Invader
Ratings10
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings10
Average rating4.1
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.
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After finishing Foreigner I really wanted to continue the story, and I had gotten both this and book 3 at the same time as book 1. So I jumped right in. This does pick up almost immediately after the first book ended. It continues the court and political intrigue that was very much part of the first book. It also stayed within the POV of the one lead character. While not quite having a midlife crisis, we do go deep into his insecurities, many of them brought on by the stressful situations he finds himself in. While I think this aspect is well told, it does get a bit old over time, as I waited for the story to progress. C.J. Cherryh describes his emotional landscape the way other genre writers describe the physical landscapes of the worlds they are building. This is done with great skill in language, but I felt I wanted the story to move on more then be stuck in just one characters mind.
I've very much enjoyed that the lead character is a “good guy” in almost every sense of the phrase. While he is not perfect, he is striving to do his best for the world and the inhabitants of it. He is the type of character you would see on the “West Wing” tv show, and I very much liked that.
This is also the middle book of what is described as a sub-trillogy of the series. And it feels like it, while it doesn't end on a cliff hanger, there is much more unresolved at the end of this book than there was at the end of the first book. I will read book 3 soon, but for now I think I'm going to take a bit of a break from the series.
I was inspired to write this review in memory of Jenny (Reading Envy) Colvin.
Series
22 primary books23 released booksForeigner is a 23-book series with 22 primary works first released in 1994 with contributions by C. J. Cherryh.
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