Once again Bren is stressed by rough traveling and being kept in the dark by Ilisidi, when all kinds of disruption is active and impending. And once again he, well, you know, if you've been on this journey before.
And meanwhile, Cajeiri, hearing that his great-grandmother is ill, takes things upon himself, changing what's going on in certain important ways and has to face new factors in his household and duties. ( )

In Defiance, the twenty-second volume of the Foreigner series, C. J. Cherryh teams up with her life partner, Jane S. Fancher. I suspect that Fancher may have had at least an editorial hand in several of the earlier books. It should go without saying that Defiance should not be your first foray into the series. In fact, by this time, Cherryh feels free to lard her prose with so many Atevi terms that readers new to the series may suspect they have picked up a foreign language edition.
Cherryh’s world-building is meticulous. Her aliens, especially, continue to impress. The Atevi routinely refer to themselves in the third person—not I know, but one knows. Their language is formal and full of honorifics. They seem to weigh every utterance for its political impact. It is always mother and father—never mom and dad. Friendship and love are not Atevi concepts; instead, they have associates, bound by loyalty and a sense of duty. Boundaries are seldom stable, and private armies and a guild of assassins keep what order there is. This setup reminds me of shoguns and samurai.
Although they are hooked on numerology, they are a rational species who seldom think about the past. Their mental life is filled with calculations about the effects of their actions and what others may be planning. Cherryh’s close, shifting third-person narration keeps us involved in their ongoing mental debate.
Recommended. ( )

Going in blind!

Last time we saw Bren Cameron, paidhi-aiji, human translator to Tabini-aiji, he was on the Red Train fleeing from, or racing towards, an undisclosed location with the Atevi aiji-dowager Ilisidi, various Guild members, including Bren’s own staff, important lords. All vital to the canny dowager’s plans—as we can best guess, to rid the realm of the Shadow Guild before it rebuilds.
The long, long train journey, only stopping for fuel seems to be heading towards Bren and Lord Geigi lands, on the coast.
During the journey the Dowager is not seen for days. There’s been no communication with Bren, and Bren can’t communicate with Tabini, as Cenedi (ilisidi’s body guard) hasn’t passed on to him the secure com as ordered by Tabini (head of the atevi aishidi’tat).
Meanwhile overhead the space station is sending some 5000 humans down to the surface. Who’s to meet them? How to handle this?
Lord Reijiri of Dur and his yellow biplane make an appearance, along with a longtime friend of Ilisidi’s, Lord Tatiseigi.
Cajeiri who’s about to turn unfelituous ten has a hand in persuading both these Atevi to take action.
Tabini and Cajeiri are concerned for the Dowager. She’s ill. She’s way down South. She hasn’t named an heir. If anything should happen to her that would be a personal blow and a major political disruption.
Oh, the wily Dowager might be down, but one can never underestimate her.
For me this was exhilarating as more pieces of the Atevi/Human story come together. Entrenched in this world I’m thrilled to join even more dots on the canvas of the Atevi story and of humans come as strangers to this land. Humans who are divided into different groups. All have changed, those who came down to the surface, and those who continued to man the space station awaiting the return of a third group, the space voyagers. All sets of humans need to understand the Atevi mindset, so different to their own. That difference is fraught and dangerous. How to coexist is problematic. The human story will be out of balance.
I’ve been reading this series down the years since the first title came out and love it.
I recommend if you’re new to Cherryh’s world of the Atevi you start further back. Ideally from the beginning.

A DAW ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. ( )