Thursday, August 1, 2013

Intruder (Foreigner Book #13) by C. J. Cherryh

The civil war among the alien atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri his son and heir, and his human paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to the Bujavid, their seat of power.

But factions that remain loyal to the opposition are still present, and the danger these rebels pose is far from over.


3 Star Rating
My recommendation:  Buy it in paperback.

Note:  This is not a stand-alone book.  It is number 13 in the series and previous versions MUST be read to understand the characters and plot.


Recommended age:  15+ (This book is intellectually complex)  Intrigue, betrayals, complex negotiations and danger.  Intruder, as with all others in this series, is bursting with these things.  The preceding book had more action and less recent books more political machinations.  This was not one of the best, but still a good book in the series and worth the read.  Adding to the usual plot - Bren Cameron, human savior, negotiating his way through any danger that pops up - are the antics of a more clever Cajieri.  I looked forward to these sections of the book, as they added some fun to the story.   This book revealed more of atevi family dynamics.  In this element of the story I saw more of a similarity with human emotion and reactions from the atevi.  Not much is predictable in a CJ Cherryh book, this was no exception.  The ending leaves me waiting anxiously for the next in the series.

Plot/Pace:  The book moved a little slow for me, but there was such a wealth of information I'm not sure moving the story along at a fast clip would have done the story justice.  The plot is standard for the Foreigner series.  Not predictable with who does the betraying and where danger lies, but neither is it a surprise that there will be a betrayal and danger is always present.  

Imagery:  Hmmm...how to review this...  Detail and descriptions of the settings and characters - not that great.  But!  The way the conversations are described, the detail written on the flow of events, how the characters are interacting (head nods, eye flicks) offered a great depiction of how the story was building.  Very hard to flip through pages in this book, because there was so much going on.

Romance:  None

Action:  Not until the last few chapters.  While there is a lot of trickery and deception throughout the book, actual excitement with the events taking place doesn't really happen until the end.  The author intersperses the outcomes of the character conflicts in between paragraphs of the final pages.  She jumps from Cajieri to Illsidi, then to the Aiji and his wife, back to Cajieri , then to Bren and Machigi.  The result is a thrilling ending to the book where you can't stop reading.

Characters:  For those who have read the entire series up to this point, there seems to be no real change in main character development.  Illsidi is just as scary and wise.  Bren is, as always, careful and patient and his ashiid is loyal.  There is a closer glimpse into Tabini's relationship with his wife and how he "feels" about her.  I did enjoy the interactions with Tabini and Cajieri and how the author reflects on Tabini's past to show how alike they really are.  Cajieri was my favorite character this time around.  He provided some comic relief.  His character has grown to be more thoughtful and has a better grasp of the diplomatic atmosphere that he is surrounded with.  But since he is still young, the situations he gets himself into, his reactions to getting caught and his thought process on how to get out of them makes a funny read.
One note...I did get a little emotional during the exchange between Lord Geigi and Bren close to the end of the book.  No spoilers, just...that conversation made my heart swell..just a little.

What Irked the Shiznit Out of Me:  Nothing
What Blew Me Away:  Nothing

This series continues to be a good one.  Which is saying something, thirteen books in!  I am not tired of reading about these characters and the story has not flagged or become repetitive one bit.  Can't wait for the next one.

If you like this book, what else might you like?
(Not including any other books in this series)







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