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Review
"Arrestingly ambiguous and persuasively set forth - in the best science fiction tradition, guaranteed provocative no matter what your personal opinions." Kirkus Reviews, starred review" --Kirkus Reviews
Product Description
The aliens appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the internet. 'We are an alien race you may call the Atoners. Ten thousand years ago we wronged humanity profoundly. We cannot undo what has been done, but we wish humanity to understand it. Therefore we request twenty one volunteers to visit seven planets to Witness for us. We will convey each volunteer there and back in complete safety. Volunteers must speak English. Send requests for electronic applications to witness@Atoners.com'. Everyone thought it was a joke. But it wasn't. This is the story of three of those volunteers, and what they found on Kular A and Kular B.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
..and you won't be able to rest until its read. As ever Nancy Kress innovates while exploring a challenging concept: The 'tonies' stole from the Human Race, everyday people get chosen to find out what, and then have to deal with the experience, the revelation ...and the rest of us!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
29 reviews
26 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Interesting and thought provoking
2 July 2009
Format:Hardcover
I am really no good at writing book reviews, so I will just tell you my opinion. I almost didn't pick this book. I was at the library and out of time. As I was checking out this book caught my eye in the "new books" section and I decided to just grab it and I am really glad that I did.
I love the advertising on the internet thing and I love that this is a sci fi book based in the very near future. I think the discoveries made by the Witnesses in this book were unexpected and I have never read anything like it.
I do wish the book had taken the time to explore some of the other planets more. It seemed odd to me that of the two planets explored (in the book) both were very primitive by our standards yet both had been given just as much time to evolve as we on Earth had been given.
All in all I found this a good read, light enough for a busy mom of three to be able to pay attention to, but deep enough for a busy mom of three to be able to escape in a book. I know as far as book reviews go mind kinda sucks, sorry about that. But overall I found this to be interesting and different, something I really enjoyed.
If you enjoy Sci-fi I think its worth checking this book out :)
I love the advertising on the internet thing and I love that this is a sci fi book based in the very near future. I think the discoveries made by the Witnesses in this book were unexpected and I have never read anything like it.
I do wish the book had taken the time to explore some of the other planets more. It seemed odd to me that of the two planets explored (in the book) both were very primitive by our standards yet both had been given just as much time to evolve as we on Earth had been given.
All in all I found this a good read, light enough for a busy mom of three to be able to pay attention to, but deep enough for a busy mom of three to be able to escape in a book. I know as far as book reviews go mind kinda sucks, sorry about that. But overall I found this to be interesting and different, something I really enjoyed.
If you enjoy Sci-fi I think its worth checking this book out :)
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Reeling Toward Absurdity
13 April 2010
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I like Kress and own many of her books. This one held high hopes but ultimately failed due to a shift in focus, insertion of unnecessary comments and an absurd ending. As many have stated, the first half of the book captured the attention of the reader. Sci-fi at its best: the slow buildup, the alien planets, the growing realization of what the Atoners were atoning for...fine.
Then we shift to Earth where we are absorbed with the daily lives of the "witnesses", those selected to venture into space aboard alien craft and observe what the alien race had done to us 10,0000 years ago. We encounter our first logical flaw. Although the vast majority hear the news and go on with their lives, some are so upset that they diligently seek to destroy the messenger. One is reminded of those shows where it is alleged that companies routinely assassinate employees who find problems or emergency rooms in which doctors are engaged in a round of rotating romances with each other. Then there are the unnecessary trivial comments - global warming, health care, "Georgia" voters, religion. Because they were not handled adroitly, they only cheapen the novel, even trivialize it. I call it arrested development; despite inventions, new discoveries, incredible science and the passage of time, folks have the same concerns 20 years from now. We don't even talk about the same things we did 10 years ago!
The ultimate folly, however, is notion that a gene allows us to (**** warning! plot reveal ****) "see the dead". It reminded me of HEROES in which evolutionary changes morphed into such things as invisibility, flying or time traveling. What does viewing dead folks have to do with DNA? As usual, excellent characterization and as usual, the females shine. Soledad and Cam literally carried the book forward. Most of the males were shallow caricatures - Frank, the embittered Catholic, Lucca, the jaded widowere, Fengmo, the every man's gay man.
The ending is two-fold, one good (even great) and one other trite. The appearance of the "aliens" was so hokey one wonders if it was an intentional inside joke. My grade - C+
Then we shift to Earth where we are absorbed with the daily lives of the "witnesses", those selected to venture into space aboard alien craft and observe what the alien race had done to us 10,0000 years ago. We encounter our first logical flaw. Although the vast majority hear the news and go on with their lives, some are so upset that they diligently seek to destroy the messenger. One is reminded of those shows where it is alleged that companies routinely assassinate employees who find problems or emergency rooms in which doctors are engaged in a round of rotating romances with each other. Then there are the unnecessary trivial comments - global warming, health care, "Georgia" voters, religion. Because they were not handled adroitly, they only cheapen the novel, even trivialize it. I call it arrested development; despite inventions, new discoveries, incredible science and the passage of time, folks have the same concerns 20 years from now. We don't even talk about the same things we did 10 years ago!
The ultimate folly, however, is notion that a gene allows us to (**** warning! plot reveal ****) "see the dead". It reminded me of HEROES in which evolutionary changes morphed into such things as invisibility, flying or time traveling. What does viewing dead folks have to do with DNA? As usual, excellent characterization and as usual, the females shine. Soledad and Cam literally carried the book forward. Most of the males were shallow caricatures - Frank, the embittered Catholic, Lucca, the jaded widowere, Fengmo, the every man's gay man.
The ending is two-fold, one good (even great) and one other trite. The appearance of the "aliens" was so hokey one wonders if it was an intentional inside joke. My grade - C+
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Not the book I wanted
24 Mar 2009
Format:Hardcover
I like Nancy Kress, but Steal Across The Sky didn't really hit the mark for me. The story I wanted to be told failed to arrive. Without spoiling it, the basic set up is that the humans are chosen to witness something the aliens need to atone for and that thing will not be revealed to them but discovered. We follow only a small number of the witnesses (less than half) and when we find out what the crime was, yes, it is huge with huge ramifications but those aren't explored.
The book is about the process of making the discovery and to some extent the result of that on the small number of the team we meet. I wanted, while reading the book, to know why the aliens committed the crime - how the crime impacted the various persons it was perpetuated upon, what the discovery process was for the other witnesses - maybe even the commonality or lack of in the victims of the crime. I give the book four stars for making me want to know these things, but three stars for the read it actually was. I found myself scanning the last third to see if it was going anywhere else and I was disappointed it wasn't. I really didn't care at all about the resolution of the characters I started out with.
The book is about the process of making the discovery and to some extent the result of that on the small number of the team we meet. I wanted, while reading the book, to know why the aliens committed the crime - how the crime impacted the various persons it was perpetuated upon, what the discovery process was for the other witnesses - maybe even the commonality or lack of in the victims of the crime. I give the book four stars for making me want to know these things, but three stars for the read it actually was. I found myself scanning the last third to see if it was going anywhere else and I was disappointed it wasn't. I really didn't care at all about the resolution of the characters I started out with.
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