Humans, aliens, and clones in the work of C. J. Cherryh

[Connavar]

But the people who are being exploited and colonized, the people who are fighting against oppression, they aren't greedy and power-hungry. And there are much more of them -- or it wouldn't be worth while for the rapacious ones to exploit them.

And in places where life is easier, there are plenty of people who live modest lives without ambition or greed. They just don't have such a high profile as the social climbers and the big consumers.

To consider the worst among us as somehow more representative of human nature than the people who are just content to live their lives is cynical.

I feel for those people and im not foolish enough to think the worst are the representative for the rest of us. Its just sometimes you think the worst ones are far too many, not compared total amount of humans but by their damage.

I envy people who live where life is easy. Being from a country where i cant visit certain places like the capitol cause people from my clan are shot on sight. I dont even know the name of the clan,group i belong to. Like Vetch and i was talking about culture. Somethings are not worth sticking too.

In relation to Faded Sun humans and reguls i just thought it was realistic there were people like that human and alien.

Interesting to see the worst sides of humans represented in humans and aliens like Regul. Others SF of the same type i have read have futures that is perfect where there arent people like that.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I have to say that I am as interested in the azi as I am in the aliens.

I always feel sympathetic to the individual characters, but the whole idea of human clones bred for certain characteristics and then brainwashed by taped "psych sets" is horrifying. The identity issues, for those who are intelligent enough to be aware of them, are so cruel and so crippling.

 

[Connavar]

I have to say that I am as interested in the azi as I am in the aliens.

I always feel sympathetic to the individual characters, but the whole idea of human clones bred for certain characteristics and then brainwashed by taped "psych sets" is horrifying. The identity issues, for those who are intelligent enough to be aware of them, are so cruel and so crippling.

Is that from Downbelow Station series ? I remembered the traders federation whatever they are called breeding humans for their roles. That was a little disgusting.

Reminded me of Jack Vance story im reading right now called To Live Forever.

 

[clovis-man]

I have to say that I am as interested in the azi as I am in the aliens.

I always feel sympathetic to the individual characters, but the whole idea of human clones bred for certain characteristics and then brainwashed by taped "psych sets" is horrifying. The identity issues, for those who are intelligent enough to be aware of them, are so cruel and so crippling.

Precursor to the Clone Wars, but Cherryh does it much better. Actually there was a film that did a reasonable job of exploring the subject in a Holywoodish kind of way. Kurt Russell plays a soldier brought up and trained much the same as the Azi. Not a great film, but an interesting concept nonetheless:

Soldier (1998/I)

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Serpent's Reach, Port Eternity, Forty Thousand in Gehenna, and the Cyteen books are the ones where the cloned humans seem to play larger roles than in her other books.

In Port Eternity, the azi have practical functions to perform -- navigating the ship for instance -- but they are also treated as playthings by the woman who owns them. In Serpent's Reach, they are slaves, but even worse, because they can have their personalities wiped out at any time. They are no worse off than the clones in Port Eternity, but we learn more about the way they are "farmed" and sold in Serpent's Reach. Some of the azi have better treatment in Cyteen, more dignity, more ability to think for themselves, but they are still property. In Forty Thousand in Gehenna, they are essentially dropped off to colonize a planet and expected to adapt until the "real" colonists come along. The irony is obvious throughout.

 

[soulsinging]

It seems to me that one of Cherryh's great themes revolves around the question: What does it mean to be human?

She does this by contrasting human and alien societies (in her SF), by contrasting characters who are human with those who merely look human but are quite obviously not (in her Fantasy and Science Fantasy) ... and then there are the azi.

What you guys are doing is working... I have never heard of this author, but this sounds really interesting. My favorite part of the Battlestar Galactica reboot was the way it explored what it means to be human... ie at what point are Cylon "emotions" so real that they can no longer be deemed subhuman? Going to have to look into this author.