What was one of the most memorable moments of Cyteen? I love her exploration of human/alien relations. I wish they had started with any of her other series like the Chanur and Foreigner series. This book is not among my top 10 audio books, though it was an thought provoking book. But Cyteen does a good job of exploring the effects of genetics, environmental control, and human evolutional limitations. To me Cyteen is not as tightly written as Cherryh's later work. The book lumbers through detail and the first third of the book has not real main character, until the woman who dies at the beginning starts to grow up. Having said this, I don't consider it her best work.

Where does Cyteen rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?Ĭyteen won multiple award when it came out because it explored the future of a humanity that could shape itself and how the limits of the universe, time, and distance would change humanity. I highly recommend this book for those that enjoy the complications of space operas, but wish they had a smaller cast. It isn't that this couldn't be boiled down to a Hollywood movie plot, it's more that Cherryh builds a level of intrigue and detail that would be ill-served when boiled down. If all of that sounds like it is complicated and wide-ranging, you'd be correct.

It's a story about power: The power that elder's have over youngers that leaders have over successors that mentally flexible people have over mentally rigid people the power that love both gives and takes away. It is more the story of the ripples in the lives of a handful of people as her death creates a large empty space in the world. In some ways Cyteen is the story of the murder of Ariane Emory, as the cover promises, but it is also much more than that. When politics don't stop and wait for Ariane 2 to grow up, she must walk a fine line between controlling and being controlled. In particular Ariane 2 wants to make sure that Justin Warrick, Jordon's son and Ariane 1's victim, has the opportunity to achieve his potential and realize his dreams.under her benevolent leadership, of course. Ariane Emory (the second), a replicate of Ariane Emory (the first), grows up in a tightly controlled environment with the hope that she will be just like her predecessor, but things don't work exactly as they hoped, she's starting where Ariane 1 left off, with the skill, instincts, and knowledge, but with the determination to improve upon the legacy of Ariane 1. When Ariane Emory (the first), head of Reseune genetic facilities, is murdered by Jordon Warrick, the next generation at Reseune has their shackles weakened just enough that they might be able to make a difference.

Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh