Crucible

Crossfire #2

by Nancy Kress

Nancy Kress made her reputation in the early 90s with her multiple award-winning novella, "Beggars in Spain," which became the basis for her extremely successful Beggars Trilogy (comprising Beggars in Spain , Beggars and Choosers , and Beggars Ride ). Since then she has written over a dozen novels, including the well-received Probability Trilogy , culminating in Probability Space , which garnered her the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel.

Now comes a brand new science fiction epic.
It began with Crossfire : a far-future novel of planetary colonization and alien first contact. Jake Holman, a man trying to escape a dark past, brought together a diverse group of thousands to settle on a new world. But instead the humans found themselves caught in the crossfire of a galaxy-spanning war between two disparate agressive, militaristic humanoids known as Furs and passive, plantlike creatures known as Vines.

Into this volatile mix arrives the Crucible , a ship from Earth filled with military personnel who stand ready to help defend the colony. As they help consolidate the defenses and prepare for war, the original colonists soon learn that vigilance comes with a price.

Having cast their lots with the peaceful Vines, humanity faces all-out war against the technologically superior Furs. Our only hope? A virus designed by the Vines to remove all aggressiveness from the Furs. Can it spread fast enough to save not only Holman's colony, but the rest of humanity? And at what price to the Furs?

Driven by strong ideas and deep moral questions, and peopled with real-as-life characters, Crucible shows Kress at the top of her form, amply demonstrating why she has been one of science fiction finest authors of the past twenty years.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Aliens

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Nancy Kress is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo and Nebula-winning 1991 novella Beggars in Spain which was later expanded into a novel with the same title. In addition to her novels, Kress has written numerous short stories and is a regular columnist for Writer's Digest. She is a regular at Clarion writing workshops and at The Writers Center in Bethesda, Maryland. During the Winter of 2008/09, Nancy Kress is the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the University of Leipzig's Institute for American Studies in Leipzig, Germany.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[JW · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a little ashamed that I'm giving up on this book. But I am.

It's no fault of Nancy Kress' (well, not much, see the end). It's a well written examination of a semi-utopian experiment, a space colony, running afoul of ethnic strife and outside aggression. It's either a sequel or the author is a firm adherent to in media res, there's a lot of back story.

At some point I got a book that was shinier, more exciting or just had another hold on it at the library, and I set Crucible aside. And I just can't get back into it.

Kress isn't entirely blameless, I could probably get back into this book except for one problem. The threats to the colony set up a conflict between security and "freedom" that I find intolerably preachy. The book was published in 2005, so I have to pronounce it guilty on charges of "MESSAGE!" and Law & Order syndrome.

I'm giving it 3 stars because I'm sure others could enjoy it, and I will hopefully try it again someday. But for now, this is going back to the library.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

VOTO ALLA DUOLOGIA: 3,6
Non male questa duologia di Nancy Kress, sebbene non imperdibile: riesce a farsi leggere volentieri, soprattutto il primo capitolo Crossfire.
Interessanti le descrizioni delle forme di vita extraterrestri, nonchè della loro organizzazione sociale e della loro psicologia.
C'è comunque un qualcosa della Kress che non mi entusiasma particolarmente, e che non mi fa andare oltre la sufficienza (talvolta anche al di sotto di essa) in tutto ciò che leggo di quest'autrice: l'inserimento di numerosi quanto inutili comprimari, nonchè le dinamiche psicologiche abbastanza assurde di alcuni personaggi abbassano drasticamente la mia valutazione nei confronti delle sue opere.
Non so se questi elementi siano sempre presenti, ma finora nelle poche cose che ho letto della Kress non mancano mai.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of Nancy Kress's books that I haven't considered excellent. I couldn't suspend disbelief enough to accept that colonists, even living in a relatively problem-free utopia, were so incredibly naive, especially the 45-year-old colony manager. I skimmed through the middle part, where it was painfully obvious how she, and they, were being set up. (Kress could have made it less obvious, but I don't know how much that would have helped.) Not only were all the human characters boring stereotypes, but the two alien species (which both seemed very interesting in the previous book and at the beginning of this one) also turned boring by the end.

[Cher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty painful to read, because you see the disaster looming for the first 200 pages, then it hits really hard and painfully -- it feels so exhaustingly brutal, even though it's an interesting story set in an interesting world. Would give it more stars if it weren't so excruciating.

[Elizabeth T. Yndo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simultaneously Horrific and Hopeful

Humans leave a war torn and wasted earth to start fresh on a lush purple planet. This compelling tale completes the theme of Crossfire Book 1, Society built on idealism without the lessons of history is doomed to fail. If you love an action adventure with mind bending aliens and all too human characters, you must read Cross fire and Crucible!

[Steve Scanlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man has inhabited the planet Greentrees for fifty years and most have forgotten the conflict with the Furs and the Vines. The colony’s complacency is about to be tested as a space ship enters orbit around the planet.

I enjoyed this sequel more than the original Crossfire. Kress takes us to the Vines planet where we discover their true nature. The colonists end up fighting amongst themselves before being thrust into a struggle with Furs and Vines in a battle for control of Greentrees.

[Daniel Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like its predecessor, Crossfire, this book is more plot driven than character driven. I liked the way it wrapped up the plot threads of Crossfire, and as it's Nancy Kress, the science and the setting were solid. Highly recommend.

[Philip Chaston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly better than the first one though the simplistic basis of the plot would still disgrace a YA novel.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the second of two set on "Greentrees", following Crossfire. It continues the story of the Greentrees colonists and the aliens they encounter, both on the planet and in space. Here, however, things are complicated by the arrival of a ship from Terra (earth).

Most of the characters from the first book are dead or very old, but the new ones are equally interesting. We watch as they struggle with the growing pains of their supposedly idyllic society, at the same time they're trying to defeat those who would wipe them out to take over the planet.

As is usually the case with a book or series I enjoy, I wish there were a way to keep in touch with these characters as their lives continue.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel to Crossfire finds our new planet colony 39 years later, with a generation of young people not originally from earth--and a rebellion growing amongst young Chinese who feel left out of Greentrees' society. While a mission from the previous book is carried out, a new ship arrives from earth--carrying new emigrants who may or may not have the best interests of the colony at heart.

A deft novel with multiple plot-lines that rely on the human element to converge. I don't read much SF, but when I do I like it like this, where the focus is on characters and their emotions and beliefs and conflicts rather than on tech or whatnot.

[Ea_colon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. I didn't like the huge mid-book conflict pivot. I didn't like how it seems to have just forgotten about characters. I didn't like the one-note aliens. I didn't like how this book seems to believe it's own sweeping generalizations about people generally and it's characters particularly. I didn't like how nonchalant the climax of the alien invasion felt. I didn't like the romantic subplot. Bad feelings all around.

[Jim Mcclanahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good sequel to "Crossfire". Some things were pretty predictable. But by the halfway point, I was in uncharted (or at least unguessed) territory. I would have liked to see more detail about the space Furs and I thought the pseudo-Cheyenne were a little too stereotypical. But, as with her other work, the overall strength of the characters carried the tale.

[Kay Prell · Rating 4 out of 5]

jumped into this before realizing it was the second book but it works well as a stand alone. Through the first half gave it a solid 3 stars - then about halfway through went up to at least 4 stars - maybe you just have to like Nancy Kress' way of seeing things. deals with issues of leadership - do we need it, what do we want from it, what are we willing to put up with from it.

[Mathew Walls · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a disappointment after the first one. Crucible is really slow, and doesn't really get moving until the second half. On top of that, the reader becomes aware of issues long before the characters do and the eventual solutions aren't set up much in advance, so there's a sort of uncomfortable tension to the whole experience.

[Mark Edlund · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good conclusion to Crossfire. Kress still did not really fill out the Vines and Furs as characters but were more as foils to her human characters. Interesting finish and how the humans sacrifice to win the war.

[Lonerhino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not think a sequel to this book is needed.

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this sequel as much as the first one. The characters were a little too extreme for me - too naive, too power-hungry.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a great follow up to Crossfire. Great characters and face paced with lots of action and drama.

[John T. Dueker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as the first

Too long a build to an obvious plot situation several times.

Some really awful science errors and no back ground to several characters who just appear.

[Ralph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Self Preservation

Whereas book one centered on a moral dilemma book two focuses on learning from the past and not repeating yesterday's mistakes. Not a compelling read.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this sequel to CROSSFIRE, the Terrans on Greentrees must cope with a human military conqueror as well as the alien Furs and Vines.

[Julie Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It started right where the first book left off, but got more interesting and definitely more exciting the further into it I got. This is one of those science fiction stories that as I was reading, I was wondering how the writer could think up some of these things! About the last five or six chapters I was reading every chance I had, on every break ,as it was building up to such an exciting finish! I would love it if the author added another volume in this series, to see how Mira City evolves. I recommend both Crossfire and Crucible very highly.