Nancy Kress

A take on "The Emperor's New Clothes"; a prince jealous of his older brother and his new bride dons the invisible garments that only the pure of heart can see, with the intent of making a mockery of his brother and upstaging the bride... a trick that comes back to bite him in the (naked) ass. This story was really good, very clever, with a nice sort of double-cross-y air about it. At the end, I had to stop and think about how "The Emperor's New Clothes" actually ended, because Kress's show more version just seems so apropos. show less

In the not-so-distant future, it becomes possible to genetically engineer children. This is the story of one such child built to the specifications of her wealthy industrialist father, Leisha Camden, who is beautiful, blonde, intelligent, and who does not need to sleep. The story follows Leisha's growing up in an America that gradually grows to hate and resent Leisha and her peers. Leisha is one of the most three-dimensional characters I have ever read, and I agonized with her over the moral show more decisions she was forced to make. Calls into question everyone's rights as citizens and human beings. Was there ever a good decision made by committee? Is any man good enough to govern another without their consent? Like Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, but without the mind-numbing twenty-page speeches. Every time I read this novel, I get something different from it. A perennial favorite, I cannot recommend it enough if you like a good moral dilemma. show less

Humanity is contacted by an alien race calling itself the Atoners, who tell us that 10,000 years ago, they kidnapped a large number of humans and resettled them on other planets. They wish to atone for the terrible thing they did to humanity in the process, something which goes beyond the mere kidnapping, and they seek humans to volunteer to be Witnesses, who will travel to those other planets to observe the cultures that have developed. That observation, the Atoners believe, will allow us show more to understand what they have done to us.

The Witnesses are sent to seven sets of binary planets where the Atoners settled humans. We follow Cam and Lucca, the Witnesses on one planet pair where two very different cultures have developed. They are not archaeologists or specialists of any sort -- the Atoners have specifically avoided such people in choosing Witnesses -- so they have only their own instincts to guide their interactions with the natives.

The parallel stories of those two Witnesses are entertaining, with a sharply contrasting pair of intriguing cultures to be explored. Had the novel been entirely about those explorations, it would have been sufficient. But Kress brings that piece of the story to an end more quickly than I'd expected, and when we learn what it is that the Atoners are atoning for, her exploration of the fallout from that discovery is thoughtful and provocative. (Well, the short term fallout, at any rate; the novel ends with a reminder that the long range changes are going to be really interesting. While it doesn't quite rise to a full-on "here comes the sequel" tease, a return to look at how things have changed in 20 years or so would be more than welcome.)

Kress has been writing for more than 40 years now, and has a dozen or so major genre award nominations to her credit. She's never been a flashy or trendy author, and outside SF, she's probably best known for her regular "how to write" column for Writer's Digest. But she's a solidly reliable author, and you can count on her to provide well-considered speculation about technological/scientific change and its consequences, with a bit more attention to character and personality than is common in the genre. Steal Across the Sky is a good example of her work; it's a sturdy, well-constructed novel built around one big idea and its consequences. show less

First contact with aliens comes in the form of a web page. In Steal Across the Sky, alien Atoners set up a moon base and hook into the Internet looking for "Witnesses" via a Craigslist style job posting ad. Thousands of years ago, the Atoners visited Earth and somehow wronged humanity. They want to show the witnesses what they did. Presumably they will then atone for their crime.

What does get in-depth treatment are a few of the returning witnesses. One refuses to believe the evidence he saw show more himself, preferring an alternate explanation that doesn’t satisfy the test of Occam’s Razor. Another understands the revelation only superficially, but seeks out the spotlight to spread the message on her return. One is a working class Catholic who has both his religious views vindicated but also feels cheated out of his religious birthright. This is one of the better character studies in science fiction that I’ve read. It’s a genre that often neglects its characters. Kress hasn’t.

Between the excellent characters and the inscrutable aliens and lost colonies, I found much to like about the book.

(Full review at my blog) show less