L’orgoglio di Chanur

Between three and four stars. I didn't really enjoy listening to this book, but it's an interesting first-contact story and I'm glad to have read it.

It's totally in the point-of-view of a catlike alien, Pyanfar, who is the captain of a trading ship. She takes in a human stowaway, Tully, and protects him from an evil alien species. Eventually, Pyanfar and her crew are able to communicate with him in a limited way, but not to the extent that they get to know him as an individual. So, he's more like a nexus around which most of the action revolves than he is a character. I thought this was a neat way to tell a story of this kind, but I also kept wanting the book to get back to what was happening with Tully.

Pyanfar's race, the hani, are not that dissimilar from humans, except that only females are allowed to work outside the home. They believe animal needs control men, who live on hani planets and fight amongst themselves for dominance. There's a subplot about this kind of fighting late in the book. I'm sure this all caused quite a stir in 1982, especially because the hani males and females are so similar to human gender stereotypes. It is still interesting now, without feeling like it's retreading trite ideas. But it isn't really the focus of the book, more like part of the worldbuilding.

The book's major flaw, for me, is that large parts of it are really boring. You are with Pyanfar constantly; there aren't any elisions of time. So if she takes a shower, or docks the ship, or ponders events, you experience every moment along with her. I didn't skip anything, but I didn't like this writing style. However, I did like that we only saw her perspective. Most of the older SFF I've read has lots of PoV shifts.

This is the start of a series and I may continue it at some point. I'll definitely keep thinking about the plot and the concepts it introduced.

Review on my booktube channel soon...
https://youtube.com/@MattonBooks

A first contact story where humans are the aliens, told from the perspective of the hani - an all female starship crew of lion-like bipeds - with fascinating interspecies politics & intrigue, interesting ideas about alien cultures, and a cross species found family. Good fun.

Enjoyed the whole Chanur series, for two main reasons. First, I love Cherryh's gritty, realistic take on what interplanetary travel and commerce might be like if it were possible. Second, I like how she handles the gender dynamics of Chanur society, modeled on your earth lions.