Cherryh, C.J.
DELIVERER
C.J. Cherryh
DAW 2007
HB 357 pages
ISBN#
978-0-7564-0414-7
This is for fan’s of Cherryh’s FOREIGNER UNIVERSE. Book nine now and still counting…yes, it does look like this series is going to go into another round, but for those of us hooked on it, there can never be too many FOREIGNER episodes. Each segment takes us deeper into the cultures of this story world, atevi and otherwise. I keep waiting to learn more about the secret enemy “out there” but that will have to wait for the next segment. Yet DELIVERER is a delightful return to the backwoods of Eastern atevi society where the Venerable/Quaint continues to meet the Modern in bloody head-to-head conflict.
We left the end of PRETENDER with Tabini-aiji recapturing his position as ruler of the Western Association and the human Bren Cameron as hero still, and gaining more supporters of their political position with every book. Now it’s just a few days later and things are trying to settle in the capital. Everyone’s still uneasy, however, most especially Tabini’s heir, Cajeiri, an eight-year-old atevi the size of a grown human, with the intelligence of a grown human, but the energy and immaturity to match his age. Cajeiri has had two years in space with humans. The debate is: is this a good thing? [Only Bren and a very few others realize the boy’s potential as a bridge between multiple cultures crashing….] The aiji-dowager’s Eastern associates are deeply concerned. Place his energy together with their concern and you have an explosive combination that takes the reader into the East where Cajeiri’s life is at risk and Bren is dodging bullets yet again.
As always, Cherryh gives us intense reading with exceptional characterization, complex emotions, and descriptive detail that keeps the reader glued to the page.
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