Side Blog to C. J. Cherryth's works

a Blog for the work of C. J. Cherryh that is also for me to try to read through The Foreigner series . Work In Progress and might. also the theme for the descktop site is Fukuo aka this person here: https://fukuo.site/

[fansideblogtocjcherryth]

Short About/Tags

Hello this is a blog dedicated to C. J. Cherryh's work and my atempt to read the whole series . this is also a work in progress

below is some links through this blog

My reading though C. J. Cherryh’s Foreigner Series post so that you can follow along with me on my adventure through the series.

fansideblogto and update are for stuff by this blog.

Plot ideas

Fanart

Foreigner Series

[themisstakenidentity]

The "completing my Foreigner collection" saga continues.

Visitor and Convergence were both running rather expensive for the mass market paperback editions, much more than the hardback price. Then I found (via Abebooks, which I haven't been using because Amazon) two MMP editions for a good price from a UK bookshop. Even with the shipping it worked out cheaper.

Then they arrived. Both in hardback!

The bookseller did the right thing by me, but still I don't have the books. In paperback, at least. And I MUST have them all match. You understand, right?

So I'm like, whatever, I'm going to just spend the $30 for a paperback of Visitor, and also pick up a paperback copy of Convergence through Thriftbooks.

Visitor arrives. Yay! And then Convergence arrives.... in hardback. Again.

I did get a refund. But now I have two copies of Convergence in hardback. And I will still need to get a paperback. At least I'll be able to read the book when I get to it!

[talesoferyngalen]

Just about at the point of asking someone to set me a deadline for getting my first foreigner fic in a shareable state bc im about to just throw this whole laptop into the washing machine and run it. I want to share!!!! The fic!!!! But it isnt READABLE!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[boredkitt545]

I wonder if Bren ever catches himself focusing on numbers on the mainland. Realizing he pumps lotion and sprays cologne either three or five times. Always twisting the cheap retail store hair tie around his hair three times. Chews exactly the right amount the right way.

That he buys his mother and sister in law bouquets that mean specific things in the atevi language of flowers but leave the human florist scratching their head. Placing a vase of sticks in his bedroom. Getting anxious when someone brings family business up at the table. Disassociating during human plays because they just don't... they don't make sense anymore; they're flat and boring and monochrome.

[talesoferyngalen]

I've been playing entirely too much tomodachi life instead of working on ANY of my projects (apologies), but here's some foreigner-related screenshots to maybe(?) make up for it

[talesoferyngalen]

So guess who definitely totally 100% didn't get an emulator running on their laptop?

[karalynlovescake]

Once in a while, when digging through networks of bookmarks to find fic that suits my taste in 'texture' as much as material, I end up convincing myself to read fic for book series I know nothing about, and see if i can enjoy it & and figure out things by context. [to be fair, it's Also a social experiment to see what I sound like to my friends when I ramble about MY obscure old books]. Your foreigner fic is the first time such an ordeal made me go OK, I Need To Know More About This RN- I'm halfway through the first book and having a fascinating time, so I wanted to take a moment to thank you for exposing me to it, and, honestly, for getting me to wrangle my attention and Read a paper book for the first time in a while!

Thank you for coming to tell me this, it is such a nice thing to hear! I only started reading Cherryh because one of my friends from university was a fan and also got me into classic filk songs so I had to find out what all the songs were about. Obviously i would love more people to get into Foreigner, but definitely one of those things where you have to get the right person at the right time, so I'm glad you hit the sweet spot for paper books! I had read the first book back in the early 2000's and it didn't do much for me, then i read it again in 2014 or 2015 or whenever it was and suddenly it Activated the Brain. it's not like i can just hit up all my friends and be like "Hey so i need you to read 21 books, they're dense political dramas with a foreign alien culture and a conlang, so get on that."

If you get tired of paper books, the first 19 (?) are on audiobook, and the narrator does an amazing job. The last two or three didn't get audiobook releases which was devastating to me, and means I haven't read those more than once, alas. I definitely also recommend her other novels, whichever ones sound good honestly. Cuckoo's Egg certainly, but also like Tripoint or one of the other Alliance/Union universe. Cherryh is great at writing main characters who you're like. Is this person mentally healthy? Clearly not. But they are DOING THEIR BEST and MAKING FRIENDS.

[buggy-about-town]

I love the Foreigner covers but none of them give Bren curly hair and I think that’s a crime

[buggy-about-town]

Bren consulting with his scary asf bodyguard/father-in-law/salad

[talesoferyngalen]

Pov: the paidhi is having a very bad day and you are not helping

A BEAUTIFUL commission from my friend (@komametsuki on twitter), which is going on my desk for motivational purposes. I wanted to share bc holy shit, it turned out so well!!! The little eye injury is such a nice touch too, Bren's already going through some shit (as per usual)

[buggy-about-town]

The funniest part of book 7 of Foreigner series is Bren trying to pretend what he has with Jago is casual and temporary and he’d be ok if she left him but then also saying to her “my regard is only for you. You have no equal in that regard”

[talesoferyngalen]

New headcanon time: When Bren's mother gets mad at him for "carrying on with that atevi woman," she doesn't mean Jago. I firmly believe that Bren and Jago are the perfect picture of discretion when theyre around others.

Bren's mother meant Ilisidi, and not only is Ilisidi aware, she thinks its funny as hell and keeps intentionally playing into it

[talesoferyngalen]

Really love how, for the first few books, it's made very clear that Tano's father disapproves of his job and thinks its a waste of time for Tano to be in the Guild. That he wants Tano to quit the Guild and work in construction instead (if i remember right - it may not be construction).

And then Bren comes back from space and it turns out that Tano (and/or Algini) were actually super high ranking in the Guild, to the point that they knew the Guildmaster's identity. They KNEW THE GUILDMASTER'S IDENTITY!

High expectations final boss. Tano probably loved handling Bren's mail solely bc Bren's mother was just as insane as Tano's father

[thelaughingmuse]

Sidi-ma steps back from her writing

Saw the news this past weekend (April 25 2026) that my favorite author, C J (Caroline) Cherryh, has stepped away from writing permanently because she no longer has the ability to track longer and more convoluted narratives - which have been hallmarks of her books. She's in her late 80s, and has been through cancer, chemotherapy, and other procedures and illnesses in the past decade. While this is indeed a lot of stress on an older woman's body, a knowledgeable friend opines that it was likely the various anaesthetics that helped push her brain to the point that it's at. I've been in the middle of a Foreigner series re-read. I do this every 4-5 years. I'm currently on book 17. It's a little bittersweet now, knowing that the series will probably end with book 22. (Which is A. Lot.) That had to have been a very unnerving point to come to. It may have taken quite a long time for her to get to the realization that, I can't really do this any more, I don't want the quality of the books to suffer, so I'm going to step back now while the body of work is all, every last bit, something that I'm proud of. That's scary both in terms of income, and in terms of "here's another milestone in the twilight of my human life." I'm so sad that she had to face this. My re-reads now will be more than a little bit bittersweet. But I'm so glad for all of the characters and stories that she gave to us.

[themisstakenidentity]

I have finally pulled the trigger and ordered the last 7 books in the Foreigner series. Here's what i want to know: do we get more of Irene? Because I kind of love Irene.

[talesoferyngalen]

A placeholder Bren for a sketch im doing (hes having a bad day)

[gunthatshootsennui]

I’m at the part of the Foreigner series where Bren starts sounding like the annoying white people living in Japan who are over-the-top xenophobic. I’m glad we have the Cajeiri POV scenes to balance things out now. Makes me think it’s intentional that we’re supposed to find Bren kind of irritating in these moments.

Edit: okay, he’s chilled out a bit. But now Barb is being Barb. I find this to be the least interesting source of drama in the books, lol.