Status
Available
Series
Collection
Publication
DAW Hardcover (2006), 336 pages
Description
Exhausted from a two-year rescue mission to a distant sector of space, and with resources strained by four thousand extra mouths to feed, the crew of the starship Phoenix yearns for the luxuries of home. But when the ship makes the final jump into atevi space, they learn the worst: supplies to their home station have been cut off; civil war has broken out on the atevi mainland; the powerful Western Association has been overthrown; and Tabini-aiji is missing and may be dead.--Jacket.
User reviews
LibraryThing member reading_fox
Still told from Bren's point of view this is a book about atavi affairs. Not wanting to antagonise the conservative factions with human influence any more than he already has Bren takes a backseat and is dragged across the countryside as Tabini's faction try and return him to power. The pretender
Another gripping Cherryh story, leaving you wondering what will come next!
After re-read.
Breakneck action, much much faster than many of the preceding novels without the occasionally tortuous introductions, this follows directly on from events in Destroyer. Manchi is in force, powerfully changing direction as Bren and the heir Cajeiri support the dowager ilsidi and aij Tabini in their bid to resume control of the aveti - before aliens again appear. For Cherryh this atually ends at a sensible place, with most of the ends tied up. So what comes in the last volume of this trilogy?
Tightly paced, much of the convolutions of Guild actions are left to the readers imagination - prompted by the criptic reports Bren obtains from his staff. The details we do get greatly expand the understanding of how the aveti are. Another Best of the Series contender.
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is one Murini claiming the title of Aji and it appears the Guild of assassins and lawyers has finally moved from its position of neutrality. But in who's favour? When it comes to Guild actions bren can do nothing but keep his head down and try not to cause his staff any more problems, hoping that their competance is sufficent to keeping them and him alive. Another gripping Cherryh story, leaving you wondering what will come next!
After re-read.
Breakneck action, much much faster than many of the preceding novels without the occasionally tortuous introductions, this follows directly on from events in Destroyer. Manchi is in force, powerfully changing direction as Bren and the heir Cajeiri support the dowager ilsidi and aij Tabini in their bid to resume control of the aveti - before aliens again appear. For Cherryh this atually ends at a sensible place, with most of the ends tied up. So what comes in the last volume of this trilogy?
Tightly paced, much of the convolutions of Guild actions are left to the readers imagination - prompted by the criptic reports Bren obtains from his staff. The details we do get greatly expand the understanding of how the aveti are. Another Best of the Series contender.
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LibraryThing member zette
Pretender (Foreigner # 8) (ISBN 075640374X)
The Lord of the Heavens, the paid'hi Bren Cameron has returned victorious from a two year voyage in space. He's brought back everyone, saved the humans of a far station and convinced a new alien race that the Atevi -- and Tabini in particular -- are in
Only he quickly found that Tabini had been deposed by a reckless southerner. Now he and his Atevi companions must do their best to get Tabini back in charge before the Kyo turn up on the proverbial doorstep.
The problem, though, is that many of the Atevi believe that Bren Cameron and his space program -- and the rush of technology that came with it -- is the reason why their world is now in a civil war. This makes Bren as much a target for assassins as Tabini himself.
Once again, C. J. Cherryh has moved the continuing story of Bren's life forward at a frantic pace, and with the knowledge that -- win or lose -- this isn't going to be over, only makes the story all the more intersting. There will be trouble in the southern lands where the usurper rose to power with his clan. And there is the problem that the Kyo might show up at any time. The humans on the island are frantic, believing they're going to be under attack by the Atevi as well, and Bren is no more popular there than he has been in years past.
He is safest with his Guild body guards and sticking close to Tabini . . . except that the great lord is avoiding him, and Bren realizes that he has most likely fallen out of favor with the only person who really has the power to keep him safe.
The Lord of the Heavens, the paid'hi Bren Cameron has returned victorious from a two year voyage in space. He's brought back everyone, saved the humans of a far station and convinced a new alien race that the Atevi -- and Tabini in particular -- are in
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charge of the world, not the humans who so badly messed up things where the Kyo are concerned.Only he quickly found that Tabini had been deposed by a reckless southerner. Now he and his Atevi companions must do their best to get Tabini back in charge before the Kyo turn up on the proverbial doorstep.
The problem, though, is that many of the Atevi believe that Bren Cameron and his space program -- and the rush of technology that came with it -- is the reason why their world is now in a civil war. This makes Bren as much a target for assassins as Tabini himself.
Once again, C. J. Cherryh has moved the continuing story of Bren's life forward at a frantic pace, and with the knowledge that -- win or lose -- this isn't going to be over, only makes the story all the more intersting. There will be trouble in the southern lands where the usurper rose to power with his clan. And there is the problem that the Kyo might show up at any time. The humans on the island are frantic, believing they're going to be under attack by the Atevi as well, and Bren is no more popular there than he has been in years past.
He is safest with his Guild body guards and sticking close to Tabini . . . except that the great lord is avoiding him, and Bren realizes that he has most likely fallen out of favor with the only person who really has the power to keep him safe.
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LibraryThing member bragan
Book eight of Cherryh's Foreigner series (aka book two of the third Foreigner trilogy).
OK, I basically enjoyed this one. There's a weird sort-of-a-car-chase in the middle that's surprisingly fun, and it ends on an appealing note. But, while I was reading most of it, I couldn't shake the feeling
But then I finally realized what the problem was. It's that our ostensible protagonist, Bren Cameron, has gone from being an active problem-solver directly involved in driving the narrative, back to being largely passive again. For most of the book, he's basically along for the ride -- literally, even, as for a good chunk of the narrative he's just a passenger on a long bus ride, followed by a long train ride. He has a couple of good moments in the very last chapter, but otherwise there's no showing off his diplomatic chops, no potentially saving the world from aliens, just a lot more being shoved away from windows by his bodyguards and obsessively worrying about losing track of his computer. (Seriously, he frets about this so often I've started mentally subtitling this series "Dude, Where's My Computer?") And I found myself thinking something that I don't believe had crossed my mind, at least not as a fully-formed thought, since the very first book in the series: that this story would have been more interesting if told from almost any other POV at all.
All of which sounds more down on it than I mean to be. It's really not a bad installment. And I'm certainly still interested in this series, for its world-building and for the grand narrative sweep of the story that leaves me curious as to how everything will play out over the years. But I could definitely do with a bit less "dude, where's my computer?" along the way.
Fortunately, there are some hints that perhaps ol' Bren will get to play a more active and influential role as the story continues, so I shall maintain an optimistic attitude as I take a short break before going on to book nine.
OK, I basically enjoyed this one. There's a weird sort-of-a-car-chase in the middle that's surprisingly fun, and it ends on an appealing note. But, while I was reading most of it, I couldn't shake the feeling
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that it just wasn't quite satisfying. At fist I thought maybe that's because after the significant events of the previous book, the story slows down a lot for the first half of this one. But, hey, I know what I'm getting when I open a Cherryh novel. There are inevitably going to be many, many pages of people sitting around thinking about politics, and then talking about politics, and then thinking about the conversations they just had about politics. If I weren't pretty much okay with that, I wouldn't have made it to book eight.But then I finally realized what the problem was. It's that our ostensible protagonist, Bren Cameron, has gone from being an active problem-solver directly involved in driving the narrative, back to being largely passive again. For most of the book, he's basically along for the ride -- literally, even, as for a good chunk of the narrative he's just a passenger on a long bus ride, followed by a long train ride. He has a couple of good moments in the very last chapter, but otherwise there's no showing off his diplomatic chops, no potentially saving the world from aliens, just a lot more being shoved away from windows by his bodyguards and obsessively worrying about losing track of his computer. (Seriously, he frets about this so often I've started mentally subtitling this series "Dude, Where's My Computer?") And I found myself thinking something that I don't believe had crossed my mind, at least not as a fully-formed thought, since the very first book in the series: that this story would have been more interesting if told from almost any other POV at all.
All of which sounds more down on it than I mean to be. It's really not a bad installment. And I'm certainly still interested in this series, for its world-building and for the grand narrative sweep of the story that leaves me curious as to how everything will play out over the years. But I could definitely do with a bit less "dude, where's my computer?" along the way.
Fortunately, there are some hints that perhaps ol' Bren will get to play a more active and influential role as the story continues, so I shall maintain an optimistic attitude as I take a short break before going on to book nine.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
See Foreigner and Precursor and Destroyer.
LibraryThing member Pferdina
Returned to the world of the Atevi after his two-year space journey, Bren Cameron finds the place he knew drastically changed. Tabini-aiji is missing, feared dead, the shuttles are no longer flying between the planet and the station, and communications with the Atetvi on the surface have been
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discontinued. There is a lot of exciting action in this volume, like the previous, as Bren and his companions try to restore peace and order to the Atevi continent with a minimum of blood. Show Less
LibraryThing member fuzzi
More of political and less of physical fighting in this one, and plenty of Bren. I find myself intellectually stimulated by the author's world and society building, too.
LibraryThing member TheGalaxyGirl
Once again, Bren is largely passive in this installment, but his worry, anxiety, and misguided concerns provide a high level of tension. Cherryh is a master at dramatic irony. The reader clocks what is going on before Bren does, knows when Bren is misinterpreting the data, when Bren is being too
And can I just say, the aiji dowager is the best character in any book anywhere? Long before Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey, there was Ilisidi, the aiji dowager and her exclamatory cane -- manipulative, aristocratic, cold-blooded and yet authentic and honorable in her own way. And with a political acumen that outpaces everyone except possibly Tabini.
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human. She resists telling us about all the political subterfuge, just relates the events and Bren's attempts to understand them, realizing it may be totally off base but keeping us hopeful and frightened in the dark anyway. So much happens off the page, and the story is still interesting. How does she do it? And in the end, Bren is uniquely and embarrassingly human, and it is these final actions that puts him closer to being atevi than ever.And can I just say, the aiji dowager is the best character in any book anywhere? Long before Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey, there was Ilisidi, the aiji dowager and her exclamatory cane -- manipulative, aristocratic, cold-blooded and yet authentic and honorable in her own way. And with a political acumen that outpaces everyone except possibly Tabini.
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Awards
Language
Original language
English