Awesomeicouldn'tputitdown read!

from Publisher's Weekly: This polished and sophisticated tale addresses the complicated issue of how humans might have to compromise to survive on a planet where they are barely tolerated by the original humanoid inhabitants. three-time Hugo winner Cheeryh's gift for conjuring believable alien cultures is in full force here, and her characters, including the fascinating and unpredictable atevi, are brought to life with a sure and convincing hand." (starred review)

I have three or four more set in this universe, and am so enthralled by her world-building that I think I'll try to start a spiral with this!


and some more reviews, for those who might be interested in the spiral--taken from Amazon.com

From Publishers Weekly
Set on an alien world where the descendants of humans marooned in a long-ago starship accident live segregated from the indigenous atevi on a remote island, this polished and sophisticated tale from the popular author of Hestia addresses the complicated issue of how humans might have to compromise to survive on a planet where they are barely tolerated by the original, humanoid inhabitants. When Bren Cameron, given the name paidhi because he is the only human allowed to mingle with the atevi , survives an assault by an atevi assassin, the shaky detente between the human enclave and the alien society is threatened. Subjected to kidnapping, imprisonment and psychological torture, Cameron finds himself caught between rival factions of atevi as he must grapple with both human and alien xenophobia and with the insidious influence of human technology and culture on an extraterrestrial society. Three-time Hugo-winner Cherryh's gift for conjuring believable alien cultures is in full force here, and her characters, including the fascinatingly unpredictable atevi , are brought to life with a sure and convincing hand.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Exiled 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.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



K Freeman
As the interpreter between humans and the alien atevi, Bren Cameron finds himself embroiled in high-stakes politics that may lead to disastrous war.

CJ Cherryh is, in my opinion, the premier creator of alien sociologies; so the believability and appeal of the atevi, the depth in detail of their world and the contrast of their fundamental alienness with their human-attractive attributes don't really come as a surprise, though they deserve notice.

Less obvious, but as skilled, is the characterization. Bren is a nervous, somewhat punctilious (particularly under stress), worry-prone and not particularly physically brave person who develops during the novel into someone who endures torture and faces extreme physical danger for the sake of his loyalties -- which are to his atevi associates, not his human kind. That latter fact, expressed in complex and subtle ways, sets up a tension that unfolds over the series following FOREIGNER. Bren develops through the book and through the series, a fact which escaped me on early reads but came home to me recently, very much enhancing my appreciation of the author's craft.

A complex, occasionally perplexing plot and plenty of action add to the novel's appeal. Cherryh is good at animals, and here the mechieti -- which I think of as crosses between horses and entelodonts -- stand out.

Recommended to anyone looking for intelligent high-action science fiction.

oops! ended up with 2

OK, I think I've got the order straight here--apologies for taking so long--life suddenly ran away with me!

If I've left you out, or this doesn't work, please let me know asap!
usual "rules" Please journal the arrival, try to read the book within a month (let us know if there's a problem-- and if you know when pm'd for your addy, we *may* be able to shift order), check here before pming the next in line, in case there has been a change, and , of course, love it or hate it,let us all know what you thought of the books.

as there are 3 UKers, I expect to shift their order so a different person sends across the pond for each book of the trilogy. There has also been one person in Australia who would like to join, dependent on a couple of others to share the mailing back to US. If that comes together, I'll change about the US a little so that readers only mail down under once.

TracyShannon----Germany
soleille--------Germany
vexter----------Slovenia
Iojima----------France
shimmy-crazy----UK
aubriel---------UK
cayenneUK-------UK
eicuthbertson---Canada
efs300----------NH, US
BooksnBeer------VA, US
rebeccajames----OH, US
buocl----------OH, US~~asked to be skipped
BMCOA----------- US~~~no longer with BC
colebear--------FL, US~~unresponsive
tammysavala-----MO, US~~~????
ctpete----------WA, <---here
chevygoddess----CA, USUS<~~~heading here
erishkigal------UT, US

work and life both went nuts, but I'm finallygetting this underway! In the mail to Tracy Shannon today.

It is safely here in Germany! I picked it up from my post office two days ago. It was at the PO sooner, but I was out of town.

Thank you so much for including me! I am starting this book tonight and I believe I will read it quickly...

(Btw, I *love* the cover art!)

An excellent story with likeable characters! I look forward to the next one. My only complaint is for the author's occasional awkward sentence structure and overuse of pronouns. Sometimes I had to read a sentence two or three times to understand. However, as you can see, that only took one star away from my rating. :)

Thank you again for including me. I have soleille's address and should be able to mail the book tomorrow or Monday.

ETA: I mailed it on Monday. (30 Oct 06)

another BCID overlooked in the jot-em-down and journal from somewhere as long as I have no functional puter at home stress, but it has safely arrived, I've read it and enjoyed it- will be fun to read more of the series!

Oh, and Erishkigal, you spelt my name wrong again :o) e before i ...ain't that wEIrd? :O)

And yes, it is definitely a Awesomeicouldn'tputitdown read! Thanks for sharing!
As TracyShannon, I sometimes stumbled over the awkward style- but assumed this was an intentional clever move by the author to underline the language, culture and communication gap - and it worked :o)
The characters were great as well and I really want to know how the story goes on!
Will PM vexter for their addy now so this can travel on :O)

sent off to vexter today!

And the law of BookCrossing is proven yet again: BC books never arrive one at a time. ;) I'll try to pass this on in a timely manner in any case. Thanks a lot, Erishkigal and soleille! :)

This was great! I had some problems with too much talk and not enough action (maybe I was just in the wrong mood when reading it?), and Bren-ji looked like a whiny brat occasionally ;), but it was still really good. So good, in fact, that I took it with me on a trip because there was simply no way I was going to spend two whole days away from the book! :)) (But I'm a responsible BookCrosser and would've bought a replacement copy had I lost the book. ;))

Btw, I was a bit surprised at the beginning, as the story kept jumping and changing course - both of "prelude" chapters could be developed into full novels, and I'd like to read them!

PMing iojima for address.

Edit: sent to iojima on February 27th.

Received today, thank you.

Oh, dear. This is the second SF spiral I've signed up for that I couldn't get into. Maybe I just *think* I like SF. Anyway, I'm passing and sending it on to shimmy-crazy.

arrived yesterday, thanks Erichkigal and Iojima it's next on my TBR pile

Am afraid I couldn't quite get in to this one. I persevered until the end to see what happened but I thought it dragged a lot, too much dialogue and politics for me I'm afraid.

posted to aubriel 23rd May

I'm really sorry about this. I genuinely thought I'd journalled this and ironically was about to look up the next person for the ring when I got my gentle nudge.

As for the book, I tried my hardest, but I just couldn't get into this one. Not sure if it is the book or just things affecting my concentration right now.

Posted to cayenneUK today.

I received this today as it continues it''s journey on this book ring. Thanks Aubriel, for passing it on.

I didn't get on at all well with this one. I liked the starting scenario but then it settled into the dialogue and politics mentioned by Shimmy-crazy, and I found I just could not warm to it. Perhaps it is my current mindset that stopped me enjoying it as others seemed to have loved it. But then that is the beauty of bookcrossing and bookrings as you can try new authors and more often than not, hit gold.

Thanks Erishkigal for sharing.

Just received this book in the mail. Thanks Cayenne-UK for the nice card too.
This will be my holiday read.

First time I've read this - Cherryh always a 'good read' and a thoughful one, I think. Seemed to start a bit 'slow', but that background needed and that made the pace of the conclusion all the faster.

I too liked the cover and found Bren an interesting character; he grew on me, as he grew himself.

Have PM'd efs300 and this book will quickly be on its way to New Hampshire.

"Foreigner" is now on its way to efs300.
Thanks, Erishkigal, and everyone.

Foreigner arrived in snowy New Hampshire yesterday. I am in the middle of reading another book right now so this one will next next TBR. This is my first book by C. J. Cherryh and I am looking forward to reading it as it sounds good. Thanks to Erishkigal for starting this bookring and Thanks to eicuthbertson for the postcard and the 'Canadian Rockies' bookmark.

I finished this book yesterday. It took me a little while to get into it but I really enjoyed it. A very interesting concept for a novel and well written. I look forward to reading the other books in this series. Thanks to Erishkigal for starting this bookring. Foreigner will be shipped to BooksnBeer today.

Received this in today's mail. I do have a few bookrings in front of this but, I read fast. I will start it as soon as possible.

Starting this one today. I haven't read a sci-fi in a while - this will be refreshing.

Hmmm. The jury is still out for me as to whether I liked this or not. The middle of the book I found very slow and very, very introspective. I would have liked to learn a little more about the other characters – maybe too much time in Bren’s head. Of course the last part of the book flies. Also, maybe a little too much politics, for me. Everybody was double crossing everybody – who is the good guy? Bren is also very quick to forgive at the end – not sure that is a true human response – is that another message – he is becoming Atevi. Also, I didn’t like that I wasn’t brought into Bren’s confidence – in particular the disclosure at the end – it would have helped me with the character. Oh well, can't like them all.

It is in the mail and on it's way to rebeccaljames.

I received this book today. I have a couple before it and then I will read and send it along. Thank you for sharing.

I just finished reading this book last night. It was a great read. I will be passing this along to the next in line once I get an address. Thank you for sharing.

I have finally found a taker on this book. I will be sending this to ctpete on Friday afternoon. buocl decided she did not want to read the book. BMCOA user name does not exist on bookcrossing. colebear never responded to any of the three PMs I sent out. tammysavala work bookcrossing all together.

Received this today and realized I've already read it! And remember it well, very good book. I'll be sending it on tomorrow, I hope.

ETA: Mailed to chevygoddess 3/2/09