Crossover by Joel ShepherdMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Jacket blurb: Crossover is the first novel in a series which follows the adventures of Cassandra Kresnov, an artificial person, or android, created by the League, one side of an interstellar war against the more powerful, conservative Federation. Cassandra is an experimental design — more intelligent, more creative, and far more dangerous than any that have preceded her. But with her intellect come questions, and a moral awakening. She deserts the League and heads incognito into the space of her former enemy, the Federation, in search of a new life.
Her chosen world is Callay, and its enormous, decadent capital metropolis of Tanusha, where the concerns of the war are literally and figuratively so many light years away. But the war between the League and the Federation was ideological as much as political, with much of that ideological dispute regarding the very existence of artificial sentience and the rules that govern its creation. Cassandra discovers that even in Tanusha, the powerful entities of this bloody conflict have wound their tentacles. Many in the League and the Federation have cause to want her dead, and Cassandra’s history, inevitably, catches up with her.
Cassandra finds herself at the mercy of a society whose values preclude her own right even to exist. But her presence in Tanusha reveals other fault lines, and when Federal agents attempt to assassinate the Callayan president, she finds herself thrust into the service of her former enemies, using her lethal skills to attempt to protect her former enemies from forces beyond their ability to control. As she struggles for her place and survival in a new world, Cassandra must forge new friendships with old enemies, while attempting to confront the most disturbing and deadly realities of her own existence.
Read for November book group...
...sort of. This was a Did Not Finish (DNF) for me. I tried to finish it, I did. But by Chapter 16 I was done slogging. Just...done.
Now, the book group group enjoyed this one and have requested to read the next in the series, which we probably will.
So, where did this fail for me? I think it was just too much introspection and expository dumping on what it means to be human, what defines being a human, who should be considered human, how humans are afraid of GI's, and how Cassandra/Sandy is or isn't human.
The bits with action were engaging and fun - but they were far and few between.
I liked Cassandra when she was moving and engaged in something. I liked her growing awareness of how she was different from her fellow GI's, what was causing that awareness, and her empathy for her team.
I liked Vanessa Rice. She was spunky, interesting and fun.
I enjoyed the world building and the city of Tanshua (sp?). The air cars, the river winding through, the different cultures all made for a very interesting and colorful backdrop.
Ultimately, I would have liked this selection more if there was less introspection and more character engagement.
Recommended with reservations.
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