Since the publication of her first fantasy novel in 1976, C. J. Cherryh has drawn praise from critics and readers alike as both a consummate storyteller and a writer of what Thomas P. Dunn calls "speculative anthropology" in St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers. Dunn characterizes Cherryh's writing in such works as Forty Thousand in Gehenna, Downbelow Station, Heavy Time, and the "Chanur" series, as that which "[seeks] to describe humanity by using the elements of SF [science fiction] to achieve distance and perspective on the human species." "Cherryh's talents for vivid characterization, insightful explorations of human nature and relationships, and absorbing storytelling are shared by many writers in many genres," adds Karen J. Gould in Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, "but her ability to create and communicate comprehensible cultures stands, if not alone, then certainly in rare company."

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1942, Cherryh studied Latin at...