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Foreigner #2
Invader
The second novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… Nearly two centuries after the starship Phoenix disappeared into the heavens, leaving an isolated colony of humans on the world of the atevi , it unexpectedly returns to orbit overhead, threatening the stability of both atevi and human governments.
With the situation fast becoming critical, Bren Cameron, the brilliant, young paidhi to the court of the atevi is recalled from Mospheira where he has just undergone surgery. But his sudden and premature return to the mainland is cause for more than mere physical discomfort. For during his brief absence, his government has sent his paidhi -successor, Deana Hanks—representative of a dangerous archconservative faction on Mospheira who hate the atevi . And though she should depart when Bren is once again able to fill his post, no recall order comes.
Cut off from his government and haunted by the continuing threat of assassination, Bren realizes his only hope may be to communicate directly with the Phoenix as the spokesman of the atevi— an action which may cut him off for good from his own species. Yet if he doesn't take this desperate and illegal action, he may be forced to helplessly bear witness to the final destruction of the already precarious balance of world power.
With the situation fast becoming critical, Bren Cameron, the brilliant, young paidhi to the court of the atevi is recalled from Mospheira where he has just undergone surgery. But his sudden and premature return to the mainland is cause for more than mere physical discomfort. For during his brief absence, his government has sent his paidhi -successor, Deana Hanks—representative of a dangerous archconservative faction on Mospheira who hate the atevi . And though she should depart when Bren is once again able to fill his post, no recall order comes.
Cut off from his government and haunted by the continuing threat of assassination, Bren realizes his only hope may be to communicate directly with the Phoenix as the spokesman of the atevi— an action which may cut him off for good from his own species. Yet if he doesn't take this desperate and illegal action, he may be forced to helplessly bear witness to the final destruction of the already precarious balance of world power.
456 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1996
About the author
C.J. Cherryh
179 books3,449 followersCurrently resident in Spokane, Washington, C.J. Cherryh has won four Hugos and is one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed authors in the science fiction and fantasy field. She is the author of more than forty novels. Her hobbies include travel, photography, reef culture, Mariners baseball, and, a late passion, figure skating: she intends to compete in the adult USFSA track. She began with the modest ambition to learn to skate backwards and now is working on jumps. She sketches, occasionally, cooks fairly well, and hates house work; she loves the outdoors, animals wild and tame, is a hobbyist geologist, adores dinosaurs, and has academic specialties in Roman constitutional law and bronze age Greek ethnography. She has written science fiction since she was ten, spent ten years of her life teaching Latin and Ancient History on the high school level, before retiring to full time writing, and now does not have enough hours in the day to pursue all her interests. Her studies include planetary geology, weather systems, and natural and man-made catastrophes, civilizations, and cosmology…in fact, there's very little that doesn't interest her. A loom is gathering dust and needs rethreading, a wooden ship model awaits construction, and the cats demand their own time much more urgently. She works constantly, researches mostly on the internet, and has books stacked up and waiting to be written.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 240 reviews
February 9, 2017
This SF series is continuing to prove itself one of the most enduring and fascinatingly social of all the hard SF's I've ever read. Book two seems to pick up very well with similar or perhaps improved pacing from the previous one, but instead of focusing so much on the linguistics issues, Bren finds himself with ever increasing responsibility and power within the Atevi world, much to the everlasting chagrin of his "people" on the island of humans.
Did he go native, selling out the other humans? Has he betrayed humanity to give all the aliens all our tech, to crowd out the advances and the possible advantage of allying with the returning spacecraft that had abandoned the humans on this world for 200 years? How dare he!
Of course, he knows he's just trying to keep the peace, making sure that all sides, both human and Atevi, work together and make sure no one gets left out. It helps that he's the only one to translate and make deals with both sides, for many good reasons not just cultural, but hard-wired in the alien psyche.
Except, the humans have factions and factions and they've sent a new translator to take over for Bren, and the two of them have never gotten along.
Politics and politics ensue, with Bren in the right and rising high in Atevi estimation, while all the while things keep getting gummed up anyway. :)
These are early days, with the Spaceship wanting the downwellers to regain spaceflight, fast, so they can man and refurbish the abandoned space station around the planet. Three sides could blow up into a real huge mess. And in the center is Bren. :)
I love this stuff. Translator-porn. :) Politic-Biology conflict. Technological parity.
Here's the interesting bit: The Atevi are born mathematicians. :) Everything boils down to associations and "good" number parity, down to all their surroundings, the number of rooms or the architecture, or the way they form their words, so you have to be fantastic at math just to speak with them, or it's "unfavorable" and they might just assassinate you for it. Details. :)
Of course, this means that the Atevi also have it in them to blow all humanity out of the water if they ever get their hands on some really juicy tech or even the knowledge that FTL is real.
Oops. Too late. :)
It's becoming extremely, extremely difficult to hold off on reading this entire series without stopping. :)
Delicious doesn't even begin to describe it. :)
Did he go native, selling out the other humans? Has he betrayed humanity to give all the aliens all our tech, to crowd out the advances and the possible advantage of allying with the returning spacecraft that had abandoned the humans on this world for 200 years? How dare he!
Of course, he knows he's just trying to keep the peace, making sure that all sides, both human and Atevi, work together and make sure no one gets left out. It helps that he's the only one to translate and make deals with both sides, for many good reasons not just cultural, but hard-wired in the alien psyche.
Except, the humans have factions and factions and they've sent a new translator to take over for Bren, and the two of them have never gotten along.
Politics and politics ensue, with Bren in the right and rising high in Atevi estimation, while all the while things keep getting gummed up anyway. :)
These are early days, with the Spaceship wanting the downwellers to regain spaceflight, fast, so they can man and refurbish the abandoned space station around the planet. Three sides could blow up into a real huge mess. And in the center is Bren. :)
I love this stuff. Translator-porn. :) Politic-Biology conflict. Technological parity.
Here's the interesting bit: The Atevi are born mathematicians. :) Everything boils down to associations and "good" number parity, down to all their surroundings, the number of rooms or the architecture, or the way they form their words, so you have to be fantastic at math just to speak with them, or it's "unfavorable" and they might just assassinate you for it. Details. :)
Of course, this means that the Atevi also have it in them to blow all humanity out of the water if they ever get their hands on some really juicy tech or even the knowledge that FTL is real.
Oops. Too late. :)
It's becoming extremely, extremely difficult to hold off on reading this entire series without stopping. :)
Delicious doesn't even begin to describe it. :)
February 21, 2018
This series has a way of involving me in the characters that I find immersive. It rarely has any action to speak of, and the action scenes it does have remind me of the ones that came before them. I find the main character Bren, engaging, however, and the highly detailed world of the alien Atevi keeps getting more fleshed out as the book progresses. I found myself wanting to continue the series in order to rejoin the world, and leave my own for awhile. That is mostly why I read anyway.
Bren is an ambassador on an alien world. He has been abandoned by humans and is trying not to start a war between the humans on the planet and the strange alien race called the Atevi. I find it interesting to notice how Bren's thinking becomes more Atevi and less human as the story progresses. He offends them less often, and at times it is hard to determine where his loyalties truly lie.
I downloaded an online dictionary to help with all of the terms and names the author uses, and thankfully the next book comes with a map.
4 stars.
Bren is an ambassador on an alien world. He has been abandoned by humans and is trying not to start a war between the humans on the planet and the strange alien race called the Atevi. I find it interesting to notice how Bren's thinking becomes more Atevi and less human as the story progresses. He offends them less often, and at times it is hard to determine where his loyalties truly lie.
I downloaded an online dictionary to help with all of the terms and names the author uses, and thankfully the next book comes with a map.
4 stars.
May 2, 2022
Bren-paidhi has returned from hasty medical attention on the human island of Mospheira back into the political hotbed of the capital of the atevi Eastern Association Shejidan. The aiji of the Eastern Association, Tabini, desperately needs his linguistic and political skills because Bren's temporary replacement has charged into the delicate atevi politics and culture like a bull in a china shop.
This is not the proving ground and interrogation of Malguri. This is Shejidan, and Tabini implicitly trusts his Bren-paidhi and so do an increasing number of powerful atevi including Tabini's delightfully acerbic grandmother Ilisidi. Which is all to the good because the arrival of the Phoenix in orbit and the spacefaring human's desire to have the station manned again with supplies for spacecraft proves to be an instigator. Politics and a power struggle ensue between at least two different factions of atevi and the humans of Mospheira and the humans on board the Phoenix.
This is classic Cherryh, with huge swathes of the text given over to the internal worrying and thought processes of Bren, while he seems to drink endless amounts of atevi tea and be forever tired, hurt and recovering. Like most of her work, when the action comes, it's brief, brutal and with long ranging consequences and introspection.
Bren is always polite and deferential, but he's getting a crash course in the use of power and politics. It's not clear that he realizes yet just how much power the position of paidhi has in this sort of conflict, but it's clear he's quickly learning. Also really well done in this book is further explanation of just how reliant on mathematics the atevi really are. The simple idea that FTL is possible actually sets off a religious/philosophical conflict in atevi society. There's also a fantastic bit on how important numerology is to the atevi:
This is the middle volume of the first trilogy in the Foreigner series. Very much looking forward to reading the third.
This is not the proving ground and interrogation of Malguri. This is Shejidan, and Tabini implicitly trusts his Bren-paidhi and so do an increasing number of powerful atevi including Tabini's delightfully acerbic grandmother Ilisidi. Which is all to the good because the arrival of the Phoenix in orbit and the spacefaring human's desire to have the station manned again with supplies for spacecraft proves to be an instigator. Politics and a power struggle ensue between at least two different factions of atevi and the humans of Mospheira and the humans on board the Phoenix.
This is classic Cherryh, with huge swathes of the text given over to the internal worrying and thought processes of Bren, while he seems to drink endless amounts of atevi tea and be forever tired, hurt and recovering. Like most of her work, when the action comes, it's brief, brutal and with long ranging consequences and introspection.
Bren is always polite and deferential, but he's getting a crash course in the use of power and politics. It's not clear that he realizes yet just how much power the position of paidhi has in this sort of conflict, but it's clear he's quickly learning. Also really well done in this book is further explanation of just how reliant on mathematics the atevi really are. The simple idea that FTL is possible actually sets off a religious/philosophical conflict in atevi society. There's also a fantastic bit on how important numerology is to the atevi:
"Daja-ma," Saidin said, "nand' paidhi. Sixteen staff, I recall, is correct for a guest at Taiben, four more with the paidhi's appropriate numbers of his personal staff — and expecting the paidhi's single guest, would seem to be a fortunate number, even if this additional woman were to stay. But in her interest, three more, which in no event is unharmonious."
On Mospheira no one would have made sense of it. On the mainland, it added five to sixteen to get twenty-one, a three-number of the unbeatably felicitous seven times three union with the three entities correctly represented: the paidhi, the aiji, and the ship; a union which with each participating entity subdivided in twos, as he saw it, let the aggressive Ragi mode of accounting deal with the temporary presence of an additional guest, owed to Mospheira, which made a fourth estate, whose numbers were clearly made transitory in the situation. A transitory influence of less felicitous numbers was acceptable if you could foist them off on an opposition — such as Mospheira. But Saidin gave him the option of shifting the numbers to a five of indivisible fives, likewise fortunate.
And a man could worry about his sanity that he really understood her question.
This is the middle volume of the first trilogy in the Foreigner series. Very much looking forward to reading the third.
March 23, 2018
The second novel in Cherryh’s long running series picks up shortly after the first one ended, with the political situation in both Mospheira and Shejidan upended by the return of the Phoenix. Bren has to find a way to introduce the crew of the Phoenix to the cultural balancing act between human and atevi while contending with his upstart successor-in-waiting creating unrest in the atevi capital as his own government stonewalls him.
A good deal of the tension and mystery of its predecessor has been siphoned off; familiarity is often an anodyne where sequels are concerned. But that familiarity can also open some fascinating doorways to keep a reader invested. Much of Foreigner discussed atevi political life while keeping Bren isolated from it: in Invader we get to see Bren and Tabini-aiji in their element. We also get to see Bren interact with other humans – in some ways he is worse of with his own species than with the atevi.
I will have a good deal more to say about the series when I finish the first three-book sequence.
A good deal of the tension and mystery of its predecessor has been siphoned off; familiarity is often an anodyne where sequels are concerned. But that familiarity can also open some fascinating doorways to keep a reader invested. Much of Foreigner discussed atevi political life while keeping Bren isolated from it: in Invader we get to see Bren and Tabini-aiji in their element. We also get to see Bren interact with other humans – in some ways he is worse of with his own species than with the atevi.
I will have a good deal more to say about the series when I finish the first three-book sequence.
August 13, 2022
I like this much better than the first book. Bran Cameron, the annoyingly whiny navel-gazer from the first book, has grown. Oh, he is still somewhat preoccupied with his mail and wracked with self-doubt, but he has managed to become a more likeable person for me. There are still long stretches of the mentioned navel-gazing, or rather long stretches of introspection, philosophical quandaries over differing perceptions and cultural concepts of two very different species. But somehow all of this starts to come together in this sequel to create a more interesting whole.
Plus I decided to go for the audiobook, which probably helped me to make it through Bran‘s internal debates more easily. The whole things sounds a bit old (must check when it was done), but the narrator does a good job of inpersonating the growing cast of characters. And by the end of this I almost started the next one straight away. This book stopped in a mean moment in time.
4.5 stars, I will definitely continue.
Plus I decided to go for the audiobook, which probably helped me to make it through Bran‘s internal debates more easily. The whole things sounds a bit old (must check when it was done), but the narrator does a good job of inpersonating the growing cast of characters. And by the end of this I almost started the next one straight away. This book stopped in a mean moment in time.
4.5 stars, I will definitely continue.
November 28, 2021
This is the second volume of a lengthy (21 volume and it is still not completed I guess) SF saga about a collaboration between humans and atevi, humanoid locals, who were first contacted by humans in their age of steam, but now are roughly in Earth’s 1950s. The first volume, Foreigner, I reviewed here.
The problem is that while on a surface alevi are quite human-like, their evolution different, so that evolutionary traits that turned social, like friendship or love are quite different for them, and say loyalty is biological and not only social.
The story’s protagonist is still Bren Cameron is the current envoy or paidhi (interpreter), who supply info to local ruler (aiji) Tabini. He just got his badly damaged arm operated in only human’s island colony Mospheira as he is called back to the mainland, Shejidan. He is tired, in pain, dulled by drugs and in this state he has to keep cooperation between humans and atevi, even if there are opponents of such policy in both camps. Bren finds out what has happened, while he was under meds: first, there is the Phenix, the ship that brought first colonists but them flew off to search a way back to Earth 200 year ago, back on the orbit. Locals panic, with human-like alien invasion fears of the 50s, but with humans as invaders. Second, while he was away, he was replaced by a younger paidhi with zero practical experience, who in addition suspect that Bren “went native”. She, Deana Hanks, decided to create own alliances, not with Tabini, but with his opponents and disclosed a lot of info, including the theoretical possibility of faster than light travel. As if these issues aren’t enough, Bren finds out that his potential fiancé tired of waiting for him, has married.
So the book is another crazy week of the paidhi, with guessing intrigues, both humans in the colony, on the ship, atevi with Tabini and his opponents, fighting with Deana, who ought to be his friend and replacement… the latter is quite interesting in the sense that if the book was written by a man, I guess he would have been accused of misogyny – we have the experienced and diplomatic man, Bren, and inexperienced and stubborn younger woman, who almost broke the fragile relations between the species (such is at least Bren’s impression).
While I cannot say that the book is wow or filled with novel ideas, but it is definitely an interesting and unusual SF, not to everyone’s taste. I plan to continue the series.
The problem is that while on a surface alevi are quite human-like, their evolution different, so that evolutionary traits that turned social, like friendship or love are quite different for them, and say loyalty is biological and not only social.
The story’s protagonist is still Bren Cameron is the current envoy or paidhi (interpreter), who supply info to local ruler (aiji) Tabini. He just got his badly damaged arm operated in only human’s island colony Mospheira as he is called back to the mainland, Shejidan. He is tired, in pain, dulled by drugs and in this state he has to keep cooperation between humans and atevi, even if there are opponents of such policy in both camps. Bren finds out what has happened, while he was under meds: first, there is the Phenix, the ship that brought first colonists but them flew off to search a way back to Earth 200 year ago, back on the orbit. Locals panic, with human-like alien invasion fears of the 50s, but with humans as invaders. Second, while he was away, he was replaced by a younger paidhi with zero practical experience, who in addition suspect that Bren “went native”. She, Deana Hanks, decided to create own alliances, not with Tabini, but with his opponents and disclosed a lot of info, including the theoretical possibility of faster than light travel. As if these issues aren’t enough, Bren finds out that his potential fiancé tired of waiting for him, has married.
So the book is another crazy week of the paidhi, with guessing intrigues, both humans in the colony, on the ship, atevi with Tabini and his opponents, fighting with Deana, who ought to be his friend and replacement… the latter is quite interesting in the sense that if the book was written by a man, I guess he would have been accused of misogyny – we have the experienced and diplomatic man, Bren, and inexperienced and stubborn younger woman, who almost broke the fragile relations between the species (such is at least Bren’s impression).
While I cannot say that the book is wow or filled with novel ideas, but it is definitely an interesting and unusual SF, not to everyone’s taste. I plan to continue the series.
August 11, 2024
*** 4.55 ***
I absolutely love this series! I think many readers might find it slow and too mired in politics, but it keeps me riveted!!! The writing is perfection for the material and I am here for it! Can't wait to get to the next book!!! 😃👍
I absolutely love this series! I think many readers might find it slow and too mired in politics, but it keeps me riveted!!! The writing is perfection for the material and I am here for it! Can't wait to get to the next book!!! 😃👍
January 20, 2020
I am well and truly hooked on this series! Bren Cameron is such an understandable main character. I’ve struggled with non-English languages--specifically several undergraduate courses in Ancient Greek--which almost broke my brain. The necessity of doing math in one’s head in order to know which word ending to use would reduce me to jelly in no time.
This book picks up quickly from where the first book left off. There is a great deal of tension provided by Bren wondering just how well he understands the atevi society around him. The atevi seem to thrive on intrigue and when that is combined with the cultural differences and a complex language, this is a fearsome barrier to understanding.
Despite this, Bren seems to have made a very favourable impression with the atevi around him. He is packed into a suite next door to the current ruler, complete with a large staff who all vie to provide the best service, be the most useful, and just generally receive his thanks. Technically they are Damiri’s staff, but she mock-accuses him of trying to sweet talk them away from her. Plus, she lets us know, all the female staff are longing to get their hands on him! Ah, the allure of novelty!
Cherryh leaves us at a critical juncture, making me wish I had book three in my hand right this minute! However, I’ll have to wait until the library produces it from one of the branch libraries. In the meanwhile, I��ll work on other books in my reading queue.
Book number 349 in my Science Fiction and Fantasy reading project.
This book picks up quickly from where the first book left off. There is a great deal of tension provided by Bren wondering just how well he understands the atevi society around him. The atevi seem to thrive on intrigue and when that is combined with the cultural differences and a complex language, this is a fearsome barrier to understanding.
Despite this, Bren seems to have made a very favourable impression with the atevi around him. He is packed into a suite next door to the current ruler, complete with a large staff who all vie to provide the best service, be the most useful, and just generally receive his thanks. Technically they are Damiri’s staff, but she mock-accuses him of trying to sweet talk them away from her. Plus, she lets us know, all the female staff are longing to get their hands on him! Ah, the allure of novelty!
Cherryh leaves us at a critical juncture, making me wish I had book three in my hand right this minute! However, I’ll have to wait until the library produces it from one of the branch libraries. In the meanwhile, I��ll work on other books in my reading queue.
Book number 349 in my Science Fiction and Fantasy reading project.
September 30, 2020
Book 2 of the excellent "Foreigner" series was quite good.
Bren Cameron, the paidhi (a translator-ambassador), has managed to adapt and build a good relationship with the Atevi. After the events of the first book, it seems there will be a time of relative calm.
All of that is shattered when the human government seems to nominate another paidhi, Deanna Hanks, while at the same time the human colony ship reappears into the sky. These events cause a spiral of events, disinformation and outright betrayal as Bren's status as a "Mospherian Governmental Diplomat" are being questioned due to his, possibly, having "gone native".
But the Atevi aren't completely sold on the idea of the ship in orbit. The various sides and the desires of the three sided argument (Mospheria, the Atevi and the Ship) are quite interesting. This book shines when it shows how complex interspecies communication can be, especially in terms of concepts.
While, I personally, didn't much care for the "relationship" nonsense with bren's ex- Barb, the rest of the story was quite good. Another interesting addition to this already fascinating series. Count me in for Book Three. Highly recommended to any Sci-Fi fan.
Bren Cameron, the paidhi (a translator-ambassador), has managed to adapt and build a good relationship with the Atevi. After the events of the first book, it seems there will be a time of relative calm.
All of that is shattered when the human government seems to nominate another paidhi, Deanna Hanks, while at the same time the human colony ship reappears into the sky. These events cause a spiral of events, disinformation and outright betrayal as Bren's status as a "Mospherian Governmental Diplomat" are being questioned due to his, possibly, having "gone native".
But the Atevi aren't completely sold on the idea of the ship in orbit. The various sides and the desires of the three sided argument (Mospheria, the Atevi and the Ship) are quite interesting. This book shines when it shows how complex interspecies communication can be, especially in terms of concepts.
While, I personally, didn't much care for the "relationship" nonsense with bren's ex- Barb, the rest of the story was quite good. Another interesting addition to this already fascinating series. Count me in for Book Three. Highly recommended to any Sci-Fi fan.
March 9, 2022
4.5*
Even better on a re-read...
---
Invader carries on from the events of Foreigner, dealing with the deep repercussions of the arrival of the Phoenix on both the Humans and the atevi.
This was a much better reading experience, and I found myself trying to snatch time to get back to the novel. Not sure if this was due to my being invested now in this world and its inhabitants or to the book itself and its structure and pacing. Probably both.
Cherryh's writing style is amazing but requires some getting used to. Indeed, she focuses most of the time on psychology rather than action, although when there is action, it is fast and furious. Her interest however is very much on linguistics and how this shapes perception, and thus everything. The author makes you work for your understanding, locking you inside Bren’s mind and offering only a very limited view of what is happening. We follow the paidhi in his thought-processes and self-examination, who is slowly realising the new importance and responsibility of his role. And we finally see him shining at his job, juggling with explosive situations, under duress.
‘Manipulation’ is perhaps the big theme here too - everyone has an agenda, secret or otherwise - and can be seen in both professional and personal spheres. We also witness Bren's own private journey in his efforts to further understand the atevi and consequent fear of loosing his humanity.
I must admit to being fascinated by this socio-political thriller and the universe Cherryh has created. It is a slow burner, but bright one. Can’t wait for the third book, last one in this first arc.
Even better on a re-read...
---
Invader carries on from the events of Foreigner, dealing with the deep repercussions of the arrival of the Phoenix on both the Humans and the atevi.
This was a much better reading experience, and I found myself trying to snatch time to get back to the novel. Not sure if this was due to my being invested now in this world and its inhabitants or to the book itself and its structure and pacing. Probably both.
Cherryh's writing style is amazing but requires some getting used to. Indeed, she focuses most of the time on psychology rather than action, although when there is action, it is fast and furious. Her interest however is very much on linguistics and how this shapes perception, and thus everything. The author makes you work for your understanding, locking you inside Bren’s mind and offering only a very limited view of what is happening. We follow the paidhi in his thought-processes and self-examination, who is slowly realising the new importance and responsibility of his role. And we finally see him shining at his job, juggling with explosive situations, under duress.
‘Manipulation’ is perhaps the big theme here too - everyone has an agenda, secret or otherwise - and can be seen in both professional and personal spheres. We also witness Bren's own private journey in his efforts to further understand the atevi and consequent fear of loosing his humanity.
I must admit to being fascinated by this socio-political thriller and the universe Cherryh has created. It is a slow burner, but bright one. Can’t wait for the third book, last one in this first arc.
March 31, 2022
Wow. Where the first book was too slow for my taste, this is MUCH better and gets more compelling the closer to the end you get. It is still a bit long-winded at points (especially when Bren gets into one of his spirals), but it got me well and truly hooked. The interspecies politics are great and I need the next one, now.
Also please someone get Bren some rest, the poor man.
Also please someone get Bren some rest, the poor man.
January 4, 2023
**Foreigner** - 3.5⭐️ - *the one where Bren becomes an extremely underpaid foreign language teacher.*
**Invader** - 3.5⭐️ - *the one where Bren explains folding space and interstellar travel to aliens*
-or- *the one where Bren learns the aliens are way hotter than Barb*
**Invader** - 3.5⭐️ - *the one where Bren explains folding space and interstellar travel to aliens*
-or- *the one where Bren learns the aliens are way hotter than Barb*
December 10, 2015
I don't know what it is with these books. Again, very little happened. Bren obsesses about cultural differences. Bren writes letters and attends meetings. Bren obsesses more. Bren gets shot at a bit, which, again, wasn't the fascinating part of the book. There is some travelling. Some playing of darts. Some bro-crushing on Bren's part, followed by some more obsessing about the fact that his bros can't and won't crush back because they're not human. More obsessing about politics. There is awkward and mutually incomprehensible conversation with Jago, which is ultimately unsatisfying for everyone, in more than one way. Then there's more uninteresting violence.
And through all of this I can't put the damn book down. I love every minute of it - even the borings parts - and I'm already reading Inheritor. Because I can't help myself.
Like I said, I don't know what it is about these books...
And through all of this I can't put the damn book down. I love every minute of it - even the borings parts - and I'm already reading Inheritor. Because I can't help myself.
Like I said, I don't know what it is about these books...
July 26, 2022
Middle books tend to slump, but this book is an exception. Maybe it's because the first novel gave me the grounding I needed to roll with things, but I liked Invader more than Foreigner. It was nonstop action, even though--at the heart of it--it IS still a waiting book, waiting for the ship in orbit to respond to both parties on the planet below.
Foreigner was distinct in that it separated Bren Cameron from all other human influence, forcing him to adapt more strongly to the atevi mindset than before. By contrast, Invader reintroduces those human elements in antagonistic fashion. Bren is not atevi, of course, and he never can be, but he's rather far divorved from the norms of his own species, too, and watching the psychological contortions he has trying to navigate agreements between the two peoples is fascinating.
No culture is a monolith; Not humans, not atevi. Invader does an excellent job of layering in complexity. (Some might say "too much," but Cherryh is very kind to her readers in reinforcing the who-is-who.) The atevi are still a bit confusing, but they're confusing to our protagonist, too, so that's alright. I'm thoroughly enjoying this series.
Foreigner was distinct in that it separated Bren Cameron from all other human influence, forcing him to adapt more strongly to the atevi mindset than before. By contrast, Invader reintroduces those human elements in antagonistic fashion. Bren is not atevi, of course, and he never can be, but he's rather far divorved from the norms of his own species, too, and watching the psychological contortions he has trying to navigate agreements between the two peoples is fascinating.
No culture is a monolith; Not humans, not atevi. Invader does an excellent job of layering in complexity. (Some might say "too much," but Cherryh is very kind to her readers in reinforcing the who-is-who.) The atevi are still a bit confusing, but they're confusing to our protagonist, too, so that's alright. I'm thoroughly enjoying this series.
September 5, 2016
I'd forgotten just how quickly time moves at the beginning of the Foreigner series. In the week or so covered by the second installment, Invader, we quickly move from injured paidhi Bren Cameron being summarily summoned back to the mainland to resume his position as the human speaker/translator to the native aliens to the excitement surrounding the landfall of the envoys from the returned colony ship.
I love how C.J Cherryh brings her linguistic background to this world and plays with the idea of how language shapes how being think. In some ways, the second book is better than the first, now that we are familiar with the characters and the world and as Bren and we get further entrenched in the atevi society and therefore don't spend the book running blind. Downgraded a star for excessive, insecure agonizing by our protagonist, the paidhi.
I love how C.J Cherryh brings her linguistic background to this world and plays with the idea of how language shapes how being think. In some ways, the second book is better than the first, now that we are familiar with the characters and the world and as Bren and we get further entrenched in the atevi society and therefore don't spend the book running blind. Downgraded a star for excessive, insecure agonizing by our protagonist, the paidhi.
May 25, 2022
This review is probably best seen as a recap of my thoughts about the second and third books in this series. It will assume you’ve read Foreigner. It will actually mention some major plot points from Invader and Inheritor too. There will be spoilers. You have been warned. If you’re curious about and/or new to the series, go read my review of Foreigner instead, because most of what follows will a) be spoiler-y and b) probably not make a whole lot of sense to you.
Read the entire review of Invader and Inheritor on my site Far Beyond Reality!
Read the entire review of Invader and Inheritor on my site Far Beyond Reality!
February 1, 2020
This takes place right after Foreigner, and like Foreigner, everything takes place in about a week. Bran, our lead, is immediately recalled from the human's enclave to help quell another crisis; in this case, it concerns the return of the human space ship after 200 years or so. While the pacing is frenetic to say the least, there is very little action outside of the psychological mind games, intrigue, and endless plotting of the atevi. We learn more and more about the atevi, as Cherryh fleshes out the aliens and their political system/relationships. Definitely sociological science fiction. 3.5 stars.
March 31, 2020
3.5 stars.
Just like the first book, it starts out slow, but then sort of sucks you in as it picks up the pace.
I did enjoy it more than the first book, and a good part of that was due to the fact that this one, at least, is free from the clunky and unnecessary exposition that bogged down the pace of Foreigner. For another thing, the plot is actually moving now, and whereas in the previous book there are more questions than answers, this one is primarily about dealing with the fallout from what happened before, and we see Bren struggling to juggle three different factions in a time of great change and political turmoil. Bren's constantly second-guessing himself is also more tolerable, because he is in completely uncharted territory. This passage in particular is downright haunting in how strongly it resonated with current events:
Despite my well-known hatred for shoehorned-in romances, I also ended up enjoying the sexual tension between Bren and Jago a lot more than I would have expected. Possibly because whatever ends up happening, it's going to mean something entirely different than would a human/human romance, and it's completely uncharted territory that's going to require a lot of careful navigation. A lot of it also probably has to do with the fact that Bren actually does the responsible thing, and knows that he has to say "no" (a "no" which Jago unquestioningly respects)—maybe not forever, but at least until he's managed to sort through the tangled mess of his own emotions and figure out what he actually wants out of this.
Just like the first book, it starts out slow, but then sort of sucks you in as it picks up the pace.
I did enjoy it more than the first book, and a good part of that was due to the fact that this one, at least, is free from the clunky and unnecessary exposition that bogged down the pace of Foreigner. For another thing, the plot is actually moving now, and whereas in the previous book there are more questions than answers, this one is primarily about dealing with the fallout from what happened before, and we see Bren struggling to juggle three different factions in a time of great change and political turmoil. Bren's constantly second-guessing himself is also more tolerable, because he is in completely uncharted territory. This passage in particular is downright haunting in how strongly it resonated with current events:
There were people who'd never bothered to educate themselves about atevi because it wasn't their job to deal with atevi. The public just knew there was a different and far more violent world beyond their shores; the conservative party, which made a career out of viewing-with-alarm and deprecating esoteric scientific advances as costing too much money—those whose political bent was to conserve what was or yearn for what they thought had been, feared progress toward any future that didn't fit their imaginary past.
And they played to an undereducated populace with their demands for stronger defense, more secrecy, more money for a launch vehicle to get humans off the planet—which, of course, they could get by spending less for atevi language studies, and nothing at all for trade cities, as giving too much to atevi.
Lately the conservatives had tried to get three perhaps ill-advised university graduate students' grant revoked for teaching atevi philosophy as a cultural immersion experience for human eight-year-olds.
And in the ensuing flap, the more radical conservatives had tried to get all atevi studies professors thrown off the State Department's university advisory committee. Everyone had thought that an extreme reaction. Then. Before the ship.
The list of attempts to nibble away at intercultural accommodation went on and on, and it all added up in the paidhi's not apolitical mind to a movement that wasn't in any sense a party, wasn't in any sense grassroots, an agenda that only a minute fraction of the population agreed with in total.
But the closer atevi and human cultures drew to each other, the more the radicals, turning up in high places, generated issue after issue after issue—because the majority of humans, while not hating atevi, still had just a little nervousness about their neighbors across the strait, who did shoot each other, who looked strikingly different, who were ruled by a different government, who couldn't speak Mosphei; and people, be they human, be they atevi, always wanted to feel safer than they did, and more in charge of their future than they were.
[...]on Mospheira nobody had ever asked, when a candidate stood for public office, or stood for appointment, whether that candidate was a separatist. A State Department appointee could believe that atevi were stealing human children to make sausages, for God's sake, and none of that belief could turn up in the legislative review of fitness for office, because it wasn't a belief polite people expressed in public.
Despite my well-known hatred for shoehorned-in romances, I also ended up enjoying the sexual tension between Bren and Jago a lot more than I would have expected. Possibly because whatever ends up happening, it's going to mean something entirely different than would a human/human romance, and it's completely uncharted territory that's going to require a lot of careful navigation. A lot of it also probably has to do with the fact that Bren actually does the responsible thing, and knows that he has to say "no" (a "no" which Jago unquestioningly respects)—maybe not forever, but at least until he's managed to sort through the tangled mess of his own emotions and figure out what he actually wants out of this.
May 30, 2018
Приключих тази и скочих директно в следващата :D
Просто не е истина колко обичам такъв тип истории - истории, които задълбават малко повечко в света и във вътрешните изживявания на героите, които го обитават!
Значи нашия преводач оцеля през бунта в провинцията, където беше "заточен" и се завърна, за да се заеме с това, което си му е работа - да преговаря между хора и атеви. Това че жителите на "човешкия" континент са си мислели, че ще им даде предимство, си е техен проблем :D (Мога да разбера и тяхната гледна точка - като се изчерпи технологията, с която поддържат/откупуват мира с местното население, остават на милостта на атеви. Но въпреки това, на моменти поведението на политиците ми се видя прекалено. От друга страна и реалните ни политици често са прекалени :D )
Брен е истински герой - държи на това, което смята за правилно, но понякога спира и си задава въпроси. Дали вярно е преценил ситуацията, дали има всички гледни точки предвид, дали не подценява/надценява някои факти? А че почти никога няма пълна информация за политическата ситуация, в която е затънал до ушите, само ме кара да му съчувствам. Как няма да се чувства изгубен, като е сам сред същества които мислят и реагират различно от човеците, а дали изобщо усещат някакъв паралел на това, което наричаме емоции е силно съмнително. Просто защото устройството им е друго и не включва тая опция! А хората не са солови изпълнители, както и да ги въртиш. Нуждата от човешки контакт и/или емоция е точно това - необходимост. Което поне донякъде го оправда в тъпото му решение да защити колежката си. Аз бих я гръмнала! Е, добре де - на преводача не му е позволено да носи оръжие, така че ще обявя намерение и ще приема щедрата оферта на Табини да съдейства в отстраняването на тая ку- кхъм, негoдяйка. :D
В този том, както и в предния, се трупаше напрежение - вътрешно и външно, почти непрекъснато. Брен се надбягваше с времето да намери решение на цифровия проблем с атеви, които се прекланят пред Техни величества Числата. В същото време трябваше да се надлъгва с Мосфейра, които всякак се опитваха да монополизират контакта с кораба, без да си дадат сметка, че един кораб, дори и да е на тяхна страна, няма да може да ги спаси, ако настроят местните още повече срещу себе си. (По мое скромно мнение, Брен не само, че не предаде своите, ами дори може да се каже, че им спаси задниците така. Създавайки възможност един ден да работят рамо до рамо с атеви и да запазят правото си на съществуване даже и след сдаването на последната технологична тайна. ) Понеже тез двете са му малко - ето я и заместницата му, която вместо да съдейства - създаваше само главоболя до небивали пропорции. На всичкото чудо, след като гилдията на убийците отказа да приеме поръчка за отстраняването му, се намериха професионални отцепници, които да се опитат да го довършат. Определено не ми се искаше да съм на негово място! Но пък нямах нищо против да пътувам в главата му, въпреки периодичните сривове, които трябваше да преодолява.
Не всичко беше надбягване и страх, обаче. Което ме зарадва страшно много. Не можех да не се захиля на момента с "пицата" и прерастването ѝ в нещо като празненство. Размяната на любезности между Брен и бабата на Табини също ми действаше разтоварващо. Да не забравям и хумора на Баничи, който е готин и е жалко, че не се проявява по-често. Даааа, добре, че ги имаше забавните, усмихнати моменти, за да свалят малко общия тревожен заряд, който тук вече нарасна още. А понеже в края не бе разтоварен напълно, не ми остана друг избор, освен да скоча от този - директно в следващия том. Лоша работа - пристрастявам се съвсем сериозно...
Просто не е истина колко обичам такъв тип истории - истории, които задълбават малко повечко в света и във вътрешните изживявания на героите, които го обитават!
Значи нашия преводач оцеля през бунта в провинцията, където беше "заточен" и се завърна, за да се заеме с това, което си му е работа - да преговаря между хора и атеви. Това че жителите на "човешкия" континент са си мислели, че ще им даде предимство, си е техен проблем :D (Мога да разбера и тяхната гледна точка - като се изчерпи технологията, с която поддържат/откупуват мира с местното население, остават на милостта на атеви. Но въпреки това, на моменти поведението на политиците ми се видя прекалено. От друга страна и реалните ни политици често са прекалени :D )
Брен е истински герой - държи на това, което смята за правилно, но понякога спира и си задава въпроси. Дали вярно е преценил ситуацията, дали има всички гледни точки предвид, дали не подценява/надценява някои факти? А че почти никога няма пълна информация за политическата ситуация, в която е затънал до ушите, само ме кара да му съчувствам. Как няма да се чувства изгубен, като е сам сред същества които мислят и реагират различно от човеците, а дали изобщо усещат някакъв паралел на това, което наричаме емоции е силно съмнително. Просто защото устройството им е друго и не включва тая опция! А хората не са солови изпълнители, както и да ги въртиш. Нуждата от човешки контакт и/или емоция е точно това - необходимост. Което поне донякъде го оправда в тъпото му решение да защити колежката си. Аз бих я гръмнала! Е, добре де - на преводача не му е позволено да носи оръжие, така че ще обявя намерение и ще приема щедрата оферта на Табини да съдейства в отстраняването на тая ку- кхъм, негoдяйка. :D
В този том, както и в предния, се трупаше напрежение - вътрешно и външно, почти непрекъснато. Брен се надбягваше с времето да намери решение на цифровия проблем с атеви, които се прекланят пред Техни величества Числата. В същото време трябваше да се надлъгва с Мосфейра, които всякак се опитваха да монополизират контакта с кораба, без да си дадат сметка, че един кораб, дори и да е на тяхна страна, няма да може да ги спаси, ако настроят местните още повече срещу себе си. (По мое скромно мнение, Брен не само, че не предаде своите, ами дори може да се каже, че им спаси задниците така. Създавайки възможност един ден да работят рамо до рамо с атеви и да запазят правото си на съществуване даже и след сдаването на последната технологична тайна. ) Понеже тез двете са му малко - ето я и заместницата му, която вместо да съдейства - създаваше само главоболя до небивали пропорции. На всичкото чудо, след като гилдията на убийците отказа да приеме поръчка за отстраняването му, се намериха професионални отцепници, които да се опитат да го довършат. Определено не ми се искаше да съм на негово място! Но пък нямах нищо против да пътувам в главата му, въпреки периодичните сривове, които трябваше да преодолява.
Не всичко беше надбягване и страх, обаче. Което ме зарадва страшно много. Не можех да не се захиля на момента с "пицата" и прерастването ѝ в нещо като празненство. Размяната на любезности между Брен и бабата на Табини също ми действаше разтоварващо. Да не забравям и хумора на Баничи, който е готин и е жалко, че не се проявява по-често. Даааа, добре, че ги имаше забавните, усмихнати моменти, за да свалят малко общия тревожен заряд, който тук вече нарасна още. А понеже в края не бе разтоварен напълно, не ми остана друг избор, освен да скоча от този - директно в следващия том. Лоша работа - пристрастявам се съвсем сериозно...
November 2, 2010
This series benefits greatly from being read in order, so, soon-to-become-standard warning: We won't give spoilers for the specific book in its review, but we do assume you're up to date on the series to that point.
Bren's actions in Malguri have made him a hero by atevi standards, as well as a fool, but it does him little good. The book opens with him fresh out of surgery on Mospheira, headed back to Shejidan and pumped full of pain medications. His body will be fine but his life is, as he's about to find out, in shambles.
His long-term girlfriend married someone else without even a forewarning, and Jago is taking his upset at this unusually seriously. His successor was sent to the capitol during the week he was in communications blackout and she's worse than incompetent, consorting with opposition forces she doesn't understand and not even maintaining minimal fluency in Ragi while she does so. Maintaining the peace, and the Treaty that keeps humans on the planet safe, requires what will inevitably be seen as treason by his fellow humans.
And that's before he even gets into the question of whether Tabini-aiji's lover, a member of a historically opposed clan, is likely to betray him...while Bren himself, loaded down with more security, is expected to stay as a guest in the lady's family's historic apartments.
Bren's reflections on being torn away from the human community he knew are alternately insightful and indicative of the deep dysfunction in his human relationships. Facing the possibility of a human from the ship, Phoenix, as a companion, his compartmentalization between human feeling and professional realism becomes a challenging thing to maintain, and that challenge an interesting thing to watch.
At the same time, it dawns on him in this book that Jago's presence is a temptation; /this/ is alternately sweet and fumbling, then profound in ways one might miss if one views her simply as Other: His inability to truly know her, no matter his decision in the end, is not so different from the inability of one human to truly know another. During this particular read-through, we were particularly struck by the dialogue after he wakes, the cast finally off his arm thanks to her help, and finds she's been sleeping propped against the side of his mattress, waiting in case he needs her again when he wakes.
There's a great deal to reflect upon, in terms of the conflict between the pull of emotion and the essential Otherness of any other person, woven alongside the intrigue that drives all the books in this series. And, of course, more biting wit from Tabini, Ilisidi, and Banichi. None of the books would be complete without a bit of that.
Bren's actions in Malguri have made him a hero by atevi standards, as well as a fool, but it does him little good. The book opens with him fresh out of surgery on Mospheira, headed back to Shejidan and pumped full of pain medications. His body will be fine but his life is, as he's about to find out, in shambles.
His long-term girlfriend married someone else without even a forewarning, and Jago is taking his upset at this unusually seriously. His successor was sent to the capitol during the week he was in communications blackout and she's worse than incompetent, consorting with opposition forces she doesn't understand and not even maintaining minimal fluency in Ragi while she does so. Maintaining the peace, and the Treaty that keeps humans on the planet safe, requires what will inevitably be seen as treason by his fellow humans.
And that's before he even gets into the question of whether Tabini-aiji's lover, a member of a historically opposed clan, is likely to betray him...while Bren himself, loaded down with more security, is expected to stay as a guest in the lady's family's historic apartments.
Bren's reflections on being torn away from the human community he knew are alternately insightful and indicative of the deep dysfunction in his human relationships. Facing the possibility of a human from the ship, Phoenix, as a companion, his compartmentalization between human feeling and professional realism becomes a challenging thing to maintain, and that challenge an interesting thing to watch.
At the same time, it dawns on him in this book that Jago's presence is a temptation; /this/ is alternately sweet and fumbling, then profound in ways one might miss if one views her simply as Other: His inability to truly know her, no matter his decision in the end, is not so different from the inability of one human to truly know another. During this particular read-through, we were particularly struck by the dialogue after he wakes, the cast finally off his arm thanks to her help, and finds she's been sleeping propped against the side of his mattress, waiting in case he needs her again when he wakes.
There's a great deal to reflect upon, in terms of the conflict between the pull of emotion and the essential Otherness of any other person, woven alongside the intrigue that drives all the books in this series. And, of course, more biting wit from Tabini, Ilisidi, and Banichi. None of the books would be complete without a bit of that.
May 11, 2016
So this was kind of complicated for me. There were some aspects of this book that I really liked, but there were some I was less than excited about. I also strangely liked the first third or so of the book the most, while the middle was less interesting, and the ending actually dragged for me. Usually when a sequel's events directly follows the end of the previous book the first part of said sequel is often a boring tying up of loose ends. Somehow, this book reversed that. Instead it felt as if the ending was more out of place, not sure of what it was doing. Hopefully, hopefully the ending of this book was so slow because it was setting up for the next one. Also, I will admit, and it was just plain predictable. So, both annoying and predictable.
Alright, what I did like was the continuity Cherryh demonstrates in this book. Bren didn't immediately recover from shoulder surgery, in contrast to most instances in fiction in which main characters can shrug off serious injuries rather quickly. So, that was interesting to read and more than a little surprising, though it shouldn't have been knowing Cherryh doesn't write typical fiction. Then there's the fact that I did like the banter and sarcasm that seemed the most prevalent in the first half. There were a few times I actually laughed out loud while reading, making me look like an idiot.
Overall, this wasn't the greatest book I've ever read, and was admittedly disappointing. However, I have hope that the next book in the series will be better.
Alright, what I did like was the continuity Cherryh demonstrates in this book. Bren didn't immediately recover from shoulder surgery, in contrast to most instances in fiction in which main characters can shrug off serious injuries rather quickly. So, that was interesting to read and more than a little surprising, though it shouldn't have been knowing Cherryh doesn't write typical fiction. Then there's the fact that I did like the banter and sarcasm that seemed the most prevalent in the first half. There were a few times I actually laughed out loud while reading, making me look like an idiot.
Overall, this wasn't the greatest book I've ever read, and was admittedly disappointing. However, I have hope that the next book in the series will be better.
March 22, 2011
So I read the first book in this series, FOREIGNER, and I had problems with it because the protagonist was basically luggage through the entire book, and he whined a lot. Which given the protagonist of my EDGE books is an odd complaint from me because Richard can be a little uncertain and insecure. There was an awful lot of navel gazing too. Still the world building and the alien culture were fascinating.
I didn't intend to go on with the series, but I couldn't quit thinking about Bren and the atevi. I've had to travel a lot and I was in Page One when I saw the sequel INVADER on the shelf. I bought it. There's still a lot of internal thought and dialog, but I'm getting a greater sense of the Atevi and the use of language, (C.J. Cherryh has a degree in linguistics) and now I'm fascinated.
Not much time passes in a really long book -- 456 pages -- only a few days, maybe a week or two, and not much happens if you're looking for explosions and fights. But there's a lot of tension as political machinations play out, and Bren has personal upheavals.
Normally I hate it when pages and pages and pages go by and we're not moving forward. There is one very famous writer whose book I gave up on when I realized I had read 374 pages and we were still in the same _afternoon_. She lost me at that point, and I haven't picked up any subsequent books. But somehow Carolyn made it work, and now I'm going to have to go find book three INHERITOR. It's kind of fun to have something long to look forward to.
I didn't intend to go on with the series, but I couldn't quit thinking about Bren and the atevi. I've had to travel a lot and I was in Page One when I saw the sequel INVADER on the shelf. I bought it. There's still a lot of internal thought and dialog, but I'm getting a greater sense of the Atevi and the use of language, (C.J. Cherryh has a degree in linguistics) and now I'm fascinated.
Not much time passes in a really long book -- 456 pages -- only a few days, maybe a week or two, and not much happens if you're looking for explosions and fights. But there's a lot of tension as political machinations play out, and Bren has personal upheavals.
Normally I hate it when pages and pages and pages go by and we're not moving forward. There is one very famous writer whose book I gave up on when I realized I had read 374 pages and we were still in the same _afternoon_. She lost me at that point, and I haven't picked up any subsequent books. But somehow Carolyn made it work, and now I'm going to have to go find book three INHERITOR. It's kind of fun to have something long to look forward to.
December 16, 2021
August 2021: Cherryh is a genius! I am amazed and in awe!
April 2020 Reading Invader in the time of Covid.
Never before could I relate so much to this line from the beginning of the book: "the whole world had changed..."
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5+
Second read: I keep falling more in love with this series.
What if you are faced with a choice that will result in being cut off from your family and homeland? How do you maintain your humanity and your sanity? How do your forge new ways of being with others?
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5+++
Third read (four months later--I'm addicted.
Cherryh articulates the confusion that results when we don't know whom to trust, when we lack words to express what we feel, when we become aware that no one in our life actually loves us for who we are, that others are incapable of loving us the way we love them, and that a lot of people are depending on us to make rational decisions we aren't sure we're capable of making.
Only an extraordinary person--one who is capable of examining his/her own thought processes with suspicion--could do the job Bren Cameron is trying to do. While he breaks his heart trying to protect his people, they accuse him of treason, recklessness, hardness-of-heart, betrayal.
This is a person who is intentionally choosing isolation from his home and mediation--in spite of pressures on all sides to doubt himself and save himself. This is what it's like to live inside a person who is trying to have integrity in an impossible situation.
Yeah, I cried again.
April 2020 Reading Invader in the time of Covid.
Never before could I relate so much to this line from the beginning of the book: "the whole world had changed..."
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5+
Second read: I keep falling more in love with this series.
What if you are faced with a choice that will result in being cut off from your family and homeland? How do you maintain your humanity and your sanity? How do your forge new ways of being with others?
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5+++
Third read (four months later--I'm addicted.
Cherryh articulates the confusion that results when we don't know whom to trust, when we lack words to express what we feel, when we become aware that no one in our life actually loves us for who we are, that others are incapable of loving us the way we love them, and that a lot of people are depending on us to make rational decisions we aren't sure we're capable of making.
Only an extraordinary person--one who is capable of examining his/her own thought processes with suspicion--could do the job Bren Cameron is trying to do. While he breaks his heart trying to protect his people, they accuse him of treason, recklessness, hardness-of-heart, betrayal.
This is a person who is intentionally choosing isolation from his home and mediation--in spite of pressures on all sides to doubt himself and save himself. This is what it's like to live inside a person who is trying to have integrity in an impossible situation.
Yeah, I cried again.
January 12, 2015
If Foreigner is about Alienness and loneliness, then Invader is a wonderful story about the start of connection and communication.
I'm starting to see why Jo Walton talks about this series as being similar to A Suitable Boy in its ability to describe rich, internally consistent characters who feel real. By the end of this book, Ilisidi feels like someone you know and understand. Jago and many of the other Atevi still feel foreign, but you start to feel like you can predict how they'll react and what they feel about things.
Hanks, the Big Bad for this and the next book doesn't feel quite as well scoped. It's not clear why she acts the way she does, at times Mospheira, the human enclave, actually feels more alien than Atevi society, a testament to how well we've come to inhabit the paidhi's world.
I'm starting to see why Jo Walton talks about this series as being similar to A Suitable Boy in its ability to describe rich, internally consistent characters who feel real. By the end of this book, Ilisidi feels like someone you know and understand. Jago and many of the other Atevi still feel foreign, but you start to feel like you can predict how they'll react and what they feel about things.
Hanks, the Big Bad for this and the next book doesn't feel quite as well scoped. It's not clear why she acts the way she does, at times Mospheira, the human enclave, actually feels more alien than Atevi society, a testament to how well we've come to inhabit the paidhi's world.
May 4, 2022
"It's a frightening job to be an honest man."
"A dangerous job, among fools."
A wonderful follow up to FOREIGNER.
Following the events of the first book, Bren is rushed back to the Atevi capital of Sheijdan to continue his work as paidhi under the cloud of the recently returned Phoenix hanging above the planet. Our translator must tread a delicate balance to keep the peace.
I LOVED this. I struggled slightly with FOREIGNER, being quite an abstract plot and a brand new world, but with a bit of familiarity I really found INVADER a lot easier to read - though I took my sweet time doing so.
Bren is a lovely protagonist - so unsure of himself yet so intelligent and in his own way, charismatic - and the supporting cast feels a lot more fleshed out this time around. Bren's growing, fumbling relationship (or, to be real, association) with Jago is very entertaining and we get to see our translator interacting with other human beings for the first time.
Cherryh has a way of making big events seem small and understated. It's a very detached writing style that I struggle with a bit.
I'm very keen to go onto INHERITOR.
May 23, 2017
I enjoyed both Foreigner #2 and #3, but not as much as book 1. A common complaint about these books is the amount of repetition (Our Hero, Bren Cameron, mulls thoughts over Again and Again and Again) -- and though I didn't mind it in the first book, that tendency did start to get old. Also, I started having more and more difficulty suspending my disbelief over story elements (like the claim that there's a billion or so Atevi and only ONE human interpreter for ALL of them), and by book 3 I was also getting annoyed at excessive recapping and infodumping. Nonetheless, if you enjoy character-driven political sf with loooooooots of interior monologuing, Cherryh does a good job of keeping things interesting.
The series (something like 15 books so far) is written in trilogy subsets. I've come to the end of the first trilogy, so I'll stop here at least for now.
The series (something like 15 books so far) is written in trilogy subsets. I've come to the end of the first trilogy, so I'll stop here at least for now.
February 12, 2023
Invader is the second novel of SFWA Grandmaster Carolyn Janice Cherry’s Foreigner series. Started in 1994, this series currently is made up of 21 volumes. C. J. Cherryh released the latest in 2020, and so the series may yet grow longer. The series is organized into sub-trilogies, and this novel should not be read stand-alone, but as the middle of the first trilogy. If you have not, go back and read the first novel Foreigner. And after this, expect to read the third novel, Inheritor, as well.
After almost two centuries, the starship Phoenix has returned to find a changed world, where the only interface between the native Atevi and the resident humans of Mospheira is Bren Cameron. Bren is the Paidhi, official translator and interpreter by long-standing treaty between the biologically distinct humanoids. In particular, the Atevi have a difficult to understand system of loyalty known as man’chi, which has developed epigenetically and not just culturally.
No new speculations are introduced in this sequel novel. If anything, the alien psychology of the Atevi has begun to feel less alien, and more like a human system of hierarchical strong-man loyalty. Instead, there is a broadening of existing situation and characters. I found Bren’s increasingly assertive behaviors, his break with his semi-romantic human interest Barb, and his frightened reaching out towards one of his Atevi guards to be the most compelling. However, the text bogs down as Bren endures long periods of isolated introspection and self-doubt while waiting for responses to messages sent. Readers are immersed in Bren’s thoughts and memories, while remaining an outsider to all other characters.
I know the Atevi are living in a civilization of throttled-by-the-humans technology, but it seems incongruous to be faxing documents to a starship, or hitting a button on a telephone to record a tape. I suspect those were actually just uncommented-upon current technology when this was written in the 1990s. So, not really a problem, just need a little extra effort to overlook it.
The ending is not really a conclusion, but an introduction to the next section of the story. I will be going on to complete this first trilogy of the lengthy series.
After almost two centuries, the starship Phoenix has returned to find a changed world, where the only interface between the native Atevi and the resident humans of Mospheira is Bren Cameron. Bren is the Paidhi, official translator and interpreter by long-standing treaty between the biologically distinct humanoids. In particular, the Atevi have a difficult to understand system of loyalty known as man’chi, which has developed epigenetically and not just culturally.
No new speculations are introduced in this sequel novel. If anything, the alien psychology of the Atevi has begun to feel less alien, and more like a human system of hierarchical strong-man loyalty. Instead, there is a broadening of existing situation and characters. I found Bren’s increasingly assertive behaviors, his break with his semi-romantic human interest Barb, and his frightened reaching out towards one of his Atevi guards to be the most compelling. However, the text bogs down as Bren endures long periods of isolated introspection and self-doubt while waiting for responses to messages sent. Readers are immersed in Bren’s thoughts and memories, while remaining an outsider to all other characters.
I know the Atevi are living in a civilization of throttled-by-the-humans technology, but it seems incongruous to be faxing documents to a starship, or hitting a button on a telephone to record a tape. I suspect those were actually just uncommented-upon current technology when this was written in the 1990s. So, not really a problem, just need a little extra effort to overlook it.
The ending is not really a conclusion, but an introduction to the next section of the story. I will be going on to complete this first trilogy of the lengthy series.
July 21, 2019
I’ve never read a book that made the main character’s constant naval gazing so compelling. I’ve also never read a book that made me so hyped and pumped to read about a diplomatic phone call. This book also has some of the most alien feeling aliens I’ve ever read, accomplished through a feat of what I’d call “emotional uncanny valley” where they are just similar enough to feel human, but really aren’t. This is intentional on the authors part and is extraordinarily impressive. Full entire 5/5 stars I’ve already started book 3.
December 18, 2022
[Note - spoilers for the previous book.] Invader is another great adventure in the Foreigner series by CJ Cherryh. This book picks up shortly after the first book in the series, Foreigner, ends. Our protagonist, the human ambassador (paidhii) to the native population (atevi) has had surgery to patch him up but gets no time to heal before he's flying back to his job. The story continues to delve into the atevi's need for felicitous numbers and how their different biological imperatives affect their society and the bomb shell concept of faster than light space travel dropped in the first book. Much of the story hinges on how atevi will conceptualize and integrate the math behind folded space into their society and the surrounding upheaval from this. There's kidnapping, intrigue, subversion, wild chases in the dark through wildlands, and the return of the mecheiti to save the day. This part of the Foreigner series takes place against the back drop of the space humans landing on the world to help return humans and bring atevi to the space station.
There are some interspecies romance/encounters and violence ending in death, but these are mostly small scenes with not much detail (the destruction of the historic ceramic lilies are a larger theme). Sometimes tedious in parts (because bureaucracy can be that way), but overall still a fun read and a great story. The ending is somewhat of a cliff hanger, but the next book is there and I will be rereading it again, too.
There are some interspecies romance/encounters and violence ending in death, but these are mostly small scenes with not much detail (the destruction of the historic ceramic lilies are a larger theme). Sometimes tedious in parts (because bureaucracy can be that way), but overall still a fun read and a great story. The ending is somewhat of a cliff hanger, but the next book is there and I will be rereading it again, too.
May 24, 2022
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Review:
I swear to everything, Bren has an damn anxiety disorder, and he's giving me one in the process. I've never met a book where the main character laid in bed for hours agonizing over everything he is doing, just like a normal person. This is despite extreme lack of sleep and other problems.
There are legitimate reasons Bren has to be stressed out. There is a spaceship overhead with reasons and factions no one knows. The atevi are blaming the humans on the island that the spaceship is there at all. His backup paidhi is on the mainland causing trouble and won't go away. And he just got out of surgery and is in a lot of pain and shouldn't be making big decisions but he has to anyway. His laying awake in anxiety makes absolute sense. So would I. And that is why Bren feels so real. Even though he is so much smarter and better a person than I am, I can connect with him as a character. And love him a bit, too.
Invader follows the events of Foreigner almost immediately. We learned towards the end of Foreigner that the ship that brought the Humans to the Atevi world is back. Now in this book, the Atevi are contacting them. The goal being to assert that this is the Atevi world, and their having control over what happens in their Heavens as well as their world is a fact not to be disputed. And also a large part of the book is to calm the rest of the Atevi who fear what this spaceship means.
All of these choices the Atevi have taken have been at the direction of Bren, who understands humans. And is now setting himself to potentially be considered a traitor to the human race because he is helping the atevi as a part of the treaty the humans and atevi signed. Which is especially in true because Deanna, the paidhi's successor should something happen to Bren, came to the mainland and she doesn't feel the same way about atevi as Bren does. She does not like that Bren is helping the Atevi at all, and is (trying to) report back to maligned forces in the Human government.
All of which is happening while Bren is still really hurt from the previous book. In the start of the book, Bren just woke up from surgery, and has to take off running. He is fueled by anxiety. He is depressed. He is lonely. And for a moment in Foreigner, he belonged and now that feeling of belonging has been lost and he wants it back.
What a powerful, amazing story.
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It hadn’t been a total mistake to agree to Tabini’s requests. Sometimes he’d gotten extraordinary results when Tabini pulled one of his must-talks.
Review:
I swear to everything, Bren has an damn anxiety disorder, and he's giving me one in the process. I've never met a book where the main character laid in bed for hours agonizing over everything he is doing, just like a normal person. This is despite extreme lack of sleep and other problems.
There are legitimate reasons Bren has to be stressed out. There is a spaceship overhead with reasons and factions no one knows. The atevi are blaming the humans on the island that the spaceship is there at all. His backup paidhi is on the mainland causing trouble and won't go away. And he just got out of surgery and is in a lot of pain and shouldn't be making big decisions but he has to anyway. His laying awake in anxiety makes absolute sense. So would I. And that is why Bren feels so real. Even though he is so much smarter and better a person than I am, I can connect with him as a character. And love him a bit, too.
Invader follows the events of Foreigner almost immediately. We learned towards the end of Foreigner that the ship that brought the Humans to the Atevi world is back. Now in this book, the Atevi are contacting them. The goal being to assert that this is the Atevi world, and their having control over what happens in their Heavens as well as their world is a fact not to be disputed. And also a large part of the book is to calm the rest of the Atevi who fear what this spaceship means.
All of these choices the Atevi have taken have been at the direction of Bren, who understands humans. And is now setting himself to potentially be considered a traitor to the human race because he is helping the atevi as a part of the treaty the humans and atevi signed. Which is especially in true because Deanna, the paidhi's successor should something happen to Bren, came to the mainland and she doesn't feel the same way about atevi as Bren does. She does not like that Bren is helping the Atevi at all, and is (trying to) report back to maligned forces in the Human government.
All of which is happening while Bren is still really hurt from the previous book. In the start of the book, Bren just woke up from surgery, and has to take off running. He is fueled by anxiety. He is depressed. He is lonely. And for a moment in Foreigner, he belonged and now that feeling of belonging has been lost and he wants it back.
What a powerful, amazing story.
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