Destroyer

by C. J. Cherryh

Other authorsMichael Whelan (Cover artist)
Hardcover, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

PS3553.H358 D47

Publication

DAW Books (New York, 2005). Book club edition. 352 pages.

Description

It has been two years since the starship Phoenix left Alpha Station on a rescue mission to a faraway sector of space where over four thousand human spacers were under attack by a hostile alien race. Now, the Phoenix is almost home, having successfully rescued the stranded colonists through the combined negotiating talents of Bren Cameron-brilliant human paidhi to the atevi court, currently representing Tabini-aiji, the atevi ruler-and of Tabini's grandmother llisidi, the aiji-dowager, a fearsome, wily, and ambitious atevi leader in her own right.

User reviews

LibraryThing member reading_fox
Stunning. Best of the series, captures all the action and characters of Invader with the same gripping writing style.

The two year voyage is over, provisions runing low for the 4000 ex-colonists, and all Bren is looking forward is a decent cup of tea in the formal surroundings of home. However news
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from the planet is not good. The aveti government has fractured with traditionalists overthrowing the technological favoured government that Bren has laboured all his life to hold in place. Faced with the prospect that all his advice has misled his "friends" down a road that has led to ruin, and with his pride in tatters. Bren embarks on a journey to find the absent Tabeni and hopefully restore a stable government to get provisions back to the space-station. But local politics are as confusing as ever, the Dowager intransigent and young Cajeiri the heir exerting his authority will there be anything he can do to help rebuild the situation he caused?

A stunning entry to the third Foreigner trilogy, we finally find out some of the detail of man'chi and how aveti "emotions" work. Easily readable without the previous books, leaves you gasping for more.

After re-read
Oddly Bren deos very very little in this book. He is the sole POV but as his presence exacerbates the conservative factions, he spends most the time watching with his head down, savouring the tea.
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LibraryThing member Pandababy
Ingrid Bengis wrote one of my all time favorite quotes: "Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change."

Words have started wars, and stopped them, caused murders and divorce, and created great saints and martyrs. Indeed, words are capable of influencing change.

From page 112 of C. J.
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Cherryh's "Destroyer", in reference to actions by the protagonist, a translator:

"He'd let his dictionary-making duties slip, thinking they didn't matter so much... But where was the clue to his problems? Lurking, as always, in the dictionary, right where he'd begun."

Insightful gems like this one abound in Cherryh's "Foreigner" series, one of the many reasons I treasure her novels. Currently, I'm reading the seventh of what is now nine books, stringing out the pleasure until the ninth book, "Deliverer", is released on January 4th. C. J. Cherryh wrote the Foreigner series in what is so far three sets of trilogies, each of which ends with a satisfying conclusion - however, fans keep asking for more, and Cherryh has delivered.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
The third trilogy in the longer series is still fun to read, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first six books. It's hard to put a finger on it; mostly it's that the sense of an alien culture has disappeared a bit in the more predictable story lines.
LibraryThing member Pferdina
Bren Cameron and companions from the Phoenix return to the Atevi homeworld and Alpha Station to discover that all has not gone well in their absence. Tabini-aiji is missing, perhaps assassinated, the shuttles are not flying, and no one is talking. Bren and the aiji-dowager need to get down to the
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planet's surface quickly to take control of the situation, if they can.

Lots of exciting action in this volume.
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LibraryThing member zette
Destroyer (Foreigner # 7) (ISBN 0756402530)
With the first book in the third Foreigner Sequence, it's a return to the world of the Atevi, the Phoenix having overcome all obstacles, rescued the stranded humans of the Reunion Station and even made tentative peace with a new alien race. It should be a
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return in triumph.

Things have changed at home. The Western Association of the atevi is in a state of chaos. There are reports of rebellions. The station is low on supplies and now has to take on several thousand more rescued humans. And worst -- the worst of all -- Tabini aiji is reported dead by his usurper.

Into this chaotic, troubled land Bren, Ilisidi and Tabini's son and heir, must make their way across country to the dubious safety of an old, hidebound lord with no love of humans and their technology. And while he knows that their journey to Reunion and the contact with the kyo aliens vindicates everything that Tabini did to rush his people to the stars, Bren cannot help but feel that maybe he failed in his own true job -- that of the paidhi, who stood between the atevi and human technology that everyone feared would ruin their civilization if handed over too quickly.

But what could he have done differently?

This is another great book in the series, from the surprise fall of the Western Association through all the trouble Bren and his companions have to find safety and get news of a problem that might be following them in -- the new alien race that expects to find a stable, Atevi government with everything in hand.

There are times when I think Bren 'thinks' too much, but beyond that I very rarely even come up for air as I'm reading. Far too often, I've found it dawn before I put one of these books down and get a few hours sleep. The characters are wonderful, the plot exciting and world building exquisite.
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LibraryThing member bragan
Book seven in Cherryh's Foreigner series -- or the first book in the third Foreigner trilogy, if you prefer to number things that way -- about a population of humans sharing a planet with an alien species called the atevi. In this one, our protagonist, Bren Cameron, returns from a long voyage to
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discover that things have changed significantly while he was gone.

It's a good, solid entry in the series. Unlike some of them, it gets going pretty quickly, with some fairly exciting things happening right from the beginning. As usual with this series, the story takes its time from there, but it features some interestingly complex political situations and a bit of action by the end, and it left me very interested to see what was going to happen next. (Although not until I've had a little bit of a break, because too much of Cherryh's writing all at once makes my brain tired. Not as tired as the people in her books usually are, admittedly. But still.) And I'm also rather pleased by the fact that, even seven books in, we're still getting some interesting insights into the atevi and the way their minds work.
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LibraryThing member fuzzi
One more thrilling installment in the Foreigner series by CJ Cherryh, with Paidhi Bren, Banichi, Jago and other characters we love, all caught in the beginning of a civil war.
LibraryThing member TheGalaxyGirl
No one world-builds like Cherryh. In this installment we learn more about atevi politics, man-chi, and the dowager and her great-grandson, the heir to power. Can I just say, I LOVE the aiji-dowager. Old and infirm, she still pulls the strings and manipulates everyone in her quest for power, whether
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for herself or her great grandson, time will tell. What a great character. How does Cherryh keep track of all the complexities of her world? But she never puts a foot wrong. And Cajeiri the heir is coming along nicely. His ability to command man-chi is developing, but what sort of future leader will he be, steeped in human culture and space travel, without the instincts of his race? My guess is that, several books down the road, he will be the leader to unite both the atevi and the humans against the incursion of the alien kyo, but only time will tell.

The book does get a little slow in places, and there's a lot of introspection, but overall it's a great read.
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Awards

Endeavour Award (Finalist — 2006)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2005-02

Physical description

352 p.; 6.4 inches

ISBN

0756402530 / 9780756402532
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