About the Book
THE PRODIGY
In the aftermath of civil war, the world of
the atevi is still perilously unstable. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of
the Western Association, along with his son and heir, and his human
paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to their seat of power. The
usurper, Murini, has escaped to the lands of his supporters, but the
danger these rebels pose is far from over. Ilisidi, Tabini's
grandmother, the aiji-dowager, has returned to her ancient castle in
the East, for though she supports the rule of her grandson, she also
has powerful ties in the lands of the rebels, and she seeks to muster
whatever support she can from among those enemy strongholds.
In his father's heavily armed and tightly guarded
headquarters, eight-year-old Cajeiri is horribly bored. Two years on an
interstellar starship surrounded by human children have left him
craving excitement and the company of his peers. But unbeknownst to
this dissatisfied youngster he has become a target for forces bent on
destroying his father's rule and everything it stands for. Though still
a child, Cajeiri embodies a unique threat to the venerable,
tradition-defined lifestyle of his people. For this innocent young boy
is the first ateva youth to have lived in a human environment,
surrounded by human children. And after hundreds of years of fragile,
tenuous atevi-human coexistence, Cajeiri may very well be the first
ateva to ever truly understand the so similar yet so dangerously
different aliens who share his home planet and threaten the hidebound
customs of his race.
