A review by stephenmeansme
Brothers of Earth by C.J. Cherryh

3.0

3.5 stars rounded down - the pace is slow for about the first half, but when things get going, they really get going. Also the slow build to start is necessary to bake in the alien culture of the nemet. It reminded me a bit of Edo-period Japan (tea, meditation, Shinto-Buddhist-alike religion) mixed with Mycenaean Greece (the implied architecture, the triremes and maritime culture), and becomes very interesting when the chips finally come down. The tricky part is where our POV human character, Kurt Morgan, and his nemet friend Kta t'Elas, randomly misunderstand each other and make each other angry and/or sad. On the one hand it's probably an accurate idea of how a human would act if stranded alone among an alien (but near-human) race, but the prose is just a bit too spare to get into their heads, so it comes off as forced at times.

This is one of C. J. Cherryh's first books, so it bodes well for the future - she has a reputation for really interesting aliens, and it shows here.