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Fiction. Science Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: The groundbreaking novel that launched Cherryh's eponymous space opera series of first contact and its consequences... It had been nearly five centuries since the starship Phoenix, lost in space and desperately searching for the nearest G5 star, had encountered the planet of the atevi. On this alien world, law was kept by the use of registered assassination, alliances were defined by individual loyalties not geographical borders, and war became inevitable once humans and one faction of atevi established a working relationship. It was a war that humans had no chance of winning on this planet so many light-years from home. Now, nearly two hundred years after that conflict, humanity has traded its advanced technology for peace and an island refuge that no atevi will ever visit. Then the sole human the treaty allows into atevi society is marked for an assassin's bullet. THe work of an isolated lunatic? The interests of a particular faction? Or the consequence of one human's fondness for a species which has fourteen words for betrayal and not a single word for love? .… (more)
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The main storyline, however, concerns Bren Cameron, the paidhi (official interpreter and conduit between the species) who works directly with, Tabini-aiji, the leader of the Atevi civilization closest to the island of humans. Bren must not only translate the languages, but he must understand the different cultures in order to keep the peace. Humans slowly transmit their technology to the Atevi through him, but the Atevi are deeply suspicious and some factions resent humans enough to be very dangerous.
After an attempt is made on his life, Bren is sent by Tabini to stay at an ancient fortress in the mountains, the residence of the aiji's grandmother, Ilisidi. Bren is given two of the aiji's own guards for protection (Banichi and Jago), but in reality, he doesn't know if he can trust any of the Atevi. During his stay, he learns about the traditional way of life for the rural Atevi and comes to appreciate it in a way he never could in the capitol city. Meanwhile, he tries to figure out who is on his side and who is against him before someone succeeds in killing him.
Having read the subsequent volumes in this series, it was interesting to go back and re-read the beginning. Relationships that become important in later books have their roots here, although the parties barely understand each other at this point. While in the later books, Bren becomes more confident and strong, in this he is remarkably weak, confused, and passive. A fascinating alien culture is the background to Bren's growth in understanding.
A colonisation ship suffers an accident and is forced to settle on an inhabited alien world, whilst the pilot's Guild search for the way home. The natives are intelligent but only developed as far as steam power at the time of Landing. How
Set two centuries on from this point after a fateful war caused by misunderstandings the office of Paid'ai (Interpreter / consul / Advisor) is filled by Bren, The sole human allowed by treaty on the Aveti lands. One night he intercepts an assassin bound for his bedchamber and the before he is aware of the disturbances in the outlying townships he is sent to an ancient fortress in the Hills to experiance the old way of aveti life. Politics rears its ugly head and tradition meets technology, Bren has to choose but when the language has fourteen words for betrayal and none for love or friend, loneliness is as big an enemy as any other.
A stunning tale told in Cherryh's tight third person writing. A wonderfulyl thought out culture and world with politics as intricate as you'll find anywhere. It isn't actually a tale of first contact because after the opening chapters the contact is two centuries old, but its still a wonderful tale of cultural mixing.
I got my wish.
It is now sixteen years later, the eleventh book in
What struck me as I started the first book is how much of the later trouble is present there in the first one. Not only is the world expertly created, but problems mentioned in passing will become trouble in the future. Places, people ... almost everything is there in the first book, ready to unfold through this epic science fiction journey.
The book starts with an unfortunate group of humans who have lost their way in the wide, dangerous universe. They arrive at the world of the Atevi by chance. They are not at peace among themselves; there is a difference of opinion between those who want a world beneath their feet and a group who want to keep to space at all costs. Some make their way to the world below, despite opposition.
All seems to be going well enough after the first encounter ... but when the story leaps ahead in time, we learn there was a war and now the humans and Atevi are separated and only one human, the paidhi, lives at the Atevi court. This person is responsible for helping to introduce new technology to the Atevi in a way that will not upset the balance of their civilization. The paidhi is also as fluent in the Atevi language and customs as any human can be, and his observances will help future relationships between the two species.
Bren Cameron is the current paidhi. He's very popular with a powerful Atevi leader. He's likely the best paidhi that has ever served at the Atevi court. However, an assassination attempt against him and then a trip that puts him fully into the hands of Atevi, with no human to turn to, shows him just how little he truly knows.
And the adventure has only just begun.
The premise of the book was great - humans
Unfortunately, I just never connected with the main character, Bren, and never developed sympathy for him as he dealt with events. For someone who worked (as he says) for 15 years to be the one person out of millions tobe the single interface between the two races, he seems indecisive and out of his league. It's hard for me to imagine that he would be the choice to represent humans. Much of my misgivings with the book were over what seemed like endlessly repetitive internal anguish over trying to get a grip on the motives and plans of the aliens he was surrounded by. Yet there were times when his character just shined, and that's when I really got into the book.
I understand that many people like these books, and I suspect my opinions are in a small minority. I'd advise anyone interested in these books to try 'em and see for themselves whether the books are worth reading.
Fast forward two hundred years in the future: humans remain isolated on the island of Mospheira while the Atevi civilisation has advanced to the brink of space travel. But only one human is allowed onto the continent controlled by the Atevi: the paidhi, who acts as the only contact between the two species. But after a status quo lasting generations, it seems that the equilibrium is breaking down as an unknown assassin tries to kill Bren Cameron, the current paidhi. While political assassinations are a way of life amongst the Atevi, for the paidhi to be attacked by an unknown assailant in the house of Tabini, one of the most powerful Atevi rulers, is virtually unheard of. And as Bren is spirited away to the fortress of Malguri under the control of Tabini's unpredictable and ambitious grandmother, his situation becomes more and more precarious.
In Foreigner Cherryh has created a very believable world which focuses on the differences between the humans and the Atevi. The growing confusion that Bren feels as he finds everything that he thought he knew about the Atevi being challenged is clear. A slow moving book at the start, with little apparently happening for the first third or so, as Cherryh concentrates on building the world of the Atevi, but the world that is created more than makes up for this.
It’s an engaging story and I enjoy following Bren’s adventures as he is drawn ever deeper in atevi society and wrestles with the disconnect between his atevi and human identities. But the best part about these books is that they make me think. The theme of miscommunication because two people use the same words with completely different understandings of what they mean by those words is directly applicable to our world. A failure to understand cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings that are interpreted as betrayals. It’s all too easy to assume that, of course, they mean the same thing as I do when they talk about friendship, trust and alliance. On a more personal level, how many relationships run aground on different understandings of the words love and fidelity, different beliefs about how partnerships and marriages work.
The best science fiction is that which illuminates something about our own world and Foreigner definitely does that. After re-reading the series in the last month, I’ve reluctantly concluded that I need to break down and buy my own copies of the entire series because I will want to return to them again and again to mine the depth of detail hidden in the enjoyable stories.
Intellectually, this book has a lot going for it. It's structured in such a way that the reader is fully immersed in a carefully constructed alien society. The main character is reasonably
And I really, really wish I could say I'd enjoyed it, but it just didn't work for me. There were two short segments when my attention was fully engaged, but for the most part I just didn't care. I couldn't get involved with Bren or his predicament. I was pretty durned glad when I finally finished it.
I think I would have gotten more out of it if it had been pared down to only its most essential elements. I didn't want all the little details of atevi society. They're different. I get it. I didn't need to be told so over and over and over again. I often felt like Cherryh was giving the me the same example of their differences over and over again, in slightly different ways each time. It just got to be too much for me.
But I think the style was the biggest sticking point. I believe I'd have enjoyed Cherryh's style quite a bit if this had been a short story, but it just didn't work for me as a novel. I sometimes felt like I was decoding the book as I sifted through Bren's realistically recorded thoughts, and I always find that frustrating. If I'm invested in the characters and their story, I'm willing to work for the payoff. If I'm not, I'm not, and that was the case here.
And finally, I guessed what was going on almost instantly and became increasingly annoyed with Bren as he failed to see what was happening.
So no, this most definitely wasn't a winner. I may read the next book eventually, just in case the series gets better, but it's far from a priority. And I'll definitely be borrowing it from the library instead of buying it.
It's a very long-running series, which is great if you're a Cherryh fan.
Here we have a space ship out on a colonizing mission, except that the ship breaks down - and in a last ditch attempt to save the people on board take a
Back in 1996, I didn't like the aliens, especially as shown on the cover,
and it was all confusing. (It still is, but in a good way.) I had expected to sort of slog through this reread, on my way to the 10 (?!) sequels that have been written since. Instead, wow, I have nearly as much Cherryh as I've read before ahead of me.
(This wasn't as much a shock as rereading _40,000_ and having it go from 2 to 4 stars, but I clearly missed a lot of Cherryh's depth the first time around.)
Humans are slowly colonizing the Galaxy, one such ship is sent to colonize a new planetary system to extend human reach. On the way 'something' happened that no one has been able to figure out. This accident sent the ship and all it's passengers far enough away from it's destination that none of the stars in a hundred light year radius are recognizable. They are lost, in space. Eventually they find an solar system similar to earth's but it is already inhabited by sentient beings. The rest of the story is about how the 2 are getting along, which is usually within tolerable limits.
As an expat who has lived a long time in foreign cultures (15 years), I found that Cherryh has caught
Bren is the interpreter for his
Bren is the only human living with the atevi (the natives). He’s the conduit from the human enclave to the atevi. The humans, more technologically advanced, have been feeding the atevi tech advances a bit at a time, naturally with their own agenda.
Things have been going well for a hundred or so years, when suddenly someone attempts to assassinate Bren, and he finds himself scooped up and taken away from the capitol and denied his mail and any access to any outside communication. What is going on? Is he in danger? Can he trust the atevi who say they are trying to protecting him? Or has he been attributing human emotions and motives to a species he just realizes he completely doesn’t understand?