C. J. Cherryh Livres

Bren and Illisidi must protect young prince Cajeiri and the human children who have come to visit for his birthday from the dangerous split compromising the Assassin's Guild.

In the fifteenth installment of Cherryh's Foreigner space opera series, civil war on the atevi world has ended, and Cajeiri, the heir of Tabini-aiji, is set to celebrate his ninth birthday. Bren Cameron, a skilled human diplomat, has arranged for Cajeiri's three special friends from the starship Phoenix to join the festivities. After a turbulent year, this celebration signifies safety and stability, with the aiji back in power and the world watching. However, Bren uncovers alarming evidence of compromised security within the aiji's high office. The Assassins' Guild, crucial to law enforcement and protection in atevi society, is under the control of a man intent on regressing the world by two centuries. Bren learns of a decades-old plot woven through Guild actions, and the imminent public celebration presents the perfect opportunity for the enemy to strike. With the lives of Cajeiri, his innocent human guests, and the ruling family at risk, Bren and his allies must act decisively. They face a critical choice: make the first move or risk losing everything. This installment can be enjoyed by casual readers as part of the broader series.

They were the mri—tall, secretive, bound by honor and the rigid dictates of their society. For aeons this golden-skinned, golden-eyed race had provided the universe mercenary soldiers of almost unimaginable ability. But now the mri have faced an enemy unlike any other—an enemy whose only way of war is widespread destruction. These "humans" are mass fighters, creatures of the herb, and the mri have been slaughtered like animals. Now, in the aftermath of war, the mri face extinction. It will be up to three individuals to save whatever remains of this devastated race: a warrior—one of the last survivors of his kind; a priestess of this honorable people; and a lone human—a man sworn to aid the enemy of his own kind. Can they retrace the galaxy-wide path of this nomadic race back through millennia to reclaim the ancient world which first gave them life? "This is a powerful story…inspiring in its determination and feeling of strange loyalties and stranger courage. It sticks in the mind long after the last page is finished."-- Analog

The nineteenth book in C.J. Cherryh's beloved Foreigner space opera series begins a new era for diplomat Bren Cameron, as he navigates the tenuous peace he has struck between human refugees and the alien atevi. Alpha Station, orbiting the world of the atevi, has taken aboard five thousand human refugees from a destroyed station in a distant sector of space. With supplies and housing stretched to the breaking point, it is clear that the refugees must be relocated down to the planet, and soon. But not to the atevi mainland: rather to the territory reserved for human, the island of Mospheira. Tabini-aiji, the powerful political head of the atevi, tasks his brilliant human diplomat, Bren Cameron, to negotiate with the Mospheiran government. For the Alpha Station refugees represent a political faction that the people of Mospheira broke from two centuries ago, and these Mospheirans are not enthusiastic about welcoming these immigrants from space.

It has been two years since the starship Phoenix left Alpha Station on a rescue mission to a faraway sector of space where over four thousand human spacers were under attack by a hostile alien race. Now, the Phoenix is almost home, having successfully rescued the stranded colonists through the combined negotiating talents of Bren Cameron-brilliant human paidhi to the atevi court, currently representing Tabini-aiji, the atevi ruler-and of Tabini's grandmother llisidi, the aiji-dowager, a fearsome, wily, and ambitious atevi leader in her own right

In the latest installment of the Foreigner space opera series, human diplomat Bren Cameron faces a critical moment as he works to maintain peace between human refugees and the alien atevi. Acting as the representative of the atevi leader, Tabini-aiji, and serving as a translator, Bren embarks on a mission to the human enclave of Mospheira. His presence there, coupled with his absence from the continent, has awakened old enemies, stirring long-held grudges and ambitions on both sides of the strait. The situation is further complicated by the space station's urgent need for supplies and the pressing issue of overpopulation, necessitating the relocation of human refugees to the world below. Bren's mission expands to facilitate this landing, beginning with three children closely connected to Tabini's son, followed by thousands of humans who have never set foot on a planet. Tensions rise as certain Mospheirans are willing to resort to violence to prevent these newcomers from settling on the island, which the atevi refuse to cede. As a general peacemaker, Bren must navigate these treacherous waters, striving to prevent a war that both factions are eager to ignite. Will his diplomatic skills be enough to avert disaster?

Now in mass market, the twentieth book in the beloved Foreigner saga returns to the trials of diplomat Bren Cameron, as he navigates the tenuous peace he has struck between human refugees and the alien atevi. Bren Cameron, diplomat in residence, usually represents the ruler of the atevi state. But Ilisidi, the dowager, has been known to borrow his services from time to time—and she has her own notions how to solve the simmering hostilities in the south of the atevi continent, playing one problem against another. This time, she is betting the hard-won northern peace—and the lives of the people—on being right. She has commandeered the Red Train, taken aboard what passengers she chooses, and headed for the snowy roof of the world, where a hard-scrabble town and its minor lord are the first pieces she intends to use.

The recent overthrow of the Atevi head of state, Tabini-aiji, and the subsequent threats to his rule have led to significant changes within the Assassins' Guild, which is now focused on eliminating its internal dissenters, known as the Shadow Guild. With the Assassins purged of corruption and stability returning following the birth of Tabini's second child and the appointment of an heir, the Atevi world appears to be regaining its footing. Humans and Atevi continue to coexist peacefully on the space station and the planet, with preparations underway to welcome 5,000 human refugees from a dismantled station, showcasing unprecedented cooperation with the Atevi mainland. General Bren Cameron, Tabini-aiji's representative, is eager for a break after securing this critical agreement. However, Tabini's grandmother enlists his help for a train journey to the remote province of Hasjuran, instructing him to protect and advise her. Complicating matters, she has invited a young warlord, Machigi, and a potential heir to a northern province, raising questions about her intentions. When a Shadow Guild attack occurs at the train station, the stakes escalate. Hasjuran, overlooking the Marid district—a place where Machigi wields influence and the Shadow Guild holds power—becomes a focal point for conflict. Ilisidi is determined to confront the Shadow Guild, revealing her true motives for the trip and making Bren's role as protector increasin