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This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.
That said, on to the review!
Title: Defender
Author: C. J. Cherryh
Publisher: DAW Books
Format: Hardcover/Paperback
Copyright Date: 2001
Bren Cameron has been paidhi to the atevi leader for so long that he now often puts atevi interests ahead of human and/or Mospheiran ones. More and more he is distancing himself from the people he was born to and immersing himself deeper and deeper into the atevi way of thinking. Now, though, for all that he's been loyal to the atevi from the very first day he began his job, he's being kept out of the loop and uninformed while strange plans are taking shape around him and behind his back. And his job--and, it seems more than ever before, his purpose in life--is to preserve the interests of the atevi, even when they aren't being entirely open and honest with him. Then everything falls to the wayside as Bren stumbles onto another power struggle on the station, this time over the possibility that there may be survivors aboard the abandoned station far out from the atevi world. Can Bren resolve everything before disaster strikes, or is disaster already looming overhead, not just for the atevi, but for the humans and the Mospheirans as well?
C.J. Cherryh's Defender continues the second trilogy in the Foreigner universe (it is the sequel to Precursor). It is as impressive in its scope as the previous books were, and sets the stage for the events that must take place (or I'm reading the book incorrectly) in the third book. And an interesting stage it is.
I'll admit it freely: it was a while since I read Precursor and as I started the book I was floundering around, trying to find my way. This book does not read as easily as the first trilogy did; there are now too many parties and factors to account for and negotiate. But once I got back into the story, I had no problem following it to its end. It helps a lot that Bren is a character the reader can easily sympathize with: being pulled in several directions at once, cut off from the necessary guidance he's accustomed to receiving, forced to face a situation without any obvious or apparent support, required to do the best he can and make the best of bad situations. Sound familiar?
Defender is a good intermediary book between a great transition from one trilogy to the next, and the conclusion of the new trilogy that can only be fantastic. I'll let you know how it turns out, just as soon as I read it!
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This page uploaded January 1, 2003.
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