Serpent’s Reach (Era of Rapprochement, volume 1) by C J Cherryh

[james_davis_nicoll]

The lone survivor of an attempted coup expresses her displeasure with the power structures that failed her.

Serpent’s Reach (Era of Rapprochement, volume 1) by C J Cherryh

Comments

[patrick_morris_miller]

I am not sure what the Era of Rapprochement denotes.

Per Cherryh's Grand Timeline™, the two novels thus denoted are set during the time of improving relations between Union and the Alliance, despite neither novel involving the conflict or, to any great extent, either polity. I haven't read the short story despite having owned it for about a decade.

Because Cherryh was inconsistent about dating, it’s hard to say with certainty how long after Cyteen that Serpent’s Reach is set.

There's a chronology in the back of Angel With a Sword that gives the dates of the Union embassy becoming Purina Majat Chow, and (I think) the Alliance finding a non-culinary approach to the majat. My copy is at home, though, and I don't think it gives the dates of the events of the book.

[patrick_morris_miller]

Found it:

• 2623 First Alliance/Union contact with majat of A Hyi II (Cerdin). Crew eaten.
• 3141 Massacre of the Meth-marens of the Hydri Stars.