Reviews for Hestia

The average rating for Hestia based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-04-11 00:00:00 Chris Barnes Hestia is a really a prime example of C.J. Cherryh's early works: it is a detailed, methodical and slower paced combination of fantasy and science fiction which requires a certain amount of patience. The settings often involve a group of human colonists assigned or stranded on a terraformed or Earth-like world struggling to survive in a difficult environment where natives of the planet object to their presence. There's usually a main protagonist who comes to be the medium, either by choice or circumstance, between the two factions. In this case, it's a stranded engineer who has agreed to help nearly defeated colonists build a dam which might save their drowning lands, yet the natives don't care for this idea at all, secretly sabotaging and slaying encroachers. When Sam Merritt finds a young female cat-like humanoid who was caught in a rock-clearing explosion, he wants to learn more about her and her peoples, yet naturally the colonists object and the situation turns ugly, forcing him to choose who to help and protect. If you want non-stop thrills even at the cost of good writing and realistic world building, Cherryh's work will often seem slow or overly descriptive but I prefer solid writing and balanced plots over "flash and bang" any day. C.J. can always be counted upon for thoughtful, believable sci-fi/fantasy with good characterization. A great plus for me also: I prefer the shorter, stand-alone works like Hestia and absolutely love the cover art from "back in the day" before so much is computer generated. Lovely cover art by Don Maitz!

Review # 2 was written on 2017-09-19 00:00:00 Rikke Larsen "Hestia" is Cherryh's stab at Joseph Conrad's "In the Heart of Darkness" but in an interstellar sense. She looks at issues of colonial dependence to the colonizing power and the perspective of colonists versus indigenous peoples. The story reflects on the brutality of settlers and the dynamic of native resistance to "being discovered". Like so much of Cherryh's work it is about the clash of cultures and, in this work like "Wave Without a Shore", marginalization of The Other. Unlike "Wave" this story is not about philosophy but the Engineer. It examines the impact of technology on traditional native rights and development on localities and the people who live there. It hearkens back to events like the Trail of Tears, the creation of Skyline Drive, and, very specifically, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Aswan Dam projects. It is about the power of knowledge to change the face of the world as we know it through the heroic vision and endurance of one man, one engineer, and Mankind in general over Nature. However, this is not an unquestioning Modernist work of Classical SF but rather a Postmodernist reflection on Modernism and its authority. Cherryh hints at the future Neo-Classical science fiction of today - she doesn't create it but she is foreshadowing it. Rest assured this is a great adventure and one you will thoroughly enjoy. It will also surprise you and provide you with a reflection on NIMBYism in our times.