Comments on: Chanur’s Legacy

By: Tom Noir

Tom Noir — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:42:45 +0000

Why are cat people always so angry on these things? Why can’t we get covers that show the other side of cat people? Cat people relaxing, cat people at play, cat people grooming themselves with their own tongues.

Yes, that’s the cover I would like to see.

By: His Irateness

His Irateness — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:28:06 +0000

Not hugely cheesy, really, if I’m honest. You can do a LOT worse than this I hope Otherwise we have a problem here.

I’ve read the books; all of them, and the covers are all pretty accurate. This one does have a twinge of when it was published, though, with the purple haze all over it.

Funny how I haven’t seen Chanur’s Venture or The Kif Strike Back yet….

By: SI

SI — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:08:26 +0000

Haha nice!

You would have never guessed the Kif would knife you in the back. They dress so trustworthy in their… dark robes….

Good names though! I would hate to have to say those ones on the spot. It would be like your teacher doing the registry and coming across that student with an awkward name and trying there name about four times before simply just giving up.

By: Nix

Nix — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:51:29 +0000

Let’s not forget the most important thing about the kif (other than their incredibly backstabbing natures): their *names*. Who can’t love people with names like ‘Akkhtimakt’ and ‘Akukkakk’ and (my personal favourite) ‘Sikkukkut’.

(The strange thing is all these names *are* actually pronounceable. They just scare the hell out of you on first glance, quite like the kif themselves.)

By: Susano

Susano — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:40:49 +0000

I have the omnibus edition, which has all three covers on it. I’ll see what I can do.

By: CSA

CSA — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:25:55 +0000

I does sound like a better plot with more detail than a fair percentacge of the stuff i read over the years.

Maybe you could submit a photo of Gate of Ivrel? Are there worse?

By: Susano

Susano — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:00:55 +0000

JustinLeego — The Kif are vaguely reptilian. I know they can only eat live food (they’re revolted by dead or cooked meat) and have two sets of teeth for masticating stuff into pure pulp. Oh, and probably nocturnal. Other than that…. can’t recall.

CSA — If you think this cover is cheesy, don’t even think about the other Chanur covers… or the Faded Sun covers… or the Morgaine series covers… or….

Ahem… I digress.

By: CSA

CSA — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:27:05 +0000

It may well be exactly as described in the book in this case, and is even well drawn i’ll grant… unfortunately that doesnt stop it from looking pretty cheesy.

I’ve read more than my fair share of sci-fi/fantasy and love the genre, but sometimes it boils down to some dude with a pet dragon and a magic sword fighting Lord Evilman, and unfortunately this is reflected in the cover for all the world to see.

Respect to the artist for taking the time to read the book. I’ve read atleast a few of the books/covers we’ve looked at here, and have enjoyed them, but i’d much rather they had plainer covers or even if the artist atleast had read a chapter or two.

My housemate has read the Man-Kzin Wars books and tried to defend their covers… i guess its all about taste.

You say Hani and Kif, I say Cat-man and Crocodude
Tomato, tomato

By: JustinLeego

JustinLeego — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:07:56 +0000

Thanks Susano, sounds like a good book and a good series! Sounds like Cherryh started playing around with the fictional worlds a bit by that point while not poking fun too much, intruiging… Does it give any insight into the animalistic origins of the Kif? They look almost birdlike to me.

I have to agree with you, Michael Whelan’s done a good job here. You can tell from the cover he’s a gifted artist. However, Marseguro’s still No.1 on my list of books discovered via GSS covers though – that one was somehow just so Stainless Steel Rat that I knew I’d have to read it!

By: Susano

Susano — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:27:28 +0000

Okay, I’ve read this, and own this, and can’t say anything bad about Michael Whelan art. He at least reads the books and has painted a number of good CJ Cherryh covers (including the Faded Sun series). This is the 5th book in the series, and the funniest (but only if you’ve read the others and know the society and politics). The Hani (the cat race) are based around how lions work, while the cloaked individual is a Kif, a highly unpleasant race who like to trade via intimidation. However, this Kif (IIRC) is loyal to the Chanur for reasons presented in the 3rd and 4th novels.

Now, to run down the comments —

1) Yes, the Kif has the Hani’s backs. He has good reasons to do so.

2) The Hani are described as as golden-furred, so the painting is pretty spot on.

3) The fight from the cover is over a McGuffin that various races all want. Political and economic intrigue and all that.