He becomes a negotiator, not only between the island community of humans and the mainland population of Atevi, but between the spaceship humans and the planetary populations, between different Atevi factions and Tabini’s government, and ultimately between a new species, the Koh, and the two populations he serves. He redefines it multiple times, developing it under Tabini’s direction into essentially a cabinet role within the Atevi government. Through the Foreigner series, Cameron strives to be the impartial mediator that the “paidhi” role requires. The space station humans had built and abandoned two centuries before still orbited the planet, but when a new ship with humans arrived, the Atevi realized they needed to catch up technologically to their visitors and the guests they shared their planet with. The need for change accelerated when a new spaceship appeared in the sky. In these goals he found a willing ally in Cameron. “Tabini” became supreme leader of the Atevi with a vision to unify the Atevi and to reconsider the relationship between humans and Atevi.
Largely ignored by the atevi and forgotten by the humans, for two centuries the paidhi was kept in the dark and left to his own devices, unable and unwilling to serve the needs of either species.Ī young Bren Cameron accepted the position straight out of college, about the same time as a new ruler became “aiji” of the Atevi. Traditionally, the paidhi translated documents, negotiated trade deals, and basically tried to stay out of sight. The role developed almost 200 years earlier, created to maintain peace between the species after a war almost wiped out the humans soon after they landed. Cameron is the “paidhi,” an intermediary between the native (non-human) “Atevi” population and the human colony on the planet. In a genre that has tended to overlook talented women, Cherryh’s body of work demands respect.īren Cameron is the main protagonist through the series. Instead, she continues writing must-read books in a must-read series. After twenty-four years, nineteen novels and two short stories, she could perhaps be forgiven if she went through the motions on her latest offering. In any walk of life, maintaining a high standard is a constant struggle.
Cherryh won her first (!) Hugo Award in 1979. The first Foreigner book was published in 1994.
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