Crucible

Rating:
Summary: fine outer space cerebral thriller
Review: Four decades ago Jake Holman and thousands of settlers following him were trapped in the middle of an inter-galaxy war between the militaristic humanoid Furs and the serene flora-like Vines. Jake and his followers supported the Vines against the bellicose Furs though the odds heavily favored the latter. The Vines used a last-hope virus to remove the aggressive tendencies of the Furs.

Jake is old and frail, but feels proud of his accomplishments especially the diversity he brought to Greentrees. Still a fierce contention exists between the Chinese in the city Hope of Heaven against the technocrats of Mira City. When the earth ship CRUCIBLE arrives on Greentrees, Captain Julian Martin ruthlessly uses that antagonistic rivalry to further his ambitions to become planetary dictator. He seduces Technology Resources Allocation Officer Alexandra Cutler, a member of the Mira City executive triumvirate, and other key citizens to do his bidding. Off planet the fighting between the Furs and the Vines remains heated. On and off the orb, Jake's dream is turning nightmarish.

The sequel to CROSSFIRE, CRUCIBLE contains plenty of action and intriguing alien species with deeply developed cultures. The story line moves along two paths, off and on the planet, but also is somewhat difficult to follow because of the complex continuous changes as to what is the core of the tale. Most interesting for those who read the first novel is how much Jake has aged from the swashbuckling hero to an elderly statesman ignored by the next generation as being yesterday's news. Fans, as they did with Nancy Kress' previous outer space cerebral thriller, will ponder the author's concept that society needs to defend the right to live alternate .and minority lifestyles.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: It's tasty but it's not Arthur Miller
Review: Laborious allegory (after the Patriot Act) which I enjoyed but is better as an action thriller.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific follow-on to "Crossfire"
Review: Nancy Kress continues her space-colonization story with this novel, a sequel to "Crossfire."

In terms of plot, the book opens as the colonists on Greentrees are still caught between the rock of "Furs" and the hard place of "Vines"--alien races at war with each other. The humans are allied with the Vines, who have a plan to eliminate the Fur threat.

If that weren't enough, a ship of humans arrives from Earth, bringing ambitions and prejudices of their own--and a whole new dimension to the conflict.

Without giving away too much, the story unravels a thorny briar patch of conflicts at many levels--among humans, planets, interstellar species, ecologies, technologies, biologies, relativity, and especially philosophies.

It's a massive undertaking on Ms. Kress's part, and she succeeds brilliantly. One of her strengths as a writer is that she has an appreciation for technology without being seduced by it. Better still, she creates very believable characters--the only other writer I can think of who created characters as convincingly was John D. MacDonald. But more than just a character study, she has an intricate, well-paced plot with a resolution that doesn't let anyone off the hook.

Best of all, there's enough threads to support a third entry in the series.