Defender

The Atevi finally become a truly space-faring species and still manage to retain their very alien senses of both propriety and honour. I can't wait to see how this second trilogy concludes.

This whole series has been superb. The plotting, the characters, the world -- all are incredibly detailed and utterly memorable. This really is one of the best SF Series I have read -- if not the best -- and, five books in, C.J. Cherryh is still managing to maintain her incredibly high standard.