Way of the Pilgrim

Prometheus Award: Best Novel nominee (1988).

Earth has been conquered by a powerful alien race. Shane, a profoundly gifted human linguist, has spent his life learning the aliens' language – and learning it so well that his interstellar masters, old hands at enslaving planets, come to value him as a servant.

But Shane has a terrible secret. One day, in a rebellious moment, he invented the Pilgrim, a mysterious figure who incites rebellion all over Earth and vanishes unseen, leaving a distinctive graffiti tag behind him.

Now the human underground is preparing to rebel. Shane knows exactly how hopeless their rebellion will be. And he knows just as well that he will be unable to keep himself from taking part.