Crossover

Cassandra Kresnov, Book 1

By: Joel Shepherd

Narrated by: Dina Pearlman

Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2006 Joel Shepherd (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Passover

What did you like best about Crossover? What did you like least?

The idea was good for a story. The execution was not so much. Spent too much time in the thoughts and too little in action. Seemed 2/3rds was spent in the minds of the characters. The series might become better now that the introductions are done, but I am not interested in finding out.

Was Crossover worth the listening time?

Not really, I spent more time surfing the web than listening as it frankly bored me.

Weak Attempt at Emotional Emergance

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. This topic has been better rendered by other authors.

The main character was attempting to find herself while being a relatively unfeeling synthetic being. By the time the deeper feelings inevitably came out, we were no longer interested. The attempt to render profound linkage to societal problems came off as illogical and unbelievable.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Dina Pearlman?

Maybe.

Highly Recommend the Series

If you could sum up Crossover in three words, what would they be?

Intense Refreshing Gripping

What was one of the most memorable moments of Crossover?

The standout scene occurs early in the first book when the title character undergoes vivisection. After that the buy into the main character's point of view is complete and there's no turning back.

What does Dina Pearlman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I listened to the sample because I saw her name as narrator. And yes the audio version and in particular the Ms Pearlman's talent as a narrator add another dimension to enjoying the book just not available to silent reading of the text.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

The quality of the writing is high and sustained through out the trilogy. Often such a fantastic first book is followed by a weak sequel, but that does not happen here. Shepard not only understands his main character thoroughly but has an unusual grasp across a broad range of very real political and philosophical issues. All too often a SF writer will sketch out a simple black and white conflict - political or other issues - and then have the characters run through the plot. Shepard achieves something I've rarely seen in that on both the political dimension and across several softer issues he sets up a very believable universe within which his characters operate. But these background issues are never allowed to dominate. The story is well told and the characters always in the center of the action with the wider issues and setting providing an enjoyable and very realistic background.For example, in the political realm in SF authors often can't help grinding some current axe, but Shepard resists anything like that. The political factions are not reflections of today's, but realistic creations fitting the future world that the main character - Sandy - lives within.The struggle between those people and entities against the creation of artificial life vs those who wish to embrace its potential would seem to set up a very black white background, but that doesn't happen. As the main character moves through the trilogy it becomes clear that this division is nuanced with hidden agendas popping up from unexpected but believable sources. And at no point does Shepard allow some very complex background material to overwhelm his main character(s) or their stories.Shepard could have fallen into the trap of not allowing one side to have of the 'right' on some moral ethical issue. In the third book one android recommends to another to read the book by Shelly 'Frankenstein' in order to understand why the organic humans fear the created artificial life forms so much.

Interesting tale and vision of the Future

What does Dina Pearlman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Dina Pearlman is awesome as usual , I go looking for stories she narrates

Any additional comments?

I liked the story, the technology, the vision of the future, and the characters (mostly). There was a guy early on who was basically racist (against Artificial life) so much that I got tired and wanted to quit to avoid listening to him. Plus the begetting of chapter 2 was so physically violent against a person, I started to reconsider the book (and this form a person who reads about vampire hunters and zombies) The rest of the story was fine , though interception and the intermixing of politics often slowed the story down to a crawl, disrupting the action. I will give the 2nd book a chance at some point.

Cyberpunkish thriller with strong female leads

Three things make "Crossover" a good solid science fiction novel: an action-packed cyberpunkish plot about far future inter-stellar political and military intrigue, a willingness to explore the issues around whether an man-made soldier can also be a person and, most of all, strong female characters, especially the artificial soldier herself, Cassandra Kresnov.

Joel Shepard builds his future world with care, paying attention to history. culture, and politics and setting up conflicts that are more complex than good-guys versus bad-guys. He has created a credible, engaging universe that could be the foundation for a good series of books.

The thriller plot has some excellently executed action scenes and just enough political intrigue to vary the pace.

Yet this isn't a "Olympus Has Fallen" you have 24 hours to save the universe kind of book. It's main focus is on Cassandra Kresnov who was built to be a super-soldier but has gone AWOL to see if she can do more with her life. A lot of the novel is spent exploring what it means to be sentient but not human, to look human but to be a formidable weapon, even when unarmed. Joel Shepherd gives this debate an excellent via a gruesome scene, early in the novel, where Cassandra is treated like a thing rather than a person and subjected to unbearable cruelty. By the end of this, I had no doubt Cassandra was a person.

Cassandra is not written a human who happens to have a different biology. She is, in many ways, alien and threatening. She knows why she was built, she just doesn't believe that she has to be bound by her maker's intent. We see her as "Captain Kresnov" commanding a crew of super-soldiers, slightly less advanced than her, who she cares for and who virtually worship her. We see her as the wannabe civilian, looking for a job, going to art galleries, picking up a man, trying to build a life. we watch her build trust, suffer grief, be overwhelmed by anger and crippled by fear. We are given every opportunity to like her. The humans she interacts with are more than foils or plot devices, the SWAT squad leader and the President of the planet are drawn with precise, confident strokes that make them easy to imagine.

I found the start of the book a little slow but I suspect this was more to do with how the book was narrated. Later in the book, Dina Pearlman does an excellent job with both the dialogue (wonderful accents and distinct voices for the main characters) and with action scenes, but her reading of the early scene-setting descriptions and some of Kesnov's internal reflections is a little flat and unsympathetic. I also thought the last chapter of the book could have been omitted or given more bite. But these are small complaints. This was a book I read with pleasure, wanting to know what happened next, caring about the characters and kept interested in the diversity of the world in which the action takes place.

its a must buy worth the credit

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

i love the story line its has spy's imda android GI trying to make in life that makes the story unique and gives it a thrill and never boring

loved this book

I first read the book several years ago and really like the series I was delighted to see was added to audible it just popped up in my list one day and I decided to revisit it as an audiobook it's a great series a mix of sci-fi Space Opera and Military sci-fi loved it you'll enjoy it too

I Picked Immediately

If you could sum up Crossover in three words, what would they be?

Interesting Exciting Fun

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cassandra Kresnov is the main, and my favorite character. I just find her journey fascinating as she progresses through the story as an artificial person trying to fit into a society whose first reaction to her is most often fear.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I definitely spent a lot of time laughing, there is plenty of humor in the book in addition to the action. As for the action there is plenty of that too.

Any additional comments?

I read this book several years ago and picked up the audio book as soon as I saw it on new releases. I already really enjoyed the story and the narration of the audio book definitely did not disappoint. Definitely happy about spending a credit on this and cannot wait for the sequels to be released.

Great Srtory and Preformance

This a great story that has action a plenty along with a imaginative dissection of the human condition and what being human means. The setting and characters are well imagined and developed using very descriptive prose.

After listening to the story I quickly purchased the second book in the series.

Dina Pearlman is also one of my favorite narrators....

Great sci-fi trilogy

I'd read this trilogy when it was originally published a few years ago. I generally don't read science fiction, being more of a fantasy geek, but the plot seemed interesting, so I bought it and loved it. Joel Shepherd is a great author: the plot, pacing, and characterizations are all quite good. So, my only question before buying this in audio, though I was very excited to see it available, was the narration.
My previous experience with Ms. Pearlman's narration was with "Polgara the Sorceress", which was a good book. I did not, however, care for the narration at all. She has a pleasant enough voice, she just mauled some of the pronunciations of some key places and/or people from the Belgariad series, one of my all time favorites. I couldn't finish it.
So I was nervous about buying this, but having enjoyed the print version so much, and wanting to experience it in audio, I bought it anyway.
She is better in this book, though at first I didn't think I'd be able to finish (which I haven't, but I'm halfway there). Chapter One was rough, she came across as emotionless and bland, and her descriptions were quite boring, not to mention rushed. She got better during Chapter Two, and really hit her stride in Chapter Three and beyond. She differentiates the characters quite well so you always know who's talking, and seems to be good at affecting different accents. She conveys the emotions of the characters very well, and picks up the pace of the narration during the action scenes effectively conveying the urgency of these scenes. It's not perfect, but all in all, I'm impressed, and plan on finishing this trilogy.