Pretender

I have been a C. J. Cherryh fan for many years, and have read each of the Foreigner books as they came out. This one builds, in a very exciting way, on the previous books. It was truly a page turner, and hard to put down. Ms. Cherryh keeps things moving quickly right to the last page. I agree with one reviewer who said it would be a hard place to start as it is a continuation of the Foreigner series. I can certainly recommend that one enjoy the entire series from the beginning. It would be a worthwhile effort. I am one who enjoys extended series such as this, and am already looking forward to the third book in this third sequence. I hope she moves on to a fourth sequence as well.

Pretender is another wonderful addition to the Foreigner series. I found myself smiling all week as I read this latest installment, feeling like I was on a visit to catch up with some of my favorite associates. Of course this would be no where to start reading, as Ms. Cherryh respects her readers enough to not rehash previous segments for the sake of those who don't want to read the whole story, so be advised, it is necessary to start at the beginning with Foreigner, and read all the way up to this installment to have the rewarding experience that I have had. Now, that being said, this is one of the shortest, but most action packed segment to date. Non-stop fast paced, while remaining introspective, this story remains my all time favorite allegory about diversity, reminding the reader that egocentricity, and ethno-centricity, are not winning strategies, but any kind of homogenization should be entered into carefully, and methodically. I can't wait until next year brings a new installment!

As always, this book was advance ordered so I did not have to wait to catch up on the latest happenings in the Atevi world. Pretender did *not* disappoint and was another great read in this engrossing series. The only bad thing was staying up all Friday night to finish it; now I can't have the joy of reading it new again. If you are new to the series, I recommend that you start at the beginning -- and I would envy you for the delight in finding a great series. I will not recapitulate the plot since other people have done that, but I will say that Cajeiri is growing up very well, Algini surprised me, and Banichi and Jago, well, they are the best salads ever. Also, as of March 6 according to her blog, C J is about 2/3's finished with the next book in the series. Maybe next year by this time...

Eight books and ten years into the Foreigner Universe series, you'd think that it might be getting a little tired. However, I found this book and its predecessor in the third trilogy to be very well written and riveting reads. I enjoyed the increased amount of Guild action in Pretender and it felt faster-paced overall relative to Destroyer, the first book in this trilogy. Bren continues to wallow a bit in angst over whether he was to blame for the successful coup that deposed Tabini Aiji. However, events move far too quickly for an extended pity party and soon he's right back in the thick of the action with his Assassin's Guild bodyguards. Cajeiri is moving from brat-hood to an interesting character who actually contributes to the storyline a bit more and the Dowager continues to delight yet again. Very enjoyable!

Civil war has devastated the Western Association and leaders like Tabini-aiij of the atevi home world are either dead or exiled and in hiding. Murini-aiij looks as if he will take over as ruler of the sector, but humans and other races will probably be eradicated under his xenophobic leadership. Human paidhi Bren Cameron, diplomat to Tabini, knows his atevi friend is the only hope to stop the hostilities and to prevent a subsequent slaughter as outside hostile races are heading to this galaxy. Tabini realizes he must regain control of the atevi government because he believes Bren is telling the truth about the upcoming invaders while Murini scorns humans; with the help of Bren and his grandmother LLsidi they join forces with loyalist Tatiseigi. First civil war, then the invaders; atevi and human are in trouble in this space sector. The latest Foreigner science fiction thriller, PRETENDER is a fabulous entry that showcases C.J. Cherryh at her best with the clever Machiavellian political maneuvers between the atevi with Bren used by Murini as a culpable pawn. The action augments the posturing for control as Tabini and Murini seek allies with the former thinking in terms of a two step war and the latter of just vanquishing his atevi rival. This is a great addition to one of the better outer space series of the last decade. Harriet Klausner