A review by essinink
Destroyer by C.J. Cherryh

5.0

Welcome home, Bren Cameron. Welcome home, on the day all the mistakes suddenly made a difference...

To my immense relief, we are back planetside! In the two years since Phoenix left--carrying not only Bren, but the aiji-dowager and Tabini's son--things on the mainland have collapsed. Everything is going wrong and it is glorious.

If Bren Cameron has one glaring weakness, it's his hubris. His belief that he personally is instrumental to and responsible for the peace, and that if things go wrong, it's his fault. In fairness, his job description says it's his fault if things go wrong, but the reader knows there's plenty of other moving parts at play. Still, he's an easy target. Outsider. Very public. Very foreign (though not so foreign as the ship).

This is very fast-paced for Cherryh. There's plenty of introspection to be had, of course. Bren finally gets some clear resolution in his personal affairs, for instance, even as he's working through guilt over the rest of it. Cajeiri is growing up very quickly as well, giving the readers their first clear insights into atevi youth among other atevi. But mostly it's a lot of traveling and subterfuge and high-stakes maneuvering. After the frankly stagnant space-and-ship environment of the last three books, I'm thrilled.

5 stars, and looking forward to the next book.