Deliverer by C. J. Cherryh
Published by DAW Books
Reviewed by Leigh Kimmel
The third Foreigner trilogy closes with a bang, as the aftershocks of Murini's usurpation play themselves out. Not all atevi are happy to see Tabini restored as aiji (leader) of the Western Association. And many of the dissenters have ties to Ilisidi, Tabini's grandmother, who hails from the conservative East.
Several of these malcontents arrive to pay a social visit to Ilisidi at the Bu-Javid, the great fortress-complex that serves as seat of government for the Western Association. All the proper forms are observed, but in such a way as to border on the rude. And Ilisidi, who has built her life upon being very kabiu, very proper, simultaneously recognizes the insult and knows that she cannot respond to it without breaching the bounds of etiquette in turn.
But it is not only the enemies of the East who are discontented with the end of hostilities. Tabini's own son Cajeiri finds the return to normalcy stifling after nearly two years of nonstop adventure. Worse, he longs for the humans with whom he made an acquaintance while aboard the starship, an arrangement that is now being regarded as most unfortunate, since it may well indicate problem with his normal social development as an ateva, even to the point of not being able to form the normal associations of his species.
In his frustration at being denied resumed access to his former companions, Cajeiri bursts in upon a party being given by Bren Cameron, the paidhi or interpreter-ambassador of the human population stranded upon the atevi homeworld. Such is the shock of his impudence that he is able to contact the ship before anybody can stop him, but his actions are not without consequences. In atevi society, where proper protocol is everything, his actions are deemed as proof that he is not yet truly fit to move in adult company, and he is restricted to his quarters.
Yet Cajeiri is no longer the docile little boy who left two years ago. He has learned well, from many teachers, not all of whom would be approved by the best of atevi society. With his two young atevi associates, both desperately eager to please him, he sets to exploring the secret passageways that riddle the ancient fortress. In doing so, he sets himself on a direct collision course with the Easterners.
This volume marks one major departure from previous volumes in the Foreigner series: for the first time Bren Cameron is not the sole point-of-view character. Furthermore, we get our first ever look into an atevi mind, even if Cajeiri's is still young and to some unknown degree influenced at a critical point in his development by humans.
Review posed December 14, 2008
Buy Deliverer (Foreigner Universe Books)