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>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant>
>Subject: Re: C. J. Cherryh List
>Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 9:54:43 GMT

nancy says:

> 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.

	Hilfy certainly seemed worried about _sharing_ the lift with
him (the word meaning something like "sharing prey")! Skkukkuk is quite
definitely shown as an exceptional Kif, and yes, I think it's 'haniization'
at work -- in _Chanur's Homecoming_ Pyanfar drives home the advantages of
tactics other than force, and watchs the possibilities 'dawn in his narrow
Kifish skull'. Having what Sikkukkukt wanted, he is one happy Kif (only
happy sfik-filled Kif have senses of humour, and you can't tell me that he
wasn't playing a (nasty) joke on Hilfy by setting her audience up exactly
the way Sikkukkukt's were :-)

 
> 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!  :-)

	_Hunter of Worlds_ might have kept the iduve more alien if we
were only shown them through Aiela's eyes. When the narrator shifted to
Tejef or Chaike, the reader was shown too much. As it was, neither Aiela
nor the iduve were distanced enough -- aiela certainly just seemed like
a human. Perhaps Cherryh herself realised the problem, as the theme of
crossing racial boundaries suddenly appears halfway through, with Aiela
worrying he's turning half-human, Tejef feeling he's no longer an iduve,
etc.
	I'd like to see more Compact books, perhaps from a Mahendo'sat
viewpoint. I don't think the Mahendo'sat would 'suffer' from us seeing
them more directly (as all the methane breathers and the Kif would), and
their views would provide a very interesting slant on things. (As for Kif
office politics, seeing as Xmas/Hanukka is upon us, try imaging a Kif office
party!)

			Lesley