Customer Reviews

Breakaway (Cassandra Kresnov Novels)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This project by Mr. Shepherd is quite ambitious and it is for that wider ranging scope that I'm parceling out the 5 stars. Is it the best of this type of visionary far future speculating that has been such a cornerstone of Science Fiction since I began reading it so many years ago with Issac Assimov, Poul Anderson and others? No, probably not. But it's good, real good, and there's no four and a half star rating available, so full marks.

Much like Assimov with his Robot and Foundation epics this series of books (2 out and one more planned) asks some questions about what we are as a species, as political and cultural groups, and as individuals. And by golly, it asks! There are no obvious answers provided, just folks doing the best (sometime good, sometimes dreadful) that they can. Anybody with the paucity of wit to say it lacks all merit says more about him or her self than about this future day Cassandra story as told by Mr. Shepherd.

Cassandra, of course, was a figure from Greek mythology. So beautiful was she that she turned the head of Appolo. He first gave her the gift of prophecy and, when she jilted him, cursed her by making everyone disbelieve her predictions. Certainly this Cassandra is both blessed and cursed as well, if not by a denizen of Mt. Olympus, by one of our current substitues for those gods and goddesses, science. This Cassandra doesn't have the original's prescience, but she is beautiful, implacably deadly, strong, fast, smart, sexually promiscuous (sort of), did I mention implacably deadly, and all of 15 actual years old. A product of tape digital direct learning, she had no childhood since she was created fully formed, learned what she learned in various wartime black ops, and learned in ways and directions unpredicted by her "creators" who were only looking for a better weapon and instead got, well, you'll have to read the books and decide for yourself what they got. In this particular book a 165 year old Hindu Yogi sees in her proof that the Universe itself is alive and we all share in it's collective soul. Be that as it may, she's kicks serious behind, dodges multiple political machinations, and struggles to tell the players without a scorecard.

The book is well written, has some interesting techno speculations, as well as very interesting social, cultural, personal, philosophical, and even religious ones, AND it got lots of action to keep things on the boil. All the speculations are well integrated into the plot and certainly, given the character Shepherd created and the crazy chaotic situation he's landed her in this installment, quite believeable. I am an action junkie, no doubt, so trust me, this work doesn't preach and doesn't drag. Surely one man's ceiling is another man's floor, but I think if you're looking for entertainment that'll also give you something to think about, some different perspectives to your current world view, I highly recommend this effort. Ambitious stuff.

This is the second in what is supposed to be a trilogy of books centering on a military android named Cassandra Kresnov who switched sides after an interstellar war. The war was between two groups of humanity with opposing ideas on how far technology should be allowed to develop, and she is the ultimate technological development of the "development without limits" side of the war. The first book dealt with her move from a culture that accepted her but also used her to a culture that was scared of her and wasn't sure what to do with her. Many reviewers of the first book were offended by the open discussion of sex, but I saw it as a result of her creation and use in an environment where she and her fellow androids did not learn the social taboos of modern America. That dispute aside, the first book was an excellent action adventure. That continues in the second book, and there is much less talk about sex for those who are offended by it. In this book, which takes place immediately after the first book (and both books together only cover a period of several months) Kresnov is accepted into the security forces of her new society, but kept a secret because her abilities and existence still scare people. There's plenty of action and political intrigue, just like the first book, and it is a good, self-contained novel. Fortunately there's no cliff-hanger or "have to buy the last novel to reach closure" ending. I look forward to the third book, but I'm wary of what happens because of the proposed name: Killswitch.

Cassandra "Sandy" Kresnov is a G.I., a synthetic as opposed to organic person created in the League's laboratories. She has intelligence and morality and she defected from the League to the Federation because she felt that she would be treated as a person on the planet Callay. After saving the president from an assassin, she has been awarded citizenship, which angers some politicians and people who see her as the killer that was part of the League's army.

Sandy works black ops for the CSA but is technically attached to a swat team under the auspices of her best friend Vanessa. Trouble is brewing on Callay as article 42, a provision to be voted on to succeed from the Federation, is up for referendum. If approved, the heads of corporations believe this will allow them to use biotech, the science that created Sandy. The SIB harasses Sandy causing her to lose her job and citizenship because they believe she is a killing machine. Still Sandy does her best to do her job even as the upcoming vote on article 42 leaves her in a void status while even something more radical is percolating.

It is ironic that the heroine feels more at home in the Federation where the science that created her is outlawed. Readers who have read CROSSOVER, the first CASSANDRA Kresnov novel will find BREAKAWAY is just as good. The tale contains great characterizations especially the heroine, a cultural look at an advanced civilization, and plenty of political intrigue. All this contributes to make Breakaway a one sitting reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

I caught the 2nd one in the series first, and got the other two, and am glad I did. Gripping, fun characters, tight action. Could easily be movies(although I am sure the books would still be better!) If you like strong female characters, action, some mystery to be solved, these are great reads. I have read thousands of sci fi books, and these are easily in the top 10% of good reads.

Breakaway, the second Cassandra Kresnov novel by Australian SF and fantasy author Joel Shepherd, picks up soon after the ending of series opener Crossover. Sandy, a highly advanced artificial human with military training, is now attached to a squad of SWAT agents, while also helping the government of Callay review its network security. Despite the sensitive nature of this work, and her ongoing integration into Callay society, many political and religious factions still take issue with her presence. After the heavy-handed way in which the Federation handled the crisis described in Crossover, Callay is now reconsidering its relationship with the Earth-based federal government. Sandy is stuck right in the middle of this hotbed, living in a society that is religiously, politically and morally trying to come to terms with what she is and what she represents.

The novel starts off with a bang, throwing us right into a spectacular action scene with fascinating new side character Ari Ruben, then slows down noticeably with a description of Sandy enjoying the waves during a surfing trip on a day off. This rhythm of alternating breathless action scenes with slower-paced descriptions of local color and daily life continues throughout Breakaway. Add to that a continued in-depth focus on the political set-up of Callay in particular and the Federation and League in general, and you may occasionally have the feeling that this is a stop-and-go novel, lurching from high-octane action scenes to slower-paced, even meditative scenes and dialogues focusing on the sociological and political underpinnings of the story. While I found that Joel Shepherd handled this two-speed narrative less effectively in this novel than in Crossover, making Breakaway less of a compulsive page-turner than its predecessor, this is still an immensely entertaining read.

Part of the enjoyment of reading Breakaway is the fact that many of the side-characters become more three-dimensional in this second novel. While some of them were a bit flat and interchangeable in Crossover -- although that may be because the fast-paced plot of that novel just didn't allow much time for deeper characterization aside from the protagonist -- several of Sandy's colleagues and acquaintances gain some welcome depth here, with some entertaining (and occasionally raunchy) banter between Sandy and SWAT team leader Vanessa Rice, as well as some great dialogue between Sandy and her Director, Ibrahim.

Another aspect of the series that gets fleshed out in Breakaway is the history of its fictional universe, with some welcome info about the events that took place in the handful of centuries between our present day and the novels' setting, including an explanation for the interesting ethnic population mix in the Cassandra Kresnov series, and some of the history between the League and the Federation. We also get more tantalizing looks at the city of Tanusha, for my money one of the most desirable fictional locations to live in: an expertly designed boomtown of 57 million inhabitants without a true city center, instead consisting of multiple hubs, built around one mega-highrise each -- like a patchwork quilt of urban centers, each with its own individual flavor, all connected by public transportation. You can find an interesting article by Joel Shepherd about the sociological underpinnings of Callay and Tanusha at his blog.

With its focus on terrorism, political pettiness and religious intolerance, Breakaway (originally published in 2003 in Australia) may in some ways be a child of its time, written in the historical shadow of 9/11 and the 2002 Bali bombings. Joel Shepherd wraps these themes in a gripping SF story, set in an increasingly solid SF universe, and filled with believable characters and nail-biter action scenes. If you enjoyed Crossover and are willing to forgive some pacing issues, you'll find Breakaway a solid second novel in a fascinating trilogy.

Not as good as the first book, this one is just soso in quality

Particularly grating is the main character Cassandra's self righteous hypocrisy, which really brings the book down for me

All in all not bad but I wouldn't really recommend it

What a delightful find (thank you, Amazon.com for recommending it to me). This is a very interesting concept, and written in a fast-paced manner. I've always been interested in Artificial Intelligence, and Data was my favorite Star Trek character because of the Pinoccio way in which he developed - he just wanted to be human.

Cassie is human, although artificially manufactured. She has incredible strength and speed, as well as recouperative powers. She also is plagued by self-doubt, by sexual passion, be moral issues of right and wrong. In a sense, she's a new kind of super-hero.

The author does a good job of keeping the plot moving while contemplating the aspects of Cassie's character -which develope in a logical and highly believable way. The writing is quite modern in style: it's not an old-fashioned super hero story, nor a 1990's SF version, and it contains excellent dialog and descriptions of interesting societal and political developments. The action scenes remind me of top flight military SF stories as well.

Can't wait for the next one in the series.

Joel Shepherd is brillant. You can not but fall into the story and take the ride along with his characters. There is something wrong with any one who does not like this new writer.

Sandy's superhuman abilities and military knowledge and skills have led her into the Tanushan Special Forces, and a command position.

Her political opponents aren't too happy about having a GI in this position, and others like her have caused a lot of Tanushan casualties.

The League, Sandy's creators, have people coming to Tanusha for political talks. All this gets pretty complicated.

So, a bit of spy work here, through an acquaintance of her friend Vanessa Rice's, Ari, who is a spy as well as a counter-culture technologist.

Plots to uncover, people to save, as Sandy tries to stay where she is, and stop people from dying.

A disappointment by any standard. I am a big of fan of this type of action Science Fiction books, but nothing in this book impressed me. Although the author Shepherd gave page after page of character background and thinking, he failed to generate any interesting characters. Even the action sequences left me cold. I suppose if you're blown away of the possibility of complex networking systems that can be hacked in less then one second then maybe this is the book for you. Or maybe you love to hear rambling philosophical musings of how earth cultures developed and adapted to the colonization of planets. I barely managed to finish the book and will not burden my friends with a recommendation.