Heavy Time is Cherryh's fourth book in her Company Wars series of the massive Alliance-Union book continuity. Like most of the Company Wars books, Heavy Time needn't be read in publication order though a few characters from Downbelow Station make cameos.Heavy Time is a military-industrial thriller set against the backdrop of Earth's outer solar system. As the Earth Company and the United Defense Command gear up for war against breakaway extra-solar colonies, corporate contractors are scrambling to fill orders for raw materials. Enter ASTEX, Asteroid Exploration, a large public company in the midst of tense disputes with their freelance miners and ore handlers. Two independent spacers, Morrie Bird and Ben Pollard, are working to hit their next big mineral score in the asteroid belt when they stumble across the wreckage of another scout ship and its sole inhabitant, Paul Dekker.Bird and Ben deliver Dekker to their home port of Refinery 2 and file a salvage claim on Dekker's ship and what seems like the big break of their career turns into a bureaucratic nightmare. Dekker's late partner was the daughter of a distraught MarsCorp executive who wants Dekker's head and Dekker's so-called accident may have been financially motivated.Cherryh's writing is crisp and minimalist without sacrificing interesting details about the harsh life of industrial space. The mature, soft-hearted "blue-skyer" Morrie Bird is contrasted by Ben Pollard, a child of space station and company life who cares more about math and finances than altruism. Cherryh also provides a glimpse into the Earth-side politics that are only hinted at in other novels of the series through the characters of Meg and Sal, Bird and Ben's lady-pals who are also former political agitators.Fans of the military sci-fi sub-genre who are bored with redressed Horatio Hornblower novels and ultra-conservative manifestos are encouraged to read this book.
This is a story by C.J. Cherryh set in her Union/Alliance universe. She wrote it on the end of her run in this universe but it is actually the first book to read if you want to follow the story by the history timeline she has set up. This is not necessary in the least but it does seem the right way to go if you reread her books. The story itself is vintage Cherryh, by which I mean it is space scifi with good science and plenty of intrigue and action but she always tells her stories from the view point of people at the bottom of the social/economic/political spectrum. That doesn't mean you don't get a good dose of the big picture but she has a genius way of making sure you always find that out through the characters and they are not the leaders of the band. She also is one of the best authors at writing the story from the emotional angle of the characters while still keeping you on the straight and narrow of the plot. She makes you care about the characters, their problems, and draws you into the bigger concerns all at the same time. In this story you start off with an accident in the asteroid belt and a rescue and it just keeps getting crazy from there. Along the way you learn about 5 people just trying to make ends meet and how they are different people with their own issues but as the action steps up and the stakes for them get higher you are propelled head long into a fun exciting conclusion that pays off well in the end. A good story from one of my all time favorite authors.
The world of asteroid belt miners and others is presented with extraordinary clarity and detail. The physics and technology are superb, minus the 1980s view of computers compared to today, much less 100s of years in the future. However, the story often badly bogs down in seemingly endless thoughts and worries in the characters minds. A good editor should have cut out perhaps 40% of the book. Although there is a good mystery and tragedy here, much of this impetus and energy is dissipated before the end of the book. Many things do shine. Dekker's loss of Cory is a very real ache, Bird's humanity in the face of Ben's insane avarice, and the action in the last 1/5th of the book is fine. So far my least favorite by CJ Cherryh but still better than most. For Cherryh, the Alliance-Union universe books are (mostly) fantastic -* In order to read:Downbelow Station (1981) - Superb!!Merchanter's Luck (1982) - Perhaps her best ever!Rimrunners (1989) – Very good!Heavy Time (1991) - good, but long windedHellburner (1992) - good, but long windedTripoint (1994) - very goodFinity's End (1997) – SuperbForty Thousand in Gehenna (1983) - good but uneven, important for Cyteen and RegenesisCyteen (1988) – SuperbRegenesis (2009) - Superb
—William
Better than the Cherryh series I started, but I'm thinking Cherryh is just not for me. This book was engaging to a point, but it felt like it kept setting up more and more backstory for a larger tale, rather than being a riveting novel in its own right. Action/plot started dragging about 1/3 of the way through and I wasn't drawn in by the intrigue and conspiracy as intended. Only felt moderately interested in the characters (pretty much all an unlikable bunch) and not-at-all invested in their welfare.
—Ross
So, to begin with, this book is very very slow to start. We literally spend (view spoiler)[ 180 pages with one character in the hospital refusing to sign forms, and two others trying to get forms in order. (hide spoiler)]
—David Kerschner
