Chanur's Homecoming

by C. J. Cherryh

Other authorsDavid A. Cherry (Cover artist)
Hardcover, 1986

Status

Available

Call number

PS3553.H358 C3

Publication

Phantasia Press (West Bloomfield, Mich., 1986). 1st edition, 1st printing. 320 pages. $18.00.

Description

The epic conclusion to the Hugo Award-nominated saga begins as alien entities called "humans" send their first exploration ship into Compact space, disrupting the seven Compact races' alliance. Pyanfar Chanur and her feline hani crew give shelter to the only surviving human from the ship, pitching them into the center of a galactic maelstrom which could cause interstellar war.

User reviews

LibraryThing member reading_fox
Can Pyanfur survive more turmoil in the Compact with Chanur in the thick of it again? Another gripping read.

After re-read:

A bit of a slow start as the plot recaps where Py is and how she got to be in the mess she is. In fact a slightly slower book all round than the last one, because there is a lot
Show More
ot be explained, a lot to be conjectured, and some intricate details of 3D space fighting to comprehend. The last is done remarkably well, without significant info dumps.

We take up the story still at Kefk. Py has been tasked by Sikkukkut to take a nominal friendly station Meetpoint (where all of Py's troubles began) in his name and with the aid of his ships. Py's just about got enough face to keep hold of the other hani inport and to convince the mahe Jik to keep wih her. However it remains to be seen if Goldtooth is working along the same lines. Meanwhile it transpires that teh Han have allied with Sikkukkut's enemy meaning Py is technically conducting treason. As she discovers so well might both the human Tully and Jik! To make maters worse her kiffish ally Sikkukkut has threatened her homeworld - the only hani world - which due to the complexities o hani politics is enough for her to swear lifelong bloodfued against him, a concept the kif, along with martyr and friend, cannot biologically understand. A climactic finish with a bit of an unlikely twist to resolve matters.

Gripping read - really really geos inot the depths of alien cultures and how cultures can just think along completely different lines. Another work of pure art from a master of what it means to be human.
Show Less
LibraryThing member joeldinda
Third of the trilogy that began with Chanur's Venture and The Kif Strike Back. The three read as though they were conceived as a single novel, but this one stands successfully alone, though the backstory probably works better because I'd read the others.

Pyanfar Chanur--the main character in these
Show More
books--grows weary of being other folks' pawn and takes control of her destiny. This impacts many others' destiny as an unintended side effect. The joy, here, is watching all this work itself out. As always, Cherryh's stories are deeply imagined, well-written, and grounded in careful research.

I've commented before on this author's methods. She's unusually reticent about revealing more than her characters know, which can sometimes be frustrating. But it makes her stories rich in ways no other author I read can manage. This is a special story, and exceptionally well told.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Pferdina
The final book in the Chanur series (not counting Chanur's Legacy which takes place at a later time), the story follows Pyanfar Chanur and her ship through space as she tries to save her species from the kif.
LibraryThing member iftyzaidi
A strong finish to an excellent space opera series. Once again C. J. Cherryh's strength is the ability to give complexity and depth to inter-species relations and diplomacy, with all the [mis]understandings and doublethink involved. It can feel a little slow to start, but once you're involved in
Show More
the universe the author draws, its gripping stuff.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
The further adventures of the cat-like Hani and the humans they have befriended, as they try to keep their place in galactic society. Politics and adventure combined, as the not quite military crew of what is supposed to be a merchant vessel try to protect their people. Excellent science fiction.
LibraryThing member TadAD
She finishes the adventures of the Pride's crew with a bang of non-stop action. This is the last volume where we see all the characters—Chanur's Legacy only has a couple of them in it—and I, for one, wish she'd write another one. The mixture of all the mindsets, especially humanity seen through
Show More
alien eyes, is a great vehicle.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kevin678
slow, so slow.
LibraryThing member atreic
I spent a large fraction of this year reading these books, and still have very conflicted feelings about them. I can't tell if the author intends you to feel slightly confused by the complex alien motivations, or if I am just Not Quite Bright Enough / versed in sci-fi story telling tradition, but I
Show More
did spend large waves of time thinking 'what is going on? Why are they doing this?' Which meant the books were harder work (even if more rewarding) than reading Facebook, so they went rather slowly.

On the other hand, there is lots and lots to like in them. The aliens and their power structures are very alien, Hilfy's growth from young girl to competent spacer is well sketched out, and poor Pyanfer, trying to do the right thing even though she knows in the eyes of her world it will look exactly like the wrong thing. And I loved the games with gender, where the women travel the universe and trade, because the men must be sheltered and protected, not as a straight swap of roles, but because they are too angry and impulsive and strong and must be mollycoddled.

The second and third books don't really have an ending. The first book is 'Hani end up accidentally with a human, lots of people run around, there's a battle, everything is better.' And then books two to four tell a very similar story, but with a lot more detail. I would sort of like to reread them now I've made it to the end, because I might understand them better on the second time round, but not enough to spend months reading them all again!
Show Less
LibraryThing member John_T_Stewart
Chanur's Homecoming by CJ Cherryh. This is the third in a trilogy telling a story that follows on from a previous stand alone book that set the seeds for this story (The Pride of Chanur). The leads all come together as Pynafur starts to realise the inter species politics that had restricted her
Show More
species to only one planet. When that planet is threatened she comes up with a plan to try and prevent disaster. This is a great finish to the story. I really think this is one of the best science fiction universes where different species interact in all too believable ways.
Show Less

Awards

Locus Award (Nominee — Science Fiction Novel — 1987)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1986-08

Physical description

6.5 inches

ISBN

0932096425 / 9780932096425
Page: 0.8157 seconds