From: psperson@old.netcom.invalid   
      
   On Tue, 6 Jan 2026 13:57:34 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James   
   Nicoll) wrote:   
      
   >Cuckoo's Egg by C J Cherryh    
   >   
   >What was the purpose behind raising an unconventional child like Thorn?   
   >   
   >https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/rockaby   
      
   Your third footnote is interesting. It is the only list I've seen here   
   that I have read 4 of the 5 books.   
      
   Of course, it is also 30 years old ...   
      
   Cherryh has been praised for her ability to write believable aliens   
   that were undertandable. That most of them were modeled on Earth   
   critters (lions, reptiles, etc) and/or cultures (samurai) was not   
   mentioned. Of course, a lot of her human characters are pretty alien   
   to us as well.   
      
   As to /Foreigner/ -- the first three books might be worth it. From   
   there it slowly degrades into Soap Opera. I don't doubt that it is   
   very popular, given the number of novels in that series but then, so   
   are soap operas.   
   --    
   "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,   
   Who evil spoke of everyone but God,   
   Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)