Foreigner

Foreigner Sequence 1, Book 1

By: C. J. Cherryh

Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May

The first book in C.J.Cherryh's eponymous series, Foreigner begins an epic tale of the survivors of a lost spacecraft who crash-land on a planet inhabited by a hostile, sentient alien race. From its beginnings as a human-alien story of first contact, the Foreigner series has become a true science fiction odyssey, following a civilization from the age of steam through early space flight to confrontations with other alien species in distant sectors of space. It is the masterwork of a truly remarkable author.

©1994 C.J. Cherryh (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Great narration, great story.

Old book, I consider to be classics. C. J. Cherryh is a master,creates a universe of political intrigues placed on an alien planet.
Bipolar world in a state of cold war AKA cold peace for 200 years.
The world of mathematically irrational beings(atevi), who use numeroogy in every moment of their life, even language is not just spoken, but calculated for the propper form.
And all of political comunication are made through just one man "paidhi" translator the only human who is allowed to leave human reservation and converse with atevi.
Great narration it's worth listening!!!!

SciFi classic brought to life by great narrator

Being a long time fan of CJ Cherryh's classic Foreigner series, I was hesitant to listen to the audiobook. The whole series revolves around the idea of language and interpretation between humans and the alien atevi. To add a narrator to that mix seemed a recipe for failure. But I was totally and completely wrong. Daniel Thomas May does an amazing job giving voice to lonely Bren who is thrown into increasingly perilous situations for reasons he does not understand in the alien culture of the atevi. The atevi characters are given strong, distinct voices that have the hint of otherness to them. I have been reading this series for so long it is hard to know where to begin to make a synopsis so I will leave that to other reviewers. What I can tell you is that if you are already a fan of the books, the audiobook is wonderful and the narrator pulls off the Bren's humaneness and the atevi alienness equally well. If you have never read the books, start with this title so you can get immersed through a great narrator into one of the best sci-fi series out there.

Hard to get through.

The narrator does his best Shatner impression for the first several chapters and it was absolutely maddening. Sadly, after the first few chapter the book becomes pretty stale. There's awkwardness/turmoil that arises between characters because of their race differences and that same turmoil is just repeated over and over.

Second time - even better

I have listened to every book in the series. I love this story and thought I would revisit for a second listen - I like it better the second time around. It's challenging to listen to Bren's thought processes but stick to it - it develops and builds a world and 3 distinct cultures, or more... this world must exist in reality, how could it not?

(Relisten only earns higher praise!)

Absolutely LOVED it, again! How could anyone sane NOT?!? Keeping it to relisten to all ANOTHER time!

Best alien/human series ever.

I have read every book in the series through the years. Now I'll listen to them as well. Definitely start at the beginning. Not the best of the books; the series gets much richer and better, but necessary back story.

Interesting premise on intergalactic adventures

Story started slow but then had trouble putting the book down! Excellent writing and narration

Good story, but some technical faults in recording

Very character driven, and living inside someone else's head (several someones at that), so be prepared to backtrack and relisten to several portions of the story so you can be sure you understand who is "talking." Reminds me of "Pride of Chanur" and "Cuckoo's Egg" both of which were written by the same author.

As for the "technical faults" - there are portions with a slight echo and some stuttering in a number of places within the recording. These can be very distracting at times, but if you can ignore them (and they don't last too long) just concentrate on the story unfolding. A mystery, intrigue, and sci-fi, all rolled into one. Some action, chases, violence, and much confusion for the human in the story.

You are very much in the dark, as is the protagonist, so the conclusion will come as a bit of surprise, as it is for the protagonist. Definitely worth the time and money. :)

A unfortunate start to a fantastic series

Cj cherryhs Foreigner series is truly one of a kind. Sadly, newcomers face one significant hurdle, the first book.

From the front loaded exposition, the main character spending most of the book behaving in an unlikable, petulant manner and the narrator still figuring out how to approach the material, it's a poor introduction to a great series.

I would recommend skipping it entirely and diving into the second book. Not only is it a much better book overall, but the narrator finds his rhythm and delivers a much better performance as well.

think marco polo in space...

Good story with excellent voice acting. i highly recommend the series. it is definitely worth listening to.