culture

Science fiction a la ninja
a book review by Eric Jackson

Deliverer
by C. J. Cherryh
Daw Books, New York (2007)
406 pp, $7.99 in paper  (more in Panama's bookstores)
ISBN  13: 978-0-7564-0467-3

Deliverer is the ninth installment in C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner series, following upon Pretender, which The Panama News previously reviewed. These books are set on a world owned for the most part by its indigenous atevi but also featuring a human colony. The two groups appear to be closely related, but just different enough to be considered different species rather than different races. There was a misunderstanding --- or shall we say war --- soon after first contact, but those matters have been mostly straightened out, with most humans sticking to their island, the atevi running the continental mainland by a system something akin to medieval Japanese feudalism, and the two societies increasingly cooperating as the atevi move up into space that had been the exclusive human domain, or at least in the vicinity of this planet.

With the embrace of certain aspects of human technology by the ruling Lord Tabini-aiji, and from a traditional atevi perspective the even worse decisions to hire a human paidhi (advisor), Bren Cameron, and educate his son and heir partly in the ways of humanity, long simmering rivalries are exacerbated. In feudal Japan they'd call out the ninjas, but here they keep the Assassins Guild fully employed.

While Pretender was largely a work of military science fiction, the story of a swift but bloody counter-coup against a usurper who mobilized old regional differences and more recent anti-human resentments to briefly steal the throne, Deliverer has much less warfare and much more social tension and palace intrigue. Yes, it does get heavy handed and there is continuity in the setting, but this book isn't just more of the previous one. C. J. Cherryh, you see, is anything but a one-sided writer and over a long career she has has often been recognized by colleagues and fans for her science fiction works. Deliverer is another of her well-crafted gems.