Destroyer (Third Foreigner Series #1)

by C. J. Cherryh

Overview

The seventh novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences…

It has been two years since the starship Phoenix left Alpha Station on a rescue mission where over four thousand human spacers were under attack by a hostile alien race. Now, exhausted from their journey, the crew of the Phoenix yearns for home. But when the ship makes the jump into atevi space and contacts Alpha, they learn the worst: that supplies to the station have been cut off; that civil war has broken out on the atevi mainland; that the powerful Western Association has been overthrown; and that Tabini-aiji, Bren Cameron's primary supporter and Ilisidi's grandson and ally, is missing and may be dead.

With no one left to lead the Western Association, Ilisidi and Bren know that the survival of their allies lies in their hands. And with the atevi world at war, the only safe landing strip lies on the human colony at Mospheira. Although there are many dangers inherent in bringing a powerful atevi leader such as Ilisidi onto human lands, Bren realizes they have no other choice.

But even if they safely survive their landing, will Bren and Ilisidi together prove strong enough to muster the remaining shards of the Western Association and regain control of their planet?

The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Destroyer is the 7th Foreigner novel, and the 1st book in the third subtrilogy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780756403331
Publisher:	DAW
Publication date:	02/07/2006
Series:	Foreigner Universe Series , #7
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	268,489
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 6.80(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 - 17 Years

About the Author

C. J. Cherryh planned to write since the age of ten. When she was older, she learned to use a typewriter while triple-majoring in Classics, Latin, and Greek. With more than seventy books to her credit, and the winner of three Hugo Awards, she is one of the most prolific and highly respected authors in the science fiction field. Cherryh was recently named a Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. She lives in Washington state. She can be found at cherryh.com.

Table of Contents

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This series has lost none of its vigor. Destroyer is an excellent adventure." —The Denver Post

"Well-developed characters, fine style, and intense psychological realism. Cherryh's many readers should snap this one up." —Publishers Weekly

"With every new Foreigner novel, Cherryh strengthens the saga's already imposing reputation as one of the foremost series exploring the complex and delicate relationships between human and alien cultures. Cherryh's Foreigner saga is cerebral science fiction at its very best—as entertaining as it is contemplative." —The Barnes & Noble Review

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the Foreigner series:

“C.J. Cherryh's splendid Foreigner series remains at the top of my must-keep-up reading list after two decades." —Locus

"This is the kind of anthropological SF of which [Cherryh] is an acknowledged master." —Booklist

"A seriously probing, thoughtful, intelligent piece of work, with more insight in half a dozen pages than most authors manage in half a thousand." —Kirkus Reviews

“One of the best long-running SF series in existence...Cherryh remains one of the most talented writers in the field." —Publishers Weekly

“This is one of the best science fiction series currently running….by this point, the series has turned into a complicated set of thrillers involving political and factional turmoil, as well as a close and detailed examination of the troubled interactions between human and alien cultures.” —Strange Horizons 

“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.” —Library Journal

"A large new novel from C.J. Cherryh is always welcome. When it marks her return to the anthropological SF in which she has made such a name, it is a double pleasure. The ensuing story is not short on action, but stronger (like much of Cherryh's work) on world-building, exotic aliens, and characterization. Well up to Cherryh's usual high standard." —The Chicago Sun-Times

“[Cherryh] avoids any kind of slump with a quick-moving and immediately engaging plotline, and by balancing satisfying resolutions with plenty of promises and ominous portents that are sure to keep readers’ appetites whetted.” —RT Reviews

 “These are thinking man’s reads with rich characters and worlds and fascinating interactions that stretch out over many generations.” —SFFWorld

“Cherryh's forte is her handling of cross-cultural conflicts, which she does by tying her narrative to those things her point-of-view character would know, think, and feel.”—SFRevu 

From the Publisher

The Barnes & Noble Review
Destroyer, the seventh novel in C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner saga (Foreigner, Invader, Inheritor, et al.), not only heralds the inception of a new trilogy but also the beginning of a turbulent new era between the human descendants of a lost colonial starship and the sentient race of aliens inhabiting the planet they were forced to land on.

Bren Cameron is humanity's adviser to the atevi -- a race of giant, black-skinned, golden-eyed warriors -- a position that demands intelligence, finesse, patience, and no little courage. After decades of cultivating a strong relationship with the complex and volatile aliens, Bren leads a mission to rescue a colony of humans trapped on a faraway space station. Some very influential atevi -- namely the young heir and his great-grandmother -- accompany Bren on the two-year trip into deep space. The mission is ultimately successful; but when the ship returns, they find the atevi homeworld in total chaos. The atevi leader is missing and presumed dead. Political factions are jockeying for control. With rumors of war between atevi and humankind spreading, can Bren find and restore the missing ruler to power and avert more bloodshed?

With every new Foreigner novel, Cherryh strengthens the saga's already imposing reputation as one of the foremost series exploring the complex and delicate relationships between human and alien cultures. Comparable to Harry Turtledove's Colonization novels and Alan Dean Foster's Commonwealth sequence, Cherryh's Foreigner saga is cerebral science fiction at its very best -- as entertaining as it is contemplative. Paul Goat Allen

bn.com

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) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

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