From Publishers Weekly
In this well-done novel by the prolific, award-winning author of Precursor and Fortress of Dragons, two women with superhuman powers wage psychic and genetic war for control of a civilization. The common people remember the original colonization of their desert world in purely mythological terms as the First Descent. They're unaware that their seemingly immortal ruler, the Ila, has used nanotechnology to control their lives and modify their bodies for survival on their harsh planet. Marak Trin Tain, the outcast son of a desert bandit who unsuccessfully contested the Ila's rule, suffers from a terrifying form of madness. Like many others in this world, he sees visions and feels an almost overwhelming desire to walk out into the desert, heading blindly toward the east. When the Ila captures Marak, instead of executing him, she decides to send him (and a company of other madmen and women) on a desperate mission to discover the source of the obsession that draws them across their world. Unbeknownst to him, however, his civilization, indeed all life on his planet, is on the brink of destruction. Although this book may take place in a different universe from that of Cherryh's much praised Alliance-Union novels, it features her usual blend of gorgeous, slightly knotty prose, deeply conflicted heroes, desperate action and nicely observed cultural details. The first volume in her Gene Wars series, it leaves a number of loose threads to be tied up in later volumes, but is, in and of itself, an entirely satisfying novel. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Brought before the powerful ruler known as the Ila, the madman known as Marak receives a command to seek out the silver tower of his mad dreams and return with the knowledge of what the tower holds. Marak discovers, however, that reaching his destination is only the beginning of a greater and more dangerous journey. Cherryh's latest novel introduces a new universe of fallen technologies and warring interstellar empires, divine madness and world-shattering weaponry. The author of Fortress in the Eye of Time begins a new series with a powerful story that features a hero marked by his visions to save or destroy his world. A good choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
From childhood, Marak has been steeped in the ways of war and hatred for the Ila, the mysterious woman who rules Marak's world with an iron fist. But when the shameful "madness" that has plagued Marak his entire life is exposed, he is involuntarily drawn into the service of the Ila, for she doesn't believe he is insane. She urges him to surrender to the clamoring voices and visions that incessantly urge him to go east--now! hurry!--toward an envisioned silver tower in the desert. So in exchange for his life and the lives of fellow "madmen," he agrees to penetrate deep into unknown terrain. Against all odds, he is successful and discovers the secret that the tower holds for him. He is the pawn in an ancient and continuing war between two great galactic races, and the only one who can lead his people to safety before the Ila's enemies strike a cataclysmic blow. Cherryh introduces the first wholly new world in her fiction in 30 years and makes it memorable with spare, clean, and elegant prose that lends a haunting quality to the story as it intriguingly conjures the desert setting and the close-to-the-bone way of life that it entails. Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Publishers Weekly
"[Hammerfall] is, in and of itself, an entirely satisfying read."


San Diego Union Tribune
A brand-new universe with brand-new rules.


Book Description
One of the most renowned figures in science fiction, C. J. Cherryh has been enthralling audiences for nearly thirty years with rich and complex novels. Now at the peak of her career, this three-time Hugo Award Winner launches her most ambitious work in decades, Hammerfall, part of a far-ranging series, The Gene Wars, set in an entirely new universe scarred by the most vicious of future weaponry, nanotechnology. In this brilliant novel -- possibly Cherryh's masterwork -- the fate of billions has come down to a confrontation between two profoundly alien cultures on a single desert planet."The mad shall be searched out and given to the Ila's
messengers. No man shall conceal madness in his wife,
or his son, or his daughter, or his father.
Every one must be delivered up."-- The Book of the Ila's Au'itMarak has suffered the madness his entire life. He is a prince and warrior, strong and shrewd and expert in the ways of the desert covering his planet. In the service of his father, he has dedicated his life to overthrowing the Ila, the mysterious eternal dictator of his world. For years he has successfully hidden the visions that plague him -- voices pulling him eastward, calling Marak, Marak, Marak, amid mind-twisting visions of a silver tower. But when his secret is discovered, Marak is betrayed by his own father and forced to march in an endless caravan with the rest of his world's madmen to the Ila's city of Oburan.Instead of death, Marak finds in Oburan his destiny, and the promise of life -- if he can survive what is surely a suicidal mission. The Ila wants him to discover the source of the voices and visions that afflict the mad. Despite the dangers of the hostile desert, tensions within the caravan, and his own excruciating doubts, Marak miraculously reaches his goal -- only to be given another, even more impossible mission by the strange people in the towers.According to these beings who look like him yet act differently than anyone he has ever known, Marak has a slim chance to save his world's people from the wrath of the Ilas enemies. But to do so, he must convince them all -- warring tribes, villagers, priests, young and old, as well as the Ila herself -- to follow him on an epic trek across the burning desert before the hammer of the Ila's foes falls from the heavens above.Written with deceptive simplicity and lyricism, this riveting, fast-paced epic of war, love, and survival in a brave new world marks a major achievement from the masterful C.J. Cherryh.


Download Description
"One of the most renowned figures in science fiction, C.J. Cherryh has been enthralling audiences for nearly thirty years with rich and complex novels. Now at the peak of her career, this three-time Hugo Award winner launches her most ambitious work in decades, Hammerfall, part of a far-ranging series, The Gene Wars, set in an entirely new universe scarred by the most vicious of future weaponry, nanotechnology. In this brilliant novel-possibly Cherryh's masterwork-the fate of billions has come down to a confrontation between two profoundly alien cultures on a single desert planet. ""The mad shall be searched out and given to the Ila's messengers. No man shall conceal madness in his wife, or his son, or his daughter, or his father. Every one must be delivered up."" -The Book of the Ila's Au'it Marak has suffered the madness his entire life. He is a prince and warrior, strong and shrewd and expert in the ways of the desert covering his planet. In the service of his father, he has dedicated his life to overthrowing the Ila, the mysterious eternal dictator of his world. For years he has successfully hidden the visions that plague him-voices pulling him eastward, calling Marak, Marak, Marak, amid mind-twisting visions of a silver tower. But when his secret is discovered, Marak is betrayed by his own father and forced to march in an endless caravan with the rest of his world's madmen to the Ila's city of Oburan. Instead of death, Marak finds in Oburan his destiny, and the promise of life-if he can survive what is surely a suicidal mission. The Ila wants him to discover the source of the voices and visions that afflict the mad. Despite the danger sof the hostile desert, tensions within the caravan, and his own excruciating doubts, Marak miraculously reaches his goal-only to be given another, even more impossible mission by the strange people in the towers. According to these beings who look like him yet act differently than anyone he has ever known,


About the Author
C.J. Cherryth is a four-time winner of the coveted Hugo Award and is one of today's best-selling and most critically acclaimed writers of fantasy and science ficion. She is the author of more than forty novels. Author Home: Spokane, Washington.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
A madman, seeking to reclaim his father's lands, leads a group of fellow madmen across a wasteland, guided only by the group's shared vision of a tower, a star, and a cave of suns. As they make their way across the desert, they're mysteriously pulled east, always east...

Before this story is over, we will find ourselves witness to a war between old powers fought on the cellular level of the planet and its creatures. Strange alliances are made, forgotten sciences and the erased history of mankind are revealed, and an ancient enemy with the power to remake the world extends its evil hands.

Hammerfall, which is considered C. J. Cherryh's first new science fiction universe in 30 years, promises to be the beginning of a larger story that will span generations. Cherryh's work here shows her usual brilliant imagination and awe-inspiring scope. This novel lets her do the two things she does best: create worlds and breathe life into new and fascinating characters. (Jim Killen)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this first volume of The Gene Wars, C. J. Cherryh creates a universe where two interstellar empires, scarred by nanotechnology weaponry, hover in an uneasy détente. The fate of one of these worlds lies in the hands of one man: a prince and warrior named Marak.

Marak has laways hidden his "madness"—voices and visions that beckon him toward a silver tower. When betrayal brings him face-to-face with the dictator of his world, the mysterious Ila, Marak is assigned a seemingly suicidal mission to cross his planet's vast desert and find that tower. Miraculously reaching his goal, he is given another, even more impossible, mission by the beings within the tower itself: lead his people to safety before the deadly hammer of the Ila's enemies falls.

SYNOPSIS

'One of the most renowned figures in science fiction, C.J. Cherryh has been enthralling audiences for nearly thirty years with rich and complex novels. Now at the peak of her career, this three-time Hugo Award winner launches her most ambitious work in decades, Hammerfall, part of a far-ranging series, The Gene Wars, set in an entirely new universe scarred by the most vicious of future weaponry, nanotechnology. In this brilliant novel-possibly Cherryh's masterwork-the fate of billions has come down to a confrontation between two profoundly alien cultures on a single desert planet.

"The mad shall be searched out and given to the Ila's messengers. No man shall conceal madness in his wife, or his son, or his daughter, or his father. Every one must be delivered up." -The Book of the Ila's Au'it

Marak has suffered the madness his entire life. He is a prince and warrior, strong and shrewd and expert in the ways of the desert covering his planet. In the service of his father, he has dedicated his life to overthrowing the Ila, the mysterious eternal dictator of his world. For years he has successfully hidden the visions that plague him-voices pulling him eastward, calling Marak, Marak, Marak, amid mind-twisting visions of a silver tower. But when his secret is discovered, Marak is betrayed by his own father and forced to march in an endless caravan with the rest of his world's madmen to the Ila's city of Oburan.

Instead of death, Marak finds in Oburan his destiny, and the promise of life-if he can survive what is surely a suicidal mission. The Ila wants him to discover the source of the voices and visions that afflict the mad. Despite the danger sof the hostile desert, tensionswithin the caravan, and his own excruciating doubts, Marak miraculously reaches his goal-only to be given another, even more impossible mission by the strange people in the towers.

According to these beings who look like him yet act differently than anyone he has ever known, Marak has a slim chance to save his world's people from the wrath of Ila's enemies. But to do so, he must convince them all-warring tribes, villagers, priests, young and old, as well as the Ila herself-to follow him on an epic trek across the burning desert before the hammer of the Ila's foes falls from the heavens above.

Written with deceptive simplicity and lyricism, this riveting, fast-paced epic of war, love, and survival in a brave new world marks a major achievement from the masterful C.J. Cherryh.

FROM THE CRITICS

San Diego Union Tribune

A brand-new universe with brand-new rules.

San Diego Union Tribune

A brand-new universe with brand-new rules.

Library Journal

Brought before the powerful ruler known as the Ila, the madman known as Marak receives a command to seek out the silver tower of his mad dreams and return with the knowledge of what the tower holds. Marak discovers, however, that reaching his destination is only the beginning of a greater and more dangerous journey. Cherryh's latest novel introduces a new universe of fallen technologies and warring interstellar empires, divine madness and world-shattering weaponry. The author of Fortress in the Eye of Time begins a new series with a powerful story that features a hero marked by his visions to save or destroy his world. A good choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews