There is the general spoiler page for general questions.
I’m making this set of pages for more specific questions.
The rule is: do not ask or comment about a book until it has been at least a month in issue. I think that will make everybody happy re spoilers.
CJ,
You can be sure that your “old” books are very much loved.
(waiting patiently for a new Alliance Universe novel, or two, or three…)
or twelve …
I was sitting the other day, thinking how much I’d loved the continuance of the Cyteen/Regenesis group. Will we ever get to see Eversnow – maybe with an agèd Ari II visiting the newly established base of Reseune there? A continuance of her efforts to shepherd humanity, maybe influence Alliance and help mend fences and keep humanity a cohesive group, rather than the disparate tribes flung to the stars?
Just some thoughts I had.
new here, but I’ve been wondering the same thing…I’ve read and re-read those two books several times…i just keep coming back to those two for some reason. I suppose it’s just how much i like the characters of Justin and Ari. Plus the coldwar/spy novel feeling of the last half of Regenesis with Yanni and company running around and hiding out in Novgorod…
Although I have been enjoying the Foreigner series I still love the Alliance/Union books best. I have recently loaned a copy of Merchanter’s Luck to a friend and got them hooked as well. I know these things are never really predictable but I would love to see some more books in the Alliance/Union setting, it just seems like there is so much more left to explore. I was wondering if it was something that had lost its interest as a background for stories, or whether it was a case of there being other pressures to continue with the Foreigner books, or if it was just that while the story arc of the Foreigner books was not complete it was a matter of following it down to the end.
I wish the Alliance-Union series and the Faded Sun books were available for Kindle. My ancient paperbacks of these, (some were very hard to acquire,) are in storage since a move, and pages fall out when I read them. These series should be in electronic storage somewhere; they are too good to lose.
Sherbs and rylarkin – I’m right there with you! My living quarters shrinks with every move and I no longer have room for hard cover or paperbacks. Everything I buy is either on my Kindle or my Fire pad. I’ve been longing for a few years now for a return to the Alliance-Union world. Also the Chanur novels – Chanur’s Legacy left the door open for a return. I realize the Foreigner novels pay the bills and keep the publishers happy, but what about the readers? I got burned out on the Foreigner series a few books ago and haven’t been back since. I check in here every now and then just to see – and hope! – if by some miracle there has been a return to the world(s) I love. It would also be awesome if all the books were available electronically!
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-us-says-asteroid-mining-is-legal-for-americans-what-about-everyone-else
And so we have AstEx’s beginning. How long until we have R1, R2, Shepherds, and the like?
Missed that one, Ragi-at-heart. Thanks for posting it. So Science Fiction is really proving once again just to be science on the way to becoming fact.
I read heavy time and am finishing hellburner. There are refeences in these books indicating i may be starting in the middle of the story (e.g. lunar lift, russell’s star, Wallingsford vs. Emory or Kilmer). What am I missing? Thanks!
Downbelow Station and Cyteen and Merchanter’s Luck, plus others.
If you like what you read, then basically you need to track down all the Alliance novels you can find, and Cyteen.
Hi CJ!
I guess most of the activity is over at the Foreigner page.
But I left my heart in Downbelow Station.
I don’t know you personally, but I assume you’re something like Ischade, but nicer. (Yes, I had to google the correct spelling, but I got it right the first time!)
It’s here and it’s there by turns. You’ll be happy to know there will be another Alliance-Union book: next project.
That is great news.
Can’t wait to curl up in a warm blanky and relive the whole series.
Yes! It’s been a long time coming and will be eagerly awaited and joyfully received!
Indeed, I too like the idea of another A-U novel.
I don’t want to be one of those fans who asks an author what to write.
So, I will not ask CJ to write a 1,500 page Alliance trilogy, I will not ask for more Cyteen, and I do not secretly hope that CJ has been writing dozens and dozens of Alliance short stories for a rainy day in the future.
Best news in a while 🙂
I too would rather be back in the AU universe.
Foreigner isn’t exactly my cuppa. Being an Aspie, I don’t make bonds with groups. Maybe I’d make a good paidhi in that respect. I’ve always somewhat identified with the Ragi in their manchi bonding to one person, or at most a few of that group. But I plan and don’t plot. So there’s too much politics which, of course, doesn’t interest me.
Oh, wow. More Alliance books – that is fantastic news. (Not so interested in books set in the Union world, though, because I don’t like that society very much.) I commented on the Foreigner board just recently on how much I enjoyed re-reading Downbelow Station, with the amazing worlds CJ created in that book, as well as the human characters, with all their flaws, and the marvellous downers. So different from the Foreigner books, which I love, too, but it’s as if the two sets of books are written by different authors! Even the writing style is different – delivered in a much crisper way, with shorter sentences than in Foreigner, which exactly suit the high tension and action. Wonderful stuff! I’m about to re-read all the Downbelow Station books again (have already finished Merchanter’s Luck, and am onto Finity’s End now).
I also posted on the other board that (for some reason) Mallory has always reminded me of CJ on the flaps of her books…
Thanks, cj! I thought I was reading in the suggested order, but if I’m missing referencesmaybe I should try a different order. What do you think? Thanks.
Dunno there’s a suggested order, @Paul, but my reccos would be:
* Heavy Time/Hellburner first to get the flavor of the origins (and meet your namesake!);
* Downbelow Station next to really set the stage around which all the rest orbit (+5 for space reference), not to mention understand the Company War and the Mazianni (central tension for all the rest)
* Cyteen to get the flavor of Union
The rest can go in almost any order, I think. My favorites are probably Merchanter’s Luck and Rimrunners, but you get the underlying politics maybe better in Tripoint and Finity’s End.
Thanks JCrow! That’s really helpful. So far I’m reading them in your suggested order and am just starting Downbelow Station, the first chapter of which explains much.