Serpent's Reach

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**Title** **Serpent's Reach**
Serpent's Reach original cover, depicts Raen a Sul Meth-maren, and a Majat
Author	C. J. Cherryh
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science Fiction novel
Publisher	DAW Books
Released	August 1, 1980
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	288 (paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-88677-088-2

Serpent's Reach (1985 re-issue). The new cover features a different interpretation of the subject

Serpent's Reach is a 1980 novel by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. The book was published by DAW Books and is set in her Alliance-Union universe. It was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Novel in 1981. Specific placement of the novel within Cherryh's Alliance-Union timeline is difficult because two of her works provide contradictory dates. Most likely, the events in the novel begin in the year 3141 (see "Timeline issues" below).

1 Background
2 Timeline issues
3 Majat planet of origin
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Background

The book is set in the constellation Hydrus, which is known in the Alliance-Union universe as the "Hydri Reach", and also as "Serpent's Reach", from which the book takes its title. The Hydri stars are home to the alien Majat, an insectoid race with a hive-mind consciousness. Like some species of Earth insects, the Majat are eusocial, featuring separate Drone, Worker and Warrior castes that serve each hive's single Queen. There are only four distinct individuals in the Majat species; the humans have arbitrarily assigned each a color: red, blue, green and yellow. They are native to Cerdin, a planet in the Alpha Hydri system (see "Majat planet of origin" below).

The entire constellation is under strict quarantine due to the dangers inherent in human-Majat interaction. The first contact with the Majat, for example, resulted in the human delegation being eaten. Humans do live in the Hydri stars, however, because Union had established colonies there before ceding Serpent's Reach to the Alliance, which subsequently imposed the quarantine. A space station orbiting the planet Beta Hydri II, called Istra, serves as the sole point of contact between the Alliance and the human/Majat society of the Hydri stars.

The human segment of that society is structured into three tiers. The top tier are the families that comprise the various "septs", or Houses, of the Kontrin Company. The Kontrin Company family members are "immortal" in the sense that they do not die of natural causes, although they can be killed. These aristocrats rule the system and direct relations with the Majat.

The second tier of humans, referred to as Betas, are essentially "normal" humans. Cherryh's Azi race of human clones make up the third tier, acting as servants or slaves to the others. Although it is primarily an "Alliance-side" novel (not Union), the story nevertheless features Azi because Union settlers originally colonized the Hydri stars.

The book's protagonist is Raen a Sul Meth-maren, leader and sole survivor of the Sul sept of the Meth-maren clan of the Kontrin company. Her clan was allied with the blue Majat.

[edit] Timeline issues

Placing the book within Cherryh's overall Alliance-Union timeline is somewhat challenging because the dates cited in Serpent's Reach (published in 1980) contradict those given in a timeline Cherryh later presented in Angel With the Sword (published in 1985). Specifically, Serpent's Reach indicates that first contact with the Majat occurs in 2223. Angel With the Sword, however, provides a date of 2623 for first contact, 400 years later.

It is very probable that the Angel With the Sword reference is correct and the earlier Serpent's Reach date is incorrect. There are several reasons why the Serpent's Reach dates are most likely inaccurate:

The citation in Serpent's Reach that provides the earlier date is from an Alliance government document, but the validity of this citation is highly dubious:
- The document itself is dated 2301. But the Merchanter's Alliance was not created until after 2353, so a document referencing "Alliance citizens", "Alliance law", and so forth could not exist in 2301.
- The document refers to "several centuries" of combined human/Majat government of the Hydri stars, which directly contradicts the document's own citation of first contact only 77 years before.
Union first contact and subsequent colonization does not make sense beginning in 2223, but does fit well with Cherryh's timeline in 2623:
- Faster-than-light space travel is not invented in Cherryh's timeline until 2234, making colonization of the remote Hydri reach by anyone unlikely prior to that date.
- In the Alliance-Union timeline, Union itself was not formed until 2300, so it is not possible for Union to have begun colonizing the Hydri stars some 70 years before.
- Union began an aggressive colonization drive after the erosion of the Gehenna Doctrine in 2600, so a 2623 date is quite sensible for a Union first contact with the Majat.
The Alliance-Union timeline on Cherryh's official Web site, which covers the period of 2005 - 2300, makes no reference of the 2223 contact, and in fact no reference at all to the Majat or the Hydri stars[1]

The reason for the discrepancy is unclear. It is possible that the publisher mis-transcribed the dates from Cherryh's manuscript for Serpent's Reach. It is perhaps more likely that after having the opportunity to more fully develop her future history for the universe, Cherryh simply revised the dates in 1985 as a retcon.

In any case, assuming the Angel With the Sword reference is correct (and that Serpent's Reach therefore dates itself inaccurately), the events in the novel begin in the year 3141, some 400 years after the conclusion of the Mri Wars, and 518 years after first contact with the Majat.

The 2005 omnibus release The Deep Beyond paired Serpent's Reach along with Cherryh's 1985 novel Cuckoo's Egg.

[edit] Majat planet of origin

Another discrepancy between the two books is the location of the Majat planet of origin, Cerdin, within the Alpha Hydri system. Serpent's Reach states that Cerdin is the third satellite of Alpha Hydri (i.e. Alpha Hydri III), but Angel With the Sword states that the Majat originated on Alpha Hydri II. There is no specific evidence presented in either book to help determine which is correct. Because the Serpent's Reach citation is from the same dubious document noted above, and under the assumption that the Angel With the Sword timeline is designed to function in part as a retcon, some readers may conclude that the correct listing for Cerdin is Alpha Hydri II. Others may decide that the original reference in Serpent's Reach is correct.