New Releases by C. J. Cherryh

The author of Cyreen narrates the story of the oldest Merchanter ship of all, Finity''s End, whose young crew has lost an entire generation and is coming home after many years of war and piracy only to have to learn to live in peace.

Stranded on a distant planet that abounds with fertile farmland, human colonists appear to be in paradise. But all the native animals communicate by telepathy, projecting images that drive humans mad. Only Nighthorses stand between civilization and madness. When a flare of human emotion spreads to all the horses, chaos erupts.

The final volume of the Chanur saga, set in the Alliance-Union universe, featuring the alien spaceship captain Hiffy Chanur. Hiffy Chanur, once a member of her aunt''s crew on The Pride of Chanur, is now captain of her own vessel, Chanur''s Legacy. It should have been the ideal existence for Hiffy, her fondest dream fulfilled, but instead the young captain''s increasingly hard-pressed to take care of her ship''s business. So when Meetpoint''s stationmaster offers her a million credits to transport a small, mysterious, "religious" object, it seems like a golden opportunity—perhaps even too good an opportunity.... Yet despite her misgivings, Hiffy feels it''s a comission she can''t turn down. But soon she and the Legacy are caught in an ever-tightening web of intrigue. And only time will tell whether the young captain can determine who is her ally and who is her enemy in this deadly game of interstellar politics....

Things weren''t right in the little kingdom of Maggiar, so the princes Bogdan and Tamas set off to seek an answer to the kingdom''s troubles in the world over the mountain, a world they knew only from legends. But that glorious place was great no more. The goblins had declared war, and no one--especially not visitors were safe from the raging battles, the darkest sorcery, and the evil that roamed the land....

The fourth volume of the Chanur saga, set in the Alliance-Union universe, featuring the alien spaceship captain Pyanfar Chanur and her human crewmate Tully. When those strange entities called "humans" sent their first exploration ship into Compact space, the delicate power balances of the seven alien races of the Compact were catastrophically disrupted. And by giving shelter to Tully, the only human survivor of his mission, Captain Pyanfar of The Pride of Chanur jeopardized the safety of her ship and her crew by placing them at the center of a deadly political maelstrom. Now, with a new fleet of human ships approaching Compact space and with the Meetpoint and other Compact stations nearly destroyed by rival factions, Pyanfar and her crew face the ultimate threat to their species. For their home planet lies in the path of an impending space battle which could wipe their world off the galactic maps. Will Pyanfar be able to avert disaster for her homeworld and win herself the ultimate reward—a treasure beyond measuring—an exclusive trade contract with Earth?

The fourth and final book in the epic Morgaine science fiction saga Morgaine must meet her greatest challenge—Gault, who is both human and alien, and also seeks control of the world and its Gate. She will meet the true Gatemaster—a mysterious lord with power as great, or greater, than her own.

Aiela, a world-survey officer, is abducted by the iduve, the most advanced spacefaring race in the galaxy, and is forced to serve his captors on the clanship Ashanome

The second volume of the Chanur saga, set in the Alliance-Union universe, featuring the alien spaceship captain Pyanfar Chanur and her human crewmate Tully. In this sequel to The Pride of Chanur, Pyanfar Chanur and her human companion, Tully, must sensitive complex interstellar politics without getting caught in an all-out war. Two years after the events of the previous book, Pyanfar returns to Meetpoint Station with the hani spaceship The Pride of Chanur to find her comrades Goldtooth and Tully. Goldtooth advises Pyanfar to take Tully, whom the enemy kif are hunting, and head for mahen space. The mahendo''sat, on the other hand, retrieved Tully from human space and are paving the way for a fleet of human ships to open up trade with the central Compact. But the kif and the stsho oppose the humans'' presence, for fear of losing their place and influence in the Compact. The kif are themselves involved in a power struggle: two kif leaders, Akkhtimakt and Sikkukkut, are vying for the lofty position of mekt-hakkikt. Sikkukkut draws a reluctant Pyanfar into the feud, and her association with the kif puts her at odds with the han. Then, when the kif conflict spills over into hani space, all she and Tully can do is stay alive until Goldtooth and the human ships arrive.

"Set in the same future as the Hugo-winning Downbelow Station, but fully self-contained, this is a story on the classic theme of human understanding of the alien. . . . Once again, Cherryh proves herself a consistently thoughtful and entertaining writer".--Publishers Weekly.

Arafel, the last of the guardian spirits of Ealdwood, narrates this haunting tale of the last stand of faerie and magic against humanity and iron. The sequel is The Tree of Swords and Jewels (1983, pap., 1991).

Lancelot, Elaine, Percivale, Gawain, Modred--created people, cloned to suit the purposes of their opulent owner aboard the Maid, a fantasy of a spaceship. They live in a kind of dream--until they face a crisis they were never designed to master.

For the first time in one volume--the complete trilogy comprised of the novels "Kesrith, Shon''jir, " and "Kutath." A race of golden-skinned, golden eyed creatures is nearly annihilated in a war with "human" fighters. It''s up to three individuals to save the race from extinction. Can they retrace the galaxy-wide path of this nomadic race through millennia to reclaim the ancient world that gave them life?

Within the Constellation of the Serpent, out of bounds to all spacefarers, humans live among the insect-like aliens--and one of them, a woman named Paen, is bent on a revenge that will tear apart the truce between human and alien. "Brisk pacing . . . and genuinely brilliant world-building".--ALA Booklist.

After a hundred pioneer years, the colony on Hestia seemed to be nearing its end. Its holdings on that green and fertile planet were still limited to a single river in one valley. Everywhere else hostile fauna hedged them in. A dam could break the deadlock, and they needed an engineer to build it for them. Sam Merrit was the man who came in answer to their S.O.S. -- and he wanted out as soon as he landed. But once down on Hestia, it was live or die within the colony. So Sam stayed -- to discover certain anomalies that the hardscrabble colonists had thrust from their minds.

There was a star Gate in Azeroth marked by alien fires that Morgaine must seal. But Morgaine and Vanye have brought devastation to the peaceful land. For the hordes of Shiuan were on their heels, determined to conquer a new land for themselves and to avenge their lost planet.

For the first time in one volume--the complete trilogy comprised of the novels "Kesrith, Shon''jir, " and "Kutath." A race of golden-skinned, golden eyed creatures is nearly annihilated in a war with "human" fighters. It''s up to three individuals to save the race from extinction. Can they retrace the galaxy-wide path of this nomadic race through millennia to reclaim the ancient world that gave them life?

This is the story of three people: Sten Duncan, a soldier of humanity; Niun, last warrior of the Mri, humanity''s enemies; Melein, priestess-queen of the final fallen mri stronghold. This is the story of two mighty species fighting for a galaxy: humanity driving out from Earth, and the enigmatic regul struggling to hold their stars with mri mercenaries.