Pretender by C.J. Cherryh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This one was, if anything, more exciting than the last in this truly engrossing series.  I had quite a few moments where my heart stopped, several times when my eyes teared up, and most unusual, more than one belly laugh.  I cannot recommend this series highly enough.  But start at the beginning, please, as each story follows the next with barely a pause to draw breath.  None of the books end on a cliff hanger, thank God, but only in a breathing space, with interest still engaged to wonder what will happen next as Bren negotiates the difficult world of atevi politics and the entrance of yet new species of aliens from far worlds.  In addition, the bonds he forms with the atevi grow more intense and remarkable, even as other atevi resistant to change continue to try to assassinate him.  His atevi bodyguards are remarkable characters, as well as the president of the world, or aiji as he is called in Ragi language, and his mother the dowager is the most remarkable of all, blunt spoken, commanding, fierce, intelligent, and Bren's biggest supporter.  Wow, is all I can say.



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