message 0067

• Comparing C.J. Cherryh's Fantasy with her SF

>From: nancy ott <ott@ansoft.com>
>Subject: Cherryhlist
>Date: Thu, 14 Jan 93 10:41:33 EST

Hi, all.

I'd like to come back to something Ian Davis brought up a few weeks ago:

>  On another note, I would be interested in people's opinions comparing 
>  Cherryh's science fiction and fantasy works.  I have always felt that her 
>  strength was in her science fiction, where she writes good, gritty, 
>  believable and engrossing work.  I also enjoy her fantasy, but in my 
>  opinion her science fiction is certainly her strength.  Interestingly, 
>  though, I once heard Stephen Donaldson say that Cherryh was his favourite 
>  author and a strong influence on him.  That was in fact the first time I 
>  heard her name.

Personally, I'm not wild about most of Cherryh's fantasy.  Somehow her
gritty, kind of minimalist style doesn't work as well in the realm of
fantasy as it does in sf.  Perhaps it's because I'm used to writers
like Tad Williams and Steven Donaldson who lovingly describe every
detail of their fantasy universes (in Donaldson's case, with
adjectives worthy of H.P. Lovecraft).  I tend to think that -- to be
done right -- fantasy requires a greater attention to detail than most
sf does, and Cherryh has never been strong on that sort of thing.

Also, Cherryh's sf novels usually have a number of undercurrents
running through them, which require continuous attention on the
reader's part to figure out exactly what she's getting at.  This
doesn't seem to work well in a fantasy setting.  I remember being very
confused when she used this tactic in the Russian fantasy novels
(Rusalka et al) and the Tree of Swords & Jewels.

So, while new Cherryh sf novels are always a high priority, I let the
fantasies slide unless I happen to see one at the library, the
remainder table at B.Daltons/Waldenbooks, or a used book store.

I do like most of her fantasy short stories, and this "style" thing is
probably at the root of it.  Because short stories are so compressed,
lazy readers like myself work harder to fill in the descriptive gaps
left by authors like Cherryh, who focus on action and psychological
manipulation.  

What do you all think?  


- nancy           |   What we are and what we were once
(ott@ansoft.com)  |   are now far estranged
                  |     
                  |                - the Story, "Grace in Gravity"