Pretender (Foreigner series Book 8)

The missing leader having shown up in the last paragraph of the previous book, this volume recounts the struggles and travails of his eventually triumphant return to the capital. His grandmother, the dowager, and his irrepressible eight-year-old son remain principle actors. It's been awhile since I read the earlier books, but I feel like this one particularly expounds the state of transportation technology on the planet.

Finally having returned to home, Bren and the ship find that all hell has broken out on the planet during the two years they were gone. Now, to get down to the planet, alive, and get to the capital, alive to give his report about what happened in space, is the main objective. If there's anyone left who doesn't want to kill him and revert to the past.

Pretender, the latest installment in the Foreigner series, picks up right where the previous book (Destroyer) left off. Because of this, and the the way it is written, it should only be read by those who are already up-to-date with the series; if you don't already know what happened after the rescue of Prakuyo and how Bren Cameron arrived at Tatisiegi's estate you just won't get much out of this book.This is a fairly short book, and in a sense not much happens in it. Bren Cameron is the paidhi (human translator) assigned to the atevi (alien) ruler Tabini, who was recently driven from power. {CAUTION: the rest of this paragraph might be considered to contain some minor "spoilers"!} In this installment, Cameron travels with a rather large group from the embattled Atigeni country estate to the capital Shejidan, where Tabini recovers his position and Cameron delivers a report to the planetary legislature about the treaty he recently negotiated with the kyo (other aliens).That's about it for plot. Along the way we mostly dwell in Cameron's head, as he continues his struggles to understand the significance of the movements of all the aliens around him, given that they are unable or unwilling to actually ever explain anything to him. I believe it is an aspect of the author's art here that we share the experience of the translator's incomprehension: much of the time the reader doesn't get it either, we are in effect also immersed in an alien culture and equally bewildered. This is indeed powerful and effective. A big problem, though, is that while Cameron has his "aha!" moments along the way, we don't necessarily share them. To paraphrase one example, he concludes something like "Oh, now I get it!" and later exchanges a meaningful glance and confirming nod with an alien associate, but just what he has concluded is never expressed, not in his thoughts or words or by the alien, and the prior evidence in the book on the particular subject at that point is not all that clear. In this Cherryh continues to appear to think we can read her mind, rather than just her words, and can leave a reader frustrated.In Pretender, most of the "action" is small-scale and localized, there is a lot of what I call "motion", that is the positioning and posturing that is typical of a Cherryh novel. This continues to work well within the Foreigner series (even as it fails dismally in some of her other works), probably due to the deeply characterized alien culture that provides a basis for this behavior. And in Pretender there are cases where it seems the author is trying to be clearer, and there are also important developments in the relationships among some of the familiar characters. For that, and for the incremental movement of the overall series plot, it is clearly a must-read for series fans. Anyone who has not read all the earlier books would be wasting their time and money to start here, but would indeed be well-rewarded to go back to the start and read through this fascinating series of books.I know Foreigner fans are zealous and I expect I'll pick up some spurious "not helpfuls" as an expression of displeasure with the fact that my review is not pure praise and not 5-star. Please realize that I too am a devoted, long-time fan of this series, have read each book as it came out and re-read the series several times, and am just trying to balance the picture with a bit of objectivity.

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This book had more action in comparison to Destroyer and also covered quite a lot of material leading up to Bren's presentation with Cajieri's assistance at the Bu'javid, including assassination attempts, etc.Tabini's felicitous arsenal of 9 wine bottles-cum-petrol bombs didn't seem like much of a force to be reckoned with, aside from their symbolic and provocative value. Then again, Atevi wine bottles would be larger than Human wine bottles :-)There were a few technological and cultural development oddities, but it would be getting too picky to be reasonable, I think. More reasonable would have been for Destroyer and Pretender to have been consolidated into one 400 page publication, with Deliverer as the second and another for the third, which would have simply ended some place else further on.Readers of Pretender might find 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence' interesting.

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...

As usual I enjoyed this book in the series. It is amazing how an incident can be turned into an intriguing story which holds interest for a whole book. Patricia B

THIS WORLD IS WELL REALISED AND BELIEVABLE, AND THE STORY IS CONVINCING. THE HERO IS ASTONISHINGLY COMPETENT - WHAT A GREAT WAY TO SPEND SOME TIME.

sozusagen. Denn Tabini hält sich nicht wirklich mit Politik auf, sondern er macht dort weiter, wo er im letzten Band aufgehört hat: nachdem die Kadigeidi (hoffentlich hab ich das jetzt richtig geschrieben) vom Grundstück Tatiseigi's vertrieben hat, sammelt er dort seine Anhänger um sich. Es dreht sich mal wieder sehr viel um man'chi und Bren ist immer wieder überrascht, wer denn noch alles auftaucht. Und dann geht es los: die hauptstadt und insbesondere die Bujavid soll von Murini zurückerobert werden. Ein Bus- und LKW-konvoi startet also über (fast durchgehend (!!!)) zur Hauptstadt reichende "Straßen" einen Feldzug Richtung Hauptstadt.Mit von der Partie sind auch in diesem Band natürlich Bren, Cajeiri, seine Urgroßmutter und Banichi und Jago. Interessant fand ich, dass in diesem Band die Gilde etwas genauer unter die Lupe genommen wird und man etwas mehr über die doch sonst sehr im Hintergrund verbliebenen Tano und Algini lernt.Dieser Band hat wirklich die vollen 5 Sterne verdient: es fällt überhauptnicht auf, dass dies "nur" der mittlere Teil der 3. Triologie ist. (Dem mittleren Teil der 2. Triologie war dies ja ziemlich deutlich anzumerken.) Ich kann nur empfehlen den 9. Band der Foreigner-Reihe, nämlich Deliverer, gleich mitzukaufen. Ich habe davon schon ein paar Seiten gelesen und ich denke die Anschaffung des Hardcovers lohnt sich, wenn man nicht nochmal ein Jahr warten möchte.

sozusagen. Denn Tabini hält sich nicht wirklich mit Politik auf, sondern er macht dort weiter, wo er im letzten Band aufgehört hat: nachdem die Kadigeidi (hoffentlich hab ich das jetzt richtig geschrieben) vom Grundstück Tatiseigi's vertrieben hat, sammelt er dort seine Anhänger um sich. Es dreht sich mal wieder sehr viel um man'chi und Bren ist immer wieder überrascht, wer denn noch alles auftaucht. Und dann geht es los: die hauptstadt und insbesondere die Bujavid soll von Murini zurückerobert werden. Ein Bus- und LKW-konvoi startet also über (fast durchgehend (!!!)) zur Hauptstadt reichende "Straßen" einen Feldzug Richtung Hauptstadt.Mit von der Partie sind auch in diesem Band natürlich Bren, Cajeiri, seine Urgroßmutter und Banichi und Jago. Interessant fand ich, dass in diesem Band die Gilde etwas genauer unter die Lupe genommen wird und man etwas mehr über die doch sonst sehr im Hintergrund verbliebenen Tano und Algini lernt.Dieser Band hat wirklich die vollen 5 Sterne verdient: es fällt überhauptnicht auf, dass dies "nur" der mittlere Teil der 3. Triologie ist. (Dem mittleren Teil der 2. Triologie war dies ja ziemlich deutlich anzumerken.) Ich kann nur empfehlen den 9. Band der Foreigner-Reihe, nämlich Deliverer, gleich mitzukaufen. Ich habe davon schon ein paar Seiten gelesen und ich denke die Anschaffung des Hardcovers lohnt sich, wenn man nicht nochmal ein Jahr warten möchte.

Je poursuis mon compte-rendu d’exploration d’un des plus longs et des plus vaste univers de la science-fiction contemporaine , de même que l’un des plus long cycle de SF , existant à ce jour , l’univers de Foreigner , quinze volumes de près de 500 pages en poche et chacun ( les deux premiers tomes seulement sont disponibles en français ) ...Pretender suit Destroyer et précède Deliverer , c’est le second tome du 3e arc du cycle ...C’est un de mes tomes préférés à cause de l’épaisseur des intrigues politiques qu’il contient , à cause de l’intensité des rebondissements , qui s’étirent et qui se déploient souvent en cascade .Et puis pour ce qui est du thème du contact , disons qu’il suinte agréablement de chaque page .En effet les Atevi ont déjà dû admettre sur leur monde troublé des Aliens en la présence de l’humanité et , ensuite , de nouvelles technologies avec une nouvelle représentation du monde ...Et voilà maintenant que de belliqueux Aliens vont peut-être bientôt paraître dans les parages de ce monde en proie aux conflits et aux désaccords profonds .Il est donc plus crucial que jamais , que cette société s’acculture à la technologie de pointe , s’en empare pour elle-même .Qu’elle soit en paix aussi , car son environnement spatial se complexifie et semble devenir dangereux et ne dit -on pas que : « pour avoir la paix prépare la guerre « ...Sur le style , c’est un des plus authentiquement « à la manière de l’auteur « , beaucoup d’action , beaucoup de rythme , et de l’intensité car les personnages sont fait d’un bois si solide , que le lecteur suit leurs pas , ainsi que l’avènement de leurs réflexions , de leur décisions , de leurs actions aux conséquences souvent millimétrées pour ce qui est de la description de leurs effets .Avec un positionnement qui impose l’intime , en rendant cette complexité familière , profondément intelligible et empathique ...Le seigneur du ciel , le Paidhi est l’objet d’une intense attention meurtrière , le meurtre étant un moyen politique légal et très encadré dans cette société . En effet il est le garant par exemple de ce que l’espace contient bien une menace nouvelle potentielle et qu’il est vraisemblablement nécessaire de s’y préparer .Le Paidhi est aussi un des atouts principaux de l’association occidentale , ce qui lui confère de fait un caractère ambiguë , pas clair , car doublement fautif avec le fait qu’il représente également , les intérêts des hommes de L’ile de Mospheira , avec de fortes réticences du gouvernement local de cet état désormais « fédéré « à l’association occidentale et alors , que dans le même temps , il dirige expressément aussi , dans le cadre du Manchi , la nouvelle Province Du Ciel , une province de l’alliance occidentale .Dans ce texte qui est un véritable thriller politique , la difficulté et ses multiples plaisirs associés , sont bien au rendez-vous .L’exploration des formes politiques Atevi s’approfondit , est-ce bien possible ? , eh bien oui c’est possible! ...De même la compréhension intime de cette espèce étrangère et de cet environnement , est toujours plus réfléchie et aussi plus travaillée que spontanée et accessible de plein pied ( de front ) .Bref , après deux années Du Paidhi dans Le Ciel , la maison tremble spectaculairement sur ses fondations alors que les clivages s’approfondissent et que les scissions se dessinent .Alors aussi , que les conflits et la ruse martèlent inlassablement , la matière dont l’auteur forge avec rigueur l’excellent alliage , dans lequel cet univers est façonné !