Cyteen | Writing Style & Techniques

Cyteen Techniques/Literary Precedents

Cyteen is Cherryh's most complicated fictional structure to date. It is both a murder mystery and a coming-of-age novel, in which Ari II as child and adolescent must learn to use the talents and master the destructive impulses of Ariane Emory before Cyteen's whirlpools of political and scientific intrigue swallow her up as well. In Visible Light, a 1986 collection of short stories and commentary, Cherryh observes that each of her stories is "a moment of profound examination of things in greater reality and sharper focus than we usually see them. . .a sharing of perception in this dynamic, motile universe." In this light, Cyteen encompasses a vast range of perceptions, satisfying another of Cherryh's precepts that art does the opposite of filtering out what is confusing. While her early works concentrated on individuals, Cyteen analyzes the complexity of human government, an exemplification of Cherryh's concerns with the opinions of...
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