Books like Invader by C. J. Cherryh

Nearly two centuries after the starship Phoenix vanished, it reappears over the isolated human colony on the world of the atevi, endangering both the colony and the human governments that have maintained its isolation. Bren Cameron, the young paidhi to the atevi court, is recalled from the distant world of Mospheira—just as he has finished surgery—to respond to this looming crisis. Complicating matters, the human government has installed Bren’s paidhi‑successor, Deanna Hanks, a member of an archconservative faction that despises the atevi. Cut off from his own government and under threat of assassination, Bren realizes that the only way to preserve the precarious balance of power may be to break protocol and attempt direct contact with the Phoenix as the atevi spokesman—an illegal but desperate move that could alienate him from his species forever.

First publish date: 1995