Amazon.com: Steal Across the Sky: Nancy Kress: Books

From Booklist
Aliens calling themselves Atoners appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the Internet. The ad said they had once wronged humanity. Now, to make such amends as they could, they were asking for human volunteers to visit other planets as capital-W Witnesses for the Atoners. Governments and people alike thought this was a stupid joke, but no. Kress presents three Witnesses, what they found on the planets they visited, and what they learned about the Atoners—and themselves. The story is set about 2020, and the Witnesses are randomly selected humans from an environment not much changed from today. None are scientists, journalists, or spies. They are people who are curious but have no training that would be useful for analyzing any kind of alien environment. There is plenty of interpersonal conflict in their story, backgrounded with the questions of what the aliens really want and how far they can be trusted. A curious and absorbing novel. --Frieda Murray

Review

“Probability Space offers the pleasures, delivered, with all Kress’s unfailing intelligence and skill, of lovers united (though not without the possibility of future heartbreak), villains defeated (though other villains remain available and willing), actions completed (as much as they can be in a world of flux), and puzzles solved (except for the stubborn ones buried in the human, or alien, heart).” --Locus

“She is so deft in supplying background information that I had no trouble understanding the characters and the desperate situation they find themselves in....I look forward to reading more about this metaphorically rich variant in the social contract.” --New York Times on Probability Space

“Kress’s always excellent characters wrestle with a splendid array of puzzles and problems, human, alien, and scientific; another resounding success for this talented, sure-footed writer.” –Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on Probability Sun

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; 1 edition (February 17, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765319861
ISBN-13: 978-0765319869
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #158,114 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#8 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( K ) > Kress, Nancy

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
personal shield, invisible armor, yellow packet

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Cam O'Kane, New York, The Six, Carl Lewis, Uldunu Four, United States, Lucca Maduro, Ostiu Cam, Farrington Tours, Luna Station, Diane Lovett, Selene City, Atoner Dome, Rem Aveo, Sara Dziwalski, Frank Olenik, Goddess of All Green, Charlie Spiro, Ostia Cam, Jack Jones, Emma Jane Taymor, Identified Patterns, Cul Escio, Madam President, Angie Bernelli

Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	56% buy the item featured on this page: Steal Across the Sky 4.3 out of 5 stars (12) $17.13
	12% buy Mind Over Ship 4.8 out of 5 stars (6) $16.47
	11% buy WWW: Wake 3.9 out of 5 stars (23) $16.47
	11% buy The City & The City 4.3 out of 5 stars (51) $17.16

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

science fiction(5)

life after death(2)

2009(1)

alien contact(1)

alien cultures(1)

bookie(1)

first contact(1)

near future(1)

space(1)

See all 11 tags...

Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search

No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the book I wanted, March 24, 2009

By	E. A. Montgomery (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I like Nancy Kress, but Steal Across The Sky didn't really hit the mark for me. The story I wanted to be told failed to arrive. Without spoiling it, the basic set up is that the humans are chosen to witness something the aliens need to atone for and that thing will not be revealed to them but discovered. We follow only a small number of the witnesses (less than half) and when we find out what the crime was, yes, it is huge with huge ramifications but those aren't explored.

The book is about the process of making the discovery and to some extent the result of that on the small number of the team we meet. I wanted, while reading the book, to know why the aliens committed the crime - how the crime impacted the various persons it was perpetuated upon, what the discovery process was for the other witnesses - maybe even the commonality or lack of in the victims of the crime. I give the book four stars for making me want to know these things, but three stars for the read it actually was. I found myself scanning the last third to see if it was going anywhere else and I was disappointed it wasn't. I really didn't care at all about the resolution of the characters I started out with.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and thought provoking, July 2, 2009

By	Sagebrush Dragon "Sagebrush Dragon" (Dayton, Nevada) - See all my reviews

I am really no good at writing book reviews, so I will just tell you my opinion. I almost didn't pick this book. I was at the library and out of time. As I was checking out this book caught my eye in the "new books" section and I decided to just grab it and I am really glad that I did.

I love the advertising on the internet thing and I love that this is a sci fi book based in the very near future. I think the discoveries made by the Witnesses in this book were unexpected and I have never read anything like it.

I do wish the book had taken the time to explore some of the other planets more. It seemed odd to me that of the two planets explored (in the book) both were very primitive by our standards yet both had been given just as much time to evolve as we on Earth had been given.

All in all I found this a good read, light enough for a busy mom of three to be able to pay attention to, but deep enough for a busy mom of three to be able to escape in a book. I know as far as book reviews go mind kinda sucks, sorry about that. But overall I found this to be interesting and different, something I really enjoyed.

If you enjoy Sci-fi I think its worth checking this book out :)

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, May 23, 2009

By	Blue Tyson "- http://freesf.blogspot.com" - See all my reviews

A somewhat disappointing metaphysical rehash from Kress.

This does read like it is stretched, too, and gets tedious at times - this is perhaps due to publishing length requirements.

Aliens contact Earth saying they did bad things in the past, and pick a bunch of young people via internet recruiting to go and Witness humanity on other planets.

Given that, you might expect some sardonic satire, but that isn't her style. A little of it in the various ads and media promos given between chapters.

The big secret discovered in the first part is the aliens apparently removed the gene for 'seeing dead peoiple'. This, of course, provokes a lot of religious hoo-hah (not to mention suicides) when those who discover this come back to Earth and let this be known.

Amazingly enough, most of the people chosen to go to the planets that reveal the humans that still have this gene are American. No evidence for why this might be the case.

Makes little sense with what happens after with the aliens, either.

Can't recommend this, but it isn't bad.

Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 12 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Alien Experiment
Steal Across the Sky (2009) is a standalone SF novel. It is set over fifty years from now when there are colonies on Luna. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Arthur W. Jordin

2.0 out of 5 stars Too expensive for the Kindle.
This is a review of how expensive the Kindle version is. It should be $9.99 like most other newer Kindle books.

I am sure this book is excellent. Read more

Published 1 month ago by ClickmeClickme

5.0 out of 5 stars Three ordinary people are chosen by an alien power to undertake a journey along with eighteen other young humans
Three ordinary people are chosen by an alien power to undertake a journey along with eighteen other young humans - a journey to observe the results and impact of a crime done to... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Midwest Book Review

5.0 out of 5 stars We Are All Witnesses
In an incredibly powerful and fast-paced story, author Nancy Kress explores what we may be missing by being human. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Mr. Richard D. Coreno

5.0 out of 5 stars You Could Be a Character in This Book
I found the first half of Nancy Kress' new novel STEAL ACROSS THE SKY fully absorbing: average folk adventuring on exotic alien worlds. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Gary Shea

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read
The setting of the book was near to current time, so there were many familiar references. The author's use of the Internet as a method of 'First Contact' was almost hilarious. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Cheryl A. Latham

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Not as good as Beggars In Spain...but still very good.

I definitely enjoyed the take on life after death.

Published 3 months ago by Nikolas P. Robinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, KRESS at her BEST!!
First, I am a huge Kress fan and consider her one of the best authors I've ever read. At her best, Nancy is expert at everything--characterization, pacing, plot. Read more

Published 4 months ago by L. Jenkins

5.0 out of 5 stars exhilarating cerebral science fiction
The alien Atoners race came from deep space to establish a base on the earth's moon. They use the Internet to inform humanity that they committed a heinous crime against mankind... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Harriet Klausner

› See all 12 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; }

Customer Discussions

Beta (What's this?)

New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.

This product's forum (0 discussions)

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

[Cancel]

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
science fiction SETI - Are They Missing The Obvious?	249	35 minutes ago
science fiction Anti-gravity Out of Magnetics?	11	1 hour ago
science fiction More religion and aliens: How will our beliefs affect our behavior?	41	2 hours ago
science fiction Sci Fi for women	88	2 hours ago
science fiction George Orwell's "1984" removed from Kindles withouth readers permission	0	4 hours ago
science fiction SyFy - TV presentation for morons	43	5 hours ago
science fiction keyboards	0	10 hours ago