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Parts of this message can be found in the following threads:
>From: nancy ott <ott@ansoft.com>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 11:54:00 EST

> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> >From: Lesley Grant <lgrant>
> >Subject: cherryhlist
> >Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 9:11:49 GMT
> 
>       Having just re-read _Hunter of Worlds_ over the weekend, an idea
> struck me. Are the iduve Cherryh's 'first draft' of the Kif? 

Wouldn't Daniel then be the "first draft" of Tully?  Both are humans
plopped into alien societies and forced to adjust (a popular Cherryh
theme).  Both are presented as easygoing, decent men who were basically
"nothings" in human society.  Both use an enabling device -- Tully's
translator and Daniel's chiabres (a brain implant that allows
mind-to-mind communication) -- to communicate with aliens.  Tully also
is developed more fully than Daniel -- but then, we see him over the
course of the entire Chanur series, while Daniel only appears in
Hunter of Worlds. 

        [Lesley's comparison deleted]

>       What do others think? A lot of the iduve seems to be in the later
> Kif. The language is very similar, the values seem similar, the physical
> capabilities are similar. Do others think that Cherryh took this alien
> race and re-worked it into the (more successful, I think) Kif?
> 
>                               Lesley

You make a plausible argument for the similarity of the two races.  I
also think it's likely that Cherryh gave many of the iduve's
characteristics to the kif -- and was able to do a better job at
presenting the kif.  Perhaps she first had the idea for a predatory,
aggressive spacefaring species at the time she wrote Hunter of Worlds,
but lacked the skills to truly bring them to life.  

The difference between the iduve and the kif is that individual
iduve are oriented toward their nasul (clan), while individual kif are
oriented toward themselves.  The kif seem to be loyal to a leader (or
faction?) only as long as they gain sfik and ensure their own survival
and advancement; if their leader is defeated, they desert in droves.
An iduve, on the other hand, would be loyal to the nasul until death.

The exception to this kifish "perfidy" (as the other Compact species
view it), Skkukkuk/Vikkktimakkht's loyalty to Pyanfar Chanur, is
presented as a new and somewhat un-kifish development.  (Perhaps it
was caused by his prolonged exposure to the hani?)  And anyhow,
Pyanfar Chanur hadn't lost sfik yet; being satisfied with his current
lofty position, he'd have no reason to desert or turn on her.

Cherryh also directly tells us about the iduve, while she presents the
kif by showing the hani's reaction to them.  The latter tactic is more
sophisticated, and develops a more unique identity for the kif -- the
iduve come off sounding like Star Trek Vulcans (only much more violent
and sexual), while the kif are something entirely different.
(Government functionaries, perhaps? I can just imagine the office
politics in a kif organization!  :-)

- nancy