Helpful Score: 4
Chanur's Legacy is the 5th book of the 5 book Chanur saga. The important part of this review is to warn people (even though it's my book and I'd like to trade it) that the book Chanur's Endgame has this book and the 4th book - Chanur's Homecoming - in combination. That means that this book really should be bought only if you have already read the 4th book - Chanur's Homecoming - otherwise the Chanur's Endgame is the one to get since it is 2 books in one. That being said - this book is very good. It could almost be a stand-alone novel except that you'd miss the wonderful detail and history behind this character (Hilfy) who has come of age and is now the captain of their ship. There is lots of action, political intrigue, fighting, and lots of danger. I got very involved in the "danger" of this series, and it was a "nail-biter" at times. The aliens that Cherryh people's Compact Space with are totally alien - complete with non-oxygen breathers. It's a great ride just like the preceding 4 books. Great writing style. But please read them in order...
From Amazon:
Hilfy Chanur, young captain of the merchant ship Chanur's Legacy , accepts a commission from a dignitary on the planet Meetpoint to deliver a religious artifact to nearby Urtur Station. The arrangement soon becomes a tangle of interstellar intrigue as Hilfy and her crew battle kidnappers, assassins, and smooth politicians while fighting their own inborn prejudices. Set in the Alliance-Union universe, a favorite Cherryh sf setting, the fifth book in her ongoing chronicle of the spacefaring, feline Chanur clan should appeal to fans of fast-moving, meticulously detailed space opera.
Hilfy Chanur, young captain of the merchant ship Chanur's Legacy , accepts a commission from a dignitary on the planet Meetpoint to deliver a religious artifact to nearby Urtur Station. The arrangement soon becomes a tangle of interstellar intrigue as Hilfy and her crew battle kidnappers, assassins, and smooth politicians while fighting their own inborn prejudices. Set in the Alliance-Union universe, a favorite Cherryh sf setting, the fifth book in her ongoing chronicle of the spacefaring, feline Chanur clan should appeal to fans of fast-moving, meticulously detailed space opera.
Ten years after Pyanfar Chanur, captain of The Pride of Chanur gave shelter to a human, thereby disrupting the complex power balances which existed between the seven races of the Compact, Pyanfar has become the most important personage in the Compact. Hilfy Chanur, once a member of her famous aunt's crew, is now captain of her own vessel, Chanur's Legacy. And she's becoming more and more entangled in seemingly insoluble problems and increasingly hard-pressed to take care of her ship's business. So, when Meetpoint's stsho stationmaster offers her a million credits to transport a small, mysterious "religious" object to a fellow stsho on Urtur Station, it seems like a golden opportunity. After all, a million credits is extremely generous, perhaps even too generous. Yet, despite her misgivings, Hilfy feels it's a commission she just 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 truly her ally and who her enemy is in this deadly game of interstellar politics.
A worthy successor to the Chanur novels, in this fifth and last volume it is Hilfy who is captain and facing problems she never imagined. The universe of the Compact is richly detailed and the story is very engaging. Highly recommended.
