Review Title: How do you communicate with a race that you never met or never seen before?Story:The world had faced a threat that it had never seen before and had never expected to come to pass. This threat was averted, but at a terrible cost to those who faced it. There was only one man that survived the encounter and the world said that it would give him whatever he asked of it. This man’s name was Dunn and he did not ask for fame or for riches.Instead he asked for something that came from the vanquished enemy that had threatened the people of his world. This came in the form of a young boy named Thorn. It was Dunn’s intention to raise this boy in the ways of his people and prepare him for the day that he would go forward and lead Dunn’s people forward into the future that awaited them in the stars. Unfortunately Dunn underestimated how tricky humans can be….--------------------This story kept me turning the pages. There is not a lot of violence or action found in this story until the end, but the interactions between the various characters are almost as good as any battle scene. The author keeps the dialogue tight and it’s hard not to feel the tension as Dunn and Thorn test each other as he grows up. It’s also very easy to understand how lost Thorn feels after a certain event unleashes the world on him. The only complaint I have is that I wanted to read more about these characters, but it appears this is a standalone book that was written in the beginning of the author’s but toward the end of the timeline of the universe she created. So the following books never really touch on this story line again. It’s a great read though, and makes you wonder what could have happened after the last page is turned. I would recommend this to anyone that likes books that build their story around how the characters interact with each other versus how many explosions can be crammed into one book. Mac
Great idea, but I was tired of the often feeling, that everybody knows what is going on, except me. Sometimes I even can not figure out meaning of sentences or dialogs. So I was very surprised, when end of the story was just revealing of the "big secreat". The secreat, which was the only clear thing to me, because it was basically told in the prologue of the book! I was still waiting for some awesome final pages, when Thor met his human counterparts, but nothing like that happened. If there was not few pages about outer space and science, I could descibe this book as a inner-life of teenage boy, who is rised up in a wolf shaolin community.Recommendation: If you know some pampered teenager, this book is designated for him/her.
What do You think about Cuckoo's Egg (1989)?
I gave this book four (and a half!) stars despite the fact that we spend the majority of the book inside the head of a conflicted teenager, which should have made the book an automatic 2 stars (at best) - but Cherryh is just so irresistible. And I love the premise. I wonder what it says about Cherryh's psychology that she's so darn good with books where the human is the alien. I think this book is more accessible than the Foreigner series, and though I didn't enjoy it as much, I'm more likely to recommend it.
—Ree Linker
This is one of my absolute favorite's of C J Cherryh! I love the story of a human baby being created by and raised as another species. Thorn only knows he doesn't look like his guardian or any others on the planet. He doesn't know why others are afraid of him or shun him. He only knows he will do anything to be accepted. When he finally learns not only how he came into being buy why he has to decide if he will accept his destiny. This was the first book I read from this author and because of it I became a fan for life! I would highly recommend this or any others of her work.
—Gates Watson
