The Faded Sun: Kesrith

The Faded Sun trilogy is a set of science fiction novels set in the Alliance-Union universe of C.J. Cherryh. They are among the earliest of her novels, but already show a firm command of the skills of a science fiction writer, particularly world-building and the creation of alien races. Both the mri and the regul fulfil John W. Campbell's dictum of "show me a creature that thinks as well as a man but not like a man."

The Faded Sun trilogy is composed of three volumes, subtitled Kesrith, Shon'jir and Kutath. Each one comes to a satisfactory conclusion and stands alone, but together they form a larger meta-arc and can almost be considered a novel in three volumes. The trilogy was reissued in 2000 as an omnibus edition.

The Faded Sun trilogy can be considered a Bildungsroman, since one of the major themes is the coming of age of Niun, the mri protagonist. At the same time, it is a story of acculturation, as the human protagonist, Sten Duncan, lives among the mri to the point of becoming one of them.

The Faded Sun trilogy is the principal account of the Mri Wars era of Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe. At the beginning of the first volume, the regul have just concluded a forty-year war with humanity. As part of the peace, they are ceding the desert world of Kesrith to humanity. However, they have neglected to inform its inhabitants, the mri, who have served them as mercenaries for over two thousand years.

The mri have been nearly exterminated in these wars, and young Niun is one of the few remaining warriors. When the regul seek to double-cross his people, he and his sister Melian, the last of the priestly cast, form an uneasy alliance with the human Sten Duncan to rescue a holy relic that may hold the key to the mri's survival.

The second volume opens with Niun and Melian captives of the human occupation force, kept alive by the human medicine they would refuse if they were not sedated. But the human command has a plan that may thwart the regul's attempted genocide of the mri. They produce a navigation tape from the data in the holy relic and set Niun and Melian aboard the ship. Duncan comes with them to keep the ship running.

Soon after they have left Kesrith, Melian lays down a mandate that nothing that is not mri can make the return to the ancient mri homeworld. As a result, Duncan must become mri or die. With Niun as his teacher, Duncan learns the stern rules of the mri warrior caste, the kel. Retracing the voyages of the mri takes years, jump after jump, giving Duncan time to become mri.

When the ship lands on Kutath, the ancient homeworld of the mri, the three find other mri, the tribes who remained. They also discover that humans and regul have followed their ship, and the regul have not forgotten their determination to genocide. After an unprovoked attack, Duncan goes back to the human ship and slays the regul Elder.

When the third volume begins, the regul are in a state of disarray as a result of the assassination. Duncan returns to the mri and joins them in seeking assistance from the elee, the other surviving race of ancient Kutath. After a new Elder has risen among the regul, they renew their attack on the mri. This time humanity acts to halt the genocide, and as a result form a new partnership with the mri.