Status
Available
Call number
Publication
DAW Books (New York, 1981). Book club edition. 215 pages. $2.95.
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:The first volume of the Chanur saga, set in the Alliance-Union universe, featuring the alien crew of spaceship The Pride of Chanur and the human Tully. No one at Meetpoint Station had ever seen a creature like the Outsider. Naked-hided, blunt toothed and blunt-fingered, Tully was the sole surviving member of his company of humans�??a communicative, spacefaring species hitherto unknown�??and he was a prisoner of his discoverers and captors�??the sadistic, treacherous kif�??until his escape onto the hani ship, The Pride of Chanur. Little did he know when he threw himself upon the mercy of The Pride and her crew that he put the entire hani species in jeopardy and imperiled the peace of the Compact itself...for the information this fugitive held could be the ruin or glory of any of the species at Meetpo… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member patokon
The Chanur series is one of my faves and is one of the most intelligent, exciting, and intriguing books out there. I had to rebuy this one after a loaned-out copy didn't come back. This is the first book I read by C.J. Cherryh and I bought it because of the awesome Killer Kitties on the cover
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painted purrfectly by my favorite cover artist, Michael Whelan. I always did have a soft spot for feline alien races ever since I saw the cat woman on the Star Trek animated series (and the Na'vi from Avatar are just amazing), but Pyanfar Chanur and the crew of the Pride of Chanur are so much more than whiskers and fur. Captain Pyanfur is gutsy, tough, wise and has more political savvy in her furry pinky than the whole of the U.S. Congress. And boy does she need it since the first human to be discovered is on the run from the slimy Kif (who would love to find out where the human is from so they can be the first to take full advantage of that knowledge) and has taken refuge on the Pride. I enjoyed the intrigue, the political plays, the double-talk and double-dealing and such, but mostly I enjoyed the development of the relationship between the humans and the feline Hani and getting a good idea of what it's like to deal with a completely alien society (like the methane breathers). Warning: you WILL find yourself wishing you were part of Pyanfar's crew, you WILL find yourself tearing through this book and jumping into the sequels (there are five books total), and you WILL find yourself wanting even more. Come on, C.J.! More Chanur! Show Less
LibraryThing member HanGerg
A fast paced story of a galaxy in which the handful of competing civilisations have come to an uneasy agreement that allows for peaceful co-existence, with trade and travel taking place freely amongst them. The reader is aboard ship with the hani, a feline, humanoid species with a proud heritage
A great fun story of inter-galactic adventure and conflict, that doesn't really take too much time to explain itself (there are several more books in the series, and I'm hoping some of the gaps in hani customs and space travel strategies may be filled in there), but is filled with tension, and pulls off the neat trick of making you so immersed in the world of the hani, that the humans really do seem like the aliens.
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and a penchant for decorating their ears with golden hoops to denote their status. They are making a routine stop at a space station to trade and refuel when a funny hairless creature smuggles himself aboard their ship, causing consternation amongst the all-female crew. The ways of this stowaway seem very strange to the hani, but with the aid of some translation software, they find out the name of his hitherto unknown species. Apparently he is something called a "human"....A great fun story of inter-galactic adventure and conflict, that doesn't really take too much time to explain itself (there are several more books in the series, and I'm hoping some of the gaps in hani customs and space travel strategies may be filled in there), but is filled with tension, and pulls off the neat trick of making you so immersed in the world of the hani, that the humans really do seem like the aliens.
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LibraryThing member John_T_Stewart
“The Pride of Chanur” by CJ Cherryh. This is a re-read of the book for me. I enjoyed the story the first time I read it and I keep going back and reading this series again and again. This is excellent Space Opera with the interaction between several different species being quite believable. A
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Hani space ship at Meetpoint Station has an unknown outsider (named Tully) sneak onto their ship to find refuge from the Kif. While crew are trying to develop a translator tape, Captain Pyanfar Chanur manoeuvres the ship from star to star eventually leading Kif, Mahendo’sat, Knnn, and Human ships to the Hani home world. This takes place in a well thought out multi civilisation society. Show Less
LibraryThing member RyanWriter
Love this book! Just reread it again and thoroughly enjoyed being back in this universe.
LibraryThing member TadAD
A reread 30 years later and I still really enjoy this book. I think Cherryh is about the best at aliens, especially when the aliens are the protagonists. She has a knack for making them seem "normal" and the humans seen through their eyes seem slightly foreign.
LibraryThing member zjakkelien
I rather liked this, especially the hani race and how they deal with others. I thought the flow was hampered a bit by some of the space maneuvering and fighting, though. I would have liked more interaction between the different characters.
LibraryThing member Karlstar
In the introduction to this series, the cat like Hani stumble across a human stowaway, setting into motion a series of events that will last for multiple novels. The Hani befriend the lone human and earn the ire of the Kif, and who knows what other races. The problem is that the Hani are just
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barely more powerful than the humans, which doesn't make for a strong alliance. Very good scifi. Show Less
LibraryThing member KarenIrelandPhillips
The four Chanur universe books are my favorite books in the entire universe. Bar none. Cherryh slyly takes on sex, gender, culture, first contact, money, and power, among other issues, all in a rollicking good adventure story.
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
A great book, told from a viewpoint of an alien finding a lone human and taking him aboard her ship. Tully, the human actually comes off as alien... Even though the Hani (The alien Species) is the alien. C.J. Cherryh is a skilled writer. She manages to make an alien species that is, well, alien,
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but understandable. I quite enjoyed this romp through space. Show Less
LibraryThing member lendroth
Great book -- fun book. I love that the human is the alien, and Cherryh has created one of her marvelously intricate universes in the book.
LibraryThing member SandDune
A strange creature is skulking around the loading bays of Meetpoint station, a creature that none of the intelligent species making up the Compact had ever seen before ...
‘There had been something loose about the station dock all morning, skulking in amongst the gantries and the lines and the
The Hani, a leonine species who operate the spaceship The Pride of Chanur are inclined to ignore the creature until it finds a way aboard their ship, when a decision by the Hani captain, Pyanfar Chanur, has far reaching consequences for her people. For the creature has escaped from the Kif, who may be members of the Compact, but are always trouble, and they want him back...
This is a human alien encounter told very much from the point of view of the aliens, and more interesting for it. In fact there is a complex web of alien species in [The Pride of Chanur], which adds a level of complexity requiring the reader to concentrate. Not the first time in reading C.J.Cherryh novel, I realised halfway through that audio was probably not the best format! It would have been much easier to refer back to remind myself which species was which if I’d had a hard copy. That proviso aside, this was really enjoyable, and I’m certainly going to carry on with the series. I’m just going to buy the paperback copies first.
‘There had been something loose about the station dock all morning, skulking in amongst the gantries and the lines and the
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canisters which were waiting to be moved, lurking wherever shadows fell among the rampway accesses of the many ships at dock at Meetpoint. It was pale, naked, starved-looking in what fleeting glimpse anyone on The Pride of Chanur had had of it. Evidently nobody had reported it to station authorities, nor did The Pride’The Hani, a leonine species who operate the spaceship The Pride of Chanur are inclined to ignore the creature until it finds a way aboard their ship, when a decision by the Hani captain, Pyanfar Chanur, has far reaching consequences for her people. For the creature has escaped from the Kif, who may be members of the Compact, but are always trouble, and they want him back...
This is a human alien encounter told very much from the point of view of the aliens, and more interesting for it. In fact there is a complex web of alien species in [The Pride of Chanur], which adds a level of complexity requiring the reader to concentrate. Not the first time in reading C.J.Cherryh novel, I realised halfway through that audio was probably not the best format! It would have been much easier to refer back to remind myself which species was which if I’d had a hard copy. That proviso aside, this was really enjoyable, and I’m certainly going to carry on with the series. I’m just going to buy the paperback copies first.
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LibraryThing member KirkLowery
A sci fi tale told from the viewpoint of aliens, managing to make the humans look and feel alien!
LibraryThing member waldhaus1
I am shocked to realize that it has been nearly 40 years since I first read Pride of Chanur. I enjoyed the rereading. My taste has changed during that time but it was fun making the reacquaintance. I see why it won the Hugo. It is a first contact story from the non human perspective. The characters
I was happy to discover it as an audiobook
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are well developed. I was surprised to see it reflected a feminist perspective ahead of is time. I was happy to discover it as an audiobook
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
This story didn't do it for me. Don't know whether it was because I was sick, or the author manages to take what could be a very exciting story and make it dull. Both? The main character had no charisma, nor did any of the others. I couldn't bring myself to care much what happened to them. I read
All that being said, I know many others who adore this story, so you will have to read it for yourself and find out.
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and read and got nowhere. Finally, half way through, I found myself reading anything else to avoid picking it up. I skipped and read the end. Enough.All that being said, I know many others who adore this story, so you will have to read it for yourself and find out.
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LibraryThing member kgodey
I've heard a lot about C.J. Cherryh, and was really excited to finally read one of her books. The Pride of Chanur is the first book in the Chanur series, about Pyanfar Chanur, a member of a feline species called the hani. She is a ship captain that commands The Pride of Chanur, a ship owned by the
The Pride of Chanur is docked at Meetpoint Station when they find a stowaway on their ship. He's small, blunt fingered and has no fur, and he calls himself a human. No one has seen the likes of him before, but he's on the run from hostile aliens, so they give him shelter, not realising that this would put their whole world in jeopardy.
This book definitely felt a bit dated, probably because of the cat-like and bear-like aliens. That doesn't stop it from being really fun and really good, though!
The Pride of Chanur is written entirely from Pyanfar's point of view. Tully, the human, isn't really a huge character, he's alien to them and they don't know his language in the beginning. He's more of a catalyst for the story - the discovery of a whole new race. I found this pretty refreshing, I've never read a story with a wholly alien protagonist. I really enjoyed a look at humans through the eyes of other species - we would be quite strange to aliens.
Hani society is interesting too, it's completely female dominated. I enjoyed the little intersection of family trouble into the intragalactic trouble.
The only complaint I have about this book is that there was a bit too much action for me - it almost felt more like a movie than a book. I would've appreciated a bit more plot or backstory or worldbuilding. But then again, it's an old book.
I'm definitely looking forward to Chanur's Venture.
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Chanur family.The Pride of Chanur is docked at Meetpoint Station when they find a stowaway on their ship. He's small, blunt fingered and has no fur, and he calls himself a human. No one has seen the likes of him before, but he's on the run from hostile aliens, so they give him shelter, not realising that this would put their whole world in jeopardy.
This book definitely felt a bit dated, probably because of the cat-like and bear-like aliens. That doesn't stop it from being really fun and really good, though!
The Pride of Chanur is written entirely from Pyanfar's point of view. Tully, the human, isn't really a huge character, he's alien to them and they don't know his language in the beginning. He's more of a catalyst for the story - the discovery of a whole new race. I found this pretty refreshing, I've never read a story with a wholly alien protagonist. I really enjoyed a look at humans through the eyes of other species - we would be quite strange to aliens.
Hani society is interesting too, it's completely female dominated. I enjoyed the little intersection of family trouble into the intragalactic trouble.
The only complaint I have about this book is that there was a bit too much action for me - it almost felt more like a movie than a book. I would've appreciated a bit more plot or backstory or worldbuilding. But then again, it's an old book.
I'm definitely looking forward to Chanur's Venture.
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LibraryThing member Pferdina
This space adventure story is full of fast action. The story concerns first contact between humans and a civilization of many different alien species called the Compact. It is told from the point of view of the hani, a cat-like species of traders. The ship The Pride of Chanur is captained by
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Pyanfar Chanur, the tough female head of the house of Chanur, and crewed by a handful of her female relatives. (Male hani are considered too unstable to live or work in space, or on anything really important.) While at dock at Meetpoint station, a creature no one has ever seen before somehow slips onto the ship and this event sends the Pride skittering across space, to keep ahead of the kif who want the creature back. Tully, the human, has a very small part in what happens, which is unusual in novels of first contact. Show Less
LibraryThing member zjakkelien
I rather liked this, especially the hani race and how they deal with others. I thought the flow was hampered a bit by some of the space maneuvering and fighting, though. I would have liked more interaction between the different characters.
Subjects
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 1983)
Locus Award (Nominee — Science Fiction Novel — 1983)
Prometheus Award (Nominee — Novel — 1983)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1982-01
Physical description
8.3 inches
Local notes
"JEFF A. MALIN" stamped on flyleaf.