Cherryh is a master of writing. She has a great talent of exposing her characters and scenarios and explaining in detail how she and the reader should feel in a certain scene or place. More over, even though she deals usualy with aliens, credible humanity pours out naturally from each character x-tra terrestrial or not. BUT, and it's a big BUT, nothing happens.
I mean it, in this book up to about 4/5th of it nothing happens. People (and aliens) move from there to here, ships land and take off and even a character or two manage to lose their lives and yet, nothing real happens.

After investing so much time in absorbing the background story and politics and intra/inter character relations etc. it is really annoying that nothing happens with them. In the last part of the book there is some sort of 'action based' events but these are pointless and supply no real credibility or excitment or contribute to the super-plot at all.
People love Cherryh, I must confess, but as I understand this is not a special book in regards to what I've said and therefore I don't understand why. But then again, people love alot of things I don't.
I'm not sure I'll ever try and read another book of hers again, unless I get despaired with all the other SF writers out there.