Fantasy Fiction Sci-fi Sci-Fi Fantasy Space Opera

Alliance-Union Universe #2

Forty Thousand in Gehenna

Name: Forty Thousand in Gehenna
Rating: 3.81 (2187 reviews)
Author: C.J. Cherryh

C.J. Cherryh January 1, 1983

3.81 2.2k Ratings

Ongoing Status

23 Views

Start Reading

Synopsis

When forty thousand human colonists are abandoned on a planet called Gehenna for political reasons, and re-supply ships fail to arrive, collapse seems imminent. Yet over the next two centuries, the descendants of the original colonists survive despite all odds by entering a partnership with the planet’s native intelligence, the lizardlike burrowing calibans.

Books similar to Forty Thousand in Gehenna

Precursor

★ 4.25

C.J. Cherryh

National best-selling author and winner of three Hugo Awards, C.J. Cherryh returns to the universe of her acclaimed Foreigner trilogy-with an epic tale of the survivors of a lost spacecraft stranded on a planet inhabited by a hostile, sentient race.

The beginning of a second trilogy, Precursor follows a single human delegate living among aliens, who are just gaining access to space....

Praise for Precursor...

"An addition to Cherryh's superior alien-contact series...Another intriguing human/alien struggle."-Kirkus Reviews"A powerful look at the effects of alienation on individuals and societies."-Locus

...and C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner Universe:

"Superlatively drawn aliens and characterization...a return to the anthropological science fiction in which [Cherryh] has made such a name is a double pleasure."-Chicago Sun-Times

"An incisive study-in-contrast of what it means to be human."-Library Journal

Shon’jir

★ 4.06

C.J. Cherryh

Sten Duncan had saved the lives of the last two of humanity's deadliest enemies, during the takeover of their planet Kesrith. Sten therefore felt responsible for them and for their future -- if any. For though the two mri were brother and sister, they represented different power-castes of their ancient warrior-race. Niun was the last of the bred samurai. Melein, though young, was perforce the last priestess-queen. But struggle and mutual danger had sealed Sten Duncan to their loyalty. As their blood-brother, he would have to help them flee mankind and take the long, long evasion-route across the cosmos to a legendary lost planet which might afford the mri one more chance.

The Tar-Aiym Krang

★ 4.03

Alan Dean Foster

Moth was a beautiful planet, the only one with wings -- two great golden clouds suspended in space around it.

Here was a wide-open world for any venture a man might scheme. The planet attracted unwary travelers, hardened space-sailors, and merchant buccaneers -- a teeming, constantly shifting horde that provided a comfortable income for certain quick-witted fellows like Flinx and his pet flying snake Pip. With his odd talents, the pickings were easy enough so that Flinx did not have to be dishonest ... most of the time.

In fact, it hardly seemed dishonest at all to steal a starmap from a dead body that didn't really need it anymore. But Flinx wasn't quite smart enough. He should have wondered why the body was dead in the first place...

The Uplift War

★ 4.07

David Brin

David Brin's Uplift novels are among the most thrilling and extraordinary science fiction ever written. Sundiver, Startide Rising, and The Uplift War--a New York Times bestseller--together make up one of the most beloved sagas of all time. Brin's tales are set in a future universe in which no species can reach sentience without being "uplifted" by a patron race. But the greatest mystery of all remains unsolved: who uplifted humankind?

As galactic armadas clash in quest of the ancient fleet of the Progenitors, a brutal alien race seizes the dying planet of Garth. The various uplifted inhabitants of Garth must battle their overlords or face ultimate extinction. At stake is the existence of Terran society and Earth, and the fate of the entire Five Galaxies. Sweeping, brilliantly crafted, inventive and dramatic, The Uplift War is an unforgettable story of adventure and wonder from one of today's science fiction greats.

Dragon’s Egg

★ 4.12

Robert L. Forward

"In science fiction there is only a handful of books that stretch the mind--and this is one of them."--Arthur C. Clarke

In a moving story of sacrifice and triumph, human scientists establish a relationship with intelligent lifeforms--the cheela--living on Dragon's Egg, a neutron star where one Earth hour is equivalent to hundreds of their years. The cheela culturally evolve from savagery to the discovery of science, and for a brief time, men are their diligent teachers.

Praise for Dragon's Egg

"Bob Forward writes in the tradition of Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity and carries it a giant step (how else?) forward."--Isaac Asimov

"Dragon's Egg is superb. I couldn't have written it; it required too much real physics."--Larry Niven

"This is one for the real science-fiction fan."--Frank Herbert

"Robert L. Forward tells a good story and asks a profound question. If we run into a race of creatures who live a hundred years while we live an hour, what can they say to us or we to them?"--Freeman J. Dyson

"Forward has impeccable scientific credentials, and . . . big, original, speculative ideas."--The Washington Post

The Mote in God’s Eye

★ 4.07

Larry Niven

In 3016, the 2nd Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to faster-than-light Alderson Drive. Intelligent beings are finally found from the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud. The bottled-up ancient civilization, at least one million years old, are welcoming, kind, yet evasive, with a dark problem they have not solved in over a million years.

This Alien Shore

★ 4.05

C.S. Friedman

Sheltered all her life in a corporate satellite in Earth's outer orbit, Jamisia must face the truth about her origins and her role in the power struggle between the Guerans who dominate intergalactic transportation and the rest of Earth's far-flung and genetically mutated colonies who are trying to break the Guera Guild's monopoly.

Heaven’s Reach

★ 3.97

David Brin

Winner of the Nebula and Hugo Awards, David Brin brings his bestselling Uplift series to a magnificent conclusion with his most imaginative and powerful novel to date--the shattering epic of a universe poised on the brink of revelation...or annihilation.

The brutal enemy that has relentlessly pursued them for centuries has arrived. Now the fugitive settlers of Jijo--both human and alien--brace for a final confrontation. The Jijoans' only hope is the Earthship Streaker, crewed by uplifted dolphins and commanded by an untested human.

Yet more than just the fate of Jijo hangs in the balance. For Streaker carries a cargo of ancient artifacts that may unlock the secret of those who first brought intelligent life to the Galaxies. Many believe a dire prophecy has come to pass: an age of terrifying changes that could end Galactic civilization.

As dozens of white dwarf stars stand ready to explode, the survival of sentient life in the universe rests on the most improbable dream of all--that age-old antagonists of different races can at last recognize the unity of all consciousness.