Publisher's Weekly Review
In this solid if slow-moving addition to Cherryh's much-praised Foreigner series (Invader, etc.), Bren Cameron and his atevi allies finally return to their home world, where atevi natives and human colonists live in an uneasy truce. Their desperate, two-year mission has been a success; they've evacuated the humans stranded on distant Reunion Station and made tentative peace with the kyo, an enigmatic and heretofore hostile alien race. Bren soon discovers, however, that his troubles are far from over. His employer, Tabini, the most powerful atevi ruler on the planet, has been deposed and may well be dead. Along with Tabini's bumptious young heir, Cajeiri, and the ruler's highly competent but aging grandmother, Ilisidi, Bren must make a dangerous shuttle landing and then travel cross-country through hostile territory in search of his employer, who is the only leader on the planet, human or atevi, with the foresight and presence of mind to deal with the impending arrival of the kyo. Cherryh's Foreigner books make up one of the finest on-going series in the genre. This volume, the first in a new trilogy, is hampered by the need to clarify what is now a considerable back story, but it features a healthy dose of the author's trademark well-developed characters, fine style and intense psychological realism. Cherryh's many readers should snap this one up. Agent, Matt Bialer at Sanford Greenberger. (Feb. 1) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Human diplomat Bren Cameron is about to arrive at Mospheira, the homeworld of the atevi, after a two-year voyage that has nearly exhausted his ship's supplies and almost exhausted the patience of the atevi traveling with him. The most important of those is eight-year-old Cajeiri, heir to one of the major political units (so called for want of a more precise term), who is now sufficiently acculturated to human standards of behavior that he wants a birthday party. This is only the first conundrum pitched at Bren; upon arrival, he finds that Mospheira is on the brink of war due to breakdowns in the complex system of rivalries and affiliations among what can loosely be called clans. Bren is probably the only human who adequately understands the intricacies of atevi culture, but he is a long way from human support, which wouldn't be expedient, anyway, though the consequences of atevi social breakdown would be grisly for humans, too. It doesn't happen, but expect further crises in the trilogy Destroyer launches. --Roland Green Copyright 2005 Booklist
Library Journal Review
When Bren Cameron returns to his home planet bringing supplies and more colonists, he learns that the human colony on Mospheira has risen in rebellion and that the relations between humans and the indigenous atevi have deteriorated. As liaison between the two races, Cameron finds himself faced with trying to salvage what he can to prevent the world from degenerating into chaos and devastating civil war. Cherryh's third series set in her Foreigner universe features familiar characters as well as new faces. The author's grasp of political complexities and tight plotting makes this blend of hard science and sf intrigue a good addition to most sf collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
