Crossover

This was a very engrossing and enjoyable read. Ever since "Data" on Star Trek: Next Generation, I've sort of been intrigued with the concept of when a "manufactured intelligence" becomes human. This novel takes that concept far beyond what might otherwise be available on TV (although fans of Battlestar Galactica might disagree after the latest episodes). The author here writes tightly and with good sense of scene; the pacing is excellent, and the characters become quite distinct and interesting. As others have noted, there are frquent sexual scenes, but it's not pornographic in any way; sexuality is merely part of this "being" trying to discover what it means to be human. Highly recommended; I've purchased the second volume in the series (which is also excellent)

Cassandra Kresnov -- or April Cassidy, as she'd like to be known, on Callay -- is a high-grade replicant, a GI super-soldier of the League. Well, ex-League now, or so she devoutly hopes. Ordinary GI's -- artificial humans, with enhanced strength and reflexes -- aren't all that smart, it turns out. Cassandra is an experiment -- what if we make a GI who's really *human*, as best we can, and see what happens..... What happens is, Cassandra wants out.... This is an absorbing exploration of what it means to be human, as seen through the eyes of a defecting super-soldier, who's really, really sick of war, and just wants to settle down, get a job, get a *life* -- and have sex. *Lots* of sex. Cassandra "liked sex when she was happy, and sex when she was sad, and, most particularly, sex when she was uptight or frustrated." What she gets, instead, is disassembly by agents of the FIA, a last minute rescue by the CSA, a bogged-down court-case and a political hardball-match. With Sandy as the football. The impasse is broken when Dark Star, her old League outfit, raids Callay to assassinate their President. By chance, Sandy is nearby, and saves the President's life. Which is, after all, a time-tested way to make an ally.... Influences: well, the Federation vs. League is pretty clearly Cherryh's Union vs. Alliance, though a shorter-span conflict and less subtly done. The political setup is quite deft, really, particularly for a first novel -- in fact, this is an amazingly accomplished first novel -- a first-rate novel, period. Sandy herself -- well, ol' Bob's FRIDAY certainly comes to mind. Shepherd is a fine storyteller, and I got misty-eyed more than once over the hard row Cassandra K. has to hoe. Highly recommended. First of a trilogy, and I'll be reading on. This one, thankfully, is nicely self-contained. PYR is to be commended for bringing this 1999-2001 Australian novel to US readers. PYR is to be faulted for failing to wield an editor's blue pencil on Crossover. At 457 pp., it would have benefitted from cutting by (say) 100 pages, and would have been a tighter and better book. You'll have to do the cutting, mentally, yourself. Sigh. Happy reading-- Peter D. Tillman

This story is fantastic, bright, intelligent, and enjoyable. If you like good sci-fi you can not but like this new writer of sci-fi. Joel Shepherd is very insightfull with the characters, he brings them to life. I will be putting all of his future books in my collection along with this one. Buy it.

Joel Shepherd's CROSSOVER tells of one Cassandra Kresnov, a soldier and synthetic person created by the League to fight in an interstellar war against the conservative Federation. Cassandra is way above her peers as an experimental design - but with intelligence comes human-like qualities and Cassandra deserts the League and heads out in search of a new life, finding herself battling social mores for a place in the universe.