Deliverer (Foreigner Universe) - Hardcover

Cherryh, C. J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0756404142 ISBN 13: 9780756404147

Publisher: DAW, 2007

Synopsis

In the aftermath of civil war, the world of the atevi is still perilously unstable. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with his son and heir, and his human paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to their seat of power. The usurper, Murini, has escaped to the lands of his supporters, but the danger these rebels pose is far from over. Ilisidi, Tabini's grandmother, the aiji-dowager, has returned to her ancient castle in the East, for though she supports the rule of her grandson, she also has powerful ties in the lands of the rebels, and she seeks to muster whatever support she can from among those enemy strongholds.

In his father's heavily armed and tightly guarded headquarters, eight-year-old Cajeiri is horribly bored. Two years on an interstellar starship surrounded by human children have left him craving excitement and the company of his peers. But unbeknownst to this dissatisfied youngster he has become a target for forces bent on destroying his father's rule and everything it stands for. Though still a child, Cajeiri embodies a unique threat to the venerable, tradition-defined lifestyle of his people. For this innocent young boy is the first ateva youth to have lived in a human environment, surrounded by human children. And after hundreds of years of fragile, tenuous atevi-human coexistance, Cajeiri may very well be the first ateva to ever truly understand the so similar yet so dangerously different aliens who share his home planet and threaten the hidebound customs of his race.

About this title

About the Author

C. J. Cherryh planned to write since the age of ten. When she was older, she learned to use a type writer while triple-majoring in Classics, Latin and Greek. At 33, she signed over her first three books to DAW and has worked with DAW ever since. She can be found at cherryh.com.

Reviews

At the start of the stirring ninth entry in Cherryh's much praised Foreigner series (after 2006's Pretender), the atevi ruler Tabini has thwarted an attempt to overthrow him, though the usurper, Murini, has not yet been captured. Things appear to have settled back into routine, except for the hijinks of Cajeiri, Tabini's young heir, who has grown used to the liberties allowed a human child but not the heir to atevi rule. Then Cajeiri disappears and a troublesome Eastern lord is suspected of kidnapping him. Murini may also be involved. Human translator and diplomat Bren Cameron, along with the elderly but indomitable atevi matriarch Ilisidi and their deadly servants from the Assassins' Guild, must set off cross country in the dead of winter to attempt a rescue, while Cajeiri must prove that he is indeed worthy to be Tabini's heir. As always, Cherryh alternates complex political maneuvering with pell-mell action sequences in an intensely character-driven SF novel sure to appeal to the many fans of this series. (Feb.)
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Bren Cameron's travels among the atevi and in a context redolent of a feudal Japan equipped with futuristic technology continue from Pretender (2006). His mission combines diplomacy, intelligence, trade, anthropology, and safeguarding Cajeiri, a vitally important, eight-year-old heir shrewd beyond his years, as Bren and his atevi friend Jago have already learned. Now it's some kidnappers' turn to learn how hard it is to make the kid do anything he doesn't want to do. That transforms the book into an absorbing combination of anthropological sf and "The Ransom of Red Chief." Faithful Foreigner saga followers, in particular, will have a ball. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: DAW
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0756404142
• ISBN 13: 9780756404147
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368