbelow Station.”  Yes, she’s definitely still on my To-Read List!

 

Next week:  The first segment of our April book, “Innocence,” by Dean Koontz!  (Chapters 1-21)


“A thriller that’s both chilling and fulfilling.”—People (four stars)

“Laced with fantastical mysticism, it’s an allegory of nonviolence, acceptance and love in the face of adversity. . . . The narrative is intense, with an old-fashioned ominousness and artistically crafted descriptions. . . . An optimistic and unexpected conclusion [mirrors] his theme. Something different this way comes from Mr. Koontz’s imagination. Enjoy.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Mystery and terror, the paranormal and romance—all combine to make Innocence a challenging and emotional experience.”—New York Journal of Books

“Entrancing . . . as speedy a chase-thriller as any Koontz . . . has ever constructed. Written in Koontz’ late mellifluent and reflective manner . . . [Innocence is] fueled by deep disgust with the world’s evils [and] hope for redemption.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“[An] imaginative, mystical thriller from bestseller Koontz . . . This is the most satisfying Koontz standalone in a while.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Masterful storyteller Koontz delivers perhaps his most eerie and unusual tale to date. The timeline in this amazing story is compact, and readers will be swept along as they try to unravel hints and clues as to the true nature of both the protagonists and the unfolding drama. Unpredictably spine-chilling and terrifying, this is a story readers won’t soon forget.”—RT Book Reviews

 

 

 

Hammerfall (C. J. Cherryh) Chapters 15-20

Here’s Sci-Fi doing what it does best: presenting the reader with a situation so unlikely, so utterly bizarre and, yes, alien from anything we’ve ever imagined, that at some point in the narrative, we experience a shift in our own perceptions of reality.  Philip K. Dick was a master at this, including in almost every novel a perspective shift that suddenly revealed that the situation was not at all what we thought we understood.  Not that we’d been lied to:  just that we’ve had one or more of our automatic assumptions challenged, or shown to be founded on shaky premises.  Cherryh’s depiction of a gigantic caravan of displaced tribes and villages trudging through a harsh desert environment is “otherworldly” enough.  To have our hero weaving in and out of it, desperately searching for the murderer of his mother – his estranged father, no less – while sand-filled wind blows under an unnaturally overcast sky, and the tail of the caravan is beset by bizarre scavenger-type creatures, going after living people – I, for one, experienced that “mind twist.”

The subtext of the novel – the history behind the unlikely situation our characters find themselves in – continues to be gradually exposed to the reader, as Marak himself is given more information.  His “telepathic” communication (created technologically, through the nanoceles) has been spotty and unreliable throughout most of the action, leading everyone else who has it or witnesses it to think of it as the “madness.”  When he’s nearly fatally wounded, he goes into a semi-conscious state while the nanoceles “repair” his body from within.  In this state, Luz finds she can communicate more clearly and directly with him.  We still don’t have a clear picture of who or what the Ondat are, but there seem to be implications that they are beings that are psychologically very unlike humans.  I’m still hoping Marak (and, by extension, we) will meet them in “person” at some point, but … there is at least one sequel to this book.  Maybe the author is saving that moment for later, if ever.

The polygamy angle in this book continues to be explored in subtle ways.  On Marak’s manhunt back through the caravan he stumbles onto Norit’s tribe – “ex-tribe,” as they have excommunicated her for her “madness.”  There he finds her “ex-husband” with her baby, which the man and his new wife (Norit is “dead to him”) don’t really want.  When he brings the baby back, it’s Hati, not Norit, these being Marak’s two “wives” – there hasn’t been any kind of official marriage here, but the concept is rather shaky on this world, anyway, it seems – Hati who seems to take over the fundamental nurturing of the child.

Hati is described as very beautiful; Norit, not so much.  Keep in mind, this story was written by a woman, so not all the female “leads” have to be beautiful!  I came to this book directly after reading “Ivanhoe,” by Sir Walter Scott.  The females there were all young and beautiful: or old and haggish, but once were young and beautiful.  Why do male authors seem to think that only beautiful female characters will be found interesting?  Maybe they know that’s what readers respond to.  If so, it’s sad commentary.

The other secondary characters in this book are much more than bit-part players.  Tofi, the caravan master’s son who took over when his father died, is heroic in his own right.  Memnanan, the Ila’s right hand man, is complex enough to remain absolutely loyal to her, while advising Marak on the best way to deal with her, after having judged his former sworn enemy to be a good man.  Andisak, warrior from a tribe friendly to Marak’s, is shown to be a true-blooded ally.  All these characters are given very individualistic personalities by our author, a huge plus in top-flight fiction-writing.

 

 Next week: “Conclusion”



And join us next month for April’s book of the month (April is Dean Koontz month!):

“Innocence,” by Dean Koontz!


“A thriller that’s both chilling and fulfilling.”—People (four stars)

“Laced with fantastical mysticism, it’s an allegory of nonviolence, acceptance and love in the face of adversity. . . . The narrative is intense, with an old-fashioned ominousness and artistically crafted descriptions. . . . An optimistic and unexpected conclusion [mirrors] his theme. Something different this way comes from Mr. Koontz’s imagination. Enjoy.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Mystery and terror, the paranormal and romance—all combine to make Innocence a challenging and emotional experience.”—New York Journal of Books

“Entrancing . . . as speedy a chase-thriller as any Koontz . . . has ever constructed. Written in Koontz’ late mellifluent and reflective manner . . . [Innocence is] fueled by deep disgust with the world’s evils [and] hope for redemption.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“[An] imaginative, mystical thriller from bestseller Koontz . . . This is the most satisfying Koontz standalone in a while.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Masterful storyteller Koontz delivers perhaps his most eerie and unusual tale to date. The timeline in this amazing story is compact, and readers will be swept along as they try to unravel hints and clues as to the true nature of both the protagonists and the unfolding drama. Unpredictably spine-chilling and terrifying, this is a story readers won’t soon forget.”—RT Book Reviews

Hammerfall (C. J. Cherryh) Chapters 8-14

I used to avoid reading the classics partly because many of them seemed so excruciatingly LONG.  “Moby Dick” in particular had the reputation of being a long, tedious book to slog through.  When I read it, though, I was pleasantly surprised at the brisk pace throughout most of it, in spite of the chapters mixed in that described, in some detail, the maritime equipment and practices of the era.  Even “War and Peace” was very readable and held my interest, despite there being so much of it.  So it takes me by surprise when a modern-day book – such as “Hammerfall” – becomes a tedious chore to read.  Don’t misunderstand; the story itself is quite captivating in my opinion, and the characters are relatable.  But the chapters-long descriptions of the desert treks do get pretty tedious.  If anyone gives up on this book by the one-quarter or one-third point I really can’t blame them.  I felt the same way about “Lord of the Rings,” as wonderful as it is in every other aspect.

Every time the protagonists and company reach a destination, we find that they are compelled to take to the sandy reaches yet again.  And each leg of the journey does throw different life-threatening situations at them.  It’s just too much of the same kind of thing.  On this latest leg, at least, we finally know what is causing the voices in their heads; and there has been some cursory explanation of how the voices are the result of microscopic robots in the bloodstream – nanoceles, to use the author’s terminology.  The explanations are all kept a little too short and too vague, presumably to keep the story from bogging down (ironic) at this point.  One hopes we’ll get a more convincing picture of how all this came about at some future point in the story.

The beshti.  Easily overlooked here, partly because Cherryh manages to make them so realistic, are the amazing beasts used to transport our heroes on their caravans across the desert.  These animals, beautifully evolved for desert life, are not depicted here as simply variants on horses, camels, llamas or elephants.  We get a clear impression of how very different they are from any creatures we’re familiar with, and how their animal personalities affect their functions as pack animals, desert survivors and more.  Cherryh never misses a chance to show how these animals naturally respond to the various situations they are placed into by the humans.  They are barely controllable when they sense there is abundant water nearby, and their human handlers must have a deep understanding of them and be able to respond accordingly.

The Ila is an interesting psychological study as well.  We don’t have the full story yet as to what her motivations are, but her reactions to Marak and his information denote a very singular personality.  As I usually do, I have cast some of my favorite actors and actresses in these roles; my choice for the Ila is unusual, but works in a very interesting way!  (As always, my “casting choices” are only available on request!)

Still waiting for this story to phase into a completely different – rather overdue – kind of narrative.  Will we get a glimpse of the folks behind the scenes that are apparently intending to reshape this planet?  Will there be scenes on a space station, or some kind of spacecraft?  Will Marak be there?  All this would be very “Cherryh-esque” in my opinion, but whatever the answers are, I suspect they are going to be quite unpredictable!

 

 

 

Next week: (Chapters 15-20)

Hammerfall (C. J. Cherryh) Chapters 1-7

The opening scenario is one that has become almost cliché in the Sci-Fi genre:  the protagonist is a member of a lower caste in a harsh social and geographical environment, often – as in this case – on an off-the-beaten-path desert world, and the protagonist’s family has just been destroyed or torn apart by evil political forces.  Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, anyone?   Those of us who have read a lot of this genre are patiently slogging through the author’s thorough representation of what life might be like in this type of world.  If you have read Frank Herbert’s “Dune” you have cause for great skepticism as to whether this desert world could come anywhere close to Arrakis in description, believability, and sheer amazing depth of development.  But if you have read C. J. Cherryh before, you can expect there to be ample compensation in other areas instead!

This slave-march through unbearable conditions is, in fact, given an unusual twist in that the captives are all afflicted with varying degrees of “madness,” the cause of which promises to be even more intriguing.  Indeed, as the story progresses, the very premise of the book takes a radically unexpected twist, hinging on this inexplicable “madness,” and we’re suddenly dealing with an entirely different story!  This is one of my favorite plot devices that authors use to hold a reader’s attention; just as the plot begins to seem predictable, everything veers into a new direction.  And the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre (Cherryh disdains to distinguish between the two.) lends itself to this device very naturally. 

So now our hero, Marak (rhymes with Eric? – Barack? – The Rack?) has shifted his focus – his entire reason for living – to a quest that his “madness” has been pointing him toward his entire life; finding out what lies to the East of known civilization.  This involves yet another endless trek through the sandy wastes of the desert planet he lives on.  This is presumably a topic of endless fascination for some people.  The author has devoted the great majority of the first quarter of the book to it, giving us ample opportunity to explore the ins and outs of this culture and to spend some quality time with the characters we need to care about in order to care about what happens in the rest of the book.

Yes, I’m being facetious.  But, no, it’s not really all that boring - just slow.  Especially when you compare this narrative to Cherryh’s more well-known 5-book “Chanur” series centering on the adventures of the feline Chanur clan and their space ship.  Those novels move with breakneck speed through a complex series of politically charged and harrowing situations, barely giving the characters – or the reader! – time to breathe.  This book, on the other hand (and, yes, there is at least one sequel) is intended to be more “epic” in scope.  Thus, the higher tolerance for detail and pacing required on the part of the reader.

This is not to say that there aren’t interesting plot devices here.  One fascinating plot device is the use of a devastating desert storm to mask the nocturnal activities of our love triangle (Triangle!? Gulp – should our children be reading this!?  Sure, why not) who are sharing a tent with almost a dozen other people.  Is the noise of the raging storm combined with the complete lack of light even during the day enough to cover up the love-making?  What the heck, let’s say it is, and if the others snicker at us later on, it’s just them being all nosey, right?  Actually this works, and the descriptions walk the fine line between too much and not enough with considerable skill.  Yes, I’m finding myself relating to the hero and heroine(s) despite my impatience to get to the next major plot development.

 

 

Next Week:  Chapters 8-14