Cuckoo's Egg

As the best stories do, this one begins in darkness and sheds filaments of light in tiny fragments. Piece by piece, the puzzle slides into place. In many ways, I empathized with Thorn's situation because, as the reader, I felt as though Cherryh was in the role of Dunn and I was Thorn - constantly wondering what was really going on and confused about where we were going. The prose can be a bit difficult at times but the payoff is well worth the journey. Excellent, excellent story-telling and wonderfully rendered characters.