History Literature / Foreigner1994

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: If an atevi contracts with the [[MurderInc Assassin's Guild]] to kill someone, the target is informed of the fact ahead of time. If, in spite of the warning, the target is killed, it isn't considered to be murder.

* TheXenophile: Bren has a rather large fascination and affection for the Atevi and their culture. [[spoiler: So much so that he eventually drops any pretense of taking orders from Mospheira and openly becomes Tabini's agent instead, and begins living permanently on the Mainland. Certain humans are... not happy about this.]]
** Cajeiri the 8 year old kid of Tabini is obsessed with Human Culture, and can speak fluently several languages. This is not however a good thing as Cajeiri has difficulty relating to his own kind.

** The reverse also applies, since the atevi feel an emotion unknown to humans, ''manchi''. Humans can ''sort'' of understand it, since it's sort of like loyalty and sort of like a flocking instinct, but humans can never fully understand it, never grasp it at a gut/intuitive level, and never ''ever'' actually feel it.

* RubberForeheadAliens: The only visible difference between humans and atevi are that the atevi are taller, have gold colored eyes, pitch black skin (darker than even the darkest human skin, and shading to grey as it gets lighter), pointed ears, and no facial or body hair. Oh, and their sweat smells like petroleum products. This actually causes a lot of problems - atevi <i>look</i> human-like, but they <i>think</i> [[BlueAndOrangeMorality much differently]] - assuming otherwise causes... [[HilarityEnsues problems]].

* RubberForeheadAliens: The only visible difference between humans and atevi are that the atevi are taller, have gold colored eyes, pitch black skin (darker than even the darkest human skin, and shading to grey as it gets lighter), pointed ears, and no facial or body hair. Oh, and their sweat smells like petroleum products.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: If an atevi contracts with the [[MurderInc Assassin's Guild]] to kill someone, the target is informed of the fact ahead of hand. If, in spite of the warning, the target is killed, it isn't considered to be murder.

Bren Cameron has the job of the ''paidhi'', the sole point of contact between the human LostColony on the island of Mospheira and the [[RubberForeheadAliens alien]] atevi on whose planet the humans are living. While Bren enjoys being a diplomat/translator/linguist/xenologist, it's not what you'd call an exciting job. Some excitement is added when the ''aiji'', the head of the atevi government, gives him a handgun as a gift, even though it's highly illegal for a human to posses a gun. It then gets ''much'' more exciting when, a week later, an assassin breaks into his apartment and he's forced to use the handgun in self defense. The attack leaves Bren baffled, since although there are plenty of conservative atevi who hate humans enough to want him dead, the conservative atevi have ''always'' hated humans, but no one has tried to have the ''paidhi'' killed in the two hundred years that the office has existed. And thus begins Creator/CJCherryh's book series on inter-species politics and intrigue.

! These novels contain examples of:

* GoodWithNumbers: The other thing which distinguishes the atevi mind from that humans (taking second place to their [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove inability to understand love]]) is their facility with math. They can instantly and accurately count things, have a photographic memory for anything they count, the adult version of their language requires doing simple algebra to formulate grammatically correct sentences, and atevi cultures treat numerology with the same fervor that human cultures treat religion. Bren's chief bodyguard would be considered a mathematical prodigy by human standards, but chose a career having nothing at all to do with math.

Bren Cameron has the job of the ''paidhi'', the sole point of contact between the human LostColony on the island of Mospheira and the [[RubberForeheadAliens alien]] atevi on whose planet the humans are living. While Bren enjoys being a diplomat/translator/linguist/xenologist, it's not what you'd call an exciting job. Some excitement is added when the ''aiji'', the head of the atevi government, gives him a handgun as a gift, even though it's highly illegal for a human to posses a gun. It then gets ''much'' more exciting when, a week later, an assassin breaks into his apartment and he's forced to use the handgun in self defense. The attack leaves Bren baffled, since although the are plenty of conservative atevi who hate humans enough to want him dead, the conservative atevi have ''always'' hated humans, but no one has tried to have the ''paidhi'' killed in the two hundred years that the office has existed. And thus begins Creator/CJCherryh's book series on inter-species politics and intrigue.

Bren Cameron has the job of the ''paidhi'', the sole point of contact between the human LostColony on the island of Mospheira and the [[RubberForeheadAliens alien]] atevi on whose planet the humans are living. While Bren enjoys being a diplomat/translator/linguist/xhenologist, it's not what you'd call an exciting job. Some excitement is added when the ''aiji'', the head of the atevi government, gives him a handgun as a gift, even though it's highly illegal for a human to posses a gun. It then gets ''much'' more exciting when, a week later, an assassin breaks into his apartment and he's forced to use the handgun in self defense. The attack leaves Bren baffled, since although the are plenty of conservative atevi who hate humans enough to want him dead, the conservative atevi have ''always'' hated humans, but no one has tried to have the ''paidhi'' killed in the two hundred years that the office has existed. And thus begins Creator/CJCherryh's book series on inter-species politics and intrigue.

Bren Cameron has the job of the ''paidhi'', the sole point of contact between the human LostColony on the island of Mospheira and the [[RubberForeheadAliens alien]] atevi on whose planet the humans are living. While Bren enjoys being a diplomat/translator/linguist/xenologist, it's not what you'd call an exciting job. Some excitement is added when the ''aiji'', the head of the atevi government, gives him a handgun as a gift, even though it's highly illegal for a human to posses a gun. It then gets ''much'' more exciting when, a week later, an assassin breaks into his apartment and he's forced to use the handgun in self defense. The attack leaves Bren baffled, since although the are plenty of conservative atevi who hate humans enough to want him dead, the conservative atevi have ''always'' hated humans, but no one has tried to have the ''paidhi'' killed in the two hundred years that the office has existed. And thus begins Creator/CJCherryh's book series on inter-species politics and intrigue.

* GenkiGirl: Played with Cajeiri who is in love with Human Culture, and hangs around human friends and has no idea about proper Atevi etiquette, because, he was in Space for 2 years without any other Atevi his age.

** The reverse also applies, since the atevi feel an emotion unknown to humans, ''manchi''. Humans can ''sort'' of understand it, since it's sort of like loyalty, sort of like a herding instinct, and sort of like a flocking instinct, but humans can never fully understand it, never grasp it at a gut/intuitive level, and never ''ever'' actually feel it.

Bren Cameron has the job of the ''paidhi'', the sole point of contact between the human LostColony on the island of Mospheria and the [[RubberForeheadAliens alien]] atevi on whose planet the humans are living. While Bren enjoys being a diplomat/translator/linguist/xenologist, it's not what you'd call an exciting job. Some excitement is added when the ''aiji'', the head of the atevi government, gives him a handgun as a gift, even though it's highly illegal for a human to posses a gun. It then gets ''much'' more exciting when, a week later, an assassin breaks into his apartment and he's forced to use the handgun in self defense. The attack leaves Bren baffled, since although the are plenty of conservative atevi who hate humans enough to want him dead, the conservative atevi have ''always'' hated humans, but no one has tried to have the ''paidhi'' killed in the two hundred years that the office has existed. And thus begins Creator/CJCherryh's book series on inter-species politics and intrigue.

Two hundred years later, there are two factions of the descendants of the original humans, and tensions between the factions have reached the breaking point. One faction builds jerry-rigged landing vessels and use them to land on the planet on the island of Mospheria, while the other faction takes the refueled ''Phoenix'' off into space, intent on finding long lost Earth. The humans who landed make contact with the atevi (who were just entering their Steam Age) and the humans and atevi seem to be getting on well. However, each species makes the mistaken assumption that the other species has the exact same sort of government and power structures as they do, leading to lots of misunderstandings. Twenty years worth of misunderstandings lead to the War of the Landing, which almost wipes out the LostColony. Fortunately, the leader of the largest atevi government struck a deal with the colony, which came to be known as the Treaty. According to the treaty:

# All atevi would evacuate from the island of Mospheria, leaving it entirely to the humans.

Two hundred years later, there are two factions of the descendants of the original humans, and tensions between the factions have reached the breaking point. One faction builds jerry-rigged landing vessels and use them to land on the planet on the island of Mospheria, while the other faction takes the refueled ''Phoenix'' off into space, presumably to find long lost Earth. The humans who landed make contact with the atevi (who were just entering their Steam Age) and the humans and atevi seem to be getting on well. However, each species makes the mistaken assumption that the other species has the exact same sort of government and power structures as they do, leading to lots of misunderstandings. Twenty years worth of misunderstandings lead to the War of the Landing, which almost wipes out the LostColony. Fortunately, the leader of the largest atevi government struck a deal with the colony, which came to be known as the Treaty. According to the treaty:

*** The Kyo are also another example. They look like humans a bit larger and thicker, but, they think differently.

Bren Cameron has the job of the ''paidhi'', the sole point of contact between the human LostColony on the island of Mospheria and the [[RubberForeheadAliens alien]] atevi on whose planet the humans are living. While Bren enjoys being a diplomat/translator/linguist/xenologist, it's not what you'd call an exciting job. Some excitement is added when the ''aiji'', the head of the atevi government, gives him a handgun as a gift, even though it's highly illegal for a human to posses a gun. It then gets ''much'' more exciting when, a week later, an assassin breaks into his apartment and he's forced to use the handgun in self defense. The attack leaves Bren baffled, since although the are plenty of conservative atevi who hate humans enough to want him dead, the conservative atevi have ''always'' hated humans, but no one has tried to have the ''paidhi'' killed in the two hundred years that the office has existed. And thus begins CJCherryh's book series on inter-species politics and intrigue.

* LongRunningBookSeries: CJCherryh's only long running series. Her Literature/AllianceUnion universe is much larger and longer running, but consists of many different stories set in the same [[{{Verse}} 'Verse]] rather than a single series.

* LongRunningBookSeries: CJCherryh's only long running series. Her [[AllianceUnion Alliance-Union]] universe is much larger and longer running, but consists of many different stories set in the same [[{{Verse}} 'Verse]] rather than a single series.

* TheXenophile: Bren has a rather large fascination and affection for the Atevi and their culture. [[spoiler: So much so that he eventually drops any pretense of taking orders from Mospheira and openly becomes Tabini's agent instead, and begins living permanently on the Mainland. Certain humans are... not happy about this.]]
** Cajeiri the 8 year old kid of Tabini is obsessed with Human Culture, and can speak fluently several languages. This is not however a good thing as Cajeiri has difficulty relating to his own kind.

** The reverse also applies, since the atevi feel an emotion unknown to humans, ''manchi''. Humans can ''sort'' of understand it, since it's sort of like loyalty, sort of like a herding instinct, and sort of like a flocking instinct, but humans can never fully understand it, never grasp it at a gut/intuitive level, and never ''ever'' actually feel it.

* Reasonable Authority Figure-Tabini is pretty much this. Considering how merciful he is and how he's actually never lost his patience with the Ship-humans and their constant infighting. Human President Shawn Tyers is this as well.

* Fantastic Racism: Even the very progressive Western Atevi generally distrust Humans. The Eastern Atevi outright hate Humanity and if given the chance would start a second war.

Bren Cameron has the job of the ''paidhi'', the sole point of contact between the human LostColony on the island of Mospheria and the [[RubberForeheadAliens alien]] atevi on whose planet the humans are living. While Bren enjoys being a diplomat/translators/linguist/xenologist, it's not what you'd call an exciting job. Some excitement is added when the ''aiji'', the head of the atevi government, gives him a handgun as a gift, even though it's highly illegal for a human to posses a gun. It then gets ''much'' more exciting when, a week later, an assassin breaks into his apartment and he's forced to use the handgun in self defense. The attack leaves Bren baffled, since although the are plenty of conservative atevi who hate humans enough to want him dead, the conservative atevi have ''always'' hated humans, but no one has tried to have the ''paidhi'' killed in the two hundred years that the office has existed. And thus begins [[CJCherryh C.J. Cherryh's]] book series on inter-species politics and intrigue.