Defiance – C.J. Cherryh

“Defiance” is dominated by briefings. Briefings are better than exposition, in that the latter tend to begin with “as you probably know”, whereas the briefings in this book are primarily “you probably do not know”. Also, expository lumps tend to tell instead of show, whereas “Defiance” concerns a tangled mess for which no amount of showing would suffice.

The “Foreigner” series represents a difficult balancing act. Cherryh does not settle for simple answers to complicated problems. The main character is a diplomat, and much of the progress over 22 novels has consisted of getting people to agree to incremental improvements. As a reader I admire the writer’s skill, and her insistence on allowing numerous characters their rational self-interests.

The result is fiction that has a good intellectual payoff, but not much emotional payoff. The most interesting character in this book is the now-ten-year-old Cajeiri, who gets a fair amount of stage time - though much of it is as a recipient of briefings.