• Intruder

  • Foreigner Sequence 5, Book 1
  • By: C. J. Cherryh
  • Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May
  • Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (473 ratings)

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Intruder  By  cover art

Intruder

By: C. J. Cherryh
Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May
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Publisher's summary

The 13th novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space-opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences....

Civil war on the world of the atevi is over, but diplomatic disputes and political infighting continue unabated. Bren Cameron, brilliant human diplomat allied with the dominant Western Association, has just returned to the capital from his country home. But his sojourn was anything but restful, for Bren and his associates have had a small war of their own to contend with, ending with rebel leader, Machigi, joining the atevi congress representing the rebels as a member state.

Machigi, to Bren’s utter shock, has invoked an ancient law, changing Bren's role as negotiator for Tabini-aiji, Ilisidi, and other leaders of the Western Association to that of a specialized, entirely neutral negotiator between atevi adversaries. Tabini-aiji is enraged to have lost his personal negotiator, and Bren is becoming embroiled in a development that could result in his assassination.

But there are even more dangerous things afoot, as a crisis brews inside the immensely dangerous Assassins’ Guild. The recent dustup with the Shadow Guild may be only the beginning.

The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre listeners in sub-trilogy installments. Intruder is the 13th Foreigner novel and the first book in the fifth subtrilogy.

©2012 C. J. Cherryh (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Intruder

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Definitely not a place to start reading the series

C.J.Cherryh is an established and revered master of the SF/F genre so, not having read any of her work for a while, I snapped up this book and its sequel when I saw them on sale. Unfortunately that was a mistake. This is the 13th book in the series, the first in the 5th three book sequence, and I was almost completely lost for over half of the nearly thirteen hours it took to finish listening. Joining in the middle of any series is difficult and ill-advised, but Cherryh made it an almost insurmountable task in this case. She creates extremely intricate and fully realized worlds for her stories, including an entirely alien system of names and titles, a culture which is completely distinct from humanity, and byzantine social and political structures which, while brilliant in their conception and consistency, resist every effort to understand them when joining a narrative "in medias res." Add to that the difficulty of retaining it all as spoken without being able to see the alien terms on the page, and the result was glassy-eyed bewilderment. All of Cherryh's literary assets of imagination, plot integration and subtlety of effect conspired to make it a real chore to get through the book.

In addition this is a book about diplomacy with dozens of factions involved and with years of history undergirding it. There is virtually no overt action. The leading character comes across as unassailable in his skills of negotiation and persuasion so that we never really fear an unfavorable outcome. The arc of the narrative is long, uninterrupted and without a great deal of suspense. In context with the precedent events of the four earlier three book sequences, I have no doubt it fascinates and delights, but even given Cherryh's superbly drawn characters and evocative descriptions of settings, it was at times tedious.

It's unfair to ask an author to overcome the obstacle a reader faces when starting in the middle of a series, but we often do it anyway, don't we. Usually we lose something but get up to speed fairly quickly and perhaps decide to go back later and pick up what we missed. Please heed the warning, however. If you ever have the urge to sample the Foreigner series, do not even consider starting here. I began it at the beginning many years ago and lapsed. I think I will go back and pick it up again at the proper place now.

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11 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

It IS AWESOME!!!!!

I've read all 13 books and it was awesome.
I can't wait to see book 14 in april 2013.
The narration was perfect Mr May is the perfect voice for this series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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9 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect Narration!!

This Series is amazing!
I've already reviewed previous books in it and as the series progresses it just keeps getting better. But I wanted here to emphasize the marvelous job the narrator has done.
The voices of the characters are perfectly conceived and delivered. The pace is exactly what the story requires at any given time and he truly takes you into the mind of the main character. The tone is precisely what the action demands. I would live to buy more books narrated by him!
An absolute magnificent combination of writing and narration!!!

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent!

What made the experience of listening to Intruder the most enjoyable?

As good as ever. Ms.C J Cherryh's continuous plot for the Foreigner Series is as good as ever. Can't wait for the next volume.

What does Daniel Thomas May bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Daniela's narration beings the characters to life. Something I won't be able to ever imagine if I were to read it myself.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, can't put down the book until the end. In fact I can't wait for the sequel!.

Any additional comments?

Please continue delivering such good books!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Intellectual Action!

This book is full of thinking, wondering, figuring out, much more thrilling to read than people killing one another. The Narrator, Daniel Thomas May, is superb and makes the thinking even more interesting and exciting.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

the author of just filling pages with this one

writing is nice but the story really doesn't go anywhere or so anything. it could have been summed up on a paragraph or two but she has a quota to meet it would seem

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

another good book in the series

I highly recommend reading previous works in order to fully appreciate this book in the series the author continues with two different voices that are both interesting one the Young aliens voice and won the human being who's supposed to work for the aliens father it's a very interesting concept very sophisticated writing I highly recommend it

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator makes political intrigue exciting

This sequence of the Foreigner books focuses on political maneuvering, a young gentleman’s settling into a new life situation and the art of compromise. While this part of the storyline is not action-packed, skilled narrator Daniel May makes it all sound so immediate that every character’s thought processes kept me involved in the story. The stage is now set for the next chapter in the series, which I look forward to immensely. Note: it will be extremely helpful to have read the previous books in the series in order to get the greatest enjoyment out of this book (or actually, to know what’s going on).

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

nothing really happened

i love the series and have grown very fond of the characters. but there needed to be more plot and less long descriptive narrative. I found the last few books are like this in general. I keep hoping they're going to pick up again soon! Bring back the kyo!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Scrumptious, truly scrumptious!

So much promise -- delivered! And so very many unexpected changes, for good and less-than, but with excellent results! Changes abound, some surprising, but imminently satisfying -- and some changes not so! THANK you, C.J.!!!!

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