I’m giving the page a second section because page 1 was starting to behave oddly.
As always, wait at least 30 days from issue of the book before starting to discuss. And give our overseas friends some extra leeway: the distribution system doesn’t reach everywhere as fast!
Between books, I like to imagine scenes to come, as well as scenes that have been taking place off stage. I won’t bore everyone with my personal fan fiction details, but one thing I keep coming back to about the suits is a simple question. Who all is going to see the recording?
Just finished Protector and found it very interesting. It is clearly a transitional story. I find it interesting that CJ writes these very long series stories and has the freedom to use book length pivots like this. Writers who serialize usually have to do so in shorter form like a magazine serial. Imagine if Dickens chose to write series books rather than chapters. I think it gives the author incredible freedom. Would love to hear her talk about that part of her style. Also the foreigner stories really only cover a couple of decades of the characters lives. Maybe that is why I am so drawn to them . This is really fine-grained story-telling. Also I keep thinking the species the Kyo are so scared of are humans, from the Alliance-Union worlds. What irony, Illisidi and Bren have to negotiate with AE2 aboard Norway while Banichi and Jago play cards with Florian and Catlin.
I finished Protector yesterday, I enjoyed it immensely. I like how it told a story while setting up what will happen in the next novel. An old guy in a certain guild is going to have a very bad day I expect.
One thing I love about this series is at any moment the other Foreigners could arrive and all heck could break loose. Also I assume there are Humans flying about out there, and what if they or a human probe come by Ateva earth? What would the Ateva do if they could send Humans back to their own space? How would Mospheirans and the others react?
I enjoy the regular characters a lot, I know in any book we could lose one to violence old age or misadventure which adds to the suspense. If you like the characters and have some regard for the villains it helps a novel. Anyway I love this series just thought I’d say it.
Thanks!
Starting the countdown now to Peacemaker. Refreshing my memory of key points and favorite scenes in the earlier books. Marking time by writing haiku:
Your numbers have been
good, so far, paidhi-aji.
The gods have been kind.
Breakfast politics:
walking the knife’s keen edge—but
still trusting the tea.
It’s an Occasion:
Bring out the green sauced pizza.
“Success in hard work.”
I like these haiku very much.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed them.
You’ve caused me to remember one of the haiku I penned some years ago for inclusion in a collection (calligraphed by another Shejidanni) that was presented as a gift to Themselves:
pay attention, fool!
man’chi is surrounding you,
use it or lose it.
Well, Bren certainly has learned how to wield the man’chi directed at him…
I’m a lurker who’s posting to verify my status as Real Human Person (TM). But since I am, I’d like to thank the author for the wonderful series she’s created, which I ran through in less than 2 months on audiobook. I’m very excited for the next installment and finally getting to see Cajeiri’s birthday party – felicitous 9. And I think a re-listen will be in order later this year, because I don’t know how I’ll last so long before the sixth sequence starts otherwise! (You are writing a sixth sequence, aren’t you?)
Thanks again for this spectacular story. Bren Cameron and his diplomatic genius have become my favorite protagonisms now and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.
THank you—and welcome in!
Found the audiobook of Peacemaker available for pre-order on Audible today! Done and done. I’m getting pretty excited; but I can’t get too excited yet – there’s still a month left to wait!
Me, too!
Peacemaker ebook and hardbound on pre-order. I will get the audiobook pre-ordered too, though I think I have credits toward it.
Very much enjoying the umpteenth reread of Merchanter’s Luck in HB.
Long time no see, mainly due to loads of stress both personal and professional and with no energy to spend on interacting on the internet 🙁
However – just finished reading Peacemaker and I feel a need to tell how happy I am about it. I tend to never be disappointed in a Foreigner novel but this was VERY good 🙂
Thank you.
Oh, Busifer-nadi, glad you are back. Will you be sharing on Shejidan? Is your birthday this week? If so, happy, happy!
Thank you, and I did… but it took some time 😉
THank YOU, Busifer! and I hope life settles in a good way soon!
Busifer! It’s good to see you back again! 🙂 Welcome in!
Hi CJ – was thrilled to get
Peacemaker last week and I read it
right away – terrific book –
enjoyed immensely. Thank you.
Where are people finding Peacemaker? I only see it available for preorder. Are there Advance Reader Copies out there? Am I missing some way I can order it now?
Thanks!
I ordered mine last Oct from B&N and they shipped it last week.
It was a very pleasant surprise as last year Protector didn’t
arrive until after a week of the release date.
The Foreigner books cannot come too soon !
Thanks for letting me know about that! It came yesterday and I just finished it. Marvelous! I want to adopt Irene. 🙂 (And nominate her for the paidhi training program.)
For some reason all Daw books are released one to two weeks early where I am, which is Sweden. I guess we’re a small insignificant country so no one cares about synchronised releasing?
TOR, on the other hand, are almost always late… perhaps for the same reason? 😉
A bit more than halfway through Peacemaker, it’s a damn shame I hadda go to work today.
I really like the cover art, looks like nand’ Bren is on a Mission to kick some butt, and with serious support too! But I am curious… has our Bren shrunk? It seems as if he keeps getting shorter and shorter in comparison to his bodyguard. He used to be about up to their shoulders, and it sure looks like he has lost several inches!
I very much enjoyed Peacemaker, but was really annoyed that it isn’t WhisperSync for Voice enabled. The Audible versions by Daniel Thomas May are excellent, IMO, and I really enjoy being able to go back and forth between the eBook and the Audible book, depending on what I’m doing at the time. I’m not sure why this got broken, most of the earlier ones were WhisperSync for Voice enabled, but I sincerely hope someone fixes it before the next book.
I absolutely LOVE Daniel Thomas May’s narration of this series! I’m currently re-listening to Protector in preparation for listening to Peacemaker.
Since the whispersync thing is such a rip off for authors, I never participate in it, so didn’t notice it was missing. I almost always buy my ebooks from Barnes and Noble, anyway.
I just finished Peacemaker and am popping in to say WOW! Loved it, more than usual! Am feeling a little sad that it’s over and am contemplating a reread of the whole series. Sigh.
Lol. Thanks.
Bren on the cover keeps getting older and shorter. He’s actually somewhere pushing 40…hard, but still…
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a cover where Bren looks as determined as he does on Peacemaker. Well, “determined” is too mild a word for what I’m thinking, but I believe you get the idea. I wonder who he’s heading for with that look on his face and if they know that the paidhi-aji is in NO mood for fun and games…….well, I’ll start the book tonight.
I believe the term you might want would be ‘grim’. Very much the “I am at the end of my rope, nadiin, and you do not want to cross me!” Even Cajieri and his Human associates look like they might be wondering what they have gotten themselves into.
Speaking of covers, I didn’t like the cover art on Pretender.
Just finished Peacemaker. waiting to talk about the book.
We at the Shejidan forum have separate Spoiler and non-Spoiler threads currently active. Search us up, if you’re bursting to talk NOW…
thanks, been busy, will look up your forum.
Sorry to be indirect about it; we get hit by enough internet botiin as is, so our habit is to not post direct links that would draw more.
Wait a couple of weeks for everybody to get a chance to finish: that’ll be about the 20th of April. That’ll give those deep in the throes of taxes a fair go at it!
I am waiting for Mein Hostess to get in those few copies which she might sell directly. I buy one and read it, pass on to a fellow fan with less free money; when he gives it back, donate it to our library whose budget has been cut yea again. Win-win-win-win!
Since my comment is not plot-related, I think I can get away it in advance of the usual grace period–CJ, I thought the inclusion of Lord Geigi’s history was brilliant as a way to get the “Our Story So Far” bit out of the way. Taking care of the readers who have not read all the 14 previous books without boring the ones who have is a genius move. Not that I found the history boring in any way!
.
Also interesting: I Googled to check my spelling of the good Nandi’s name, and found that Google Books has a sizable chunk of the text of Deceiver online! I thought this had been Addressed???