Visitor by C.J. Cherryh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


How does C.J. Cherryh do it? How can she provide such a magnificent plot twist, refresh the series, and provide more insights into how to deal with other cultures? She's brilliant and keeps the reader thinking and wondering about things worth considering. She's a great SF writer.

'Visitor' might be the 17th novel in the Foreigner series but it's no stale tag-on. As ever Cherryh writes well, her dialogue is good and it's easy to tell who is who from their speech. Her characters do not stay the same, but grow and surprise, like real people.

The story line seems - for 3/4 of the novel - to be about the problems on the space station and coping with the Kyo, alien visitors. It's when the readers discover why the Kyo have come to visit so quickly that things receive a whole shake up and turn about.

Bren has to deal with the new problem, pacify the Kyo, and help settle the Reunion humans on the atevi planet. Instead of having a successful conclusion Bren now has weighty secret to keep and the reader leaves him about to shatter Starship captain, and friend, Jase with the burden of the secret.

I am waiting, anxiously, Ms Cherryh, for the next volume, please hurry!



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