Cyteen
The Betrayal (Cyteen)
by C. J. Cherryh · first published 1988
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Dense space opera exploring genetic engineering, cloning and the ethics of genius, set in a Cold War-style interstellar world. Its perspective-opening ideas make it a fit for serious sci-fi readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
From back cover Warner paperback February 1989: ARIANE EMORY IS DEAD. BUT NOT FOR LONG. WHERE IS ARIANE? For fifty years, Dr. Ariane Emory has dominated politics on Cyteen Station. Because Dr. Emory controls Reseune, a city-sized factory that creates the one item essential to the planet's wealth. Reseune produces people -- computer-trained azi servants and soldiers. Then Araine Emory is assassinated. Yet her rivals and victims, people like Dr. Jordan Warrick, his cloned son Justin, and Justin's azi brother Grant, are not freed by her death. For Emory's murder has turned Reseun
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on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗I've read CJ Cherryh's Cyteen maybe 20 times.
on “Ask HN: Which book have you re-read the most times? how many times?” ↗…Turing cops are Swiss, there's the whole cultural slant of Count Zero (not to spoil it for any who haven't read it), the Tessier-Ashpools are French/Australian, etc. Props for mentioning Cherryh, though. Cyteen is frigging fantastic. Indeed, Cherryh in general is fantastic, although some of her stuff is serious business and some of it is (good) fluff. As others have commented, hard SF is so very very not dead.
on “The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)” ↗CJ Cherryh, Cyteen (and then the rest of the Merchanter universe). Iain M Banks, Player of Games (and then everything else) For cyberpunk, Neuromancer and the sprawl trilogy have not aged terribly well. I still like…
on “Ask HN: Recommend a Good Sci-Fi Book” ↗…Pretty much any of her books are mind bending and perspective opening. Not that they'd help become a better computer developer say - but you'd probably be a wiser person for the exposure. C.J.Cherryh - Cyteen - on individual, on programming personality and more. C.J.Cherryh - Voyager in Night. (on a perspective on alien thinking) (author has a lot of excellent books as writes for an intelligent and well…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗Recommended reading: Cyteen by CJ Cherryh. The geniuses in this universe are called “specials” and enjoy special rights. I still think that sci-fi novels are the best material covering the ethics of science.
on “How about a Genius Basic Income?” ↗I'll plug some excellent work that is underrepresented here: CJ Cherryh's "Cyteen". Won the Hugo for best novel in '89. The backdrop is Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe -- which is arguably one of those classic "cold war in space" type space opera settings of science fiction of a…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗The novel Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh depicts more or less this scenario: "normally" raised human colonists (who happen to include a lot of genetics, biology, and psychology experts) need to expand their population quickly,…
on “An artificial womb successfully grew baby sheep” ↗