Forty Thousand in Gahenna by C J Cherryh

Quite some time ago, I read and reviewed Cyteen (a 1989 Hugo winner) and told the book group about it. Chris proceeded to recommend 40,0000 in Gahenna, and after hunting down a used copy at Uncle Hugo’s - it’s out of print - I finally got around to reading it.

The story begins with a select group of humans and 40,000 azi being secretly loaded onto military transports to quietly colonize the planet Gahenna. Scientific survey reports from the planet indicate it is habitable, with the only life forms being the large lizards, dubbed calibans and their smaller counterparts, the aerials. Those who volunteered were briefed about the time schedule for back up supplies and that their mission is to establish a base on the river the scientific team dubbed Styx.

It comes as no surprise to the reader that there is no second supply ship coming, and for all practical purposes, they (and several other similar missions) have been purposely abandoned. In the coming pages, Cherryh divides the book up into generations, so the reader is not following one character, but several characters offspring. What follows is...not what one would expect. The large lizards known as calibans (divided into the browns and the greys) and the smaller aerials play a huge part in the lives of the what become the native Gahennen’s and as the colony is "rediscovered" and observed, they witness things that can’t be explained in any regular scientific book.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t as gripping or compelling as Cyteen was, it wasn’t as tedious to read as Downbelow Station, and it was better than the whole Han and Kif books. If you liked Cherryh's works, you'll like this one.