About the Book
THE HUMAN TARGET
Exhausted from a
two-year rescue mission in space, the crew of the starship Phoenix
return home to find disaster: civil war has broken out, the powerful
Western Association has been overthrown, and Tabini-aiji, its forceful
leader, is missing and may be dead.
In a desperate move, Bren Cameron – brilliant human paidhi
to Tabini-aiji – and Tabini's grandmother Ilisidi, the aiji-dowager,
along with Cajeiri, Tabini's eight-year-old heir, make planetfall and
succeed in reaching the mainland.
Ancient, but still brilliant and forceful, Illisidi seeks
refuge at the estate of an old ally. As Ilisidi's and Bren's bodyguards
struggle to update the manor's antiquated defense systems, Tabini-aiji
arrives at the door.
As word of Tabini's whereabouts circulates, clans allied
with Tabini descend upon the estate, providing a huge civilian presence
that everyone involved hopes will deter impending attack by the
usurpers.
But as more and more supporting clans arrive, Bren finds
himself increasingly isolated, and it becomes clear that both his
extremely important report of alien contact in space, and even his
life, rest on the shoulders of only two allies: Ilisidi and Cajeiri.
Can one elderly ateva and an eight-year-old boy – himself
a prime target for assassination – protect Bren, a lone human involved
in a civil war that most atevi believe he caused?
