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.
Rating: 
Summary: Defender
Review: This is the fifth book in her "trilogy", and the poorest of the series. The author takes forever to develop what turns out to be an elementary plot. She even repeats an approach taken in an earlier novel (involving poison). The author manages to crowd fifty pages of content into 314 pages. Even worse, the space ship barely begins its journey by the end of the novel. I hope that the next novel in the series has more content and less agonizing by the central character - Bren Cameron. If he will spend less time worrying about his disfunctional family, perhaps he can do his job!
Rating:
Summary: I hope CJ's building to a better story.
Review: This is the only book I've bought hardcover in the last 5 years, because I couldn't wait to read it. The story so far has been superb, until Defender. I read the entire first part of the trilogy before starting Defender to put me into the story mindset. At least I got to enjoy those again! The story is slow, the characters that are important to develop further (Jenrette, Kaplan, Sabin, Cajeri) aren't developed at all, and there's really nothing new here. The build-up to the true story at the station was great, but left this reader wanting because NOTHING was settled in this book. It's like the last 5 or 6 chapters didn't make it to the publisher. In my opinion, we should have been given the details of the station exploration in this book, but either Cherryh didn't know them herself or didn't feel it was important to give the novel an ending. I'll read the next in the series, but in paperback, or via the library. I'm still very excited by the series, but am leery that the next will be like this one.
Rating:
Summary: I hope CJ's building to a better story.
Review: This is the only book I've bought hardcover in the last 5 years, because I couldn't wait to read it. The story so far has been superb, until Defender. I read the entire first part of the trilogy before starting Defender to put me into the story mindset. At least I got to enjoy those again! The story is slow, the characters that are important to develop further (Jenrette, Kaplan, Sabin, Cajeri) aren't developed at all, and there's really nothing new here. The build-up to the true story at the station was great, but left this reader wanting because NOTHING was settled in this book. It's like the last 5 or 6 chapters didn't make it to the publisher. In my opinion, we should have been given the details of the station exploration in this book, but either Cherryh didn't know them herself or didn't feel it was important to give the novel an ending. I'll read the next in the series, but in paperback, or via the library. I'm still very excited by the series, but am leery that the next will be like this one.
Rating:
Summary: We waited two years, for this?
Review: This novel is the second volume of the second atevi trilogy. I understand the way trilogies go. The first volume is a self-contained story, with the hero emerging victorious in the end. In the second volume, things turn out to be more complicated, and the hero's future is in doubt, building to the third volume, where we get the big finish. But if the second volume doesn't contain a good story, the reader might not come back for the third volume. I have read almost everything C. J. Cherryh has written, and she is one of my favorite authors. No author I've read does a better job of creating alien psychologies. Of everything she has written, this series is the best. (It seems almost unfathomable that the atevi aren't real. They have to be living out there, around some distant star somewhere, they're too wonderful not to be!) I'm constantly reading bits of the novels to my non-reader husband, because they're too good not to share. This novel was originally promised in January, and it has been a difficult wait. In preparation for the November release date, I reread the first four books. I am sad to say that this book just doesn't deliver enough to keep a loyal reader satisfied through the next two-year wait. Of course, we loyal fans have to read it to prepare for the next volume, but the next time Ms. Cherryh commits to a trilogy, I hope she will make sure she has three stories to tell. This novel feels more like a placeholder.
Rating: 
Summary: Siuperb storytelling
Review: Two centuries ago the human starship Phoenix fled the planet leaving behind kin to defend themselves from the native atevi. The resulting war was a slaughter, but before global destruction occurred a peaceful coexistence developed. The few human survivors were exiled to the isolated island of Mospheira where they prayed for a miracle.
Now the Phoenix returns, ignoring their marooned human lineage while offering interstellar technology to the atevi in exchange for needed manpower to renovate an aging space station. Now with three space shuttles in their arsenal, the atevi internally argue about remaining earthbound or journeying into space. As they debate the impact to their culture, atevi leader Tabini-aiji sends his human paidhi-diplomat Bren Cameron to bargain with the Phoenix leadership. Bren learns that the Phoenix cowardly deserted its own people in the wake of a third species invasion in another space sector.
Merge the best violations of the prime directive of classic Star Trek with the wallop of Star Wars and the reader has DEFENDER. The complex story line is a taut thriller that explores several layers of emotions including the impact of technology on a race and the survivor instinct of both the individual and the collective society. Bren is a powerful character struggling to stand astride two cultures, one of which is innately alien to his core thinking. The key atevi characters, especially Bren's bodyguards, allow the audience to believe that the species exist. Fans of CJ Cherryl's Foreigner Universe and alien stories in general will fully relish this thriller. Harriet Klausner
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