'The Pride of Chanur' by C. J. Cherryh

I first came across 'The Pride of Chanur' on one of my usual trips to Barnes and Noble. I had already read another one of C. J. Cherryh’s numerous sci-fi series and decided to pick up this book. I had no clue what it was about. I read the book just recently in hopes of finding out. 'The Pride of Chanur' will keep the reader reading.

The Pride of Chanur is a cargo space ship under the control of Pyanfur Chanur, of the hani species. She thinks that she is on a normal trading trip when she arrives in the space-docks at Meetpoint until a fugitive of the kif ship Hinukku arrives on The Pride. The kif is another species. This fugitive’s name is Tully and he is a human who is, as of now, unknown to the Compact. The Compact are trading treaties that different species have with each other. Akukkakk, the captain of Hinukku, is intent on getting Tully back. When Akukkakk offers to buy Tully from Pyanfur, Pyanfur refuses. This action seals the fate for the crew of The Pride and starts them on a journey through Compact space. Compact space is the areas where trading is able to happen between alien species. Soon after Akukkakk’s encounter with Pyanfur, a hani ship that is also docked in Meetpoint gets blown-up. Fearing for her crew’s lives, Pyanfur flees Meetpoint, leaving all of her precious cargo behind. The kif of the Hinukku follow close behind.

Throughout The Pride’s journey, Tully learns the language of the hani. Pyanfur and the crew learn how Tully came to be in the hands of kif and how he escaped. Tully however, proves to be more trouble than Pyanfur bargains for because he causes increased debt and damages on The Pride. These problems cause Pyanfur to head to hani space. The kif pursue, wreaking massive destruction in hani space. In the area of the hani home world Anuurn, a large fight between hani, kif, and mahendo’sat ensues. The knnn, a sporadic and unintelligible species soon join the battle. The knnn bring with them the human space ship Ulysses and leave soon after arriving with the kif space ship Hinukku. Tully is reunited with the humans and the crew of The Pride of Chanur is left alone to repay the extensive debt it has incurred.

I would recommend 'The Pride of Chanur' only to people who really enjoy reading and would not mind sitting down for a while to enjoy this book. The book doesn’t have a moral. This book is a work of fiction, a book to be enjoyed, not learned from. I enjoyed every part of this book. I was never bored or disappointed. The only thing readers might have trouble with is keeping the different alien species in order. A story is hard to follow but when you have to distinguish between 5 different species the book can become difficult. C. J. Cherryh is a master storyteller. If ever in Barnes and Noble, take a look at this book.

Note: This book no longer comes by itself but instead comes in a collection of the first three books of 'The Chanur Saga.' Each book will lead into the next book easily.