Breakaway

This project by Mr. Shepherd is quite ambitious and it is for that wider ranging scope that I'm parceling out the 5 stars. Is it the best of this type of visionary far future speculating that has been such a cornerstone of Science Fiction since I began reading it so many years ago with Issac Assimov, Poul Anderson and others? No, probably not. But it's good, real good, and there's no four and a half star rating available, so full marks. Much like Assimov with his Robot and Foundation epics this series of books (2 out and one more planned) asks some questions about what we are as a species, as political and cultural groups, and as individuals. And by golly, it asks! There are no obvious answers provided, just folks doing the best (sometime good, sometimes dreadful) that they can. Anybody with the paucity of wit to say it lacks all merit says more about him or her self than about this future day Cassandra story as told by Mr. Shepherd. Cassandra, of course, was a figure from Greek mythology. So beautiful was she that she turned the head of Appolo. He first gave her the gift of prophecy and, when she jilted him, cursed her by making everyone disbelieve her predictions. Certainly this Cassandra is both blessed and cursed as well, if not by a denizen of Mt. Olympus, by one of our current substitues for those gods and goddesses, science. This Cassandra doesn't have the original's prescience, but she is beautiful, implacably deadly, strong, fast, smart, sexually promiscuous (sort of), did I mention implacably deadly, and all of 15 actual years old. A product of tape digital direct learning, she had no childhood since she was created fully formed, learned what she learned in various wartime black ops, and learned in ways and directions unpredicted by her "creators" who were only looking for a better weapon and instead got, well, you'll have to read the books and decide for yourself what they got. In this particular book a 165 year old Hindu Yogi sees in her proof that the Universe itself is alive and we all share in it's collective soul. Be that as it may, she's kicks serious behind, dodges multiple political machinations, and struggles to tell the players without a scorecard. The book is well written, has some interesting techno speculations, as well as very interesting social, cultural, personal, philosophical, and even religious ones, AND it got lots of action to keep things on the boil. All the speculations are well integrated into the plot and certainly, given the character Shepherd created and the crazy chaotic situation he's landed her in this installment, quite believeable. I am an action junkie, no doubt, so trust me, this work doesn't preach and doesn't drag. Surely one man's ceiling is another man's floor, but I think if you're looking for entertainment that'll also give you something to think about, some different perspectives to your current world view, I highly recommend this effort. Ambitious stuff.

Joel Shepherd is brillant. You can not but fall into the story and take the ride along with his characters. There is something wrong with any one who does not like this new writer.

This is the second in what is supposed to be a trilogy of books centering on a military android named Cassandra Kresnov who switched sides after an interstellar war. The war was between two groups of humanity with opposing ideas on how far technology should be allowed to develop, and she is the ultimate technological development of the "development without limits" side of the war. The first book dealt with her move from a culture that accepted her but also used her to a culture that was scared of her and wasn't sure what to do with her. Many reviewers of the first book were offended by the open discussion of sex, but I saw it as a result of her creation and use in an environment where she and her fellow androids did not learn the social taboos of modern America. That dispute aside, the first book was an excellent action adventure. That continues in the second book, and there is much less talk about sex for those who are offended by it. In this book, which takes place immediately after the first book (and both books together only cover a period of several months) Kresnov is accepted into the security forces of her new society, but kept a secret because her abilities and existence still scare people. There's plenty of action and political intrigue, just like the first book, and it is a good, self-contained novel. Fortunately there's no cliff-hanger or "have to buy the last novel to reach closure" ending. I look forward to the third book, but I'm wary of what happens because of the proposed name: Killswitch.

Cassandra "Sandy" Kresnov is a G.I., a synthetic as opposed to organic person created in the League's laboratories. She has intelligence and morality and she defected from the League to the Federation because she felt that she would be treated as a person on the planet Callay. After saving the president from an assassin, she has been awarded citizenship, which angers some politicians and people who see her as the killer that was part of the League's army. Sandy works black ops for the CSA but is technically attached to a swat team under the auspices of her best friend Vanessa. Trouble is brewing on Callay as article 42, a provision to be voted on to succeed from the Federation, is up for referendum. If approved, the heads of corporations believe this will allow them to use biotech, the science that created Sandy. The SIB harasses Sandy causing her to lose her job and citizenship because they believe she is a killing machine. Still Sandy does her best to do her job even as the upcoming vote on article 42 leaves her in a void status while even something more radical is percolating. It is ironic that the heroine feels more at home in the Federation where the science that created her is outlawed. Readers who have read CROSSOVER, the first CASSANDRA Kresnov novel will find BREAKAWAY is just as good. The tale contains great characterizations especially the heroine, a cultural look at an advanced civilization, and plenty of political intrigue. All this contributes to make Breakaway a one sitting reading experience. Harriet Klausner