Intruder (Foreigner series Book 13)

A comfortable visit from the lord of the space station. Excitement from the aiji's son's monkey-like pet. A crisis in the aiji's marriage. Fruition of the dowager's trade agreement with the young lord of the South. Altogether a satisfying read.

This is book thirteen in a long-running science fiction series that began with Foreigner (1994) and currently numbers twenty-one books. I've hugely enjoyed the first thirteen books.The series, at least thus far, centers on Bren Cameron, a human translator and mediator living among aliens. Bren's thoughts are shown in a depth that I found fascinating and highly immersive. This careful meticulous detail reminds me of reading L. E. Modesitt, Jr., though Cherryh's themes are not Modesitt's. I note that some readers find the level of detail an annoyance and the pace slow. I do not. I also note that I found the starts of many of the books their weakest point.Spoilers ahead. Through Bren, the books conjure an intricate alien civilization, one in which words such as "friend" and "love" have no close equivalent, and in which there is an official, highly-respected Assassins Guild. The depiction of the atevi alien civilization is excellent: a great strength of the series. The conspiracies, secrets, intrigue are compelling: another strength of the series. But the primary reason I love these books is Bren. He's ethical, compassionate, courageous, thoughtful, often worried, often hard on himself. I grew attached to Bren in book one, and am, by now, entirely smitten.I'm also very fond of several of the supporting characters, especially the assassins Banichi and Jago, and the elderly grande dame, Ilisidi. The plot builds from book to book, with developments from the small and personal to those of sweeping impact. While there are gripping action scenes, there are also many scenes where the action amounts to conversation and the eating of tea cakes, albeit often high-stakes conversation.While Bren remains the principal character, books nine through thirteen include scenes from the perspective of Cajieri, the eight-year-old heir apparent. Book thirteen progresses the main thread of recent books concerning the future of the Marid, and interweaves it with a domestic thread about Cajieri's acquistion of a pet and tensions within the ruling household. The book is an important piece in the long-running plot, but is comparatively understated. While I was always eager to read more, I wasn't frantic to do so in the way that I had been during book twelve.Four out of five wax-sealed stars.About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

I had been waiting eagerly for this one for a while since it seemed to have had a long gap since the last one. I had also been eagerly looking forward to the start of another trilogy-set in this series. However, I have to say I'm a little disappointed in this one, though it's not really the fault of the book.I love this series for three reasons: 1) Cherryh's use of language is fantastic, both in her English narrative as well as her English-rendition of the Ragi language, 2) her exploration of the mixed psychologies of human and alien (Atevi) and the political problems they generate has been fascinating, and 3) the stakes have always been high with the political ramification reaching out from the quaint villages into interstellar space.The first trilogy developed the world and hinted at the interstellar politics that were about to crash down on them. The second trilogy had Bren going out to face those politics and solve them. The third trilogy dealt with the fallout of what happened while he was gone. The fourth trilogy dealt with more fallout from the time they were gone. And... you guessed it, this fifth trilogy opens with even more fallout from the time they were gone.All the while there is another bit of interstellar politics looming over their heads, with its promised arrival date any day now.Or more to the point, any book now.So I was really expecting this trilogy to open with the resurgence of the interstellar problem that was left open during the second trilogy. And MINI-SPOILER, it didn't. In fact, so strong was my expectation that I went through most of the book expecting it to pop up at the most inconvenient moment, or at the very least, at the end in a sort of cliff-hanger/teaser for the next book. But it didn't.Yes, the political intrigue was suspenseful, and I'm really enjoying the growing relationship between Tabini (essentially the king) and his young son Cajeiri. I'm also intrigued by the increasingly visible fractures in the ever-secretive Assassin's Guild, and I really like what it's showing us about the back stories of Bren's bodyguards.But this is the seventh book in a row dealing with the political fallout of what happened when Bren was away in space. How many more will there be before we get back to that looming interstellar crisis? I feel a bit like I'm complimenting an endless line of chicken dishes, all the while craving another taste of beef.And yet it was good, so I can't really fault it for dashing my own expectations. So, I'm giving it a qualified thumbs-up.

I enjoyed this book, though it is calmer and more thoughtful than previous volumes in the sequence. I liked the explanations of Assassin Guild politics provided by Tabini and Algini - they have clarified much that had been left hanging in previous books. The Guild machinations are fascinating. The descriptions of objects such as porcelains (particularly the two southern vases) and textiles, and clothing are as usual wonderful and add much colour and interest to the book. It is good to see more of Tabini, and to get to know him better as a character. It's also great to see him start to establish a rapport with his son - and to hear from Ilisidi how Tabini himself was just as precocious as a child, and that he spent time with her at Malguri. And it's marvellous that Bindanda and Narani (that wonderful old man!) have reappeared. One looks forward to more descriptions of sumptuous meals in future books...Another thing I like is that there is much less repetition in this book than there was in the previous volumes, presumably because they were all meant to be stand-alone titles, which never quite worked.There is much less action and tension here than in previous titles, and more of politics. Possibly we needed a calmer volume that didn't include pell-mell action, and that had the space to provide some detailed explanations about the politics behind the actions. I feel it provides a deeper insight into the Atevi as a species. I would perhaps have liked interesting characters such as Machigi, Geigi and Ilisidi to have met up earlier, rather than at the end of the book - but whenever they do appear they stand out. It would also have been good to see Tabini meet with Machigi, but hopefully this will happen in the next book. (I trust Machigi is not going to do the predictable thing and marry the troublesome female from the northern clan in the south, so we thus end up with another Daimiri in the story.)It's good to see that Bren's annoying family has finally left. For someone who is most interested in the 'adult' part of the story, there is perhaps a little too much of the heir. I trust his coming sibling will not be given too much space in future books (one 'rascal' is enough), and that the descent of human rascals from the station will be in no way central to the next book (and in fact that it doesn't happen). Given that it is undesirable in general for Atevi and humans to mix closely for reasons provided in earlier books, it is surely illogical to for this to occur. (They would in any case hardly be able to cope with the change in environment within a short space of time.) On the whole, though, a few doses of Cajeiri are not too bad, serving to balance the plot, and the scene between his father and mother at the end of this book is really quite touching. I also liked the scene where he made his father laugh - one sees Tabini laugh all too infrequently.Isn't it high time that the Kyo appeared? Will Machigi go to the space station?At its core (i.e. Bren and the activities around him) the book is very interesting. For a book of nearly 400 pages, it seems surprisingly short - and like all the books in the sequence it improves the more you read it. I give it five stars and look forward to the next one. What I'm not looking forward to is the lengthy gap the publisher leaves between the publication of each title.

Immensely hard to put down. Great developments regarding Assassin's Guild background and finally some more 'human' touch on Tabini familial doings. (Is the author humanising them too much???). Station boys visiting in the next instalment should be great fun. One would welcome more positive Mospheira/Humanity involvement. It seems tiresome they are protrayed solely as bumbling fools/boors as opposed to noble natives while it is them that delivered better life for the indigenes in all respects (although realist in me marvels at the tempo of such developments - one generation - really?)and clearly have strategic upper hand on the fate of the planet. Time to give our guys a break maybe...

The plotlines are getting thinner and the style is becoming increasingly formulaic - as if the text, and especially the dialogue, were computer-generated. And one irritating aspect of earlier volumes (endless fussing over Toby and Barb) has been replaced by equally tedious, puerile musings by Cajeiri that would not be of any interest to an audience above YA. FAR too much padding. This should be a quarter of the actual size, and the style needs drastic revision/revitalising.

As a development form the previous title and a link to the next two titles, Intruder served its purpose. Well written though Intruder was, I wondered why the jacket blurb and the cover art were not reflected in the narrative. Perhaps this is a prequel of events that will be addressed in the opening to Protector and/or Peacemaker :-)

Pottery becomes the link between traditional enemies. Barb begins to understand the Atevi.