Foreigner (First Foreigner Series #1)
The first book in C.J.Cherryh's eponymous series, Foreigner begins an epic tale of the survivors of a lost spacecraft who crash-land on a planet inhabited by a hostile, sentient alien race. From its beginnings as a human-alien story of first contact, the Foreigner series has become a true science fiction odyssey, following a civilization from the age of steam through early space flight to confrontations with other alien species in distant sectors of space. It is the masterwork of a...
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With a new introduction by the author The first book in C.J.Cherryh's eponymous series, Foreigner begins an epic tale of the survivors of a lost spacecraft who crash-land on a planet inhabited by a hostile, sentient alien race. From its beginnings as a human-alien story of first contact, the Foreigner series has become a true science fiction odyssey, following a civilization from the age of steam through early space flight to confrontations with other alien species in distant sectors of space. It is the masterwork of a truly remarkable author.Publishers WeeklyThree-time Hugo award-winning novelist Cherryh depicts a beleaguered human colony on a futuristic alien planet. (Nov.)
\ From Barnes & NobleThe Barnes & Noble Review\ C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner, originally published in 1994, is the first novel in what has become the three-time Hugo Award winner's most popular saga to date -- an in-depth exploration of human/alien interaction and of what it means to be human. \ A great deal has changed in the five centuries since a lost colonial starship running desperately low on fuel fatefully found sanctuary on a nearby G5 star. After a small group of humans landed and learned that the world was already populated with an aggressive race of aliens known as atevi -- giant black-skinned, yellow-eyed warriors -- a short but fierce war ensued. Impossibly outnumbered, the technologically superior humans ended the bloodshed by agreeing to share their scientific advances in return for their own sovereign land. They are exiled to a large but remote island, and the only human who is allowed interaction with the atevi is known as the paidhi -- a moderator of sorts who must be a master diplomat as well as a dedicated student of the very complex atevi culture. As the paidhi, Bren Cameron must deal with a society that has 14 different words for betrayal and none for friendship. In a civilization where assassination is an "ordinary and legal social adjustment," Cameron learns quickly how to stay alive.\ Cherryh's Foreigner sequence (Foreigner, Invader, Inheritor, et. al.) is arguably one of the best-known sagas dealing with the interplay of humanity and alien cultures. Mixing adventure and intrigue with an almost sociological look at her characters, Cherryh's Foreigner series is comparable to Alan Dean Foster's Commonwealth novels -- energetic, insightful, and wildly entertaining. Paul Goat Allen\ \ \ \ \ \ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ Three-time Hugo award-winning novelist Cherryh depicts a beleaguered human colony on a futuristic alien planet. (Nov.)\ \ \ Library JournalExiled to the island of Mospheira, a colony of stranded humans relies on one man, their ``paidhi'' (liaison), to explain their ways to the dominant species of their adopted world. When Bren Cameron, the current paidhi, becomes the target for assassination in a culture where licensed murder is a recognized political solution, the conflict between species becomes a life-and-death struggle for survival and understanding. Veteran sf/fantasy author Cherryh plays her strongest suit in this exploration of human/alien contact, producing an incisive study-in-contrast of what it means to be human in a world where trust is nonexistent. A good purchase for most sf collections.\ \ \ \ \ Roland GreenA large new novel from C. J. Cherryh is always a pleasure. When it marks her return to the anthropological sf in which she has made such a name for herself (most notably the Chanur novels), it is doubly so. "Foreigner" proceeds from the venerable premise of the lost starship whose crew had to land the ship wherever possible. It ended up on a planet whose native race, the atevi, practice--among other interesting habits--registered assassinations. Two centuries after the landing, only one human, the paidhi, is allowed out of the human enclave--and at the opening of the book, he is the object of an unregistered assassination attempt. The subsequent tale is one of those Cherryh novels that is longer on world building, exotic aliens, and characterization than on action, although it is not short on that. Well up to Cherryh's usual high standard.\ \
