Hestia
Author: C. J. Cherryh
Published: September, 1979 by DAW
Cover Artist: Don Maitz
Publisher Blurb: After a hundred pioneer years the colony on Hestia seemed to be nearing its end. Its holdings on that green and fertile planet were still limited to a single river in one valley. Everywhere else hostile fauna hedged them in.
A dam could break the deadlock, and they needed an engineer to construct it for them. Sam Merrit [sic] was the man who came in answer to their S.O.S.--and he wanted out as soon as he had landed. But once down on Hestia, it was live or die with the colony.
So Sam stayed--to discover certain anomalies that the hardscrabble colonists had thrust from their minds.
HESTIA is a gripping new science fiction novel by the talented author of THE FADED SUN and BROTHERS OF EARTH.
Notes: This is one of CJ Cherryh's earlier, stand-alone novels. While not as detailed or complex as her more well-known series, Hestia is an enjoyable, fast-paced first contact story with Cherryh's typical clear prose. The natives are described with primate-like features and with facial expressions and body language that humans can easily understand, so they feel a little less 'alien' than races developed in many of Cherryh's other works; this is possibly because this was a shorter novel, which put constraints on the amount of conflict that could reasonably be built up. The interpersonal relationships between characters also feel a little rushed as we skip forward in time to different phases of the dam's construction. I do, however, really appreciate that Cherryh spent time focusing on the project management and building of the dam, which set a perfect stage for the conflicting needs of the colonists and natives, and allowed time to build up antagonism between human characters who are living in close quarters under stressful circumstances. I also appreciate that Cherryh's ending to the story provides closure for the immediate plot while leaving open what-if questions for the future.
Summary: Hestia follows Earth engineer Sam Merritt, beginning with his arrival on the titular failing colony planet, as he is taken captive by the settlers to help build a dam. The dam, he soon finds out, is necessary because hostile natives prevent the settlers from moving to higher, dryer ground from flood-prone lowlands. With completion of the dam his only prospect for a return to Earth, Sam designs plans and organizes settlers to help build it, and along the way must deal with the insular Hestians' suspicion and disapproval of him. While some warm to him, others continue to see him as an outsider disinterested in the dam and the fate of Hestia. While trying to manage interpersonal relationships fraught with cultural misunderstandings, the aggressive natives soon make themselves known by sabotaging what they can and killing livestock and dogs. Taking an injured primate-like native captive, Merritt attempts to make contact through her-- a move the Hestians take in bad faith. After establishing a limited shared vocabulary-- and, more importantly, a friendship-- with the native, Sazhje, Merritt releases her from the colony to protect her when the Hestians' patience for the attempt at communication runs out. Sam continues to lead construction on the dam, racing the spring flooding season, and is eventually himself taken captive during an attempt to warn Sazheje that the dam will flood her people's home valley and that she should relocate. While in their custody, he learns that the natives are a tribal people and that while he has befriended Sazheje and is on relatively good terms with her own tribe, a second tribe is responsible for most of the violence done towards the settlers. This second tribe now has in mind destroying the dam. A confrontation between native and settler leaves Sazheje's tribe in prominence, at which point the Hestians and natives are able to begin a more positive but very tentative relationship. After the completion of the dam, Sam chooses to stay on Hestia to continue supporting the colony.