Precursor, Foreigner Series #4, by C.J.Cherryh. rating= 4.5

Precursor is the first book of the second trilogy of the Foreigner Series.

in fact, I think this is my favorite of the whole series, and Cajeiri isn't even here yet. well, ok, he is, but he's just a babe. and I haven't read Deliverer yet... aargh it's sitting on the shelf, calling to me. no no I will be strong and finish reading my way back up to it again. it can only be new and unknown for so long; I'll enjoy that while it lasts lol.

Bren goes to space! ah, I do live vicariously, indeed I do. it was rather obvious who Tabini might send, and that he might send someone, but Bren gets into his routine and doesn't look ahead. then the next thing you know, he's actually living his childhood dream of going to space. only, through in the nightmare of Tabini's expectations: that Bren will single-handedly seize the station for him, and keep it under his authority, and oh yes make sure that the xenophobic Phoenix captains will honor their agreements with the planet even as this sudden move brings about an assassination attempt on the senior captain.

we see the maturation of Bren's relationship with Jase; therefore enter new character to bedevil us: Virginia Kroger. not to mention the ship captains and crew, but, definitely, Kroger. throughout the book Bren chides himself for upsetting Kroger. he did not upset her. the situation upset her; if anything, Tabini upset her. Bren didn't apologize for it, nor should he have. Kroger needed to deal with the situation and be brought about to reality. it was her fear of what *might* be going on that angered her (along with accompanying insecurity, well-related). knowing the reality of the situation, as much as she could trust it to be so, was the only thing that would work to settle her, being the Science type.

most of the women in the series have been rather hard to deal with... but then again, so have the men, and once you get to know them, things start to work themselves out.

and this, well, here is my basic point, when I go on and on about "what is culture and what is biological, insurmountable difference, regarding humans and atevi?" --- Bren is acculturated. and he gets it. not all the time, but quite a lot of it. and maybe he's just still catching up; who can tell? hell, *I* have the same problems with hearing infelicitious two's...

The rhythyms and soudns of Mosphei' hit his ears with idle chatter, good-bad, either-or, black-white, infelicitious two without a mitigating gesture.

Mosphei was like that. His mind had been like that, before the acculturated. (26)

it goes on, and Bren makes a point about how it was not instinctive for him, and that atevi children were more than trained to notice such things. granted. but being born into a culture and language which from the very outset and at all times emphasizes such things makes a damn difference, I dare say it does. atevi *do* have an advantage at math, biologically. but if they were raised in human culture with human language, I doubt they could capitalize on it much if at all. (and why is hardly anyone researching this---I mean irl: culture vs biology when it comes to language and math skills. E. O. Wilson only brought it up decades ago...)


Bren "inheriting" the former Maladesi residence (which comes up as a question in Pretender, if not Destroyer) (49). a disquieting thought, Tagi in charge of the apartments in Bren's absence (75).

Taylor's Children---10 of them--- in summary (59). Atevi residences, in summary (89). Jago, in summary (106).

Cherryh does go into the anger bit. I am glad of it; I rather prefer it be at least mentioned. (Kroger's, 124.) (Jase's, 106, 164.) And Bren is furious on page 9, but it's understandable and explained, esp if you know Bren, and that he thinks the atevi are getting short-changed or out-manuevered. however. Bren, Bren, Bren! since WHEN has anyone out-manuevered Tabini? the boy seems to forget this from time to time.

obstinancy bordering on lunacy, all throughout.

"I'll assure you the last thing Tabini-aiji wants is the SunDrink concession on this space station." (202)

I think I might share Bren's personality (235). I wonder if he is also INFJ? no, I can tell you that he is an ENFJ, especially with wanting to believe everyone has a good nature in there somewhere, but he does have his INFJ moments.

man'chi, again, 177. and relationships: :D

He was stunned. He rolled back, fell back onto the pillow and stared at the ceiling. The whole universe shifted vector.(288)

it's strange to note that I've gotten it engrained somehow that the phrasing should read: the entire universe shifted vector. talk about obstinancy.

a reference to what I think of as the mandala-like social structure of atevi society:

"Baji-naji" Jago said, the reciprocal atevi expression. The world upside-down, pieces landing as their inherent numbers let them... which led to the new and more flexible order, once things had gotten bound up and stressed to the limit. (416)

There was no way to unravel that design. Pieces were going to shift and settle, or break. (417)

(I think this is true of my children's understanding of the world as well; they adopt such strict routines and rigid structures, relying on them absolutely, but eventually it gets to the point that the structures are too confining, and then everything gets thrown back up in the air in a great upheaval, but then sorts itself back out. setting up the structures causes as much anxiety as resetting them/ reworking them in the end, and only in the interim between that is there calmness and peace. )

this is a great psychological book as well as fast-paced with unrelenting action. three different cultures interacting in a crisis. plus, a realistic look at the realities of living in space. wonderful; read it.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. rating: 4

I wanted a breather after I finished the first Foreigner trilogy, ginger between the sushi courses you know, rinsing between wines ;) , and so I picked up Jane Eyre since it's on my list for this year. (also on the list is Wuthering Heights, Shirley, Villette, and the Professor; they're in an omnibus I have--- Charlotte and Emily Bronte: The Complete Novels)

I hadn't read any of the Bronte's works before, although I have read The Brontes: A Life in Letters (I highly recommend it: I give it a 5).

first I should say that I didn't really think of valentine's day coming up, or that the Bronte's novels are considered to be some of the earliest romantic novels... (although I'm pretty sure the earliest romantic tales would be attributed to Captain Blue Bear.) I just wanted a change of pace.

you'd think going from space-based sci-fi on a distant alien planet to early 19th century England romance would be a change of pace. but, really, it wasn't much of one! lol. Charlotte Bronte is quite eloquent, and the way she expresses things in writing is at times simply phenomenal. she knows how to use just the right words. and Carolyn Cherry is very much an equal in this regard. their respective texts might differ sometimes in vocabulary, but only in the necessary manner relating to differing circumstances, ie: slosh baffles vs peregrination. both Cherry and Bronte know how to pique my interest from the very beginning. both Bronte and Cherry have an unadulterated love and respect of nature which they show us through their characters' admiration of such things (and their characters' suffering at the hand of nature as well). both of these stories (the Foreigner series and Jane Eyre) involve courtesies and courtiers, lords and ladies(sometimes when Mr. Rochester was needling Jane, I could almost think it was Tabini and Bren, and vice versa). and, of course, they share a theme of finding one's place in society, or the world, or the greater scheme of things. very similar, these authors ;)

spoliers follow

the plot is quite... convenient in some regards. this is, on the one hand, Bronte deliberately setting up comparisons. so I shouldn't quibble... I suppose. but what are the chances of finding yourself at the house of your long-lost relatives just as you are about to pass away from the world? and the part about her gaining an inheritance and therefore rising up in society is very well-timed also. these things tend to rub me the wrong way. maybe I am too sensitive. maybe this is why I have never written anything substantial. I want a work to sound... authentic? and not like a deliberate effort by the author...

but setting that aside. I enjoyed it immensely up to the point where Jane left Thornfield Hall. of course I think differently from Jane Eyre, and my modern sensibilities would ill-suit her and her times. I would have pointed out to her that the clergyman had just pronounced the very words "for be ye well assured that so many as are coupled together otherwise than God's word doth allow, are not joined together by God, neither is their matrimony lawful." To which she might have said, yes, but Mr. Rochester married Bertha Mason in the house of God, etc etc. and then I would have said, so if Mr. Rochester had been tricked into marrying a chicken in the house of God and that marriage had been blessed by the clergyman, do you think that God himself had joined them together for life? you may now kiss your chicken?

I agree that laws are not meant to be changed when they become inconvenient, but I would have argued to better understand the spirit of the law.

of course I come from a time of casual divorce when none think of being struck down by The Creator, and a time when if your marriage partner dies or, um, goes insane, then the church will usually let you remarry with a clean conscience. and Jane did not. goodness.

that whole business with St. John really rubbed me the wrong way, but I know that it was just a contrast between him and Mr. Rochester. still... she actually came close to agreeing! what a thought! at one point I said to myself, if she agrees then I'm going to regret ever reading this story at all---would that I could go back and never pick it up. then I remind myself that Charlotte Bronte is also contrasting choosing a life for love and choosing one for devotion to God (or something of the sort), but the circumstances were so wrong that it still rankles. she wanted it to rankle me; she succeeded! lol

one could very well guess that the first wife would come to an end, if not so soon then even years in the future, and that Jane would then return. it would have been unthinkable otherwise; it would have been that Jane's feelings or Mr. Rochester's were untrue, or that time had changed them too much and it was too late.

to have Mr. Rochester blinded and moderately disabled rubbed me the wrong way... but that was also forseeable since the whole "judgement of God" idea was so pervasive in the story (in Bronte's society). still, it rankles. one wishes that not to have happened; it changed so much. I would rather not have been so harsh on the fellow; he'd not been a murderer or something; he had a good heart. just temporarily losing Jane and going through that anguish was hard enough on him. to lose his estate and his sight and his strength too? he might have been *temporarily* blinded etc since he did confess that it was only when he was blinded that he realized how proud he was and how he needed to humble himself before God. and yes he gained part of the sight in one eye back after 2 years and could almost see his baby... that's not what I mean! that seems still so severe. again, he was not a serial killer, and he was wronged himself. eh but that's divine retribution for you.

I have to remind myself, an unspoken moral is that if Jane had stayed with Mr. Rochester, likely she might have died, if indeed she'd been asleep at the time that Bertha had lit the fire in Jane's bed! which I also think is too harsh lol but then I should try to understand what Bertha might feel if she ever has moments of lucidity.

and it was symbolic how she was raised in class and he was humbled, by their corresponding judgement of God, to a more-equal level where marriage was not unthinkable by their society. still, it rankles. why do they have to be made "more equal"? those positions in society are assigned by birth, not merit, and if you know me you know that I do not recognize worth by class.

eh but I think the ideas are to be expected of their times, and that the writing is a 4.

my favorite quote:

"Pity, Jane, from some people is a noxious and insulting sort of tribute, which one is justified in hurling back the teeth of those who offer it; but that is a sort of pity native to callous, selfish hearts; it is a hybrid, egotistical pain at hearing of woes, crossed with ignorant comtempt for those who have endured them. ..."

my favorite part was the gypsy woman :)

Inheritor, Foreigner Series #3, by C.J.Cherryh. rating= 4

*****note***** I was interrupted in typing this, and shall have to come back and revise and add on my other thoughts later.

in Foreigner, we had a dissection of Bren. in Invader, we took a good long look at Deana. in Inheritor, we get a view of Jase. not that they are, respectively, the sole focus of the books in any regard whatsoever, hardly so!, but Cherryh does try to add some new faces in to the mix every time to explore what it means to be human (or atevi, for that matter). my talking just about the new faces is a great simplification of the story! if I were to actually delve into all the possible topics in each story, why, I could write an entire anthology for each book! I never claim to cover all the possibilities ;)

ah, Jase. he's got sensory issues. that, I understand! sheer unadulterated panic, with no regards whatsoever to logic or rationality or even to the obvious non-presence of danger or to a million billion reassurances from all around.

and it's a reversal of situations. not even Bren tells Jase anything, and when Jase asks what's going on, Bren just says, "Don't worry. Just relax." that didn't work for Bren, and Bren has a much better grip on his temper, at least physically. but it takes Bren a long while to understand that source of Jase's frustration. it also doesn't occur to Bren that Jase is in physical pain from riding, until Bren starts to feel the pain himself, and even then I'm not sure that he recalls how much worse it is for a beginning rider. or figures ALL the things going on with Jase into one equation. it's not just not knowing what's going on, or not knowing whom to trust, or that Jase has problems processing sensory input, or that Jase is in physical pain and fear of his life. it's ALL of them, compounded. Bren doesn't seem to grasp that very well. for all the self-analyzing he does, Bren doesn't appear to try to figure out other humans naturally, or at least he doesn't do it very well (when dealing with all the other crises HE has, on top of things. it's not as if Bren is not distracted!). my point is that--- Bren's TRAINED to dissect his own feelings, and to try very hard to dissect what might be going on in an ateva's mind (a double-and triple-checking to avoid interspecies mistakes), but he's NOT used to trying to figure out the humans in his life. when he does actually sit down and concentrate on it, he amazes himself with things he never realized before. analyzing himself and the atevi is something he does all the time, without hardly thinking about it; analyzing humans he doesn't seem to do until things (start to) go wrong.

but, honestly Jase, if you're going to trust anyone on the mainland, it should be Bren. you can't even tell him what specifically is your difficulty? ah these people are so proud. Jase is angry most often because he's too proud to just say what needs to be said. does he think that Bren automatically understands what is bothering him, when Bren says he doesn't? does he think Bren is lying about that too? gee, Bren is a criminal mastermind or something. Occam's Razor, please. but Jase has never seen outsiders before in his life, and can't open up even that much, even when it's the smart thing to do. even probably when he wants to do so. well, well, well.

layers upon layers. these characters are all onions, I tell you. haven't found a non-onion character in Cherryh yet.

But, oh, the view from up there was glorious, when the sun turned the snow gold and the evergreens black in the evenings. / When the mists came up off the blue shadows and the wind whispered across the frozen surface in the morning--- then he was alive. / It would have terrified Jase.
pg. 269

other quotes:
The atevi brain, steered by the principal atevi language (a chicken or the egg situation),
pg. 16

He'd been riding a fierce downhill course, and leaping from point to point to point until it was damn well no good mapping out where he'd been: where he'd been didn't exist any more.
pg. 78

Bren is a verb, pg. 312.
a lovely conversation on pg. 121
man'chi: pgs. 107, 190, 218, 330, 365.

Invader, Foreigner Series #2 by C.J.Cherryh. rating =4.

I finished this several days ago, though I forget when exactly, and am now halfway through the #3 book, and just now have time to post this.

"Nand' dowager, in all seriousness, Malguri touches human instincts so, so deeply."
"What, greed?"
"Respect, nand'dowager. A sense of age, of profound truths. Respect for something that hands made, that's stood through storms and wars and time. It persuades us that the things we do may last and matter."
"That's the best thing I've ever heard said about humans."
(p. 128)

"If you give a ribbon, my father will believe I've achieved distinction. Give me one for me to give to him, paidhi-ji, and I'll hear no more of being an engineer."
(p. 264)

He rolled over on his face and tucked the freed arm up close, in possession of both arms at least. Say that for the situation.
(p. 288)

God, what a morass of reasoning. Sometimes---
Sometimes he was such a construction of his own carefully constructed censorships and restraints he didn't know whether there any longer was a creature named Bren Cameron, or whether what he chose to let bubble to the reflective surface of his past defined the modern man, and the rest of him was safely drowned under *that shiny surface that swallowed childhood ambitions, childhood dreams, childhood so-called friends--- about whom he didn't like to think...*
(p. 330--- that's not about Bren; it's about me)

"I take it that's not code?"
(p. 189)

and I'm agreeing with many others when I say there's one of the best dream-sequences ever used in a book starting on p. 191.

hey, it's not just the male heroes that are angry all the time. a lot of the female characters (in this case she is definitely NOT a hero) are quite angry as well.

Deana Hanks, who is only mentioned in Foreigner and doesn't show up until Invader (book 2), is quite an argument for the anger culture. I have a hard time understanding why SHE is angry all the live-long day too, otherwise. of course it doesn't help that she and Bren do not get along even in good circumstances, but I think that is only reinforcing her pattern of behavior brought about mainly by culture (and particularly by her sub-culture of Separatism and all that malarky about the supremacy of humanity yadda yadda yadda).

and Deana has good reason to be scared. esp after Tabini point-blank told her he would shoot her in the head. but I don't think she is scared on a conscious level. I think she is scared but has habitually used this fear to fuel an angry front, and on the conscious level, she is only angry. and she's directing that anger at Bren (who is the obvious choice for several reasons, one of which being extreme political differences, one of which being professional ambition, one of which being that if Bren goes, Tabini goes, and the whole structure goes which might be what she wants in light of the current events). there seem to be moments when she realizes she's in deep and the fear becomes conscious, but she subjugates it yet again and we're back to square one.

now, as I went on about last time, Bren does this to a certain extent as well. so what's the difference?

one is inclined to reply, Deana is an out-and-out fool. I know that Bren thinks she has some potential in there somewhere, but if she can't see reality enough to know what she's doing, or to care what she's doing, as it will come back to bite her in the ass, then I think "fool" still applies. nobody is only a fool; even fools can have good intentions or potential...

of course I suppose she could be trying to do harm, even knowing that it will be her undoing, in a sadistic martyr kind of way. I suppose.

oh but let's get back to Bren vs Deana. Bren relies on courtesies and apologies and quiet behavior. yes he does curse sometimes, but mostly only in private situations, and it's obvious it was a slip, and he almost always (every single time) apologizes specifically for being rude and assures people he didn't mean it that way. Deana does not believe in courtesies, never apologizes for her behavior which she sees as perfectly appropriate (disregarding the native courtesies and traditions and language and behaving brazenly human as appropriate for a diplomat!), and, again, is outspoken, brazen, and bold. She curses all the time, every other remark--- although we only see her talking to Bren, so maybe that's it, but it is always in public or in front of an audience, as part of the strategy.

then when that doesn't work, she takes it personally, and takes it upon herself to disregard the atevi head of state (because apparently it's not her behavior that is the problem, instead the entire continent of atevi and all their leaders didn't choose a worthy aiji) and seek out alliances with rebels and the opposition.

I'm inclined to say that she is just a damn fool. out of touch with reality in every regard, and not just because she is fresh from the island enclave and hasn't adjusted to political immersion yet, not just because the situation is incredibly unstable.

she's a damn fool and she's angry at everyone else because of it...

we are not privy to her inner thoughts and (possibly) doubts, as we are with Bren. maybe if we just saw Bren's actions and heard what he said, we'd think he was a lot like Deana. and in many disturbing ways he is a lot like Deana. and really I think that the difference is that Bren appreciates the atevi on a fundamental level, and the pettiness of his thoughts/policies dawns on him in Malguri where his inherent appreciation grows to full bloom. Deana, even given the chance of some Malguri-like character-building episode, is not going to come around because she has no inherent appreciation. only disregard. she doesn't care. the only thing that might dawn on her is that her anger is based on fear, and as she sees the might and glory the atevi are capable of, the fear is growing.

(see also the flashback---one of my favorite parts of the whole series---beginning on page 328.)