Downbelow Station

Extract: I'm not a big fan of C.J. Cherryh. I know she has a huge fan following, but I find her books a tough read. This was no exception. It started out interestingly, with a chapter summarizing Earth's early space colonization activities. As space stations were built farther away, the more remote stations and merchants, which formed the Union, began to rebel against domination by the Earth Company. Chapter Two begins the story in the middle of the war between the Union and the Company at Downbelow Station, the first station built around a planet inhabited by sentient, although primitive beings. That's where it fell apart for me...