New Releases by C. J. Cherryh

The 2nd novel of The Hinder Stars series returns to an intergalactic corporate conflict, set in the Hugo Award–winning Alliance-Union Universe. With deft prose and complex characters, Alliance Unbound is thought-provoking science fiction that shrewdly examines the technological and sociopolitical challenges of humanity’s journey to the stars. When Cyteen opened up faster-than-light travel, it gave the technology for free to any ship that could reach it; and with that technology, it provided a map of jump-points, points of mass enabling starships to navigate hyperspace safely. The map of jump-points, however, stopped with the route to Alpha—thus excluding Sol, and Earth, and the Earth Company, whose gateway to the stars was Alpha. Cyteen knew exactly what it was doing with its gift. Sol and the EC could still reach Alpha with sub-light pusher-ships as it always had—but Sol and the Earth Company no longer had any authority in the Beyond. But Sol intends to take back control of its star-stations and stop Cyteen''s unbridled expansion, however it can. To do that, they are willing to starve Alpha and concentrate their efforts on a huge FTLer capable of carrying military force.

The 22nd book in the beloved Foreigner saga continues the adventures of diplomat Bren Cameron as he navigates the tenuous peace he has struck between human refugees and the alien atevi. In the east, outright warfare has tied down the Assassins'' Guild, and that region is in confusion. Ready to hand is an age-old feud in the west, where the Master of Ashidama Bay has long hated the Edi people of the north shore and equally hated the Aishidi’tat for bringing the Edi to his shores—and hatred is a resource the Shadow Guild knows how to use to its advantage. Bren Cameron is tasked with getting Ilisidi, the aiji-dowager, back to the capital alive, on an urgent basis. But events are cascading down on the south, the Guild is stretched thin in the east, and the Shadow Guild is within striking distance of critical targets that could bring war to the entire south. Two lives stand in the breach, two lives the aishidi''tat would not willingly risk—Ilisidi and Bren—and the Shadow Guild will spend anything and everything to take them out. The Foreigner series sets the standard for sci-fi first contact sagas—a smart, probing, engaging sociopolitical narrative from an acknowledged master of the genre.

The twenty-first book in the beloved Foreigner saga continues the adventures of diplomat Bren Cameron, advisor to the atevi head of state. The overthrow of the atevi head of state, Tabini-aiji, and the several moves of enemies even since his restoration, have prompted major changes in the Assassins'' Guild, which has since worked to root out its seditious elements—a clandestine group they call the Shadow Guild. With the Assassins now rid of internal corruption, with the birth of Tabini''s second child, and with the appointment of an heir, stability seems to have returned to the atevi world. Humans and atevi share the space station in peaceful cooperation, humans and atevi share the planet as they have for centuries, and the humans'' island enclave is preparing to welcome 5000 human refugees from a remote station now dismantled, and to do that in unprecedented cooperation with the atevi mainland. In general Bren Cameron, Tabini-aiji''s personal representative, returning home to the atevi capital after securing that critical agreement, was ready to take a well-earned rest—until Tabini''s grandmother claimed his services on a train trip to the smallest, most remote and least significant of the provinces, snowy Hasjuran—a move concerning which Tabini-aiji gave Bren a private instruction: protect her. Advise her. Advise her—perhaps. As for protection, she has a trainload of high-level Guild. But since the aiji-dowager has also invited a dangerously independent young warlord, Machigi, and a young man who may be the heir to Ajuri, a key northern province—the natural question is why the dowager is taking this ill-assorted pair to Hasjuran and what on this earth she may be up to. With a Shadow Guild attack on the train station, it has become clear that others have questions, too. Hasjuran, on its mountain height, overlooks the Marid, a district that is part of the atevi nation only in name—a district in which Machigi is one major player, and where the Shadow Guild retains a major stronghold. Protect her? Ilisidi is hellbent on settling scores with the Shadow Guild, and her reasons for this trip and this company now become clear. One human diplomat and his own bodyguard suddenly seem a very small force to defend her from what she is setting in motion.

"For years, the stations of the Hinder Stars, those old stations closest to Sol, have lagged behind the great megastations of the Beyond, like Pell and Cyteen. But new opportunities and fears arise when Alpha station, the oldest of them all, receives news of a huge incoming faster-than-light ship with no identification. The denizens of Alpha wait anxiously for news about the outsiders, each with their own suspicions about the ship and its motivations. Ross and Fallon, crew members of the Galway, believe the unidentified ship belongs to Pell and has come to investigate another massive ship docked at Alpha, The Rights of Man. Though Rights is under the command of the Earth Company, it is not quite perfected--and its true purpose is shrouded in mystery. James Robert Neihart, the captain of the strange ship--finally identified as one of the two largest ships of the Beyond, the Merchanter vessel Finity''s End--has heard whispers of The Rights of Man and wonders at its design and purpose, especially as Sol has struggled to rival the progress of the Farther Stars. Now docked at Alpha, he must convince the crews that there is more to The Rights of Man than meets the eye. Because the reasons behind the creation of The Rights of Man, and its true plans, could change everything--not just for Sol, but for the Hinder Stars and the Beyond itself."--

PREVIOUS BOOK IN SERIES: EMERGENCE, ISBN 9780756414146. The 20th book in the beloved ''Foreigner'' saga returns to the trials of diplomat Bren Cameron as he navigates the tenuous peace he has struck between human refugees and the alien atevi.

We welcome you to join the realms of C. J. Cherryh''s imagination, where you''ll visit: "Cassandra"--the Hugo Award-winning tale of a woman cursed with a unique, prophetic madness. "Threads of Time"--an unforgettable reminder that when you play tricks in time, Time itself may play the greatest trick on you. Sunfall--in which six mighty Earth cities laden with the grandeur of history confront their fates in the far future light of our own dying sun. And many other magical, alien, and future worlds, in a volume that incorporates all C. J. Cherryh''s previous, long-unavailable collections, individual short stories that have never been compiled before, and a never-before-published novella written specifically for this book. -- cover

The mri race, indestructible until having finally met their match in a war against a new and powerful enemy, are in danger of extinction, leaving three individuals--a warrior, priestess, and human being--to recapture their domination.

Sequel to: ''Cyteen'' and ''Downbelow station.''

The 19th book in Cherryh''s beloved Foreigner space opera series begins a new era for diplomat Bren Cameron, as he navigates the tenuous peace he has struck between human refugees and the alien "atevi."

A new phase in the Foreigner Universe begins. Knowledge about the dangerous situation in adjacent space rests only with Bren Cameron and a handful of others. Bren must try to prepare her fellow human inhabitants for the arrival of many more desperate human refugees from space.

"Does it seem reasonable to you that a Regency continues—into an Emperor''s thirtieth year " "No, m''lord," Shoka said. "Not to us, either. Not to many of us. We were ready to make that objection—when lord Gitu overran Yijang and Hua.... Assassinations, elsewhere. Hired killers. Bands of mercenaries traveling under imperial orders. The Emperor''sseal, and the Regent''s orders. How do we stop such a thing How do we prevent it—when every lord able to lead is apprehended, assassinated, when they strip us of men, even boys out of the fields—go to Saukendar, some said. Go to Saukendar. They urged me to send to you. This time he has to listen, they said. But if I had sent—and Ghita had known—you understand—" Reidi gave an uncomfortable twitch of the shoulders. His horse shifted again. "I had no true hope that you''d come. You''d indicated to the villagers—that you had no wish to hear from anyone. That you would refuse any such petitions—" "You were watching me." "It''s my village, m''lord—as the Regent pointed out to me again and again, and threatened my life should you leave that mountain. Of course the word came to me. I tried to get a messenger down the road to you when I knew you''d left Mon.... We believed you''d come back to deal with Ghita and his partisans." Shoka felt cold, cold all the way to the bones. "There are men ready to follow you, lord Saukendar. There are men who''ve committed their lives to this— We didn''t know the hour. We only believed. Now you''ve come back ..." "It''s gripping drama, tightly focussed and inexorable as Taizu herself. Read The Paladin and you''ll never settle for another ordinary sword-wielding female." —Faren Miller LOCUS At the publisher''s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management)

The seventeenth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… The human and atevi inhabitants of Alpha Station, orbiting the world of the atevi, have picked up a signal from an alien kyo ship telling them that the ship is inbound toward Alpha. Five thousand of the inhabitants of Alpha are human refugees from the now derelict Reunion Station. They have seen this scenario before, when a single kyo ship swooped into the Reunion system and, without a word, melted a major section of Reunion Station with a single pass. These refugees, who were rescued through the combined efforts of an allied group of humans and atevi and brought to safety at Alpha, are now desperate with fear. Bren Cameron—brilliant human emissary of Tabini-aiji, the powerful atevi political leader on the mainland below, and also the appointee of the human president of the island nation of Mospheira—is the obvious choice of representative to be sent up to deal with both the panicked refugees and the incoming alien ship. As a member of the spacefaring delegation who rescued the refugees, Bren has talked to kyo before—and even won their trust by saving one of their kind from a Reunioner prison. Because of his remarkable diplomatic and linguistic abilities, Bren managed to communicate with that grateful kyo individual on a limited basis, and he has evidence that that same kyo is on the ship heading to defenseless Alpha Station. But no one can predict what an alien race might do, or what their motivations could be. And Bren Cameron, the only human ever to be accepted into atevi society, is now the one individual with a hope of successfully interacting with the crew of the incoming ship. But Bren knows it will take putting himself in the hands of the kyo. Can Bren count on the gratitude of one individual alien to save his life and the lives of thousands on Alpha Station?

Together for the first time in one volume—all four novels in the dark science fiction epic, the Morgaine Cycle. The gates were relics of a lost era, a linked network of portals that the ruthless Qual empire used to span Time and Space. The Science Buereau has come to believe that sometime, somewhere in the unreachable past, someone has done the unthinkable and warped the very fabric of the universe using these gates. Now, it is up to Morgaine, a mysterious woman aided by a single warrior honor-bound to serve her, to travel from world to world sealing the ancient gates whose very existence threatens the integrity of all worlds...

Bren and Illisidi must protect young prince Cajeiri and the human children who have come to visit for his birthday from the dangerous split compromising the Assassin''s Guild.

The fifteenth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… Civil war on the world of the atevi is finally over. And Cajeiri, son and heir of Tabini-aiji, atevi leader of the dominant Western Association, is about to celebrate his fortunate ninth birthday. Bren Cameron, brilliant human diplomat allied with Tabini, has managed to arrange a visit for Cajeiri’s three special associates from the starship Phoenix—ordinary human children who developed a bond with Cajeiri during his two years in space. After a year of political upheaval, this is a happy event: the heir is safe, the aiji is back in power, and a massive celebration is planned in the capital. The whole world is watching. But Bren Cameron has received evidence that security has been severely compromised from the aiji’s high office on downward. The powerful Assassins’ Guild—which provides the judicial system, law enforcement, and personal protection in atevi society—is in the hands of a man who would like to turn the entire world back two centuries. Bren now knows the details of a decades-old plot that’s been threaded through Guild actions since before his arrival on the continent. The enemy’s best chance is to strike now, at the public celebration that is much too important and far too advanced to cancel. Bren and his associates have no choice. If they don’t make the first move, the other side will. And the lives of the heir, his innocent human guests, and the entire ruling family are at stake. The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Peacemaker is the 15th Foreigner novel, and the 3rd book in the fifth subtrilogy.

The twelfth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… In the wake of civil war, Bren Cameron, the brilliant human diplomat of the alien atevi civilization, has left the capital and sought refuge at his country estate, Najida. But now he is trapped inside Najida—which has been surrounded by enemies—with Ilisidi, the powerful grandmother of his ally, Tabini-aiji, atevi leader of the Western Association. But Ilisidi, the wily and dangerous aiji-dowager, is not inclined to be passive, and in a brazen maneuver sends Bren into enemy territory, to the palace of Machigi, the leader of the rebels. Bren''s mission is to negotiate with Machigi—a young atevi lord who has never actually seen a human—and somehow persuade him to cease his hostile actions against the West. Bren knows that the autocratic Machigi rules a fractious clan, and that his hospitality is not guaranteed. Bren''s genius for negotiation enable him to make a daring trade offer to Machigi—one that seems to interest the young warlord. But Machigi is suspicious of Ilisidi''s motives, and, to Bren''s utter shock, evokes an ancient law that jeopardizes Bren''s life. Can Bren stay alive and not alienate Ilisidi or Tabini, while also representing the interests of their enemy? The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Betrayer is the 12th Foreigner novel, and the 3rd book in the fourth subtrilogy.

The tenth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… The civil war among the alien atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri, his son and heir, and his human paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to Bujavid, their seat of power. But factions that remain loyal to the opposition are still present, and the danger these rebels pose is far from over. Since the rebellion, Bren Cameron''s apartment in the capital has been occupied by an old noble family from the Southern district—the same district from which the coup was initiated. This family now claims loyalty to Tabini, but the aiji is dubious. To avoid conflict, Bren has decided to absent himself from the Bujavid and visit Najida, his country estate on the west coast. Tabini-aiji is training his young son in the traditional ways of the atevi, and has Cajeiri under strict supervision. But after two years in space, surrounded by human children, Cajeiri bristles in this boring environment. Desperate for freedom and adventure, disregarding the obvious danger, Cajeiri escapes the Bujavid with his young bodyguards and sets out to join Bren on the coast. Determined to insure his son''s safety, Tabini recalls Ilisidi from her home in the East, asking her to find Cajeiri and secure him at Bren''s estate. But it has been a long time since Bren has been to Najida, and the war has shifted allegiances in many quarters. A district that was once considered a safe haven may now be a trap. And with Bren, Cajeiri, and Ilisidi all under one roof and separated from their allies, that trap is now baited. The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Conspirator is the 10th Foreigner novel, and the 1st book in the fourth subtrilogy.

Deep in an abandoned, shattered castle, an old man of the Old Magic muttered almost forgotten words. His purpose -- to create out of the insubstance of the air, from a shimmering of light and a fluttering of shadows. that most wonderous of spells, a Shaping. A Shaping in the form of a, young man who will be sent east on the road the old was to old to travel. To right the wrongs of a long-forgotten wizard war, and call new wars into being. Here is the long-awaited major new novel from one of the brightest stars in the fantasy and science fiction firmament.C.J.Cherryh''s haunting story of the wizard Mauryl, kingmaker for a thousand years of Men, and Tristen, fated to sow distrust between a prince and his father being. A tale as deep as legend and a intimate as love, it tells of a battle beyond Time, in which all Destiny turns on the wheel of an old man''s ambition, a young man''s innocence, and the unkept promised of a king to come.

Tristen is both more and less than a man. A summoning, a shaping, he was brought to life by a wizard, to serve a king yet to be crowned. Now the wizard is dead: a united Ylesuin, and a peace this land has never known. Cefwyn needs his only friend, this young man of mysterious origins who is more brother than vassal. He relies on Tristen, and trusts him though he knows not why, as he plans the war that will bring his dream to pass...or bring ruin upon them all. The eagerly awaited sequel to her acclaimed Fortress in the Eye of Time, C.J. Cherryh''s newest high fantasy triumph is an epic saga of destiny and intrigue in a magical world as wondrous, and as real, as our own.

Shadows from another realm threaten the world with eternal darkness as this “stunning high-fantasy series” continues (Denver Post). An ancient war between shadowy Immortals persists to this day, thanks to the wizard Mauryl and the Shaping he conjured to face the Shadows of Chaos. Both more and less than human, Tristen is that Shaping. And his victories have won his friend Cefwyn both a kingdom and true love. But the Lines that hold the world in place are shifting again. A ruthless enemy is preparing for battle. Once again, Tristen will take up the sword inscribed with “Truth” and “Illusion” on its blade. But he faces more than a pretender to Cefwyn’s throne. The Shadows he sees are straight from Ruin—a flow of darkness covering the world like ink . . .

Two surprising allies have emerged to aid the embattled ruler in a struggle he must win: Cefwyn''s two young sons. Aewyn Marhanen is the prince destined to rule. Aewyn''s half-brother, Elfwyn Aswydd—the bastard son of the king and the sorceress Tarien Aswydd—has spent years unaware of his parentage, yet now it is his time to emerge and claim the gifted birthright he''s been denied for so long. But a dark, sinister magic has crept close to the young man and seized hold of the kingdom. Nothing is as it seems, as the bonds of family strain against the powerful forces that would see them undone—and the battle is joined to unmask and destroy the malevolence that threatens to unhinge the king''s peaceful and fragile reign.

The Hugo Award–winning author and SFWA Grand Master delivers the first Gene Wars novel and “a brand-new universe with brand-new rules” (The San Diego Union Tribune). In this brilliant novel—possibly Cherryh’s masterwork—the fate of billions has come down to a confrontation between two profoundly alien cultures on a single desert planet. Marak has suffered the madness his entire life. He is a prince and warrior, strong and shrewd and expert in the ways of the desert covering his planet. In the service of his father, he has dedicated his life to overthrowing the Ila, the mysterious eternal dictator of his world. For years he has successfully hidden the visions of a silver tower that plague him, but when his secret is discovered, Marak is betrayed by his own father and forced to march in an endless caravan with the rest of his world’s madmen to the Ila’s city of Oburan. Instead of death, Marak finds in Oburan his destiny, and the promise of life—if he can survive an impossible mission given to him by the strange people in the towers. According to these beings who look like him yet act differently than anyone he has ever known, Marak has a slim chance to save his world’s people from the wrath of Ila’s enemies. But to do so, he must convince them all—warring tribes, villagers, priests, young and old, as well as the Ila herself—to follow him on an epic trek across the burning desert before the hammer of the Ila’s foes falls from the heavens above. “C. J. Cherryh remains at the top of her game.” —Tulsa World

From C.J. Cherryh, one of science fiction′s greatest writers and a 3-time Hugo Award "Best Novel" winner, comes the exciting and long-awaited follow-up to Hammerfall, the second novel of the Gene Wars, now in mass market. In the second volume of "The Gene Wars," C. J. Cherryh further explores the captivating new universe where two interstellar empires, scarred by nanotechnology weaponry, hover in an uneasy detente. Perched at the edge of the galaxy, tiny Concord Station holds the balance of the universe within its carefully regulated worlds. For, created to carefully monitor the crucial desert planet below, it lies in the tenuous intersection between the territories of Earth and the alien Ondat. Marak Trin Tain has saved a planet′s people from total destruction, when the implacable ondat sent down a hammerfall to destroy the planet and keep its deadly nanoceles from changing life and evolution forever. But the regrowing planet is fragile, and a deadly cataclysm could destroy Marak--and with him, the hope for peace within the universe. Meanwhile, on Concord, an unexpected ship from Earth disrupts the uneasy truces between human and alien, and the consequences could restart the terrible Gene Wars that once destroyed most of humanity.

75th Anniversary Edition! Among the best-written and most emotionally complex stories of the Pulp Era, the tales of intergalactic smuggler Northwest Smith still resonate strongly 75 years after their first publication. From the crumbling temples of forgotten gods on Venus to the seedy pleasure halls of old Mars, Northwest Smith blazes a trail through the underbelly of the solar system in 13 action-packed stories you won''t soon forget.

The ninth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… In the aftermath of civil war, the world of the atevi is still perilously unstable. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with his son and heir Cajeiri, and his human paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to the seat of power. The usurper, Murini, has escaped to the lands of his supporters, but the danger these rebels pose is far from over. Ilisidi, Tabini''s grandmother, the aiji-dowager, has returned to her ancient castle in the East, for she has powerful ties in the lands of the rebels, and she seeks to muster whatever support for her grandson that she can from among those enemy strongholds. In his father''s tightly guarded headquarters, eight-year-old Cajeiri is horribly bored. Two years on an interstellar starship surrounded by human children have left him craving excitement. But unbeknownst to this dissatisfied youngster, he has become a target for forces bent on destroying his father''s rule and everything it stands for. Though still a child, Cajeiri embodies a unique threat to the venerable, tradition-defined lifestyle of his people. For this young boy is the first ateva youth to have lived in a human environment. And after hundreds of years of tenuous atevi-human coexistence, Cajeiri may very well be the first ateva to ever truly understand the so similar yet so dangerously different aliens who share his home planet and threaten the hidebound customs of his race. The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Deliverer is the 9th Foreigner novel, and the 3rd book in the third subtrilogy.

The eighth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… Exhausted from a two-year rescue mission in space, the crew of the starship Phoenix return home to find disaster: civil war has broken out, the powerful Western Association has been overthrown, and Tabini-aiji, its forceful leader, is missing. In a desperate move, paidhi Bren Cameron and Tabini''s grandmother Ilisidi, the aiji-dowager, along with with Cajeiri, Tabini''s eight-year-old heir, make planetfall and succeed in reaching the mainland. The brilliant and forceful Ilisidi seeks refuge at the estate of an old ally, and Tabini-aiji arrives at the door. As word of Tabini''s whereabouts circulates, clans allied with Tabini descend upon the estate, providing a huge civilian presence that everyone involved hopes will deter impending attacks by the usurpers. But as more and more supporting clans arrive, Bren finds himself increasingly isolated, and it becomes clear that both his extremely important report of alien contact in space, and even his life, rest on the shoulders of only two allies: Ilisidi and Cajeiri. Can one elderly ateva and and eight-year-old boy—himself a prime target for assassination—protect Bren, a lone human involved in a civil war that most atevi believe he caused? The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Pretender is the 8th Foreigner novel, and the 2nd book in the third subtrilogy.

This omnibus volume combines two Alliance-Union novels: Hugo Award nominee Cuckoo’s Egg and Locus Best Novel Award nominee Serpent’s Reach. In Cuckoo’s Egg: They named him Thorn. They told him he was of their people, although he was ugly in their eyes, strange, sleek-skinned instead of furred, clawless, different. Yet he was of their power class: judge-warriors, the elite, the defenders. Thorn knew his difference was important—but not important enough to prevent murderous conspiracies against him, his protector, his caste, and perhaps against the peace of the world. But when Thorn finally learned what his true role in life was to be, that on him might hang the future of two worlds, then he had to stand alone to justify his very existence. In Serpent’s Reach: Raen a Sul Meth-maren was very young when the machinations of her distant kin erupted into a bloodbath. Years passed and Raen bided her time. Then, on a voyage to the outermost planet of the Reach, Raen encountered Betas with an intriguing tale to tell, an Azi unlike any other, and a Blue Warrior who remembered her contribution to the Hive mind. And she knew her time had come….

The groundbreaking novel that launched Cherryh''s epic series on first contact and its consequences is back in this special anniversary edition featuring a brand-new Introduction by the author. Reissue.

The fifth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… Nearly ten years after the unexpected return of the starship Phoenix, the alien atevi have three functioning space shuttles, and teams of atevi engineers labor in orbit to renovate the space station. But these monumental advances not only add a dangerously powerful third party to an already precarious diplomatic situation, but rouse pro- and anti=s[ace factions in atevi society to incendiary levels. To help negotiate these treacherous diplomatic waters, Tabini-aiji, the powerful head of the atevi''s Western Association, has sent the only human he fully trusts into space: his own paidhi, Bren Cameron. However, the threat of possible invasion by hostile aliens who attacked Phoenix''s station in a far-off sector of space hangs over them all. And when one of the senior captains of the Phoenix confesses that this station was not completely destroyed, as had been previously thought, the crew mutinies. How can Bren hope to mediate on a station overcome by a rebellious crew intent on taking the Phoenix on a rescue mission back into hostile alien territory? The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Defender is the fifth Foreigner book and the the second book of the second sub-trilogy.