{"id":9377,"date":"2025-06-19T00:03:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T05:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=9377"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:11:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T19:11:36","slug":"c-j-cherryh-and-jane-s-fanchers-alliance-rising-alliance-unbound-and-hinder-stars-trilogy-how-our-best-novel-finalists-are-receiving-broader-attention-part-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/c-j-cherryh-and-jane-s-fanchers-alliance-rising-alliance-unbound-and-hinder-stars-trilogy-how-our-best-novel-finalists-are-receiving-broader-attention-part-four\/","title":{"rendered":"C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher\u2019s Alliance Rising, Alliance Unbound and Hinder Stars trilogy: How our Best Novel finalists are receiving broader attention (Part Four)\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/b>Michael Grossberg<\/b><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher won the 2020 Prometheus Award for Best Novel for Alliance Rising, <\/i><\/a>the first novel in their projected Hinder Stars trilogy dramatizing the early years of interstellar merchants forging a peaceful free-trading alliance within Cherryh\u2019s Hugo-winning larger Alliance-Union series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Left to right: Jane S. Fancher and C.J. Cherryh (File photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now Alliance Unbound,<\/i><\/a> Cherryh and Fancher\u2019s sequel to Alliance Rising<\/i>, is competing for another Prometheus Award as one of five 2025 Best Novel finalists.<\/p>\n

As Libertarian Futurist Society members enter the final weeks of reading and voting to\u00a0 <\/span>to determine the 2025 Prometheus winners for Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (the Prometheus Hall of Fame), it\u2019s notable and illuminating – and hopefully helpful – to report on how each of this year\u2019s Best Novel finalists<\/a> has been sparking discussions and interviews and gaining recognition within the broader culture.<\/p>\n

Certainly, Cherryh and Fancher, life and writing partners, have received significant and wide attention over the years in interviews and podcasts.<\/p>\n

Part Four of our ongoing Prometheus Blog series highlighting the influence and impact of this year\u2019s Best Novel finalists offers representative excerpts and links to several of the most interesting interviews of these co-authors, including insights into the novels in their Hinder Stars trilogy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

HOW THE HINDER STARS TRILOGY WAS CONCEIVED<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/b>“Alliance Rising<\/a> <\/em>is first of the\u00a0Hinder Stars\u00a0segment of the Union-Alliance\u00a0sequence \u2014 a.k.a. The Company Wars\u00a0\u2014 and represents the beginning of the Alliance. It comes, time-wise, before all the others, as Earth and its system try to reassert control over its colonies,\u201d Cherryh told Paul Semel in an interview on Semel\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese books were not written in chronological order, and stand alone with rare exceptions, but they take place in the same history,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When asked where the original idea for Alliance Rising, <\/em>its direct sequel Alliance Unbound<\/em><\/a> and their projected Hinder Stars trilogy came from, Fancher claimed the credit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI began as a die-hard Cherryh fan, [but] the first hint of future collaborative work came when C.J. was working on Cyteen<\/i>\u00a0and nightly phone calls between Oklahoma City and Renton Washington began. C.J. would read what she\u2019d written that day and I would react with questions and reactions, many of them grounded in how it fit in with what had already been written. And while I\u2019m a great fan of the Foreigner\u00a0universe, I\u2019ve lamented that there had been nothing new in the Company Wars\u00a0for years,\u201d Fancher told Semel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were going to do a full-blown collaboration, as opposed to the mutual editing we\u2019ve been doing for each other for years, I really wanted some questions answered. I wanted to fill in some of the historical blanks, to answer questions about the mechanics, if you will, of C.J.\u2019s future history: how the economy really works, how the wars started, ultimately to see the rider ships in action\u2026all the background bits and bobs alluded to in the other books, but never explicitly detailed, since no book had actually dealt with the events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cherryh and Fancher quickly agreed on the basic concept and focus for the new trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u201cC.J. was as excited by the idea as I was \u2014 Finity\u2019s End,<\/i> Captain James Robert, and the beginning of the Alliance was my first choice. It was a time of massive change and James Robert is something of a background legend throughout the series,\u201d Fancher said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Working on the trilogy together gave Fancher a chance to stretch her talents – and imagination.<\/p>\n

\u201cJane (had) never written in the Alliance side of this universe, though she was part of creating the Union side, and if we were to write together, it seemed logical to start right at the beginning for both of us, and write the story of how it all began,\u201d Cherryh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstand that the universe we use, the physical universe, is quite real: there really is a Proxima Centauri and a Barnard\u2019s Star, so we operate within constraints as real, if not as well known, as London and New York. We pinned down the places we\u2019d use, and then worked out our story.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a bonus, the writers offered advice to those relatively unfamiliar with the Alliance-Union series about what they might want to read next.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d go from here to Downbelow Station<\/i>, then Cyteen<\/i>\u00a0and Regenesis,<\/i> then Heavy Time<\/i>\u00a0and Hellburner,<\/i>\u201d Cherryh suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a universe, after all, and you can read things out of sequence with rare exceptions \u2014\u00a0Regenesis\u00a0<\/i>follows Cyteen;<\/i> Hellburner<\/i>\u00a0follows Heavy Time<\/i>\u00a0\u2014 but they\u2019re in different areas of the map, involving different people and stories that may touch on something you\u2019ve read, but not that you need one to understand the others: it\u2019ll just come to you, oh! this is a Union ship; or, they\u2019re building the Alliance ships; or this is before Damon Konstantin, and this was Ari\u2019s mother \u2014 the way you\u2019d read something else, about somebody you\u2019ve met elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

CHERRYH\u2019S INTERVIEW WITH AMAZING STORIES
\n<\/b>
\nOne of the most illuminating interviews with Cherryh was on Amazing Stories<\/i> magazine and website.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
C.J. Cherryh in the 1990s (File photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The interview, conducted by R.K. Troughton, begins with high praise for the award-winning author, who\u2019s won three Hugos, a Locus, a Skylark and a John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.<\/p>\n

Her fantasy and science fiction works \u201chave entertained and inspired readers for five decades,\u201d Troughton said.<\/p>\n

“Her stories pull the reader in with a passion and force that refuse to let go until the final page is turned. The amazing universes she has created leave the reader longing for more, desiring to return once again to their rich expanses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Noting that Cherryh\u2019s Alliance-Union universe \u201chas stretched across an entire library shelf, captivating the imagination of so many,\u201d Troughton asked her to describe that fictional universe and its scope.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlliance-Union is a future history for which I literally made, on sheets of glass and finally on computer, a real map of the real stars surrounding our solar system, places like Alpha and Beta Cent, Ep Eri, Tau Ceti, etc, and figured how we could use certain real places as a set of stepping stones to the stars,\u201d Cherryh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked out how\u2014and humanly why\u2014you could have an interstellar civilization with nine ships; and where that would lead. It led, in the stories, to people who wanted to be free of Earth\u2019s influence, those that wanted to preserve it, and those who wanted to trade between them and belong to neither. It led to the evolution of a new kind of mindset, and the colonization of more places, and ultimately to contact with more than one other intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the full Cherryh interview, visit Amazing Stories<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

For further reading:<\/b> Check out the previous Prometheus blog posts in this series about interviews and podcasts with the 2025 Best Novel finalists. Part One<\/a> focuses on Lionel Shriver (and her novel Mania<\/i><\/a>), <\/i>\u00a0Part Two<\/a>, on Danny King (and his novel Cancelled)<\/i><\/a> and Part Three<\/a>, on Wil McCarthy (and his novel Beggar\u2019s Sky.<\/i><\/a>)<\/p>\n

Coming up:<\/b> Highlights of some unusually glowing reviews of Best Novel finalist In the Belly of the Whale, <\/em><\/a>the posthumous and last novel by the late Michael Flynn, a two-time Prometheus Best Novel winner.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: <\/b>The Prometheus Blog strives to report widely with updates on all Prometheus-recognized fiction and authors, especially if and when their works are referenced in popular culture and international discourse, whether in newspapers, magazines, books, columns, podcasts, interviews, commentary and debates. Whenever and where\u2019ve you come across such references, please bring them to our attention right away, so we can highlight them in a timely fashion and underscore the influence and impact of Prometheus-recognized fiction on our world today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS AND THE LFS<\/b><\/p>\n

*\u00a0Join us!<\/b> To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction, \u00a0join<\/a> the Libertarian Futurist Society, a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n

Libertarian futurists understand that culture matters. We believe that literature and the arts can be vital in envisioning a freer and better future. In some ways, culture can be even more influential and powerful than politics in the long run, by imagining better visions of the future incorporating peace, prosperity, progress, tolerance, justice, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other\u2019s rights, human dignity, individuality and peaceful choices.<\/p>\n

* Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/b>For a full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 including in the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards \u2013 visit the enhanced \u00a0Prometheus Awards page<\/a>\u00a0on the LFS website. This page includes convenient links to all published essay-reviews in our Appreciation series explaining why each of more than 100 past winners since 1979 fits the awards\u2019 distinctive dual focus on both quality and liberty.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Watch videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies, Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog\u2019s\u00a0Video page.<\/a><\/p>\n

* Read \u201cThe Libertarian History of Science Fiction,\u201d<\/a> an essay in the international magazine\u00a0Quillette<\/i>\u00a0that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf\/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.<\/p>\n

* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society\u2019s Facebook page<\/a> for comments, updates and links to the latest Prometheus Blog posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher won the 2020 Prometheus Award for Best Novel for Alliance Rising, the first novel in their projected Hinder Stars trilogy dramatizing the early years of interstellar merchants forging a peaceful free-trading alliance within Cherryh\u2019s Hugo-winning larger Alliance-Union series. Now Alliance Unbound, Cherryh and Fancher\u2019s sequel to … Continue reading C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher\u2019s Alliance Rising, Alliance Unbound and Hinder Stars trilogy: How our Best Novel finalists are receiving broader attention (Part Four)\u2028<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1585,36],"tags":[408,2545,1230,1517,671,2659,407],"class_list":["post-9377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction-in-the-news","category-interviews","tag-alliance-rising","tag-alliance-unbound","tag-alliance-union-universe","tag-best-novel-finalist","tag-c-j-cherryh","tag-hinder-stars-trilogy","tag-jane-s-fancher"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-2rf","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9377"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9403,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9377\/revisions\/9403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}