The fourteenth 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 finally over. Bren Cameron,
brilliant human diplomat allied with the dominant Western Association,
has finally returned to the capital from the southern coast, where he
negotiated a daring redistribution of the atevi legislature. Now, Bren
is settling back into the capital, in the home he knew prior to the
war--but life at the atevi court is never easy.
Tabini-aiji, head of the Western Association and Bren's ally, has
promised his son, Cajeiri, that he can have the young human children he
knew from his voyage on the world's space station sent down to the
planet for a birthday celebration.
But there's far a darker business going on in the background--a major
split compromising the Assassins' Guild, which furnishes security and
law enforcement to the whole continent. Tabini's consort's own father
has been barred from court, and may be involved in a new conspiracy
against him. Tabini wants Bren to take charge of Cajeiri, and see him
and his young guests to safety, all while keeping the security problem a
state secret.
Can Bren protect Cajeiri and the unsuspecting human children who are to
be guests in an atevi household that is on the brink of political
explosion?
The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual
genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Protector is the 14th
Foreigner novel, and the 2nd book in the fifth subtrilogy.
