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Crucible

Name: Crucible
Author: Nancy Kress
ISBN: 9781466824430

by Nancy Kress

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Overview

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 species: agressive, militaristic humanoids known as Furs and passive, plantlike creatures known as Vines.

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.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

About the Author, Nancy Kress

Nancy Kress was born and raised in upstate New York, where she spent most of her childhood either reading or playing in the woods. She earned a bachelor's and master's degree in education, as well as an M.A. in English. While she was pregnant with the second of her two sons, she started writing fiction. She had never planned on becoming a writer, but staying at home full-time with infants left her time to experiment.

In 1990 she went full-time as an SF writer. The first thing she wrote in this new status was the novella version of Beggars In Spain, which won both the Hugo and the Nebula Award. She is the author of more than twenty books, including more than a dozen novels of science fiction and fantasy, as well as three story collections, and two books on writing. Of her most recent novels, Probability Space (Tor, 2002) won the John W. Campbell Award for Best SF novel. Her short fiction has appeared in all the usual places, garnering her one Hugo and three Nebula Awards. Her work has been translated into Swedish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Japanese, Croatian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Greek, Hebrew, and Russian. She is also the monthly "Fiction" columnist for Writer's Digest Magazine and she teaches writing regularly at various places, including Clarion and The Writing Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She currently resides in Rochester, New York.

Reviews

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Kress's idea-packed sequel to Crossfire (2003) carries several leading characters and conflicts some 39 years farther into the future of a distant human colony. To settle the planet Greentrees, Jake Holman, now aged and feeble, has brought diverse groups: the huge Cutler clan, Arabs, Chinese, New Quakers, Cheyennes. The dissident Chinese city Hope of Heaven seethes with antagonism toward Mira City, where Alexandra Cutler as "tray-o," the Technology Resources Allocation officer, serves as one of the executive triumvirate. When a ship arrives from a devastated Earth, Alex falls prey to its charismatic captain, Julian Martin, whose suave exterior cloaks a formidable and ruthless will to power worthy of Rome's first Caesar. Martin's Machiavellian manipulation of Mira City's naOve citizenry, including Alex, soon easily makes him its dictator. Meanwhile, in space on a daring attempt to defuse the aggressive humanoid Furs' ability to wage war, Karim Mahjoub and Lucy Lasky are captured by the alien plantlike Vines. A highly complex plot, intricately interwoven motivations and a constantly shifting focus detract from the novel's pace, while characterizations and dialogue occasionally appear superficial or predictable. Nonetheless, Kress's inventive juxtaposition of cultures and political systems and her sympathetic treatment of minority viewpoints offer much food for thought. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

VOYA

Kress is in top form in this sequel to Crossfire (Tor, 2003/VOYA April 2003), delivering solid writing, strong characters, and real thought-provoking moral issues. Kress takes the reader a generation beyond the events in the previous novel. Many First Landers, the original colonists of Greentrees, are dead, and their children and grandchildren have never known any other planet. They do not quite believe that there could be danger waiting for them from afar. In the first book, the colonists were caught between two alien species, the plant-like Vines and the aggressive Furs, but were able to sidestep the immediate danger. Now both Vines and Furs are about to converge on Greentrees, and the colonists are likely to be caught in the middle again. Meanwhile there is unrest in Mira City, brought on by the young descendants of the Chinese settlers, who feel that they have not had the same opportunities as the Anglo, Arab, and New Quaker contingents. At the same time, another ship from Earth has just arrived. The Crucible is commanded by the charismatic Julian Martin. Greentrees has barely even needed a police force up to this point, much less a military, but Commander Martin is happy to provide both-in the interest of protecting the children of Greentrees, of course. Issues of freedom versus security, class structure, ethnic identity, and municipal organization are all dealt with in the context of a very engaging story that crackles with excitement. This novel is that rare breed: a page-turner with real ideas behind it. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P S A/YA (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for YoungAdults). 2004, Tor, 384p., Ages 15 to Adult.
—Sarah Flowers

Library Journal

Under his leadership, Jake Holman's colonists have prospered on the planet Greentrees, despite their precarious position between two warring alien species the belligerent Furs and the pacifistic Vines. When Vine technology develops a virus to neutralize the Furs' warlike nature, peace seems possible until the arrival of a ship from Terra, the home world. Kress's sequel to Crossfire explores human preconceptions of right and wrong, good and evil, friend and enemy. Emotional depth and strong characters make this a strong addition to most sf collections. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Roland Green

Kress is equally adept with hard science, alien contact, planetary colonization, and action, and at combining those four elements with exceeding, possibly unique flair. A must for SF collections.

Russell Letson

Kress has a real gift for portraying the persistence of the irrational, perverse, foolish and destructive in our behavior… as is generally the case with her work, the resonances remain after the book is finished.

House Review

Kress's sequel to Crossfire explores human preconceptions of right and wrong, good and evil, friend and enemy. Emotional depth and strong characters make this a strong addition to most SF collections.