Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh, 1994, DAW, $7.99, softbound, 428 pages. Category/Genre: science fiction. Cover: brilliant. Where we got it: prezzie. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.The first in a long-running series about Bren Cameron, a human translator on an alien world, Foreigner hits the ground running. It begins with an assassination attempt on Bren, and only gets more interesting from there as Bren is shuffled off to a remote and quite ancient dwelling where no human has ever set foot.
In this book, we are introduced to several key characters who will return again and again throughout the series, among them Tabini, Bren's superiour and the leader of the Western Association of the atevi; Banichi and Jago, Bren and Tabini's security (read: trained assassins); and wily Ilisidi, Tabini's grandmother.
The action is paralleled by rich characterisation and a well-developed alien culture and world. Few writers can create the vivid sorts of universes C.J. Cherryh is capable of creating, and her work truly shines in this novel. The angle of seeing the atevi through the eyes of the only human allowed on that side of the strait is a clever one, and added to that is the unusual job Bren has as translator between the atevi and the human population on the island of Mospheira.
Note: mild language.
If you like this one, try: Invader, by C.J. Cherryh; The Chanur Saga, by C.J. Cherryh; and Downbelow Station, by C.J. Cherryh.
No comments:
Post a Comment