Rating: 
Summary: Defender marks time
Review: I've been a long time fan of CJ Cherryh and I love the depth of her characterizations and the emotions she is able to stir with her writing.
However, this book fails in those expecatations. This is not to say it is not a good book, because it is. My impression is that this book is a sort of place holder - a necessary piece to setup the prerequisite items for the next book. The resulting characterizations lacked the depth and emotion of most of her previous books; my feeling at the end was that I had just read an interlude chapter to cover the time span between books that had somehow grown into its own book. The majority of the book seems more involved with Bren's internal monologue of doubts and familial issues than it does with the story as a whole. This will be a must read just to keep up with this evolving series, but it is definitely the weakest of the group and does not stand alone at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the sequel?!? I can't wait!
Review: In the 5th installment of her Foreigner series, Cherryh once again sets the table for a hard sci-fi tale: What it means to be human... and overcoming it to stand inside another species' shoes. Bren Cameron is the paidhi; the interface between his species and the atrevi. His job is more than just translator; he must bridge the gap between the two species' biological thinking, the very wiring that makes each what they are. His job is now based on the spacestation the human and atrevi are building together, along with the ship-humans, and every day is a tightrope walk of communications. In the 5th novel, the political intrigue that laces the other 4 books does not go missing; Bren must wend his way through a battleground of lies and half-truths, the smallest slip meaning a potential inter-species disaster. Bren's life spirals higher, tighter... and ever outwards, to his dismay and shock. I don't want to give too much away; if you've read the other books and liked them, this is just the same. If you have never read the series, I highly recommend them!
Rating: 
Summary: A step backwards
Review: In the first 4 books, the characters of Bren and all the atevi were developed. People's personalities were revealed, characters grew. In this book, Bren's back to being just a pawn, totally clueless. Jago and Banichi say a lot of nothing (which most of the characters seem to be doing here). Bren's family is a more pages about nothing. We don't know these people and I couldn't care less. Their issues need to move the story along if it's going to take up this much space. What also bothered me was the inconsistency of this verses the earlier books. The atevi now smell like petroleum? And when did Bren and Ginny become so friendly? They were at major odds in book 4. At best, they should only be pleasant. Atevi, who supposedly have math hard wired, now have to explain two's and three's? Plus, when this series started out, there was one person who spoke both languages. Now everyone seems to be able to. Who's been conducting all these classes? Like other reviewers, I felt this was a place holder. 1: An excuse to introduce Tabini's son, who's not fleshed out at all
2) to say the Pilot's Guild is still on the station (and whine about not knowing, not being told, not telling anyone, blah, blah, blah) and 3) Let's all go get them! Now on to book 6!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed but impatient for #6
Review: It's disappointing when a favorite author writes an "only average" book -- particularly when the wait has been so long. It seemed to me as if Bren spent most of the book dithering, not accomplishing or doing much. Also, I got rather tired of Mom, Barb and Toby and their problems which felt like pages filler to me. Maybe it has some bearing on the next volume, but I prefer Banichi and Jago. (...) The author of Cyteen, the Chanur series and my favorite aliens, the Atevi, has earned the privilege of publishing something average now and then.
Rating: 
Summary: The Saga Continues
Review: Once again readers are privelaged to delve into the world of C.J. Cherryh's foreigner universe. This book is the second book in a series of three and as such is not a standalone novel. It is more like an interlude between large events, (...) While the books itself is by no means dull or inconprehesible I would not recommend it to readers unfamiliar to the universe, however, it is a treat for those who enjoy reading about the trials of poor Bren, and wets the apetite for the real feast that should follow in the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Flashes of brilliance--not Cherryh's best, though
Review: Sharing a planet between humans and alien atevi has been difficult enough. But when the captain of the spaceship Phoenix dies suddenly after announcing that a long-lost orbital station is still inhabited, the uncertain alliance is shaken--possibly beyond repair. And Bren Cameron, the man tasked as the link between atevi and human is put on the spot. Somehow he has to balance the interests of not two but three parties. Because the crew of the Phoenix is not much closer to, or trusted by the humans of Mospheria than they are by the atevi. Few if any S.F. authors do a better job in either world-building or in analyzing the psychology of their characters than does C. J. Cherryh and DEFENDER demonstrates Cherryh's skills. The atevi are a completely convincing society--alien in ways that go far beyond physical appearance. Cameron's psychological depth, his ambivalent feelings toward the atevi whom he represents and the humans from whom he springs--drives the story forward. Unfortunately, as sometimes occurs in middle novels of a series such as DEFENDER (DEFENDER is a sequel to PRECURSOR), the psychological development forms an excessive part of the entire plot. Although humans and atevi are racing to be ready for the attack of a third, completely alien, species, this species doesn't actually make an apperance in the novel. Instead, politicking between the spaceship and atevi, and Cameron's constant worry about his role in the new order, fill the pages. According to the cover blurb, DEFENDER is the THRILLING sequel. A few more thrills would have definitely helped. I am a huge Cherryh fan (I think the Alliance/Union series ranks among the best S.F. ever written). DEFENDER isn't Cherryh at her best, but any Cherryh is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not the best in the series.
Review: The publisher really [messed]... up by blowing what should have been the big secret of the novel on the cover blurb and letting the reader know that there are still humans alive on the 2nd Station. Starting the book already knowing that fact put the reader in an akward position reguarding the plot. Defender is not up to the high standards of the previous books in the Foreigner series. There is a feeling here that the Characters, and maybe the author, are treading water. Still Cherryh treading water is better that a lot of other writers on their best day. I hope this does not mean that Ms. Cherryh is loosing interest in this universe. I'll be interested to see where the story goes from here.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not the best in the series.
Review: The publisher really [messed]... up by blowing what should have been the big secret of the novel on the cover blurb and letting the reader know that there are still humans alive on the 2nd Station. Starting the book already knowing that fact put the reader in an akward position reguarding the plot. Defender is not up to the high standards of the previous books in the Foreigner series. There is a feeling here that the Characters, and maybe the author, are treading water. Still Cherryh treading water is better that a lot of other writers on their best day. I hope this does not mean that Ms. Cherryh is loosing interest in this universe. I'll be interested to see where the story goes from here.
Rating:
Summary: A very well-done... half a novel. (warning: spoilers)
Review: This book is as well written and characterized (with one exception, which I'll get to) as one expects from Cherryh. Its problem lies in its plot. Now, there's not anything wrong with the plot per se; it's very exciting. But it's incomplete. This book in no way stands on its own as a novel, with a complete plot arc. It does not answer questions brought up in the previous book of the series, nor those new ones which it raises. There is no climax per se. I really wonder if Cherryh *wrote* an entire novel, only to have foolish editors cut it in half. Captain Ramirez dies, and in dying reveals the information that the station believed to have been destroyed by the mysterious aliens (I'm now suspecting that the latter are "Earth", or maybe Alliance/Union, humans, but anyway...) still recently had inhabitants. His death and the revelation set off a chain of political events, reformation of alliances, and reexamination of fragile trusts -- all on the eve of the Phoenix' return to the station. Bren, caught somewhat unawares, is promoted -- maybe -- and ends up on the Phoenix, outbound, with his faithful security, the dowager, and Tabini's maladroit heir Cajeiri (one of the only new characters introduced in this volume) along. Meanwhile his usual, and slightly tedious, family problems find a sort of resolution. On the ship, drama centers around the newly empowered Captain Sabin -- who I found to be a rather unbelievable character. Though her feud with Ilisidi promises to be amusing, Sabin is simply too stupid to have believably made it into any sort of command position. This book has a transitional feel, and adds rather little to our knowledge of the atevi or their world. Tabini does give a lovely speech in the beginning, and the atevi numerological concepts come into play more than in previous volumes. It's a little jarring to have characters suddenly start saying "infelicitous two" and so on in nearly every line, when we never saw them talking that way before, but it's a cool concept. I recommend this book, but with the proviso that I certainly hope something more climactic happens in the next one.
Rating:
Summary: 3-star book in a 5-star series
Review: This is definitely a "bridge" book and doesn't have a lot of story on its own. Yes, it has the "crisis" that us Foreigner series readers have some to expect but it is much more muted in this book and not that satisfying. With the lack of a strong story on its own, the central "difficulty in communicating with an alien race" theme begins to grate a little after 5 books. It seems kind of extreme to say it of a 464 page book, but I think it could almost have been edited down to be the first chapter of the next book in the series. When I see this kind of thing, I always wonder if the publisher is applying pressure to squeeze out that last dollar. Explorer, the next book in the series, is out now in hardback and my expectations are very high that Ms. Cherryh gets the series back to the level of quality we have come to expect.
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