This is one I read some time ago and cannot recall enough about to review. ( )

In the year 2020, aliens calling themselves "Atoners" announce their existence by making a website soliciting human volunteers to visit distant planets and witness the evidence of a crime that the Atoners committed against humanity 10,000 years ago. This book tells the story of 3 such volunteers, what they witness, and the immediate impact it has on their lives. This is a clever, creative, original Sci-Fi story that explores some really thought-provoking territory. I don't want to give away much of the plot, since the unfolding mysteries are a large part of the enjoyment of this book, but I was mostly satisfied with it all the way through. I would like to see where this story goes, but if the author never writes a sequel I'd understand that too.

Words I didn't know in this book:

* Travois: A type of sled Made from two poles joined at one end with a net stretched between them. ( )

A while back I read an article which mentioned a science fiction novel where aliens contacted humans via a message posted on the Internet. The origins of this article now escape me, but I finally got around to picking up the book, “Steal Across the Sky.” And while it does include the aforementioned plot, it also addresses a number of different issues, including those of culture, ethics, and sociology.

One of the things that I found fascinating about this book was that it presented two alternate views of humanity as they might have developed on other planets. One being what we would consider a primitive, even barbarian culture, but with senses keenly attuned to the supernatural, and the other a strict military society where even a simple board game is far more than it seems. Also interesting but not completely foreign is the reaction of our human society after the witnesses return from their journeys, the political entanglements which follow, the celebrity cult which springs up around them. A fresh approach to the “first contact” story which is so prevalent in science fiction. ( )

A puzzler. Many of Kress' strengths shine through: solid characters, sympathetically portrayed but clearly flawed, a SFnal view of everything, even to a throwaway phrase describing the lingering twilight of an 18degree sidereal tilt, and lots of action. But she set up a plot structure that insists on much better answers that she seems to provide. Aliens who communicate colloquially but cryptically, make odd choices for their Witnesses who must uncover the sin the aliens committed against humanity, and then behave even more inconsistently in what they do when that sin is revealed. Without revealing the sin or what follows, for me at least it was all "let me pile up a bunch of interesting questions -- but I'm not going to resolve them." I'm fine with mysterious aliens - I prefer them to humans in green skin. But these seem to be humans in green skin acting randomly.

Recommended if you are a fan of Kress. Start elsewhere if she's new to you. ( )

The novel was a study of how humans can be self-serving while appearing self-sacrificing, while concurrently serving as a foil for the same theme for in an alien race. It was slow but it had great ideas. The big idea was strong enough to maintain tension throughout. Fairly strong characters, too. While I did enjoy the novel, I cannot really rate the novel very high because it simply didn't grab my heart. I have loved this author's work in the past, and I will continue to enjoy more, I'm certain. :) ( )