Reading and Ramblings of Fantastical Fiction discussion

Since this series isn't fantasy, I'll add it here. This is a science fiction series by C.J. Cherryh

Books are:
Foreigner
Invader
Inheritor
Precursor
Defender
Explorer
Destroyer
Pretender
Deliverer
Conspirator
Deceiver
Betrayer

I've read the first two books so far. Somehow these have become a little compelling for me. I've got the third one with me at work that I'll start at lunch.

The premise: Space-faring humans were looking to colonize the far reaches of the universe, but somehow they ended up in the wrong place. They found a planet that seemed suitable to their needs, but it was already inhabited by the atevi. After several hundred years and an ensuing war, there is now a relative peace between the two species. As part of the treaty created betweenthe two, one human is allowed to live in the atevi world and be the 'interpretor' between the two.

Bren Cameron is the Paidhi-ji or that interpretor. It's his job to broker all association between the humans and the atevi. This series so far has shown his interactions with the atevi and his struggles to understand and interact with this foreign race.

The narration takes a bit to get used to. As a reader, we see Bren's thoughts as he's trying to figure out what to do. And sometimes, he has absolutely no idea what's going on. I've heard this called limited third person omnipotent POV.

For me, it's fascinating to see how little nuances of the different languages have made a huge impact on how well (or badly) they inderstand each other.