Invader by CJ Cherryh

Invader by C.J. Cherryh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb (from Goodreads): The first book in C.J.Cherryh's eponymous series, Foreigner, begins an epic tale of the survivors of a lost spacecraft who crash-land on a planet inhabited by a hostile, sentient alien race. From its beginnings as a human-alien story of first contact, the Foreigner series has become a true science fiction odyssey, following a civilization from the age of steam through early space flight to confrontations with other alien species in distant sectors of space. It is the masterwork of a truly remarkable author.

Nearly two centuries after the starship Phoenix disappeared, leaving an isolated colony of humans on the world of the atevi, it unexpectedly returns, 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. Upon his return to the mainland, he Cameron finds that his government has sent in his paidhi-successor, Deana Hanks—representative of a dangerous faction on Mospheira who hate the atevi.

Haunted by the threat of assassination, Bren realizes his only hope may be to communicate 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 action, he may be forced to witness the destruction of the already precarious balance of world power.

The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Invader is the 2nd Foreigner novel. It is also the 2nd book in the first subtrilogy.

Well, the Goodreads description is about useless for book 2 of the Foreigner series.

The premise of the book is pandhi Bren Cameron is hastily called back to the Atevi government and politics when the starship Phoenix suddenly appears in the sky above the planet after a 200 year absence. Bren must now deal with an Atevi population who fears the ship is going to burst upon them with death rays, his predecessor Diana Hanks presence which is in violation of the Treaty established after Phoenix abandoned the planet the first time, and his own government which to all outward appearances has cut him off. To top off his difficulties, he finds out his girl friend has married someone else.

For starters, this is not an action filled book. The reader spends most of the time wallowing in Bren's musings about what it is to be the only human in the Atevi world, how he must constantly guard his expressions and watch his emotions because he cannot afford to mix human emotions with Atevi thoughts.

However, Invader is much better than Foreigner. It pulls the reader right along: Bren is not sitting around wallowing as he was in the first one, but seems to actually have a part in the action this time. Don't get me wrong - there is still a fair amount of self-pity wallowing going on as he tries to work though his girl friends marriage - but it has a context.

My biggest complaint is Bren always asking about his guards, "Where is Banichi? Where is Jago?" About halfway through the book I wanted to shout at the main character - "They're not here! Get over it!" I did get tired of Banichi and Jago popping in and out - that seems to be the extent of what the do, except in a firefight. Then they are suddenly there and Bren is still asking about one or the other.

But overall, a delightful read, not to sloggish for a Cherryh book and I already have the next one on order.



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