Rating: 
Summary: Keep Reading...!
Review: (The Foreigner Universe)
Book #1-"Foreigner"
Well, Let see when I started reading book #1"Foreigner" the first 30-40 pages were very interesting , but then after that the plot started to moved way to slooooowwww ,no much action either...this is an sci-fi book and the story take place on another planet..however it's not about futuristic gadgets
..it's more about the Human contact with aliens..but wait the Humans are the aliens here...yep..! the Atevi "the locals" they're an very complex species..their world it's kinda like a Feudal Japan...!so we need to learn what it's going on,mostly through the main character thoughts..with this book , I was with the need to be %100 focus all the time..oh man whom want to kill whom, why, where ,what are their Manchi...!
Well.I'm honestly stopped reading several times,..later at some point I decided to start reading again..I'm so glad I did because aprox.around the last 100 pgs. for my surprise I was really getting into the storyline again...and
after I finished Book #1...I started reading back to back Books #2-#3..also I recently finished the second trilogy as well
..YEP..! The books they had their Ups & Downs..But overall yes For me the story get better,indeed....The "Foreigner Universe" It's not an easy read thats for sure..However for me it's an Good Worthy Read...!
(4 stars for Foreigner.)
Rating: 
Summary: Life-changing science fiction at its best
Review: A much-depleted and damaged Earth ship, its crew and colonists are forced into orbit around an earth-like planet which is already inhabited by an agricultural race who appear, from observation, to be very human. An orbiting station is built and contact with the natives is avoided. A land base is established to provide natural resources, in what appears to be a deserted area of the planet. Accidental contact occurs and, based on responses from natives, the colonists assume the only major barrier to a relationship between the races is language.The story begins 100 years after the above has taken place, after a war which could have destroyed both races was brought to an end with a treaty that isolated humans on an island. The cause of the war was the assumption (from both species) that they were dealing with others of thier own species with a different language. In fact, humans and the natives (the Atevi) were "hard-wired" so differently that any interaction violated cultural standards of both races. To solve this, the treaty specified that only one human could leave the island to interact with the Atevi. The human government trained gifted individuals, from childhood, to be Atevi-like in order to always have a diplomat (paidhi) to live at the seat of Atevi government. Through the paidhi, humans traded thier superior technology for raw supplies not found on the island. Bren Cameron is the human's current paidhi, and had just recently taken over the position due to his predecessor's retirement. The first book explores both the human culture and the Atevi culture by showing the difficult on-the-job learning curve undertaken by an extremely dedicated and idealistic individual, who has to answer to two separate authorities, Human and Atevi, with opposite agendas. At the time this book was first released, I had just started working for a Japanese company, and was trying to grasp the differences in cultures so as to avoid offense. I bought the book because I buy everything Cherryh as soon as it's released. I read the book 3X because it sustained me through learning to see a culture which is at right angles to my own culture and cultural arrogance. The result was many friends and a deep appreciation for the differences and similarities in people. This is the first of one of the most important series written in science fiction to date. Cherryh's brilliant writing style can make a feather falling through the air seem such an intense experience that sweat will be falling off your brow before the feather hits the ground. With that style she forces us to experience and examine thoughts and feelings that most would rather not deal with and, in so doing, creates new avenues to survive with. Due to 9/11 our country has been forced out of its isolationist culture (which was, by the way, similar in many ways to the human island culture depicted in the Foreigner series) and forced to take a planet-wide view. Understanding of this series will add depth to that sight.
Rating:
Summary: Complex and intriguing, Cherryh is at it again.
Review: Admittedly this book isn't for everyone. It's dense and multi-layered and complex enough to perhaps need a second read. But Cherryh's gift for understanding the politics and social interaction of a culture really shines here with the Atevi. She's thought of how this society works on so many levels. It's truly believable even though it was so hard to comprehend. I highly recommend this book to any Cherryh fan. The only one better is Cyteen. The first couple of chapters are difficult to get into, but once you do, you'll be hooked through all three novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but not as strong as I expected
Review: An average book by C.J. Cherryh is still a good book by most other writers. Still, although the background was there (and I really liked the matriarchal dowager whose medieval point of view by no means diminishes her intellect), this book was simply too long. The atevi are fascinating, but I almost wonder if Cherryh has second-guessed herself with this one; no matter how hard Bren tries, he can't quite bridge that gap. His frustration becomes the reader's, which can be considered a success -- if only he didn't spend quite so much time agonizing about it. Cherryh is one of those rare authors who can inject as much tension into a casual conversation as into a no-holds-barred firefight, and in fact I would have preferred less introspection and more dialogue. Invader, the sequel to this book, has the same problem -- Bren spends so much time worrying about his mail that you wonder that an assassination attempt doesn't give him a heart attack. Because of this, I've held off from reading Inheritor -- still, I simply *must* know how it all turns out
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating universe.
Review: C.J Cherry is one brilliant woman. She constructed a universe so complicated and so well structured that even the reader get caught into thinking the atevis are not that different from us. Like the hero Cameron, reality comes back to haunt us when they start behaving and reacting in a most alien way, much to the hero's discomfort. The novel is slow at times, spending much time inside cameron's head. The dialogues are full of hidden meanings, they are as nebulous as our understanding of the atevis. Like I said, it's a complicated novel, not one to read tired as I sometimes did; an alert mind is suggested if you want to avoid unnecessary frustrations. In short, it's truly a novel for an intellectual and inquiring mind. Those who like action-oriented or a more simple and active plot should look elsewhere. I didn't understand it all and you would need to read it many times to acquire a small understanding of the atevi culture. The magic of the book is that you DO want to understand and study them, like some sociologist trying to study a newly discovered culture. That's how rich, authentic (in an alien way) and interesting their culture is. I will certainly read the following books in this saga to know how the story will unfold and to immerse myself again in the fascinating world of the atevis and human colonists. 4.5 stars out of five.
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly detailed and thoughtful idea for alien culture
Review: Cherryh manages to capture the imagination with this tale of a stranded Terran diplomat, held captive by an alien race. Humans have landed and brought incredible technology. But are the aliens ready for rapid advancement at the behest of their Terran benefactors? The relationship between Cherryh's protagonist and his alien captors/friends makes this book unique among others in its genre.
Rating:
Summary: Foreigner-Cherryh Classic
Review: CJ Cherryh does her best so far in this series. Many other authors in this genre create alien chartacters that are either lame two dimensional monsters with no depth..or failing that, aliens whose only "foreign" features are their outward appearance. She makes these aliens utterly alien without sacrificing that depth of character. When you combine that with a plot involving deep cross cultural political intrigue and assasination you get a series that can't be put down. I am always waiting for the next book to come out. So far I have read the first four in the series and have yet to be disapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Warning!!!
Review: Do not read this book unless you have the time to read all 4 of the books in the series! This is such an engaging story, with such real characters, that you get sucked into it...never to be the same again.
Rating:
Summary: Culture, Intrigue, Assasination, and Fun.
Review: Foreigner is a book about first contact -- humans and aliens, called the atevi, meeting for the first time -- and problems that occur when the two cultures meet and try to understand each other. C.J. Cherryh builds an alien culture and society that is well-formed, complete and believable; and through her excellent style, immerses the reader into this culture such that one begins to think and act like atevi, and perhaps, daydream about what it would be like living with the atevi oneself. This book is similar to Shogun, which, in effect, was a first contact book itself. The atevi culture, to me, has an essence of the Japanese culture, with a touch of India.
Different "biological hard-wiring" between the humans and atevi create complicated misunderstandings of some of the most basic societal concepts. Imagine a culture that cannot fully understand the human words "like", "love", and "friend". The only time the atevi use the word, "like", is to describe a favorite food, such as salads. Now think how often we humans use the word "like" -- yes, we like food, but we also like each other, and there are different levels of like, and there are likenesses between members of a family, and we like inanimate objects, like paintings, and like, we compare things to other things, such as, he talks like a lawyer. The humorous side effects of these misunderstandings are quite fun. In one scene, the main character, Bren Cameron, tries to tell Banichi, a very manly atevi guard, that he is liked and considers him a friend. Poor Banichi is quite insulted because he thinks Bren considers him the equivalent of a salad. Further attempts to understand causes Banichi to perhaps wonder about human sexual preferences.
The misunderstandings can have a most serious side effect, too. Humans cannot seem to grasp certain atevi concepts, such as "man'chi" and "associations". Atevi society is based upon a clan-like culture. There are no geographical boundaries between the different clans, but associations that are made between lords. Clan members declare man'chi to their lord, and possibly to family members, or spouse. Cherryh keeps the "nebulous-ity" of man'chi evident so that even the human reader cannot quite ever fully understand the concept. Major and minor associations can be made, causing much political complexity. Add in the concept of legal assassination, practiced and controlled by Guild Assassins, and the book takes off with high action.
Human ignorance of atevi associations in the past resulted in a war in which the atevi won, and caused a complete separation of the two races on the planet. A treaty was created such that humans would gradually release their superior technology to the atevi. Only one human is allowed to interface and live among the atevi, the nand paidhi, "honored interpreter". Bren Cameron is the first paidhi in a long line of paidhiin to ever get close to understanding the atevi. He is a brilliant diplomat who takes great pains to always be politically atevi-correct. He is also a very lonely man. Enter the assassin, and the fun begins.
The first sixty pages of Foreigner are on the narrative side. Cherryh has to provide the reader with the history, politics, and problems encountered by the humans on the Phoenix space ship that caused some of them to end up stranded on the atevi world. But once the name, Bren Cameron, is written, the story, and action, pick up significantly...and soon, dear reader is hooked. One hopes the nadiin enjoy it as much as Donna-ji did. Happy reading!
Rating:
Summary: Say Again? (and again, and again, and again...)
Review: Foreigner is an intriguing and enjoyable novel. It took a while to really get moving, but once the plot picked up (when Bren meets the Dowager), I tore through the rest of the book in an afternoon. This is the kind of science fiction that makes you resent having to do things like go to work or school or communicate with the outside world. The book presents the reader with Bren Cameron, the sole human to gain entry to Atevi society. His responsibilities are to translate between the two cultures and to maintain a peace that will keep humans safe on this planet on which they inadvertantly landed centuries ago. Atevi society is violent and confusing-- the species has no word for "trust." Cherryh is clearly a great storyteller. The plot has enough twists and turns and exciting events to make me eager to read Invader, the sequel. However, quite frequently, Cherryh finds herself trapped in Bren Cameron's perspective, repeating the same doubts and confusions and other thoughts that he has had for the past 100 pages. Perhaps a little less time in the hero's head and more time on the action of the story would have given this wonderful book its fifth star.
|
