Book Discussion: Foreigner SPOILER FREE Thread

I've made it to page 124, and I'm pretty well sucked in. Liking it so far!

Page 381, but I'm making notes this time so reading is slower than usual with these books ;-)

ACHING for the discussion to start!!!

I am really enjoying this, Busifer.
:o)
Looks like I might have to invest in the rest of the series.

I finally have time to start on the book today.......right after a trip to B&N. ;)

#3 Can I say "I told you so" now?

#5 - Yup! :o)

In fact, I'm dreadfully torn between reading and hanging out in here for a bit.
:oS

So far, so good - I'm on page 105 and don't find it boring yet. That's impressive for me and a science fiction novel. :D

Gah, you guys are the worst! I was going to be good and not buy another book, but now you've been raving about it and I've gone and bought it off Amazon!

still waiting for it to show up, I expect it sometime this week.

#8 - Sorry, LizT! I hope you got it at a reduced price, at least. :o)

10> Hee, I got it used so it was fairly cheap. And they look like they're fairly speedy on the shipping, too (so I can start reading soon! Woo!) I decided against buying it new from Amazon then buying several other books to get it up to £15 for free shipping ;-)

Unexpectedness happened on the weekend so I didn't make as much progress as I wanted, but I'm enjoying it tremendously. I haven't read any sci fi for ages and this is an awesome way to come back to it. I'm really glad you've been so enthusiastic about Cherryh (and this book/series) Busifer - she should give you dividends or something!

Hopefully I can stay away from GD/LT today and read all day.

(I want to say something about the beginning, but I'm biting my tongue and will wait)

I am going home late today and then tomorrow I hope to see the book, and then later next week....my Kindle! Amazon sez its been shipped.

Oh, OK, I'll talk about Foreigner after I get started. And I'll go to Amazon's Kindle to post about it. Wait and watch.....

#13 - That sounds like such excitement, maggie! :o)
I really hope you're happy with it!

#12 - Blame it on r_f who made me try Foreigner in the first place, so, if any, the money should go that way ;-)

I'm so so sooo happy you're enjoying it! I do too, and it's my third reread.

Bleah! I picked it up during lunch, and then got so totally sucked in...
*gasp*
Dagnabbit, I have things I have to do!

I predict fleela will post after me.
;o)

(Ha ha, I had to edit a typo and I couldn't resist.)

I'm on chapter 3 now. I have a hard copy and an audio version so I can keep reading when I have to do other stuff, like feed my family.

Sheesh, you'd think they'd learn by now that I have better things to do. ;)

OK, I am home and I have my copy in my hand. Debate: do I unload the car (its really cold outside) or do I just go take a warm tub and start reading.

No debate! off to the tub.

*hopes maggie didn't doze and drop the book into the tub*
;o)

What do you think so far, maggie?

I'm going to sheepishly admit that the jumping around in the time line is making it hard for me to concentrate on what I'm reading rather than think about where the story has gone chronologically.

#20 - Not to fret, flee. The rest of the book doesn't seem to be like that. That is just the exposition/set-up device.

Yes, it's just the Part I & II, from Part III it's plain sailing, chronologically, throughout the series, as a matter of fact.

I almost got stuck in those two first parts, but I have to say that slogging on through them is very rewarding. And the first part is important for the general set up...

Oh good, I just started Part III.

...that's were the REAL story starts :-)

OK, I got thru a first few pages saying hmmm my friends say this is good....what kind of friends?.....I wonder if they like hard core sci fi with lots of sci and not too much fi....well, night night

I fell to sleep pretty quickly being in my own bed and I having to hold that book! I want my KINDLE, wah, wah

Seriously, I think its OK so far but I have attended to the comments about slogging thru parts 1 & 2 and then take off. So today between unpacking and putting house in order, I'll be reading. It is in the high 20s here this morning, way too cold for anything but reading.

edit for spelling! darn
2X edit for spelling, double darn

I'm still waiting for mine to arrive. Durned postal system! My mail has been maddeningly slow lately.

Agreeing with clamairy and Busifer,here. The first two parts were slow going for me. I started the third part last night, was going to read for just a bit - and suddenly I'm halfway through the book.

Are the sequels as good as this one?

It's hard to put down. In fact, one of the MANY reasons I'm crabby this morning is that I stayed up passed my bedtime reading.

Yes, the sequels are as good; some of them BETTER, as the universe, politics and interpersonal relationships takes off :-)

I'd say the single best book in the series (I've read 8 out of 9) is the next book Invader but the quality remains about as high as foreigner right through.

I don't find the beginning that slow - but then I'm a very fast reader, so it doesn't take me long. I guess if you are not a SF fan than the sudden arrival out of jump bit can be confusing / less interesting. But many books open with a vastly different world, the details/similarities of which only appear later on.

I would certainly stress that anyone who is struggling with it stay on until part 3.

I didn't find it slow, just deliberately disjointed. My fear was that the whole book would be written that way, and I'd be rather unhappy with that. Needless to say, I'm far from disappointed with it. But I have to stop sneaking in here, and get some work done, so I can READ tonight.
:o)

I'm having an interesting experience with both listening to and reading the book. Sometimes I am rereading passages I have already heard and other times I'm hearing things I have already read.

>28 clamairy: Yep, I waking up was not fun this morning. :)

>29 Busifer: & 30 I'm glad to hear that. I read Bujold's Vorkosigan series last year and, while not a space opera, this has some similarities (politics, diplomacy, cultural differences).

#32 - You sure that has nothing to do with the 'jumping around in time' experience? ;-)

#32 - I didn't know any Cherryh was on audiobook. Who's the narrator? DO you know what other of her titles are available?

>34 Busifer: - No, silly! :P

Part of the reason I am also using an audiobook is just to bug you!

>35 reading_fox:
I don't believe the narrator stated her name, but it's an LoC recording, presumably for visually impaired readers. I'll try to dig up some more info.

EDIT: This is what I found on the LoC site - http://www.loc.gov/nls/catalogs/cassette/1995/fiction.txt
The narrator is Kimberly Schraf.

Of the 9 books so far of the FOREIGNER series, #2-INVADER, is my fave also. Also, I have a...particular...fondness for #8-PRETENDER. ; )

I too was confused by the opening chapter of #1-FOREIGNER. As background, CJ Cherryh wanted to cut this from the book, but Betsy Wollheim (her editor) felt strongly it should stay. So it did.

When I re-read #1-FOREIGNER after reading most of the rest of the series -- suddenly that first confusing "set-up" chapter made sense. It totally fit in, & answered many questions. Skim it for now if you desire -- but you may well wish to re-read it later.

I still have 160 pages to go. I had a sick child staying home from school today, and didn't get much alone time.

Right now I'm curling up to read for 20 minutes! If I can tear my eyes away from the Dragon, that is. ;o)

Horray, my copy arrived today! I've just got to polish off a couple of other things before I dive in.

We're eagerly waiting for you folks, over in the other thread... :-)

Amazon Germany pulled their finger out and my copy is officially on its way - see you soon :-)

Mine popped through the door this morning, so I'll start it today :-)

Yay! I'm done. Running over to the spoiler thread now.

You dawg!

Now I have to decide: do I hang out here in the GD a bit, or do I go curl up with that book?

*sigh*

I've got a good start on it, interesting beginning, hopefully it continues to appeal.

Blast. I only have 80 pages left and I have things I have to do...
Holy bleep, this book is hard to put down!!!

Particularly the endings. I can often manage with only a small mental pleading, to put Cherryh down mid way through, but the last 100+ pages are just desperate to be read in one fell swoop however long it takes, and no matter what's supposed to be going on around me.

No kidding! There have been three 'holy sheet' moments in the last 20 or 30 pages alone! bleah...

aaah, my Chair-eee-huh! book as just arrived, I'm gonna start reading it in...

3...

2...

1....

now(ish)

For those who do the tagging don't forget the

'Green Dragon' & 'GD Group Read' tags!

For the most part, with Carolyn Cherryh's books, I have learned better than to start them when I have anything else that has to be done. They always get read in one awful fell swoop, late bedtimes are the norm....the hardest thing is, having them sit on the shelf sometimes for months, awaiting that sort of indulgent moment.

Such willpower dies the second I start them. This has been true since I read her Gate of Ivrel, way back when. I learned better, the hard way, snoozing about like a dummy at my desk, the next day, or else falling asleep over a painting. (That makes for interesting repair work, don't try it.)

Perhaps because of that, I never found any rough moments with the beginning of this title. I was nailed the instant I started.

Touchstones - whap!!! - rats, the 'slap the snot out of it' cure isn't working...

I agree, I have had the same kind of experience with all of her books that I've read. I have two unread Cherryh book on my shelves at present, waiting for a felicitous moment to occur... (it will not take too long, I have such a bad self control) ;-)

#51 & #52 - I'll have to remember that. One plus of Foreigner was that I was so intent on it that I was able to tune out a lot of the household* noise while reading. I usually can't do that.

Janny, let us know if that slapping maneuver ever does work. :o)

* The dog scratching to come in... that I still managed to hear.

Okay, how many of you are still reading?

How many of you have yet to start?

me... I'm a ways behind you all, but don't worry about me... I will add that I'm enjoying it so far, and I agree with the whole it sucks you in and keeps you turning the pages thing, that's very true.

So, Tane, are you saying that it's good to read a book that sucks?
;o)

OK, I am way behind too. I've been playing with my Kindle too much. I looked to see if I could get Foreigner on it but I think not. I'll try to do better this weekend.

#56
You know me, I'll read anything... in fact I need to speak to Groo and see if I can borrow his matchbook collection :-D

and

#57
Maggie, what's the Kindle like? I know I can't order one over on this side of the pond (being from the UK), but I'm quite happy to be jealous of those that have one, if they're really good... ;-)

I haven't found it becoming a must read page turner yet and I'm a little over a quarter of the way through, but that might be because I just finished a 4 book head down session with The Bartimaeus trilogy and then Brandon's Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians. I do find it to be pretty good but so far this ambassador guy always seems to be jumping to conclusions that don't seem to fit the facts presented. We'll see how my view changes as I continue.

I'm slow, I'm just over 1/2 way through, hope to concentrate on it tomorrow and finish, hubby has been warned.

I'm reading, but a bit slowly. Hoping to get there in a couple of days though!

#59 - Hey, readafew, I wandered over to your catalog to see how you rated those books you mentioned. I see we share similar opinion of Alcatraz. (I loved it.) I still have the 2nd and 3rd books of The Bartimaeus trilogy on my mental TBR stack. Like my daughter you liked the 3rd best of all. That seems to be the trend!

62 > yep it's in the 3rd book where everything finally ties together.

Out of curiosity, did *everybody* have trouble with parts 1 and 2 (before we get to Bren)? I actually was very intrigued by them and they were part of what sucked me into the book.

I really liked the first 2 parts and was sad when we jumped scenes...

Actually, I liked Parts 1 and 2 better than the rest of the book...

Interesting!
Maybe the three of you should try her Company Wars books? They're much more classic SF in the meaning of space ships, space stations, space travel, etc.
They're all really good, and different from Foreigner. I'd start with Downbelow Station, because it gives a background, but you can start just about anywhere - they're within the same universe and the timeline is consistent, but we don't necessarily follow the same persons (except in Heavy time & Hellburner).

Yep, I'm joining in the people who thought the first two sections were cool and intriguing. Though I am managing to enjoy the third part too. I will get to the end soon, darnit!

I am definitely interested in trying more Cherryh books... I've heard from several people that Cyteen is very good but so far I haven't been able to get my hands on it. I'll keep an eye out for Downbelow Station as well. Thanks for the recommendation!

Has anyone read Cuckoo's Egg? It's only got two reviews here but the description sounds like the kind of book I would enjoy.

I finally started today! I'm just about done with Book II, and so far I'm enjoying it but I'm not hooked. Hopefully that's just around the corner, though. :) It's very different from the stuff I usually read.

well I'm now in the last quarter of the book and things are moving right along. My next sit down will quit likely be the last cause I'll have a hard time putting it down before the end.

Hope you enjoy it, xicanti!

See you over in the SPOILER thread soon then, readafew.

I've finally started and just finished part 2. I did find this beginning intriguing but I'm glad it's not space opera all the way (or is it? I got the impression from above that it isn't.) I can only take so much space science details before I get lost. I envy the rest of you already in the spoilers thread! Plus, I predict some sleepless nights ahead, but that's definitely only 5% bad (due to being unable to function the next day) if the book's that good.

#71 lleela --

Cuckoo's Egg and Serpent's Reach are my very fave Cherryh books.

Actually, these are two of my all-time favorites, irregardless of author! I LOVE them!!

Re 74 - Woops, realized I've gotten ahead of myself and have only just started book 2. Still finding it interesting though.

I'm about halfway through now, and I think it's finally clicked for me!

ack! I really want to read this now....I have to go to the bookstore tonight!

I just started this week. But, after 125 pages, I'm just not into it. Should I throw in the towel now and get another book, or should I push on?

79 - I felt the same way thoughout the whole book, but I thought Cherryh's ideas just interesting enough and there were just enough exciting bits that I read on. Overall, I felt it was just ok but people in the spoiler thread say book 2 is much better and have piqued my interst enough that I'll give the series one more try.

#79 - Your choice; not everyone can like every book there is, and Cherryh is kind of special, both in writing style and in selecting her topics.
Based on my liking her books very much I'd say give it another try, but... like I said - it's your choice!

dchaikin: I thought it was fairly rubbish for quite a big chunk. It does improve though, in my opinion. Half way through I would have said I would never read another Cherryh book. Now I'm seriously tempted by Invader. But they seem to be reprinting them or something equally upsetting. Graarrghh!

#80-82: Thanks. I started another book (Eating Stone by Ellen Meloy) and I'm really into it. So Foreigner is going on hold. It happens to be due back at my library in a week, and starting another book means I won't have time to finish it before then. I might try it again some time. I do feel a little guilty since I voted for Foreigner.

dchaiken - no guilt! no worries! this is for fun and if it is not fun, don't do it. You are allowed to vote for something and then find....oh, I've changed my mind. What a strange and wonderous thing.... being able to think, and change my mind....

Having finished Foreigner only after really making myself do it I am now trying book 2 and am doing only relatively better. I think I may change my mind too at the end of book 2.

dchaikin - What did you not like about it?

If it was the plot, or the early lack of action, I would suggest you come back to it when you do have time.

If it was Bren's thoughts, then I'd suggest you skip the Foreigner series but try some of Cherryh's other works.

If you just didn't like the writing style - dense, third person focused, motivation derived, then maybe CJC isn't for you at all.

It would be a dull world if we were all the same.

rf - I'm following a mood theory for the year, as an experiment. I'm trying to start lots of books, but only read the ones I seem to be "in the mood for", or something like that. Anyway, this one didn't seem to fit, and it had something to do with the style. At ~125 pages in, with Bren heading inland, the book felt like all politics. I needed to like Bren a lot, and at that point I didn't care about him.

I did really like the brief books 1 & 2, I wanted more about those stories!

Oh, this certainly hasn't turned me off of Cherryh altogether. I hope to try her again sometime. Maybe Cyteen?

Cyteen is great but a lot of politics in it so if that puts you off then maybe not? I think it's a real good read, though!!!

If you liked the start of Foreigner maybe the The Company Wars books is what you'd like - space stations, space travel, drama, some romance... Those books are less introverted, but also less 'happy' (as is Cyteen).
The touchstone above turned up Downbelow station - check Common Knowledge for complete series listing!