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Pretender (Foreigner Universe)
 
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Pretender (Foreigner Universe) (Paperback)

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4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In volume eight of Cherryh's masterful Foreigner sequence (Destroyer, etc.), Tabini, the deposed ruler of the atevi home world, represents humanity's best hope of survival on this alien planet and the atevi's own best chance of maintaining independence in a galaxy grown suddenly crowded with potential enemies. In order to retake control of his government, Tabini draws together various allies, allowing himself to serve as a possible target for assassination. Tabini must delicately balance the sensibilities of deeply conservative factions against the absolute need to push forward with the technological innovations that human beings have introduced to the atevi world. Human diplomat Bren Cameron, meanwhile, must simply stay alive, if only to prove to the skeptical atevi that other alien races do indeed exist and are headed their way. As usual, Cherryh alternates long stretches of brilliant, often oblique dialogue and complex political maneuvering with shorter interludes of violent, well-executed action. A science fictional equivalent of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire sequence, this series represents contemporary SF at its finest. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From Booklist

The eighth book in the Foreigner saga finds Bren Cameron needing to exert all his diplomatic skills and call on all his allies among the atavi just to stay alive. Two candidates for the rulership of that formidable race are squaring off for a deadly and total confrontation, and the influence of foreigner Cameron is considered at least partly responsible for the situation. Meanwhile, Bren and some of the atavi are aware that another, deadlier alien race is emerging from the starlanes to disrupt the political and military calculations of all factions to date. Cherryh makes no pretense of keeping her sagas simple enough for readers to begin them this far into the sequence, but on the other hand, her world building, aliens, and suspense rank among the strongest in the whole sf field. May those strengths be sustained indefinitely, or at least until the end of Foreigner. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: DAW (February 6, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0756404088
  • ISBN-13: 978-0756404086
  • Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,642 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #37 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Cherryh, C.J.

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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews
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4.6 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Caution: for fans only!, March 15, 2006
By Tom S. (Southern California) - See all my reviews
  
Pretender, the latest installment in the Foreigner series, picks up right where the previous book (Destroyer) left off. Because of this, and the the way it is written, it should only be read by those who are already up-to-date with the series; if you don't already know what happened after the rescue of Prakuyo and how Bren Cameron arrived at Tatisiegi's estate you just won't get much out of this book.

This is a fairly short book, and in a sense not much happens in it. Bren Cameron is the paidhi (human translator) assigned to the atevi (alien) ruler Tabini, who was recently driven from power. {CAUTION: the rest of this paragraph might be considered to contain some minor "spoilers"!} In this installment, Cameron travels with a rather large group from the embattled Atigeni country estate to the capital Shejidan, where Tabini recovers his position and Cameron delivers a report to the planetary legislature about the treaty he recently negotiated with the kyo (other aliens).



That's about it for plot. Along the way we mostly dwell in Cameron's head, as he continues his struggles to understand the significance of the movements of all the aliens around him, given that they are unable or unwilling to actually ever explain anything to him. I believe it is an aspect of the author's art here that we share the experience of the translator's incomprehension: much of the time the reader doesn't get it either, we are in effect also immersed in an alien culture and equally bewildered. This is indeed powerful and effective. A big problem, though, is that while Cameron has his "aha!" moments along the way, we don't necessarily share them. To paraphrase one example, he concludes something like "Oh, now I get it!" and later exchanges a meaningful glance and confirming nod with an alien associate, but just what he has concluded is never expressed, not in his thoughts or words or by the alien, and the prior evidence in the book on the particular subject at that point is not all that clear. In this Cherryh continues to appear to think we can read her mind, rather than just her words, and can leave a reader frustrated.

In Pretender, most of the "action" is small-scale and localized, there is a lot of what I call "motion", that is the positioning and posturing that is typical of a Cherryh novel. This continues to work well within the Foreigner series (even as it fails dismally in some of her other works), probably due to the deeply characterized alien culture that provides a basis for this behavior. And in Pretender there are cases where it seems the author is trying to be clearer, and there are also important developments in the relationships among some of the familiar characters. For that, and for the incremental movement of the overall series plot, it is clearly a must-read for series fans. Anyone who has not read all the earlier books would be wasting their time and money to start here, but would indeed be well-rewarded to go back to the start and read through this fascinating series of books.

I know Foreigner fans are zealous and I expect I'll pick up some spurious "not helpfuls" as an expression of displeasure with the fact that my review is not pure praise and not 5-star. Please realize that I too am a devoted, long-time fan of this series, have read each book as it came out and re-read the series several times, and am just trying to balance the picture with a bit of objectivity.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars More great adventures with Bren and his Atevi gang., March 13, 2006
By J. SEWELL "bookaddict" (LAKELAND, FLORIDA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As always, this book was advance ordered so I did not have to wait to catch up on the latest happenings in the Atevi world. Pretender did *not* disappoint and was another great read in this engrossing series. The only bad thing was staying up all Friday night to finish it; now I can't have the joy of reading it new again. If you are new to the series, I recommend that you start at the beginning -- and I would envy you for the delight in finding a great series. I will not recapitulate the plot since other people have done that, but I will say that Cajeiri is growing up very well, Algini surprised me, and Banichi and Jago, well, they are the best salads ever.
Also, as of March 6 according to her blog, C J is about 2/3's finished with the next book in the series. Maybe next year by this time...
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Cherryn At Her Best, March 23, 2006
By David (Houston, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
  
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I have been a C. J. Cherryh fan for many years, and have read each of the Foreigner books as they came out. This one builds, in a very exciting way, on the previous books. It was truly a page turner, and hard to put down. Ms. Cherryh keeps things moving quickly right to the last page. I agree with one reviewer who said it would be a hard place to start as it is a continuation of the Foreigner series. I can certainly recommend that one enjoy the entire series from the beginning. It would be a worthwhile effort. I am one who enjoys extended series such as this, and am already looking forward to the third book in this third sequence. I hope she moves on to a fourth sequence as well.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great read!
C.J. Cherryh continues her great saga of Bren Cameron in typical great style. For followers of Bren Paidhi this is a great read.
Published 3 months ago by Gloria Gravelle

5.0 out of 5 stars machimi in action
I always love an intricate Cherryh adventure, and this is no exception. We get to see more details of the workings of man'chi and the way Atevi government is formed, along with... Read more
Published 9 months ago by debrrose

3.0 out of 5 stars Good
Not a stand-alone book---8th in series. If you follow the Foreigner series by CJ Cherryh, then buy it. Best books in the series were first two though (Foreigner and Invader).
Published 11 months ago by G. Morales

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely outstanding
Anyone who's familiar with Cherryh already knows the quality of her work. If you're not, I recommend ANYTHING by her. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Todd W. Dicataldo

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretender
Great addition to the Foreigner Universe. I enjoy Cherryh's introspective style. If one hasn't read the previous books in the series, do so. This is not a stand-alone book.
Published 19 months ago by Linda L. Barnard

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a series you want to see the approaching end of. . . .
Getting down near the end of this epic, now -- at least, the end of the nine volumes so far published. Read more
Published on January 4, 2008 by Michael K. Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars Well paced and detailed.
This book had more action in comparison to Destroyer and also covered quite a lot of material leading up to Bren's presentation with Cajieri's assistance at the Bu'javid,... Read more
Published on November 24, 2007 by S Smyth

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining...
Bren finds himself in the midst of a civil war. Under threat in the mansion of aging Lord Tatseigi, Bren and his security are forced to flee across country to the capital where... Read more
Published on October 13, 2007 by SereneNight

4.0 out of 5 stars I Totally Hearted This Book, but Don't Start Here If You are New to the Series
I had saved up all three of the last books in this series for a Bren orgy (Destroyer, this one and Deliverer) and a nasty summer cold seemed just the right occasion to lock myself... Read more
Published on June 10, 2007 by Sires

5.0 out of 5 stars The Foreigner Universe
I love the way Cherryh can make us (humans) into the foreigners. Her worlds are always entertaining and this one is no exception. Read more
Published on April 14, 2007 by Michelle L. Hakala

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