What do you think?
Rate this book
Steal Across the Sky
The aliens appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the
"We are an alien race you may call the Atoners. Ten thousand years ago we wronged humanity profoundly. We cannot undo what has been done, but we wish humanity to understand it. Therefore we request twenty-one volunteers to visit seven planets to Witness for us. We will convey each volunteer there and back in complete safety. Volunteers must speak English. Send requests for electronic applications to witness@Atoners.com."
At first, everyone thought it was a joke. But it wasn't.
This is the story of three of those volunteers, and what they found on Kular A and Kular B.
"We are an alien race you may call the Atoners. Ten thousand years ago we wronged humanity profoundly. We cannot undo what has been done, but we wish humanity to understand it. Therefore we request twenty-one volunteers to visit seven planets to Witness for us. We will convey each volunteer there and back in complete safety. Volunteers must speak English. Send requests for electronic applications to witness@Atoners.com."
At first, everyone thought it was a joke. But it wasn't.
This is the story of three of those volunteers, and what they found on Kular A and Kular B.
351 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 17, 2009
56 people are currently reading
1245 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Kress
453 books899 followersNancy 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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews
March 7, 2024
This novel appeared in 2009 and was a near-future story set in a now-alternate past that didn't happen. I now wish I'd read it when it was new, but the cover was just so dull looking that I kept putting it off. It's a very well written and thought-provoking book, though the setting changes are kind of jarringly abrupt. As always, the author sets up a fascinating scenario with no less of a cosmic question than the idea of life after death. There are some very interesting aliens, both human and non-, and well-built societies. I didn't find any of the characters likable or sympathetic, though they were convincingly drawn. (I've grown tired of reading about religious fanatics spoiling the world, but I can't say much else without being too spoil-ery.) The political and societal implications are thoughtfully explored, but I would have liked a little more of an expanded conclusion. It was an intelligent and worthwhile read.
April 24, 2015
After I received book recommendation, I checked the GR information and I confused. The rating of this book is pretty low, around 3.4. After I read it, I understand why. The idea of this book is fresh, and it is the main strength of the book. The problem is at the execution.
The beginning is pretty interesting, and the story builds the stake up and up, then WHAM! Major revelation with Great Climax at 40% of the book. Until this point, this novel is perfect 4 or 5 star.
Then the later part is pale compared to earlier 40%. The stake building from the earlier 40% of the novel is discarded, and the story is continued as if I read a bad sequel, not a single novel.
If you crave a fresh idea in a science fiction story, and could forgive the bad plot, then this book is for you.
The beginning is pretty interesting, and the story builds the stake up and up, then WHAM! Major revelation with Great Climax at 40% of the book. Until this point, this novel is perfect 4 or 5 star.
Then the later part is pale compared to earlier 40%. The stake building from the earlier 40% of the novel is discarded, and the story is continued as if I read a bad sequel, not a single novel.
If you crave a fresh idea in a science fiction story, and could forgive the bad plot, then this book is for you.
August 13, 2025
Steal Across the Sky is not an alien story nor about life after death, though both those figure in it. Rather it is about the nature of truth and preconceived notions of what is—or can be—real. Nancy Kress explores these with great imagination and honesty. Her characters are realistic precisely because they are so blind—sometimes infuriatingly so—to their own faults.
So why only three stars (and that a gift)? Because Kress’s writing is so poor. She’s mastered creative writing; she needs Writing 101 (or TOR needs to hire an editor). Many times her awkward prose knocks the reader out of the story, forcing a re-read to determine just who did or said what to whom. Knocking the reader out of the story is a literary sin second only to not having a story. Nancy Kress has written many books and won many awards, so assumedly this book was an aberration, because she weaves an excellent tale. The ideosyncratic spelling of her supposedly Italian protagonist added to the confusion. (Lucca is a city in Italy; seldom the spelling of a male's name.)
Several logical inconsistencies also detract: Kress gives no hint how the CCAD knows of the existence of—much less finds—the “brides.” Frank, a devout Catholic, would have had no trouble identifying and naming an intermediary state after death. Even the most literal Christians do not believe the world is only 4000 years old. The list of options on page 155 omits one very obvious, though wrong, possibility.
Cover art quibble: John Jude Palencar's eye-catching, evocative cover image has next to nothing to do with the story.
So why only three stars (and that a gift)? Because Kress’s writing is so poor. She’s mastered creative writing; she needs Writing 101 (or TOR needs to hire an editor). Many times her awkward prose knocks the reader out of the story, forcing a re-read to determine just who did or said what to whom. Knocking the reader out of the story is a literary sin second only to not having a story. Nancy Kress has written many books and won many awards, so assumedly this book was an aberration, because she weaves an excellent tale. The ideosyncratic spelling of her supposedly Italian protagonist added to the confusion. (Lucca is a city in Italy; seldom the spelling of a male's name.)
Several logical inconsistencies also detract: Kress gives no hint how the CCAD knows of the existence of—much less finds—the “brides.” Frank, a devout Catholic, would have had no trouble identifying and naming an intermediary state after death. Even the most literal Christians do not believe the world is only 4000 years old. The list of options on page 155 omits one very obvious, though wrong, possibility.
Cover art quibble: John Jude Palencar's eye-catching, evocative cover image has next to nothing to do with the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2018
Nancy Kress excels at expanding on "what if" scenarios to reveal their ramifications across many axes - social, political, psychological, economic, religious, scientific, and so on. I love how she manifests these big ideas in interesting, fleshed-out characters worthy of hanging a story on.
Steal Across the Sky doesn't quite rise to the expectations I'd built up following her Sleepless trilogy ( Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, Beggars Ride), but it was still a science fictional treat - light enough to be quickly devoured, chewy enough to really make me think, sweet enough to make me care. The traditional SF trappings are all well and good - space travel, aliens, nifty new technology - but I read the genre for big ideas and interesting characters (which are sadly often MIA in its pulpier offerings). This novel has both in spades.
But while Kress excels at answering "what if" questions, in this case she leaves the "why" frustratingly unaddressed. We never learn much of anything about the Atoners' motives, whether for their original transgression, or for their latter-day change of heart. Perhaps this was a pointed decision on Kress's part - why should we expect to be able to understand the decisions of alien beings? But it made the story feel unfinished. I would love for there to be a sequel.
(Original review date: 23 July 2014)
Steal Across the Sky doesn't quite rise to the expectations I'd built up following her Sleepless trilogy ( Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, Beggars Ride), but it was still a science fictional treat - light enough to be quickly devoured, chewy enough to really make me think, sweet enough to make me care. The traditional SF trappings are all well and good - space travel, aliens, nifty new technology - but I read the genre for big ideas and interesting characters (which are sadly often MIA in its pulpier offerings). This novel has both in spades.
But while Kress excels at answering "what if" questions, in this case she leaves the "why" frustratingly unaddressed. We never learn much of anything about the Atoners' motives, whether for their original transgression, or for their latter-day change of heart. Perhaps this was a pointed decision on Kress's part - why should we expect to be able to understand the decisions of alien beings? But it made the story feel unfinished. I would love for there to be a sequel.
(Original review date: 23 July 2014)
January 2, 2013
I didn't really intend to read Steal Across the Sky all in one evening, it just sort of happened. It's the first of my books for a challenge which I might or might not fully participate in, the Worlds Without End female writers challenge for 2013. I've meant to read Nancy Kress for ages, and I actually have Beggars in Spain somewhere to read, but on impulse I chose this one.
It's an interesting concept, or bundle of concepts: people are chosen to bear witness to the results of a crime committed by aliens long ago, and to take that knowledge back to the human race. But it's not a book about aliens -- we barely see the aliens -- it's a book about humans and how we might react, how things might change, if those Witnesses existed and came back with the news of what they saw.
Nancy Kress seems to be, from this at least, a good judge of what people are like. The whole range of responses is here, and a range of different personality-types to react to each other in all the ways people do, seeing things from different sides. My main quibble was that it felt very much like the narrative took a side in the whole debate, so I was very sure what the truth was. I would rather have wondered a little more, or even a lot more.
It's not so much about specific people and personal emotions, but about the central concept, and how it affects everyday people. There was enough personality there, though, to keep a character-orientated person like me reading. Once I'd picked this up, apart from a break to wash my hair, I read it more or less in one go -- it had me thinking, which is sometimes more important than feeling when it comes to books.
It's an interesting concept, or bundle of concepts: people are chosen to bear witness to the results of a crime committed by aliens long ago, and to take that knowledge back to the human race. But it's not a book about aliens -- we barely see the aliens -- it's a book about humans and how we might react, how things might change, if those Witnesses existed and came back with the news of what they saw.
Nancy Kress seems to be, from this at least, a good judge of what people are like. The whole range of responses is here, and a range of different personality-types to react to each other in all the ways people do, seeing things from different sides. My main quibble was that it felt very much like the narrative took a side in the whole debate, so I was very sure what the truth was. I would rather have wondered a little more, or even a lot more.
It's not so much about specific people and personal emotions, but about the central concept, and how it affects everyday people. There was enough personality there, though, to keep a character-orientated person like me reading. Once I'd picked this up, apart from a break to wash my hair, I read it more or less in one go -- it had me thinking, which is sometimes more important than feeling when it comes to books.
August 2, 2022
The Atoners are an alien species that have taken up residence on our moon. They are recruiting humans as "witnesses" to travel out to new planets on their behalf. In her candidacy interview, Camilla O'Kane (Cam) asks two questions which the interviewers choose not to answer. Why send humans? And, what are y'all atoning for?
Cool set up and I was very quickly hooked. Before long this is feeling pretty star trek, we have rules-guided first contact scenarios wrought with cultural misunderstandings that are simultaneously helped and hindered by translator limitations. Take for example, the following quoted internal monologue, as one of the aliens we meet considers our new friend Cam:
"She gazed at him from those dark eyes that were Pulari and not Pulari, and Aveo suddenly saw that he would never understand her. Not if he studied her for a thousand years. He would never follow her thinking or penetrate her illusions, because even though she was not a goddess but a woman, she was so foreign, so strange, that she lay completely outside any reality he could ever grasp. She was her own reality, and she and all of the known world were not playing the same game."
Another recognisable feature is the body armour that Atoners use which is similar to the Atreides shield-suits from Dune. Cool, cool.
This story has some spectacularly alien names that thankfully don't rely an on overuse of apostrophes. A few examples are Chewithoztarel, Ragjuptrilpent and Hytrowembireliaz. If you're not trying to say those out loud right now, you're missing out on a little bit of silly fun! The last one is my favourite, but don't worry, I'm not going to use it to name my first born.
Naturally, there is disagreement on Earth about whether or not involvement with the Atoners is a good or bad idea. Especially more so later in the book after what I'm dubbing "the revelation".
This story has some very strange lines that seem such bizarrely out of place observations. There were a few quirky examples but this one just came so out of nowhere -->
"He wondered briefly about parents who would let a grown man linger alone and unseen with a young girl on the cusp of adolescence, but then decided that the damn cold made child molestation unlikely—or at least unenjoyable."
--> What the?! Why?! Anyway. Weird and in this example creepy yes, but it wasn't a frequent feature.
Cam winds up a prisoner during her mission while her shipmate Lucca is experiencing temporary loss of his senses, one at a time, during his mission. Curiously both are jealous of the other's "more interesting" predicament.
It was alarming to discover aspects of my personal experience so deftly portrayed on the page. Lucca having lost his love and choosing never to love again, Camilla confusing her own actions as being well intended charity rather than self satisfying displays. In other words I thought the characters were generally very good, very believable humans with a little (or a lot) of the recognisable in each of them. Great for introspective readers and those who love good character growth.
There was one particular instance of a person going home with a stranger which struck me as not only ill-advised, but also out of character for someone who was supposedly laying low at the time. If you read the book you'll know what I'm referring to. *shakes head*
This story touches on plenty of themes including some telepathy, genetic manipulation, sensory deprivation and notions of an afterlife at various points of the story.
It seems obvious that the mystery surrounding the Atoners and their intentions will be the heart of this story but that's a positively inaccurate assumption which is dispelled a little under half way through the book at which point we discover the true story is going to be about how the revelation of those details will impact society. There remains a mysterious aspect on Earth but it was hinted at enough to give it away pretty quickly I thought.
However, after half way we are positively done with space travel and we're back on Earth until the end, apart from a quick run to the moon. The Atoners are still around, although largely silent and the narrative focuses on human interactions in the latter half.
A fascinating study of human nature follows and how the revelation affects just about everything is explored in the second half of the book; from religion and faith, to art and expression, to industries and advertising, and even to personal relationships. Even if the Atoners' intention is not sinister could it turn out that their benevolence is more detrimental than even they could have foreseen?
Every other chapter or so was a news report or an intelligence report or a tv interview or some other novel way to do a mini data dump. One of these was even a small but actually doable crossword puzzle, with answers given on the following page! I've noticed many reviewers on GR tend to not enjoy this kind of thing but I usually find these interesting and especially appropriate in stories that have "global" reach. It was done notably well in Keith RA DeCandido's 'Articles of the Federation' (often described as a "West Wing for Star Trek"), and also on screen in the Babylon 5 episode 'And Now for a Word'. Personally I think it was employed really well here too.
And now, honestly, I'd love to write about what the revelation is because the implications explored in this story just get wilder and wilder and it would be a lot of fun to discuss with you BUT I'm not going to spoil it. Of course there is a little surprise saved up until the very end too, which is tricky and maybe everyone wants the same thing after all. Then again, maybe not. You decide.
As is becoming a bit typical of me, I'm simply going to recommend that you read it and enjoy the ride yourself. It was 4-stars from me for most of the story with some 5-star philosophical meanderings in the final quarter. A very enjoyable read for my first visit to Kress' writing.
Another little habit I seem to be forming is to close my reviews with an irrelevant tidbit. In today's edition of Frank's Forgettable Facts I thought I'd mention that this is the second book I've read in the last week to reference Helen Keller, so I suppose now I'm off to have a quick Google and try to find out a little about who she actually is.
Cool set up and I was very quickly hooked. Before long this is feeling pretty star trek, we have rules-guided first contact scenarios wrought with cultural misunderstandings that are simultaneously helped and hindered by translator limitations. Take for example, the following quoted internal monologue, as one of the aliens we meet considers our new friend Cam:
"She gazed at him from those dark eyes that were Pulari and not Pulari, and Aveo suddenly saw that he would never understand her. Not if he studied her for a thousand years. He would never follow her thinking or penetrate her illusions, because even though she was not a goddess but a woman, she was so foreign, so strange, that she lay completely outside any reality he could ever grasp. She was her own reality, and she and all of the known world were not playing the same game."
Another recognisable feature is the body armour that Atoners use which is similar to the Atreides shield-suits from Dune. Cool, cool.
This story has some spectacularly alien names that thankfully don't rely an on overuse of apostrophes. A few examples are Chewithoztarel, Ragjuptrilpent and Hytrowembireliaz. If you're not trying to say those out loud right now, you're missing out on a little bit of silly fun! The last one is my favourite, but don't worry, I'm not going to use it to name my first born.
Naturally, there is disagreement on Earth about whether or not involvement with the Atoners is a good or bad idea. Especially more so later in the book after what I'm dubbing "the revelation".
This story has some very strange lines that seem such bizarrely out of place observations. There were a few quirky examples but this one just came so out of nowhere -->
"He wondered briefly about parents who would let a grown man linger alone and unseen with a young girl on the cusp of adolescence, but then decided that the damn cold made child molestation unlikely—or at least unenjoyable."
--> What the?! Why?! Anyway. Weird and in this example creepy yes, but it wasn't a frequent feature.
Cam winds up a prisoner during her mission while her shipmate Lucca is experiencing temporary loss of his senses, one at a time, during his mission. Curiously both are jealous of the other's "more interesting" predicament.
It was alarming to discover aspects of my personal experience so deftly portrayed on the page. Lucca having lost his love and choosing never to love again, Camilla confusing her own actions as being well intended charity rather than self satisfying displays. In other words I thought the characters were generally very good, very believable humans with a little (or a lot) of the recognisable in each of them. Great for introspective readers and those who love good character growth.
There was one particular instance of a person going home with a stranger which struck me as not only ill-advised, but also out of character for someone who was supposedly laying low at the time. If you read the book you'll know what I'm referring to. *shakes head*
This story touches on plenty of themes including some telepathy, genetic manipulation, sensory deprivation and notions of an afterlife at various points of the story.
It seems obvious that the mystery surrounding the Atoners and their intentions will be the heart of this story but that's a positively inaccurate assumption which is dispelled a little under half way through the book at which point we discover the true story is going to be about how the revelation of those details will impact society. There remains a mysterious aspect on Earth but it was hinted at enough to give it away pretty quickly I thought.
However, after half way we are positively done with space travel and we're back on Earth until the end, apart from a quick run to the moon. The Atoners are still around, although largely silent and the narrative focuses on human interactions in the latter half.
A fascinating study of human nature follows and how the revelation affects just about everything is explored in the second half of the book; from religion and faith, to art and expression, to industries and advertising, and even to personal relationships. Even if the Atoners' intention is not sinister could it turn out that their benevolence is more detrimental than even they could have foreseen?
Every other chapter or so was a news report or an intelligence report or a tv interview or some other novel way to do a mini data dump. One of these was even a small but actually doable crossword puzzle, with answers given on the following page! I've noticed many reviewers on GR tend to not enjoy this kind of thing but I usually find these interesting and especially appropriate in stories that have "global" reach. It was done notably well in Keith RA DeCandido's 'Articles of the Federation' (often described as a "West Wing for Star Trek"), and also on screen in the Babylon 5 episode 'And Now for a Word'. Personally I think it was employed really well here too.
And now, honestly, I'd love to write about what the revelation is because the implications explored in this story just get wilder and wilder and it would be a lot of fun to discuss with you BUT I'm not going to spoil it. Of course there is a little surprise saved up until the very end too, which is tricky and maybe everyone wants the same thing after all. Then again, maybe not. You decide.
As is becoming a bit typical of me, I'm simply going to recommend that you read it and enjoy the ride yourself. It was 4-stars from me for most of the story with some 5-star philosophical meanderings in the final quarter. A very enjoyable read for my first visit to Kress' writing.
Another little habit I seem to be forming is to close my reviews with an irrelevant tidbit. In today's edition of Frank's Forgettable Facts I thought I'd mention that this is the second book I've read in the last week to reference Helen Keller, so I suppose now I'm off to have a quick Google and try to find out a little about who she actually is.
October 1, 2012
I wanted to love this book, because I highly value Nancy Kress' books on writing--I use them a lot. But based on this novel only (it's the only one of hers I've read) she's showing the "John Gardner" syndrome--when a writer's books about how to create good fiction are, in fact, superior to her fiction.
Here's what dismayed me: in this story set in the nearish future, an alien race of "Atoners" recruits Earthlings to visit various planets on which they, the Atoners, stranded human beings 10,000 years ago. Okay, I'm in. The Earthlings are to space travel as Witnesses, witness some terrible thing the Atoners did that they're sorry about now, then return to Earth and tell everyone. They go. SPOILER ALERT: the terrible thing turns out to be the Atoners removed our human gene that lets us communicate with the recently dead. The Witnesses see humans on other planets demonstrate this trait, so they know it's real--and that we can't do it.
Back on Earth, they report this and chaos breaks out--in some quarters. (Lots of people don't care). Here's where the book falls apart for me. The author doesn't answer the So What? question. I couldn't get worked up one way or the other--about the Witnesses (their personal lives fall apart), about the rest of Earth (society hasn't gotten any smarter, alas), or about WHY IT MATTERS. Clearly, an afterlife or lack thereof is a Big Deal--but there isn't any exploration of WHY in this book. Nor do I feel much identification with the characters, perhaps because Kress uses a ton of viewpoints (more than she needs, which she'd be the first to tell you is a no-no), or perhaps because none of the characters is all that likeable.
So I'm bummed. I can, however, highly recommend her "Beginnings, Middles, Ends" and her "Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint" books for fiction writers. Excellent. And if you wonder how someone's coaching can be better than their actual performance, remember Caruso's voice teacher couldn't sing a note. Or so I read.
Here's what dismayed me: in this story set in the nearish future, an alien race of "Atoners" recruits Earthlings to visit various planets on which they, the Atoners, stranded human beings 10,000 years ago. Okay, I'm in. The Earthlings are to space travel as Witnesses, witness some terrible thing the Atoners did that they're sorry about now, then return to Earth and tell everyone. They go. SPOILER ALERT: the terrible thing turns out to be the Atoners removed our human gene that lets us communicate with the recently dead. The Witnesses see humans on other planets demonstrate this trait, so they know it's real--and that we can't do it.
Back on Earth, they report this and chaos breaks out--in some quarters. (Lots of people don't care). Here's where the book falls apart for me. The author doesn't answer the So What? question. I couldn't get worked up one way or the other--about the Witnesses (their personal lives fall apart), about the rest of Earth (society hasn't gotten any smarter, alas), or about WHY IT MATTERS. Clearly, an afterlife or lack thereof is a Big Deal--but there isn't any exploration of WHY in this book. Nor do I feel much identification with the characters, perhaps because Kress uses a ton of viewpoints (more than she needs, which she'd be the first to tell you is a no-no), or perhaps because none of the characters is all that likeable.
So I'm bummed. I can, however, highly recommend her "Beginnings, Middles, Ends" and her "Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint" books for fiction writers. Excellent. And if you wonder how someone's coaching can be better than their actual performance, remember Caruso's voice teacher couldn't sing a note. Or so I read.
January 10, 2009
Mysterious aliens come, set up base on Moon, put a Web ad: "need 21 humans to send as Witnesses/Observers in groups of 3, 1 on each of a twin planet, 1 to coordinate from orbit; we kidnapped humans 10k years ago and set up colonies on those worlds but also we committed a grievous wrong against humanity; safety and return passage guaranteed; they will know what is to Observe when they see it"
Millions apply and they select 21 young people but otherwise on a random - at least to us - basis regarding gender, education, marital history, record, credentials/job, and the first half is the story of one team of 3 observers, some natives of the 2 planets (one is a pastoral semi-bliss, one a primitive despotism based on a chess like game) and what is meant to be Observed.
The second part is about what happens when the observers come back to Earth and the epilogue like short final part ties in everything, though it's clear there is scope for a sequel.
No real world building, or deep characterization , but it's a 300 page idea sf and the characters as such are reasonably compelling, while the novel is a page turner.
Major new sf and should be in award contention for 09.
Millions apply and they select 21 young people but otherwise on a random - at least to us - basis regarding gender, education, marital history, record, credentials/job, and the first half is the story of one team of 3 observers, some natives of the 2 planets (one is a pastoral semi-bliss, one a primitive despotism based on a chess like game) and what is meant to be Observed.
The second part is about what happens when the observers come back to Earth and the epilogue like short final part ties in everything, though it's clear there is scope for a sequel.
No real world building, or deep characterization , but it's a 300 page idea sf and the characters as such are reasonably compelling, while the novel is a page turner.
Major new sf and should be in award contention for 09.
April 4, 2013
This is ....... Cute. Hopefully, that doesn't mean you thrust this aside as not important or interesting enough. But it is very cutely humorous, in the manner of a mild movie romance satire starring Hugh Grant. It is similar to a farcical romance with a cute meeting, confusion, dislike, chase scenes and accidental follow-up meetings, attractions, misunderstandings, satirized cultural commentary on family, in-laws, women and men, plus wedding stresses, but I must stress now this is not a movie love affair before I go too far in misleading you. It's actually a science fiction novel structured like a comedy romance but with space aliens, bloody deaths and traumatic discoveries. Being that it also has murderous assassinations, terrorist Christian groups, government spies, a flamboyant reality star, broken hearts and compromised hook-ups, everything is not cleared up happily at the end. It's a First Contact light comedy.
The single biggest flaw about the book is Nancy Kress held back. I think she should have gone in much stronger with humorous gags and digs about the inconsistencies, fallacies and mistakes people make in competing for their interests when they don't quite have all of the information they need to proceed. Fateful decisions are made and plans are worked out as if they were completely correct in their assumptions, but unfortunately only some of it is partially right. Ironic outcomes are played out. Roll the credits. Everyone leaves the theatre a little blissed out. Sigh. Kress was very very close in having a grand story, in my opinion. However, the laughs were undercut by tepid follow-throughs on great set-ups.
This novel has a great idea for a story. Space aliens with Pinch-Me tech arrive on the moon. They refuse to show themselves, but they make humanity an offer. They place an ad on the Internet seeking interviews with candidates for a space trip, bypassing government interference. They call themselves 'The Atoners' because they say they committed a great wrong against humankind. The aliens kidnapped a bunch of people and transported them to other planets millennia ago, and now they want to safely transport qualified volunteers to 'witness' these new human settlements. This somehow will help the aliens atone for the wrong. Millions apply, but the Atoners pick 21 high school graduates and a bit more educated people who have no or little science. All are young. Governments knash their teeth, but have to accept it since they can't stop it. As the novel quickly breezes through the ensuing discoveries and shocks, we are entertained by the characters of Lucca Maduro, rich Italian, Camilla O'Kane, high school graduate waitress from Nebraska, Frank Olenik, Catholic ex-policeman, and sensible college graduate Soledad Arellano. These folks have a lot of personal baggage which provides somewhat summer stock stage acting-out, but nonetheless it's interesting and entertaining.
I don't want to go much deeper than that, not that there is a deep plot, because it would wreck the surprises. But I will say that despite the fun, this book did not live up to its promise.
The single biggest flaw about the book is Nancy Kress held back. I think she should have gone in much stronger with humorous gags and digs about the inconsistencies, fallacies and mistakes people make in competing for their interests when they don't quite have all of the information they need to proceed. Fateful decisions are made and plans are worked out as if they were completely correct in their assumptions, but unfortunately only some of it is partially right. Ironic outcomes are played out. Roll the credits. Everyone leaves the theatre a little blissed out. Sigh. Kress was very very close in having a grand story, in my opinion. However, the laughs were undercut by tepid follow-throughs on great set-ups.
This novel has a great idea for a story. Space aliens with Pinch-Me tech arrive on the moon. They refuse to show themselves, but they make humanity an offer. They place an ad on the Internet seeking interviews with candidates for a space trip, bypassing government interference. They call themselves 'The Atoners' because they say they committed a great wrong against humankind. The aliens kidnapped a bunch of people and transported them to other planets millennia ago, and now they want to safely transport qualified volunteers to 'witness' these new human settlements. This somehow will help the aliens atone for the wrong. Millions apply, but the Atoners pick 21 high school graduates and a bit more educated people who have no or little science. All are young. Governments knash their teeth, but have to accept it since they can't stop it. As the novel quickly breezes through the ensuing discoveries and shocks, we are entertained by the characters of Lucca Maduro, rich Italian, Camilla O'Kane, high school graduate waitress from Nebraska, Frank Olenik, Catholic ex-policeman, and sensible college graduate Soledad Arellano. These folks have a lot of personal baggage which provides somewhat summer stock stage acting-out, but nonetheless it's interesting and entertaining.
I don't want to go much deeper than that, not that there is a deep plot, because it would wreck the surprises. But I will say that despite the fun, this book did not live up to its promise.
June 9, 2013
OK-the one sentence version of this book is that some aliens thousands of years ago altered our genes and kidnapped some humans and repopulated a few other planets with them in sort of a 'double-blind' study where some were left with the gene that allowed us to communicate with the recently deceased. Modern humans are sent there to 'witness' this firsthand, and the resulting news creates a lot of chaos.
Although I like the premise and the writing, I didnt connect to any of the characters, and couldnt get any suspense worked up about the whole 'what-if' question. Why would aliens want to remove that gene? and why would they come back to try and fix it so much later?
Also, there is a character, James, for whom there was no indication of motivation, which really bothered me. An epilogue shows two characters have married. While this makes sense, it would have been nice to see the realization of their attraction.
All in all, a solid 3 stars
Although I like the premise and the writing, I didnt connect to any of the characters, and couldnt get any suspense worked up about the whole 'what-if' question. Why would aliens want to remove that gene? and why would they come back to try and fix it so much later?
Also, there is a character, James, for whom there was no indication of motivation, which really bothered me. An epilogue shows two characters have married. While this makes sense, it would have been nice to see the realization of their attraction.
All in all, a solid 3 stars
February 26, 2009
Kress's new novel will be a Nebula nominee in 2009. The best SF takes a fundamental human basis of viewing reality, challenges it with an alternative premise, and uses this premise to explore human behavior. Like Beggars in Spain, Kress is quite successful with a 'previously unused' concept for SF. Don't buy the idea that SF constantly recycles ideas that were first used decades ago. There are plenty of un-used ideas that keep the genre fresh.
It's very difficult to write more about the novel without inserting spoilers. DON'T READ SPOILER REVIEWS, as it will degrade the reading experience.
It's very difficult to write more about the novel without inserting spoilers. DON'T READ SPOILER REVIEWS, as it will degrade the reading experience.
May 16, 2009
The premise was fascinating and drew me in at the beginning, but somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way through I just gave up and started skimming to see how it turned out. There just wasn't enough drama or suspense. The plot didn't go deep enough, despite being centered around one of the most central and controversial questions of the human experience and the mystery of the aliens and their motivations. I read the end, and still didn't feel much about the book or any of the characters, except perhaps Soledad, but not much more for her even. It was disappointing as I was really looking for a book to sink my metaphorical teeth into.
August 21, 2022
A bunch of human volunteers are sent by an alien species, (referred to as Atoners), to witness something on various distant planets. These planets are populated by humans that are very similar to the ones on earth but apparently slightly different. After the time they spent on these planets, they are returned to earth to continue their life. The aliens continue to have a base on the moon, but do not contact earth anymore.
This book is the story of the things they saw, how they interpreted what they saw and how these witnesses continue their life on earth.
I liked it, the idea is original and the story is interesting and causes you to think.
This book is the story of the things they saw, how they interpreted what they saw and how these witnesses continue their life on earth.
I liked it, the idea is original and the story is interesting and causes you to think.
August 29, 2018
Nancy Kress sets up a fascinating premise in this novel. Aliens, who refer to themselves as Atoners, set up a website and email address for humans to apply to become "Witnesses" to a mysterious crime the Aliens committed against humanity 10,000 years ago. Millions apply, but only 21 are selected, 15 coming from the United States. This seems to be a theme in Nancy Kress's books, briefly mentioning other areas of the world (a greater acknowledgement than some other US writers) but ultimately focusing on the importance of the United States influence on events, sometimes even on an interstellar scale.
It transpires that the Atoners kidnapped our ancestors and took them to various star systems. Each system has one A planet and one B planet, the earth serving as the control in an epic experiment. The witnesses find primitive cultures on each of the planets and it takes the first half of the novel to discover what it is the Atoners did in their experiments, which is what they are trying to atone for.
The second half of the novel is the fall out of the revelation on Earth and how we cope, or fail to cope, with it.
Throughout the story we switch between key witnesses’ perspectives. After their initial thrill about being chosen as witnesses, most have to contend with their frustration over not knowing what they are meant to be witnessing, then eventually once they discover what the Atoners have done, what the Atoners want the witnesses to do or say about it. The Atoners never set foot on earth or any of the other experimental planets, and remain largely mysterious throughout. I did have some sympathy for Soledad, a witness who has to deal with a lot of crap, but I didn’t feel much for the other characters.
While I did enjoy the book, and Kress is a solid writer, this story could have been much shorter and had the same level of impact.
I listened the audiobook and Kate Reading (great name for an audiobook narrator!) did a good job distinguishing between male and female voices, and overall it was a professional if not standout, performance.
It transpires that the Atoners kidnapped our ancestors and took them to various star systems. Each system has one A planet and one B planet, the earth serving as the control in an epic experiment. The witnesses find primitive cultures on each of the planets and it takes the first half of the novel to discover what it is the Atoners did in their experiments, which is what they are trying to atone for.
The second half of the novel is the fall out of the revelation on Earth and how we cope, or fail to cope, with it.
Throughout the story we switch between key witnesses’ perspectives. After their initial thrill about being chosen as witnesses, most have to contend with their frustration over not knowing what they are meant to be witnessing, then eventually once they discover what the Atoners have done, what the Atoners want the witnesses to do or say about it. The Atoners never set foot on earth or any of the other experimental planets, and remain largely mysterious throughout. I did have some sympathy for Soledad, a witness who has to deal with a lot of crap, but I didn’t feel much for the other characters.
While I did enjoy the book, and Kress is a solid writer, this story could have been much shorter and had the same level of impact.
I listened the audiobook and Kate Reading (great name for an audiobook narrator!) did a good job distinguishing between male and female voices, and overall it was a professional if not standout, performance.
July 11, 2017
Aliens who call themselves Atoners have sent a message through the internet that they'd like to interview volunteers for a mission of "atonement" for a wrong that the aliens did to humanity thousands of years ago. Since the message is sent online rather than through a government entity, all sorts of people volunteer, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to who they take: a loud-mouthed girl living on welfare, a teacher whose wife recently died, a former policeman framed for a crime he didn't do, a rich Italian, etc. Their mission is to travel to other worlds inhabited by humans and "witness" what it was that the aliens did to the humans on Earth all those thousands of years ago. They encounter worlds with customs very different from Earth's--some more violent, one with strange sacrificial rites, one with a strange game that seems to mirror life, one with a child that seems to be telepathic. But it takes the witnesses a while to truly understand the crime for which the Atoners want to atone. The first 40% of the book covers the otherworldly travel that reveals the crimes of the Atoners, and the last 60% is about how humanity responds to it with a glimpse of how the Atoners plan to atone for their crimes only at the very end. In the end, I'm not sure that the "crime" that the Atoners committed was really a crime, as humans on Earth seem to be better off and less of a violent culture as a result of what was done to them.
This was an interesting read. I think more could have been done with the last 60% of the book than actually was--perhaps more existential musings. But those types of things don't turn pages as quickly as I was turning these pages. All in all, I'd recommend this for a bit of thought-provoking sci-fi page turning even if the rabbit hole doesn't go nearly as deep as it could.
This was an interesting read. I think more could have been done with the last 60% of the book than actually was--perhaps more existential musings. But those types of things don't turn pages as quickly as I was turning these pages. All in all, I'd recommend this for a bit of thought-provoking sci-fi page turning even if the rabbit hole doesn't go nearly as deep as it could.
September 21, 2009
In the not-very-distant future, aliens calling themselves The Atoners contact humanity. Millenia ago, they wronged humanity--and now they want humanity to know about it. They choose a few dozen people to travel to colonies of humans the Atoners established around the universe, and "Witness." What the "Witnesses" are supposed to see or do is left up to them--they are told that they'll know it when they see it.
By the end of the first third, both the reader and the characters have discovered what the Atoners have to atone for. The remainder of the book is about how the Witnesses--and the rest of humanity--deal with this revelation.
The characters are distinct, and complex, although they lack depth. I liked Cam a great deal, and grew to appreciate Soledad. By the end of the story, I hated Lucca, not least because the narration is so non-committal about him. As it was, I couldn't tell whether Kress knew one of her main characters was a privileged, patronizing prick.
I liked this story, but I was frustrated because Kress can do so much better. In her Sleeper trilogy, the consequences of a simple genetic manipulation on a tiny percentage of people are far-reaching, dramatic, and eminently believable. In this, a huge revelation has no impact on day-to-day life on Earth. Nor does that revelation have any affect on the other human planets. I really wanted to see the difference between societies! Kress is excellent at bio-ethics, but I wish she'd taken this story a little further.
By the end of the first third, both the reader and the characters have discovered what the Atoners have to atone for. The remainder of the book is about how the Witnesses--and the rest of humanity--deal with this revelation.
The characters are distinct, and complex, although they lack depth. I liked Cam a great deal, and grew to appreciate Soledad. By the end of the story, I hated Lucca, not least because the narration is so non-committal about him. As it was, I couldn't tell whether Kress knew one of her main characters was a privileged, patronizing prick.
I liked this story, but I was frustrated because Kress can do so much better. In her Sleeper trilogy, the consequences of a simple genetic manipulation on a tiny percentage of people are far-reaching, dramatic, and eminently believable. In this, a huge revelation has no impact on day-to-day life on Earth. Nor does that revelation have any affect on the other human planets. I really wanted to see the difference between societies! Kress is excellent at bio-ethics, but I wish she'd taken this story a little further.
March 31, 2015
In 2020 an alien base appears on the moon, and the alien "Atoners" confess to having committed some crime against humanity in the past. They solicit a small number of human observers and send them to sets of planets where descendants of humans kidnapped from Earth 10 thousand years ago now live. The story moves within a few pages to the landing of two observers on two worlds, with the backstory told retrospectively. I was hooked immediately by the triple mystery 1) What is going on on Kular-A? 2) What is going on on Kular-B? and 3) What did the Atoners actually do? The enjoyment of this novel is in the unraveling of those mysteries, so that's all the plot I'm going to mention here.
I spent some time pondering whether the emphasis here is more on characters and plot, or social science speculation. The characters are multifaceted and are changed by their experiences, and characterization is a strength. And while there is a lot of unfamiliar human culture thrown at the reader, especially at the beginning, I feel that some big social issues are left undeveloped, possibly for a sequel not yet written. So, in spite of some similarities in the initial setup, this is not writing as in Ursula LeGuin's Hainish universe.
The only Nancy Kress I've read before this was her award winning novella "Beggers in Spain". So between that earlier work and this, I am very interested in finding more by her.
I spent some time pondering whether the emphasis here is more on characters and plot, or social science speculation. The characters are multifaceted and are changed by their experiences, and characterization is a strength. And while there is a lot of unfamiliar human culture thrown at the reader, especially at the beginning, I feel that some big social issues are left undeveloped, possibly for a sequel not yet written. So, in spite of some similarities in the initial setup, this is not writing as in Ursula LeGuin's Hainish universe.
The only Nancy Kress I've read before this was her award winning novella "Beggers in Spain". So between that earlier work and this, I am very interested in finding more by her.
December 20, 2012
This is a good modern sci-fi story. Like all the best sci-fi it has a strong element of social commentary and exploration of humanity.The plot is tight and interesting with some pretty good twists, strongly consistent and believable (if not always likeable) main characters and an elegant ending which satisfies.
The first part of the book was great and the last part was also, it drifted a bit toward the middle and my attention did likewise. However it never drifted enough that I was ever tempted to skim read or move to a different book.
The first part of the book was great and the last part was also, it drifted a bit toward the middle and my attention did likewise. However it never drifted enough that I was ever tempted to skim read or move to a different book.
November 27, 2014
This is not science fiction. This is a fantasy book where the afterlife is real. At the dawn of homo sapiens, aliens visited Earth and removed the gene that allowed humans to see dead people, like in The 6th Sense. No, really. It's a total joke. I normally like Kress. But you can and should skip this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 31, 2017
An interestingly different setup with aliens. Aliens appear and want human to witness their unnamed crimes. But the pov characters were annoying. And the plot got way too complicated and went completely off the rails. Talk to the dead or telepathy. Whatever. Bits were good and it was readable most of the way through. But in the end too confused to recommend.
May 15, 2012
I'm giving the book a low rating based on personal preferences and scientific / consistency issues. This is not a critique of its literary attributes.
I voted for this to be BOTM, but would not have if I had been aware of the underlying premise - which seems contrary to hard SF sensibilities. I was not only disturbed by the premise, but also the implausible attempts at scientific justifications. It's one thing to have implausible tech in SF, it's another to keep beating the reader over the head with silly "explanations" for it.
Below is an analysis of these issues. It requires serious spoilers, so be advised before reading further.
The basic spoiler is: 10,000 years ago aliens deleted a gene from Earth humans. The deletion of the gene took away an ability humans had previously had to see and communicate with those who had died. This is the premise I said conflicts with hard SF sensibilities (although it's never explicitly said whether what remains after the body dies is a spiritual / immaterial being or some other form of material being - such as an "energy being"). The story never touches on the possibility they may be material, and "life after death" is generally considered to be immaterial - so that seems the most reasonable interpretation. In either case, there seem to be problems with the surrounding explanations and/or internal consistency.
In a nutshell: If what continues after the body dies is immaterial, it's harder to justify genes determining physical characteristics could result in perceving the immaterial. If what continues is material, it's harder to justify that the aliens couldn't provide devices that could perceive them - although if the physical body can perceive the immaterial one can still ask why a device can't. It's worth noting we're not only being asked to believe a living body can see and hear the dead, but the living can ask questions to the dead - either the living can send immaterial signals or the dead can receive physical signals.
At one point, we're told the gene has been entirely removed, so restoration isn't possible. That didn't seem reasonable that the same aliens who did the original genetic engineering could not re-engineer it - especially with an additional 10,000 years to improve their skills. It was further implausible after we learn there are planets in other star systems where the aliens have placed humans who still have the gene. With humans who still have the gene available, what would prevent re-engineering the genes of Earth humans? At the end of the book, we are told the aliens have a secret breeding project on Earth where women from the other planets are having babies. The implication appears to be that Earth men are fertilizing these imported women who have the gene. I have my doubts whether a man with a "removed" gene would successfully produce children, especially with the gene. In any case, it didn't make much sense to me that the aliens would let us know they had removed the gene, then tell us the gene was totally gone and couldn't be restored, then forcibly take a DNA sample with the gene from a person who wants to make restoration possible, then have a secret project to restore the gene, and have no suggestion that anything more elaborate was required than someone without the gene having sex with someone who did.
I voted for this to be BOTM, but would not have if I had been aware of the underlying premise - which seems contrary to hard SF sensibilities. I was not only disturbed by the premise, but also the implausible attempts at scientific justifications. It's one thing to have implausible tech in SF, it's another to keep beating the reader over the head with silly "explanations" for it.
Below is an analysis of these issues. It requires serious spoilers, so be advised before reading further.
The basic spoiler is: 10,000 years ago aliens deleted a gene from Earth humans. The deletion of the gene took away an ability humans had previously had to see and communicate with those who had died. This is the premise I said conflicts with hard SF sensibilities (although it's never explicitly said whether what remains after the body dies is a spiritual / immaterial being or some other form of material being - such as an "energy being"). The story never touches on the possibility they may be material, and "life after death" is generally considered to be immaterial - so that seems the most reasonable interpretation. In either case, there seem to be problems with the surrounding explanations and/or internal consistency.
In a nutshell: If what continues after the body dies is immaterial, it's harder to justify genes determining physical characteristics could result in perceving the immaterial. If what continues is material, it's harder to justify that the aliens couldn't provide devices that could perceive them - although if the physical body can perceive the immaterial one can still ask why a device can't. It's worth noting we're not only being asked to believe a living body can see and hear the dead, but the living can ask questions to the dead - either the living can send immaterial signals or the dead can receive physical signals.
At one point, we're told the gene has been entirely removed, so restoration isn't possible. That didn't seem reasonable that the same aliens who did the original genetic engineering could not re-engineer it - especially with an additional 10,000 years to improve their skills. It was further implausible after we learn there are planets in other star systems where the aliens have placed humans who still have the gene. With humans who still have the gene available, what would prevent re-engineering the genes of Earth humans? At the end of the book, we are told the aliens have a secret breeding project on Earth where women from the other planets are having babies. The implication appears to be that Earth men are fertilizing these imported women who have the gene. I have my doubts whether a man with a "removed" gene would successfully produce children, especially with the gene. In any case, it didn't make much sense to me that the aliens would let us know they had removed the gene, then tell us the gene was totally gone and couldn't be restored, then forcibly take a DNA sample with the gene from a person who wants to make restoration possible, then have a secret project to restore the gene, and have no suggestion that anything more elaborate was required than someone without the gene having sex with someone who did.
August 27, 2012
Kress' Steal Across the Sky can be thought of as a book with two separate parts. In the first part, aliens choose individual humans from earth to travel across the stars to other alien planets, and Witness (capital W) the crime that the aliens performed on humanity. This part of the novel does some culture-building, with Lucca going to a planet with simple, nomadic people, and Cam going to the nearby planet that features a more medieval society that revolves around around skillful manipulation of a game similar to chess (think Iain M. Banks' Player of Games). In the second half, we return to Earth, to see human society deal with the fallout of the aliens' revelation: millenia ago, they altered the human race so we lost the ability to see the spirits of the recent dead. The second half follows the lives of four Witnesses post-Witnessing as the people of earth react to the knowledge that life after death is a certainty. Neither of the worlds in the first half are particularly original, and that's probably a deliberate choice on Kress' part. But it's still rather jarring when things return to Earth; thematically, a chapter that started on Earth may have helped with the transition. The plot in the second half also seems to drift somewhat, and the ending fails to answer certain questions, such as: why did the aliens bother to take people to planets with other humans without the ability to see the dead, when that's all they wanted people to learn? Why did they bother to take them there at all, when they could have just told them? It's a little deus ex alien, and even the hint of a sequel (which there isn't, really) doesn't fix that. On the positive side, Kress does a great job depicting the varying perspectives of her characters, and the asides between chapters showing press clippings and ads and other media on earth go a long way to selling the larger human reaction to the news of the aliens. While the book itself isn't great, Kress wrote this well enough that I'd be interested in reading more from her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2014
When an alien base appears on the Moon, the aliens, who call themselves the Atoners, approach mankind via the power of the internet with a confession that they have done the human race great wrong and now wish to atone for it. Twenty one young applicants are selected as witnesses and sent off to twin planets on which kidnapped humans have developed societies. They are told that they'll know what they are looking for when they find it. Cam, Soledad and Lucca are the team that is sent to witness on the twin planets of Kular A and Kular B. Soledad stays on board the Atoner craft as mission control and Cam and Lucca shuttle down to the planets. Cam finds a warlike society entrenched in slavery and slaughter where life is based on the results of the strategy game of kulith, something which she can barely grasp. Lucca's planet is peaceful to the point of indolence and he only gradually becomes aware that the people seem to be able to see their recent dead – those who are on 'the second road'. This is the big secret wrong the Atoners have done. They removed the gene from Earth-humans that lets them see the dead. But that's only the halfway point of the book. The main crux is how Earth society (and the witnesses) deal with it when the mission is over.
Though there were some interesting ideas here, I'm afraid I didn't enjoy reading this book. I didn't find the characters particularly sympathetic and some of their actions and reactions didn't seem logical.
Though there were some interesting ideas here, I'm afraid I didn't enjoy reading this book. I didn't find the characters particularly sympathetic and some of their actions and reactions didn't seem logical.
October 27, 2013
...In some ways Kress presents the bare bones of a novel here. John Clute calls it sober in his entry for Nancy Kress in the SF encyclopedia. That is a fitting description. In some respects it is a very well written piece. The style reminded me a bit of
The Secret City
by Carol Emshwiller I recently read. It is effective in the way it works what the reader needs to know to understand what is going on in the story. Many readers will prefer a novel with a little more meat on its bones though. I enjoyed it, but where I think many of Kress' shorter pieces are exceptional, this novel is merely very good. It is well worth reading but not the best Kress has to offer.
Full Random Comments review
Full Random Comments review
January 28, 2014
Character variety makes this quick, entertaining read much more than simply a fascinating thought experiment.
I especially enjoyed the chapters which were little snippets from studies or media reports which fleshed out the world, and the idea of life-strategy mimicking game-strategy and vice versa. I didn't think any novel inspired by chess could be as fun as Michael Chabon's "The Yiddish Policeman's Union," but this one proved me wrong :)
I especially enjoyed the chapters which were little snippets from studies or media reports which fleshed out the world, and the idea of life-strategy mimicking game-strategy and vice versa. I didn't think any novel inspired by chess could be as fun as Michael Chabon's "The Yiddish Policeman's Union," but this one proved me wrong :)
October 21, 2015
The ideas here are novel and the characters well-drawn (especially Cam, who seemed to have the most detailed interior life), but the pacing is very odd. It's more a collection of interlinked novellas that a coherent novel, and the final section doesn't even stand up as a novella; it's too rushed, too scatter-shot in its focus. Worth reading for the beginning, though.
August 9, 2025
Thriller metafisico in salsa aliena
Il romanzo non perde tempo, ci butta subito in mezzo all'azione: i misteriosi alieni sono già arrivati, hanno selezionato un gruppo di umani e questi sono stati spediti su diversi pianeti, e così un po' alla volta mettiamo assieme i pezzi per capire, insieme a loro, quale sarebbe questo crimine operato da questi extraterrestri diecimila anni fa.
E se una rivelazione arriva già prima di metà libro è perché poi c'è ancora molto da raccontare.
Partendo da un'ipotesi che, va ammesso, più che fantascientifica sembra fantastica o, se si vuole usare questo termine, spirituale, l'autrice procede a mostrarci le reazioni dell'umanità di fronte a una prospettiva sulla morte che sconvolge molte certezze, o forse che le riafferma.
Se la prima parte del libro ha quasi un taglio antropologico nel suo mettere a confronto gli umani con delle culture radicalmente altre, la seconda parte adotta un ritmo serrato, quasi da thriller, e molte delle riflessioni sottese alle ipotesi messe in campo sono soprattutto demandate al lettore a favore dell'azione e della tensione, mentre le conseguenze sociali di quanto hanno fatto gli alieni sono date soprattutto per frammenti, lampi, senza mai acquisire troppa centralità, se non attraverso il punto di vista di alcuni personaggi, che però sono soprattutto impegnati a inseguirsi tra loro più che a pensare.
In coda, anche molto rapidamente, si tirano le somme su come, anche di fronte a una soluzione (ma sarà veramente tale?) del mistero della morte, ci sia ben poco da sperare in risposte definitive, che anche alieni con conoscenze e capacità enormemente superiori all'umano in fondo agiscono per il proprio interesse, o forse senza troppa preveggenza, muovendo anch'essi dal proprio angusto punto di vista.
Un romanzo che avrebbe meritato una miglior gestione del ritmo e la volontà di andare più a fondo nelle questioni che pone, ma che non per questo risulta superficiale, anzi, anche se il lettore ci deve poi mettere del suo.
Il romanzo non perde tempo, ci butta subito in mezzo all'azione: i misteriosi alieni sono già arrivati, hanno selezionato un gruppo di umani e questi sono stati spediti su diversi pianeti, e così un po' alla volta mettiamo assieme i pezzi per capire, insieme a loro, quale sarebbe questo crimine operato da questi extraterrestri diecimila anni fa.
E se una rivelazione arriva già prima di metà libro è perché poi c'è ancora molto da raccontare.
Partendo da un'ipotesi che, va ammesso, più che fantascientifica sembra fantastica o, se si vuole usare questo termine, spirituale, l'autrice procede a mostrarci le reazioni dell'umanità di fronte a una prospettiva sulla morte che sconvolge molte certezze, o forse che le riafferma.
Se la prima parte del libro ha quasi un taglio antropologico nel suo mettere a confronto gli umani con delle culture radicalmente altre, la seconda parte adotta un ritmo serrato, quasi da thriller, e molte delle riflessioni sottese alle ipotesi messe in campo sono soprattutto demandate al lettore a favore dell'azione e della tensione, mentre le conseguenze sociali di quanto hanno fatto gli alieni sono date soprattutto per frammenti, lampi, senza mai acquisire troppa centralità, se non attraverso il punto di vista di alcuni personaggi, che però sono soprattutto impegnati a inseguirsi tra loro più che a pensare.
In coda, anche molto rapidamente, si tirano le somme su come, anche di fronte a una soluzione (ma sarà veramente tale?) del mistero della morte, ci sia ben poco da sperare in risposte definitive, che anche alieni con conoscenze e capacità enormemente superiori all'umano in fondo agiscono per il proprio interesse, o forse senza troppa preveggenza, muovendo anch'essi dal proprio angusto punto di vista.
Un romanzo che avrebbe meritato una miglior gestione del ritmo e la volontà di andare più a fondo nelle questioni che pone, ma che non per questo risulta superficiale, anzi, anche se il lettore ci deve poi mettere del suo.
February 24, 2018
Aliens arrive saying they wronged humanity 10,000 years ago. They offer to take 21 humans to visit seven planets so they can find out what the aliens did. It turns out that the aliens have removed the ability of humans to communicate with the dead for a short time before they move on the beyond. But not everyone agrees that's what happened. One of these explorers insists that the humans on the other worlds must be telepathic. And, of course, when they get back home there is a huge political and religious mess. There are lots of interesting ideas, but the last quarter of the book doesn't quite work for me.
July 8, 2024
Exceptionally readable, great pseudo tabloids between chapters, and a deep understanding of the human condition, life, death, and the afterlife. The interplay of the four main protagonists is brilliant. Even the control and treatment group characters are believable and described in vivid detail. Well worth your time even if you are not a sci-fi fan. Loaded with humanity and human interest. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews