Crossfire - Softcover

Kress, Nancy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0765343894 ISBN 13: 9780765343895

Publisher: St Martin's Press, 2004

Synopsis

Crossfire is the story of a human colony started by Jake Holman, a man trying to escape a dark past. As this diverse group of thousands of people comes to terms with their new lives on a new world, they make a startling discovery: primitive humanoid aliens. There are only a handful of isolated villages, and as the colonists gather more information, the evidence seems to indicate that the aliens aren't native to the planet. When the humans finally learn the truth, they find themselves caught up in an interstellar war between two very different species of alien. In the end, a handful of humans, led by Jake, must choose sides. The fate of not just their own home, but all of humanity, hangs in the balance.

About this title

About the Author

Nancy Kress was born and raised in upstate New York, where she spent most of her childhood either reading or playing in the woods. She earned a bachelor's and master's degree in education, as well as an M.A. in English. While she was pregnant with the second of her two sons, she started writing fiction. She had never planned on becoming a writer, but staying at home full-time with infants left her time to experiment.

In 1990 she went full-time as an SF writer. The first thing she wrote in this new status was the novella version of Beggars In Spain, which won both the Hugo and the Nebula Award. She is the author of more than twenty books, including more than a dozen novels of science fiction and fantasy, as well as three story collections, and two books on writing. Of her most recent novels, Probability Space (Tor, 2002) won the John W. Campbell Award for Best SF novel. Her short fiction has appeared in all the usual places, garnering her one Hugo and three Nebula Awards. Her work has been translated into Swedish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Japanese, Croatian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Greek, Hebrew, and Russian. She is also the monthly "Fiction" columnist for Writer's Digest Magazine and she teaches writing regularly at various places, including Clarion and The Writing Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She currently resides in Rochester, New York.

From the Inside Flap

*"Life-sized characters with personal and cosmic preoccupations, tense and knotty plotting, and Kress's usual abundance of ideas: gripping, challenging work, a reassuring return to top form."--Kirkus Reviews starred review

"Kress operates up to her usual high standards, and she also makes ethical dilemmas as gripping as laser fights and the results of human-alien conflict rather than depend on which human contacts which alien. Choice stuff."--Booklist

"A satisfying thought experiment in science and philosophy. . . . Fans of serious SF will enjoy this tale of bravery, travel, adventure, and personal and social crisis."--Publishers Weekly

"Kress's aliens are convincing, and her colonists are all fascinating, developed individuals. This thought-provoking book is highly recommended . . ."-VOYA

"In this latest thrilling offering by Kress, world-building and character development are flawlessly executed in a thought-provoking conjunction of passivity and morality."-Romantic Times Book Club

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0765343894
• ISBN 13: 9780765343895
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 368