maitriayurved

[oodlesodoodles]

5 of these come directly from the books, a few of these i made up. Im sure i could do a whole page on just varieties of eggs, but its eggs. Shrug

[gravything]

sometimes a family is an extremely tall 8 year old, the scariest old lady in the galaxy, weaponized diplomacy linguist (insecure), and a shit-ton of assassins

[fumblingbuffoon]

Foreigner Wiki

If you are reading CJ Cherryh's Foreigner series, may I recommend the Shejidan Wiki on Fandom? Lots of handy background has been provided by a long-standing and very knowledgeable fandom.

Ive added a bit as I read through the series and would welcome advice, I'm a novice to the series.

https://shejidan.fandom.com/wiki/Shejidan_Wiki

[aqueenvictorious]

like a river, like the wind

There's a general (if unspoken) consensus, among those who understand what Manchi is, that it's a great deal more complicated than love.

Bren Cameron disagrees.

[sylvanauctor]

on capitalist mospheira, a pizza party means "please don't form an association". in the democratic-feudalistic atevi western association, a pizza party means "we ARE your association"

[kikimaymay]

One of the most fascinating issues with the Foreigner series by CJ Cherry is that the alien race/atevi are an autocratic* civilization, but it's because of actual biological impulses that function as a pyramid of sorts.

Despite the (maybe genetic? Definite social conditioning) "follow the leader" aspect of the culture, with a large monarchy/serfdom allegory, Tabini is only in power because he gives the larger population/commoners reason for him to actually stay in power. If the general population hated Tabini, he'd be gone in a heartbeat.

Anyway, I've got a lot of feelings lately about this series and life in general, and re-reading and seeing the sheer stress that Bren goes though like.. almost every day? The man just needs to go fishing a lot more. And maybe fuck Jago a lot more too.

[calmnivore-new]

fanart for foreigner by cj cherryh

[geoderocks]

I made some sketches for C.J. Cherryh’s amazing Foreigner series. (I’m no great artist, obviously, but had a lot of fun doing these).

In the first book Cherryh describes atevi faces as ‘not by any remote kinship human, but sternly handsome in planes and angles’. So here is my attempt with the Banichi portrait - and of course Bren in one of his long coats (subtle lace included). I haven’t dared to have a go at Jago, Ilisidi or Cajeiri yet, but maybe will put my subpar drawing skills to the test sometime ✏️

[botchbehemoth]

imagining a thriving subculture on mospheira centered around fansubs of machimi plays, which are technically turbo-illegal and frequently just wrong on most counts. every episode has to pause at the first mention of man'chi so the fansubber can (incorrectly) explain what that is through several unbroken minutes of scrolling text

[queerian]

Miles Naismith (flat Betan accent) of the Dendarii Mercenaries, definitely not a Vor lord and imperial agent and heir 🤝 Bren Cameron, unassuming galley staff, just delivering sandwiches

[oodlesodoodles]

[tbookblurbs]

Foreigner - C.J. Cherryh (First Contact/Foreigner series #1)

3.75/5 - really interesting things to say about human nature and translation; pacing a little weird

Having finished this book, I can now say that I like it and that I will probably finish the first trilogy. Apparently the whole series is 20-something books, so I'm not going to commit myself if they all have these weird pacing issues.

Regarding those pacing issues, I found this book pretty hard to get into. The first 100 pages of the book take place in snippets over about 500 years, which is a little disorienting. I understand that the early days are necessary to understand the human politicking but it was difficult to start caring about anyone involved when you don't meet the true main character until page 70. After that, the pace is a little slow until you hit about the 75% mark, at which point the plot picks up quickly.

The main character was not someone I found endearing at first. He has very human concerns, but frankly I found his constant complaints exhausting. He also repeatedly commented on how he knew he was breaking protocol or being rude but just couldn't stop himself, which stops being believable after about the 100th time. After a point I found his frustration understandable and warmed up to the way he lived, but for the first third of the book I just thought he was really bad at his job.

On the positive side, I do love what this has to say about the nature of human connection and meeting those who are different from you. How do you bridge a gap when you have fundamental cultural differences? When those differences go beyond cultural values and into the way that people create and maintain relationships? The struggle of translation lies in the puzzle of taking one distinct meaning and making another that replicates the first and its associated cultural context in another language.

[fansideblogtocjcherryth]

Oh my god there is concept art of the cover of invader.

images below under keep reading. and the link in the title of the post

My favorite is bren with the mechetti

[gravything]

between books I’m always like, I wonder how Bren Cameron (linguist, diplomat, one-man Technology Transfer Office, child of a narcissist, arguably semipermanently-rogue Federal employee, isolated man surrounded by deeply loyal aliens he is too culturally traumatized to even _think_ the word “friend” about) is doing?

and the answer is always “fair, maybe, but his day is about to get a lot worse”

[galaxygolfergirl]

WIP WIP Currently getting into C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series and have already become fascinated with this man, Bren Cameron. The series is currently 21 novels long, however, so this might be a bit of a long-term investment. 😬

[sylvanauctor]

I love the Foreigner books, but they're based on some very unrealistic premises. For example, the idea that humans don't experience man'chi.