Cyteen by C J Cherryh

Hello, Stranger.

Let's talk about C J Cherryh's Cyteen.

The Short of It

Plot: The only person brilliant enough to run the cloning colony cannot live forever - but a perfect copy of her can take her place.

Page Count: 680

Award: 1989 Hugo and 1989 Nebula  

Worth a read: No
Primary Driver: (Plot, World, or Character)
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Oh yes.
Review: Slow, dull, and plodding, this book is a rough read. Interpersonal relationships are the backbone of the story but a lack of believable or compelling characters make it all fall flat. Beneath it all are some legitimately interesting questions of identity and self, couched in the context of cloning but more broadly applicable. These are posed as unresolved questions, and would be better served by a short story than a text girthy enough to pull a body underwater.

The Medium of It

Spoiler Free! Beyond basic premise from the book blurb.

There is something about C J Cherryh's writing that just does not do it for me. It is everything I dislike in SF - obtuse and dry with pretensions of grandeur. This makes my reviews of her work unfairly harsh. It seems likely that if her style clicked with you as a reader, this book would be at least decent. Suffice it to say, this was far better than the previous Cherryh work that I had to read but it nonetheless took multiple starts. 

This book is actually three books. Wow! Three for the price of one! The first is the story of Ariane Emory, a brilliant scientist/politician/overall genius. Who is not always a good person. Wow! Drama! The second and third portions are about her legacy, including the life of her clone Ari. Unfortunately this makes it feel as if the actual story only starts around 200 pages in, and that the actual life of Emory is all an appetizer for an unpleasant meal. 

Three things are meant to engage the reader:

1. Broad philosophical issues posed on identity and self, nature vs. nurture, autonomy, and personhood. 
2. Interpersonal relationships: Will Jordan treat Grant with the respect he shows Justin? Will Yani listen to Justin's complaints or ideas? Will Florian and Caitlin be okay?
3. Investment in politics and machinations, often connected to interpersonal relationships.

As has been discussed extensively in other posts here, posing questions is a vital part of science fiction. Speculating, one could call it. In fiction. How about that? The crux of it here is that these questions are posed without offering novel answers, and are simply repeated over and over again. Interpersonal relationships do not cut it here either: Cherryh fails to find the balance between making her characters both relatable and alien. We are meant to believe that they are exceptional geniuses - and distinct from one another - but the moments in which they are most relatable is when they do stuff that is dumb as hell. It's a frustrating balance to pick that does not compellingly convey either genius or relatability. As for politics: we care about the broader forces moving society when we care about the people who would be impacted. I do not care about anyone here. Political betrayal is built off of personal betrayal, and that's fine and dandy when characters are unengaging. Combined with the writing style - consistently detached - and there is nothing that makes me care who gets a seat on the council. 

Multiple perspective characters undercut the potential tension of the story. There are plenty of moments where a character is trying to discover something that another character - and thus the reader - already knows. We're thus intended to be invested in the interpersonal ramifications of this secret being discovered as opposed to the answer to a question. But when the characters do not click, this is a weak linchpin upon which to hang drama.

This one just did nothing for me. It is long and it felt longer.

If you still want to give this a spin, consider using the link below! I'll get a few cents at no extra cost to you!

Hello, I'm a clone of a link!

The Long of It

Spoilers Abound!

Let's talk a bit about what I did like here. Ariane Emory believes that the only way to raise a perfect clone is to duplicate her own childhood, trying to make Ari have the exact same experiences. The best scenes with this involve Ari's mother, Jane. Jane has to be sent away when Ari is seven, and this is one of the few relatable moments: a child struggling to understand what it means to lose someone. Denial, anger, desperate attempts to communicate, begging and pleading. It's all very human in a way that very little else about Ari is. 

"Ari," he said, "something serious has happened. Your maman has to go take care of it. She's had to leave."
"Where's she going?"
"Very far away, Ari. I don't know that she can come back. You're going to come home with me. You and Nelly. Nelly's going to stay with you, but she's got to go take some tape that will make her feel better about it."
"Maman can too come back!"
"I don't think so, Ari. Your maman is an important woman. She has something to do. She's going—well, far as a ship can take her. She knew you'd be upset. She didn't want to worry you. So she said I should tell you goodbye for her. She said you should come home with me now and live in my apartment."
"No!" Goodbye. Goodbye was nothing maman would ever say. Everything was wrong. She pulled away from Denys' hands and ran, ran as hard as she could, down the halls, through the doors, into their own hall. Denys couldn't catch her. No one could. She ran until she got to her door, her place; and she undipped her keycard from her blouse and she put it in the slot.
The door opened.
"Maman! Ollie!"
She ran through the rooms. She hunted everywhere, but she knew maman and Ollie would never hide from her.
Maman and Ollie would never leave her either. Something bad had happened to them. Something terrible had happened to them and uncle Denys was lying to her.
Maman's and Ollie's things were all off the dresser and the clothes from the closet.
Her toys were all gone. Even Poo-thing and Valery's star. She was breathing hard. She felt like there was not enough air. She heard the door open again and ran for the living room. "Maman! Ollie!"

This scene sets up an excellent punch later on, when Ari learns why Jane was sent away:

"They sent maman away," she said, "because Ari's mother died."
"What, sera?" Florian asked. "What do you mean? When did she die?"
"The same day. When Ari was the same age. Her uncle came to get her. Just like uncle Denys came for me." Tears ran out of her eyes and splashed onto her lap, but she wasn't crying, not feeling it, anyway; the tears just fell. "I'm a replicate. Not just genetic. I'm like you. I'm exact."
"That's not so bad," Catlin said.
"They sent my maman away, they sent her on a long trip through jump, it made her sick and she died, Catlin, she died, because they wanted her to!"

Most of the book does not do it for me, but those two scenes are superb. 

I don't think that I would necessarily like hanging out with a clone of myself. What about you, Stanger?

And don't forget to read a book!