Regenesis [Mass Market Paperback]

This is a very good book and a worthy successor to 'Cyteen,' one of the notable books in science fiction. BUT, 20 years is a ridiculous amount of time to wait for a sequel, and from the open ending of this one, I do hope we don't have to wait that long again. As a side note to C J, please hurry if this is part of a series; Cyteen has long been a top 10 favorite of mine, but I am now in my 70's and another 20 year wait is probably not within my grasp.
I will not review the plot of "Regenesis" except to say the overall tone of the book does carry on from its precursor (sorry 'bout that); it must have taken a lot of care from the author to make sure of that. It has enough action is keep us satisfied. It is filled with C J's usual dense politcal maneuvering and characters, major and minor, that we must try to remember, and can't because it's too much and too many. It also has some nice comic touches that, surprisingly enough, come from the well-drawn personality of Jordan Warrick. This murder suspect and mostly off-stage major character of 'Cyteen' seems to have some of the same histrionic touches as Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.
Was the book a good read? Well, it got me off the internet for one entire day until 4 a.m. the next morning and most of the next day until I finished.
Do we find out who killed Ari Senior? Well, maybe. Possibly. Probably, about 90% sure. I was in the right church, but the wrong pew.
If a relative stole my book or the cat tore it up, would I buy another copy? In a heartbeat, and since I live on social security, that is quite a budget item.
I hope all of you reading this find out for yourself what a worthy inheritor (not sorry 'bout this one) 'Regenesis' is.

The good news is after 20 years of waiting, I have read Regenesi, the looooong awaited sequel to CJ Cherryh's award winning master-piece Cyteen. And the good news is Regenesis is another master-work and I loved every page of it. The good news is if you are a long time fan of CJC like I am, and have read at least, Down Below Station, 40,000 in Gehena, and Cyteen you will probably love it also. In an interesting departure from usual CJC a lot of the normal introspection is found in computer logs rather than "thought bubbles".

The bad news is this is probably the most demanding read in CJC's illustrious career. Be warned, if you start without at least the foundation of the three books I've listed, you will have to be a lot smarter than I am to understand what is happening. Also be advised the dialogue in the story is almost exclusively between geniuses, you have to pay attention to get the nuance. Finally, be warned, there is a lot of side information that I loved, but I am sure many will find very dull and want to get on with the story.

So what do I think? CJ Cherry is a treasure to this world; she deserves much more of its wealth and adulation. Her entire catalogue of sci-fi work is related to each other and doesn't cheat with the rules. Her writing is so extensive that essays have been written doubting that one writer could have written it all. They obviously haven't like I have read everything multiple times. There is and probably never will be another writer like CJ Cherryh.

Bottom line... Regenesis is as I have stated above a master work.

I have read all of this author's science fiction. My copy of Downbelow Station is bound in leather. With a couple of exceptions I would rate each one five stars. Unfortunately, this long-awaited sequel to the Hugo award-winning masterpiece, Cyteen, severely disappoints on many levels.

The book is slower than usual. Less happens. An author cannot write a sequel to a book that was published 20 years ago without summarizing it to some extent. Usually that's done with a concise and detailed prologue. Okay, it *can* be done that way. Instead, the author uses much of this book to explain what happened in the last one. The author abandons her "intensely first-person" shifting POV's. For example, if a character walks into a room there is no description of the room if the room is already known to the character. That can really move a plot along. On the other hand, some people over analyze things. If the character does that, you hear those thoughts -- over and over. Instead, here there are long sections of description and explanation of what happened instead of writing what is happening now.

In any event, more specifically:

The author has rewritten Cyteen to some extent. Jordan Warrick, completely examined in the last novel, seems to undergo personality change whereby he becomes irrational, a drunk, bitter, and generally unlikable. That wasn't his character in the last novel. Nothing in this novel explains it. No significant time has passed. No event has occurred to explain it -- indeed his circumstances would indicate any change in personality in the opposite direction.

At the end of the last novel, Giraud and Nye would be the last characters, from Arianne's point of view, to undergo regenesis. Why they are started, and who started them, and why -- all interesting questions -- is raised but completely unexplored here. I could go on and on, and some people undoubtedly think I am.

Almost everything that does happen is a dead end. This leads me to believe that this is a "bridge" book to another one in the Cyteen world. Moreover, the author wrote approximately 250,000 words for this novel. I know novels get edited, but I can only surmise that there is an entire book in the publisher's hands as a sequel to this one. For example, the following things dead end: Eversnow, nano tech (nanomistics), the Giraud and Nye "regenesis" or parental replicants (the hazy difference is extremely uncharacteristic for this author), the new Reseune town, and the murders of well, you know, if you read the book.

I could go on, but this is not a bulletin board for detailed analysis of novels that gives away the plot (not a problem here) or otherwise delves into the intricate detail of a sequence of novels such as these two.

One more point -- after 654 pages not a single new character? For readers new to CJ Cherryh, please read Cyteen, the company war books (Downbelow Station, Finity's End, Helllburner, Heavy Time, Tripoint, Rimrunners, Merchanter's Luck and many more) *before* attempting this one. You can find many of these still in print in omnibus editions that include two or three novels in one. if you run out, there are nine novels in the Foreigner series (in a universe that may or may not be related to this one -- an example of earth's problems in exploring the "other" end of space, anyone?) A very rich feast indeed.

Edit: from CJ's daily journal (2-15-09): "I'd be interested (though I can't respond to every e-mail, please understand) in how many of you now have electronic readers and what format; and also in how many of you intend to get one someday soon and what you think you might buy. If you fit into either category, please e-mail me as [...] with the subject line READER and I'll summarize the responses for this blog, in case you're curious." [quote edited to foil spam bots] (Cherrhy's World: [...]) I'm putting my Kindle vote in.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 35 reviews  4.1 out of 5 stars