Foreigner: Foreigner Sequence 1, Book 1

Considering I've now listened five of the six books that Audible has of this series you could say I've enjoyed it.

The series follows the life of Bren Cameron in his role as a translator, ambassador, and diplomat. Cherryh does an excellent job of creating a complex character in Bren. The plot of the series isn't overly complex, and the main body of the plot is in the details. You get a really personal look at Bren and all the stressors in his life; family, job, and identity.

While there is some fast paced action, the truly interesting stuff is seeing how Bren will react to all kinds of provocations in his role as a diplomat.

My only complaint is Cherryh loves to set up vast conspiracies and mysteries only to solve them in the last 45 minutes of a 15-18 hour novel, followed by little to no conclusion. Then when you pick up the next book she skips ahead a few years and slowly fills in the story of what happened after the last novel. It isn't a horrible plot device but you don't really get a solid conclusion to one novel without reading the start of the next.

Actually, this book takes place mostly 150 years after first contact. But there is still a cultural divide that makes working together almost, but not quite, impossible. This book does a great job of speculating about a language and a culture that is — dare I say it? — foreign to our own.

At times I was very frustrated with this book for the exact same reasons the main character was. At no point did I think that things were happening that didn't make sense. It was well constructed and was an interesting way in exploring a foreign culture. I look forward to reading the sequel.

Old book, I consider to be classics. C. J. Cherryh is a master,creates a universe of political intrigues placed on an alien planet.
Bipolar world in a state of cold war AKA cold peace for 200 years.
The world of mathematically irrational beings(atevi), who use numeroogy in every moment of their life, even language is not just spoken, but calculated for the propper form.
And all of political comunication are made through just one man "paidhi" translator the only human who is allowed to leave human reservation and converse with atevi.
Great narration it's worth listening!!!!

Everybody's on the brink of war: humans against atevi, atevi against atevi, even humans against humans (small surprise). And trying to balance on that brink is Bren Cameron, a human/atevi language expert plunged into politics and violence.

He's struggling to understand alien motives, to find decent answers to explosive problems, to advise and explain without betrayal, and to hang onto his humanity while submersed in alien culture. Oh--and while Bren dodges lies and bullets, his mom is ill, his brother's marriage is on the rocks, and he himself is dangerously attracted to the younger of his alien bodyguards.

Daniel Thomas May does an outstanding job narrating this fresh, in-depth, and fascinating look at the dangers and rewards of alien contact.

My goodness, I hate to rank the audiobooks I've listened to, but this ranks up there with the best. I've read it in print twice and am amazed at the new feelings engendered by the narration. The narrator is excellent and his emphases brought new meaning to much in the book.

I don't think Foreigner is comparable to any other book I've read, and I love this series the most of any scifi books I've read.

I've never listened to him before, and am very impressed. His reading is very good with just the right balance of tension.

The ending was particularly moving.

Rarely do I purchase books in so many different formats as I have the Foreigner series. I own hardcover, Kindle, and audio. This series hooked me from the start, and has made it to the top of my "must have" list.

I've read this series and loved it, looking forward to each new book by this marvelous author. Now I'm incredibly happy to be able to listen to the narrator's excellent rendition of this Sci-Fi wonder.
Cherryh has created in this book a wonderful world with incredibly detailed characterizations that will take you on an incredible journey, and as the series progresses you can revisit this magnificent universe again and again.
Daniel May's narration is truly very good, and reflects the ambiance of the writing to perfection, in my opinion.
I've always enjoyed reading my favorites more than once (some every year in fact) and this new format has allowed me to rediscover them in a completely new way and to have them with me everywhere no matter what I'm doing.
I hope others can revisit this great series (as one is never enough) or discover it and delight in as I have and am!!

Yes, the audio version allowed me to just sink into the story whereas reading it had distractions such as varied lighting, eyes that got tired, etc. The audio version went around all that.

How very credible the scenario was...thinking about what would happen if stranded space travelers were forced to land on a planet that already had its own population and cultures and what would happen when the two very different peoples made contact.

The reader brought the background motivations of emotion or lack thereof, to the forefront in the characters as they walked through the story.

Imagine if this were you.....

I love this series and have read it via hard copy but I'm enjoying a far richer experience in hearing the stories told...I must be a good Celt after alll, we all love good tales told well and this series satisfies that trait.

Yes, because hearing the narrator pronounce the names of the alien language is helpful. I also find that Cherryh can bog down just a bit in detail in the written word, but for some reason it isn't as distracting in the audio edition. Mind you, this is somewhat necessary during the first book since she is introducing a whole new world with the idea of what a alien-on-alien translation would be like.

When Bren realizes he has to split from his humankind in order to protect those same people. Sometimes he gets a bit pedantic or monotonous when Cherryh is getting just a bit lost in detail. This can be distracting. I get the feeling he want to get on to the next bit.

Sometimes he leaves me breathless running through passages, especially near the beginning when we are hearing new Atevi words for the first time.

Shortly after an attempted assassination of Bren, the main human character through out the series, realizes how alone he is and starts to hold on to Banachi and Jago. You can feel the building, well Bren and Cherryh would say NOT, trust-thing.

You have to listen carefully to the beginning of the book. There is a lot of history that is used later in this book and the following books. If you can keep it all balanced, it is a rich environment with building, believable relationships.

Yes to Daniel Thomas May, probably not from C.J. Cherryh, and definitely not anything in the rest of this series.

Maybe, but not this series.

The Dowager, the only character that seemed to HAVE any character.

The first 3/4ths of the book.

She really hypes how "different" the aliens are from humans, but in reality this book reads more like a person just visiting a different culture. The aliens are way too human-like, and the Ambassador is a fool altogether. Nothing happens in the majority of the book, and when it does it is underwhelming. I finished it only because I refuse to NOT finish a story once begun, but I won't be getting any of the rest of the series. The performance was well executed, Daniel Thomas May did a good job with bad material.