Have you ever wondered what a truly alien culture would be like? Did you learn a foreign language hoping to learn a different way of thinking? If so, C.J. Cherryh's Precursor may be the kind of science fiction you're looking for.
Like Cherryh's Foreigner trilogy, of which it is the sequel, Precursor charts patterns intrigue and violence among three factions: planet-living humans (the Mosphei), planet-living aliens (the Atevi), and the space-travelling Guild.
The protagonist remains Bren Cameron, the hero of the trilogy, who is an ambassador in a universe that has no other diplomats.
Cherryh is a veteran world-builder, and it shows in her carefully nuanced descriptions of what humanity would become if it spent several generations on a spaceship.
Even though the population of Precursor's Guild ship is only about the size of a small town, it has all the depth and mystery of a complete alien culture. And that culture itself is fascinatingly complex.
Cultivated, but not boring
All this talk of culture isn't to say that Precursor is a slow and quiet book, because it isn't. Still, like the first three Foreigner books, this latest offering may contain a fast-paced plot, sharply-defined characters, and some very original SF ideas, but essentially this book is about culture.
Two of these cultures are alien to the reader, but the other, the human Mosphei, seem drawn in uncomfortably American terms.
As Cameron explains the Mosphei way of life to the Atevi, "Mospheirans want to lead their lives and not worry. A leader who makes them worry isn't popular." Sound familiar?
By contrast, the alien Atevei have the most thoroughly described of the cultures Cherryh plays with, and it's also the most complex.
Clearly derivative of Japanese culture, the Atevei govern themselves according to a feudal system, practice several Japanese art forms and enforce their laws through a totally original system of ninja-style assassinations.
Here's an example of the complexity of Cherryh's Atevei culture: in the following exchange, you need to know the definitions of two words: man'chi, which roughly translates to "the loyalty a lord earns by serving his followers," and machimi, which are plays, much like Japanese kabuki, that follow the complex intrigues of generations of noble families.
Cameron, describing a human, says to an Atevei that he "only desires man'chi, and promotes fear of aliens, fear of weakness, fear of everything, all to gain his followers."
The Atevei responds, "We know this man. This machimi we do understand."
However, the Atevei culture makes Precursor so complex that while I heartily recommend all four books, I do not recommend reading this one without knowledge of the first three.
Personally, I loved this book. I read it in one day, unable to put it down. If you liked the later books in Frank Herbert's Dune series or Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, you might be in a similar position.
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