I've been a fan of C. J. Cherryh since I first read Foreigner (the first part in her Foreigner universe series) a little more than five years ago. I've since read (with this one) six sequels in that series as well as the first novel in her Chanur series (and have managed to accumulate quite a few more books by her on my shelves). And so far, she has not yet let me down.Part of what fascinates me about her writing is her strong ability to depict a meeting between cultures, a meeting with the Other. It seems to be a thread in her work (clearly present in the Chanur series as much as in the Foreigner series, yet equally clearly handled differently). In the series at hand, it is of course all about interaction between humans and atevi, a species upon whose world lost space travelling humans got stranded a few centuries earlier. Part of the charm being, not only the cultural, political crash and fascinating story told, but how Cherryh manages to hold to a strong genetic difference between earth humans and basically anything from the world of the atevi. They are simply hard-wired differently and consequently humans and atevi cannot understand each other fully emotionally. Atevi can never grasp an emotion like love and humans can never quite grasp the governing emotional force of man'chi. All this on a world where politics makes use of assassination as a legal means of operating.Throughout the series we are given a view into atevi society but always through the human paidhi (or simplified "translator", although it doesn't quite cover it fully) Bren Cameron, sole representative of the human colony on the island Mospheira (where humans live utterly separated from atevi society to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings). As Bren, throughout the books are drawn into atevi politics, we learn more but always through him. Not because he's the narrator, because he isn't, but because Cherryh skilfully focalises the narrative through Bren. Our knowledge is always tied to Bren's knowledge, how much or how little he has at any given time is all we get to play with.And Cherryh manages this by an exquisite use of language and psychological insight.Now, this is a series, and so far at least three more novels (currently reading book 8), but it is not a serial. That is, you can safely pick up the first book and, if you don't like that one, easily leave it at that without feeling that you've been taken hostage and not given a full story. In fact, I'm pretty sure that one could pick up one of the later books and start there as well... although, I'd strongly recommend starting at the beginning as it is a rewarding starting point; whether you keep going or not.All in all, I do not think I can possibly recommend Cherryh enough. She is certainly a big name in my authors pantheon.
I love this series. The world and character building are outstanding, there is so much subtlety within those typed pages, and it's a thinking book as much as it is an action book. I find this combination absolutely perfect and absorbing. These are not stand alone books and I highly recommend you start at the beginning with Foreigner. As with most of Cherryh's books, this starts out somewhat sedately, then before you know it, you are being sucked along with the characters and while it's not Fast and Furious, there is quite a bit of continual action. The atevi/human ship has arrived back in-system from a two year voyage to find the ruler of the Atevi missing in action and presumed dead. Political upheaval is threatening everything Bren and Tabini have been working toward - which is modernization of the Atevi up to and including space travel. This forward progress has not been without it's resistance, and those political factions took advantage of the pahdhi's, Dowagers and the heirs absence to move against the ruling party. Now Bren and the Dowager must act with unseemly and unfortunate haste to prevent everything Tabini has work to achieve from completely collapsing, because there are seriously, bigger things in the universe to worry about and a divided Atevi means a fallen Atevi. My main complaint with this book comes perhaps with Bren bemoaning that the current political strife is his fault, that he should have seen it coming, that it was his (and Tabini's) actions that led to this civil war. He pushed too hard, too fast against Atevi tradition. He released too much technology too soon. He advised unwisely. He did this wrong, he did that wrong. I wanted to reach into the pages, grab him by his wilted lace, and shake some sense into him. A minor frustration overall. Ultimately, a great read. Highly recommend the whole series.
What do You think about Destroyer (2006)?
The seventh book in the Foreigner universe, the start of the third trilogy. As I have said before, like meeting old friends after a long absence. But this was not the best Foreigner book. All the books in the series have a rhythm, with lots of thoughts and politics taking up most of the book, followed by an action crescendo towards the end. That's one of the attractive things about the series - the way the author has us get partially inside the alien Atevi mind - understanding the nuances of meaning in the words and indeed of numbers in their words and culture. This book was similar in rhythm, but there did not seem to be very much that was unique and new in it. I felt it spent a lot of time rehashing the two previous series. Nonetheless I will l press on to the next one in the series, in the hope that this book was just a setup for the trilogy.
—Stuart
Return to the planet of the Atevi! (view spoiler)[ Bren, the Dowager and the Aiji-Apparent, have been gone from the world for just over 2 years, a lot has changed. Tabini-Aiji has been removed from power, thought dead, and the government has fractured. Many of the lords who supported Tabini have been assassinated and those who have survived are focusing on protecting themselves. That is the setup to this rapid response that the dowager and Bren must deal with on returning home. (hide spoiler)]
—J.C. Webb
CJ Cherryh is one of my all-time favorite authors and this nonet is probably her best effort. It's got everything -- politics (lots of it), really great aliens, culture clashes of monumental proportions, great charaters... I can't say enough about it.The story is absorbing -- a lone human diplomat becomes embroiled in the political life of an alien culture that's just similar enough to his own to be comfortable and just different enough for that comfort to be extremely hazardous. In the course of the series his role changes from tolerated outsider to family retainer as he navigates the complexities of political upheaval within the alien culture and acts as a bridge between his own technologically advanced culture and the technology-wary aliens.In the Foreigner series, Cherryh gives us a complex tale of adventure and social change that is gripping from start to finish. I LOVED it!!
—Emilie
