Crossfire [Paperback]

Nancy Kress (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates; proof edition (2003)
• ASIN: B000MVOFRQ
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STRONG POINTS QUITE OUTWEIGH THE FLAWS, March 1, 2003

By 

Neal C. Reynolds (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crossfire (Hardcover)

Nancy Kress' style captivates me to the point that I am quite willing to overlook her shortcomings. I'll mention them though, just to get them out of the way: I found the beginning a bit rough, keeping track of a lot of characters all introduced at the same time. And there were occasional repetitions noticeable, and rather awkward foreshadowing.

These are each very minor flaws though, and don't interfere with a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Plotwise, we have a private company in the 23rd century building a spaceshp and ferrying 6,000 very rich people from a dying Earth to their new planet, Greentrees. These 6000 represent quite diverse groups and ideologies. There's a tribe of Cheyennes wanting to take up a traditional mode of life; 1000 Chinese and 1000 New Quakers each seeking separate ways of leading simpler and quieter lifestyles; a major charcter's extended family of ecologically obsessed scientists; a deposed Arabic royal family, along with a few other various assorted rich & eccentric individuals.

The challenges and difficulties of setting up a world with such large and diversified groups is well handled by the author. Further complication ensue with the discovery of aliens already living in villages and with the approach of a spaceship bearing a very different species approaching.

The core of the novel and its primary fascination come from the parts where humans and aliens work to avoid mistakes like those made on first contact. However, the stories & agendas of the various characters are also fascinating. At times, one might fear trite & ho-hum subplots such as the friction between the New Quaker doctor and his rebellious daughter, or the Corporation leader with a deep dark secret in his past, and yet we feel deeply enough for those involved that we are concerned with how each works out his and her challenges.

Having been away from science- reading for a long while, disenchanted with the depressing view of the future and the emphasis on hard science prevalent in the genre, I found this to be a refreshing, enjoyable return.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well thought out first contact tale with twists, March 29, 2003

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crossfire (Hardcover)

Nancy Kress makes it seem effortless. Her inspired plotting, characters and imagination remind me of Robert Silverberg in his prime. The only other author currently writing that is comparable in depth and quality is, perhaps, Patricia Anthony.

Crossfire tells the story of an intergalactic ark that carries a number of wealthy volunteers to an unsettled Earth-like planet. Jake Holman,the president of the venture, is the smooth talking negotiator of the group that manages to arrange co-operation among a widely diverse population with different agendas for wanting to settle a new world. Most believe that Earth is on its last legs.

The planet that's been surveyed appears to have no life and the habitat is well suited to humans. There's one catch; after arriving they discover that there is intelligent life of sorts. A number of villages inhabited by what they call the Furs. There are three different groups, though: One appears docile and, upon examination, appears to have some sort of uniform brain damage; the second is unusually aggressive and attacks one group of settlers; the third appears to be chronically drugged but it's not clear by what. A number of clues indicate that the planet may be a "giant petri dish" and other aliens have some vast, poorly understood experiment going on.

Just when things couldn't get any worse an alien ship is detected entering the star system and will be in orbit in less than 36 hours.

Kress manages to create convincing characters with vastly different agendas. She also conveys the complex moral and ethical decisions facing these colonists. There are a number of minor flaws; Jake Holman is too reminiscent of Lyle Kaufman a character from Kress' Probability series. Still, there is just enough of a measured difference to make his character interesting and more than a carbon copy of the other character. The dark past haunting Holman that Kress keeps hinting at gives added gravity to the character and his actions.

The conclusion of the book isn't as smooth as expected. That's no surprise, however, as Crossfire, like Proability, was designed as a single, giant novel split into three volumes (at least that's what rumor has it as being). The second volume will be particularly interesting as it will resolve a number of conflicts and awkward situations that could leave humanity stranded in the crossfire of intergalatic war.

Keep writing Nancy, you're doing a heck of a job.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Home Run for Nancy Kress, December 5, 2003

By 

A. Wolverton (Crofton, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crossfire (Hardcover)

Nancy Kress has the rare ability to combine interesting characters, moral dilemmas, and approachable concepts of science, fusing them into books that are impossible to put down. CROSSFIRE certainly fits that description.

A large, diverse human colony has settled on a distant planet, only to find that their new world is inhabited. To their relief, leader Jake Holman and his team discover that the aliens are primitive and passive. It also seems that the aliens aren't native to the planet. As he investigates further, Jake uncovers some startling truths about the aliens, the members of his team, and himself. But he has more immediate concerns: trying to stop an interstellar war.

I once heard Orson Scott Card say that good science fiction isn't about the future, it's about the present. In CROSSFIRE, Kress tackles moral issues with an expert hand. This novel is about rights, strained relationships, standing up for truth, sacrifice, redemption, and many more complex issues that we face today. Kress never writes with a heavy hand, but she always gives the reader plenty to think about in the midst of a great tale.
Highly recommended.

364 pages