Steal Across the Sky

December 1, 2008
Nebula and Hugo–winner Kress (Dogs
) presents a fascinating mystery in classic SF style. The alien Atoners come to Earth with a startling message: some 10,000 years ago, they committed a crime against humanity, kidnapping human beings and establishing colonies on 14 other planets. Now they are asking for 21 human Witnesses to travel to those distant worlds and uncover the nature of their crime. Cam, Lucca and Soledad head to the double planets of Kular A and Kular B, worlds where life is cheap but may not end at the moment of death. The knowledge that they bring back changes civilization dramatically. Though the novel is somewhat marred by an over-hasty conclusion that leaves a number of plot threads dangling, Kress's philosophical explorations will keep readers hooked and thoughtful.

Starred review from December 1, 2008
Kress (Dogs, 2008, etc.) returns to science fiction with this yarn about alien contact, genetic engineering and life after death.

In the near future, aliens arrive on the moon and announce that they must make amends for a grave injustice they caused the human race 10,000 years ago. To that end, these Atoners need 21 Witnesses who will travel to seven planets seeded with human stock by the Atoners. In due course, Italian-English grad student Lucca and waitress Cam are chosen to visit Kular A and B respectively; mission controller Soledad remains in the mother ship and remotely pilots shuttles for Lucca and Cam. Cam encounters a monolithic, brutal and appallingly bloodthirsty culture where a game, Kulith —something like chess, monopoly and poker all rolled into one —determines everybody 's destiny. On Lucca 's planet, meanwhile —altogether a gentler, more peaceful place —evidence mounts that the people can perceive and converse with the recently dead …an explanation Lucca rejects. Once all the witnesses return to Earth, a compelling picture emerges: on half of the planets visited, the inhabitants can indeed see and chat with the recently dead. The Atoners explain that those inhabitants carry a gene that allows them to do so. On the other planets, and Earth, the Atoners deleted the gene. (They don 't explain why.) On gene-less Earth, chaos ensues, as Kress skillfully explores the consequences of her ideas, evidently with sequels in mind.

Arrestingly ambiguous and persuasively set forth —in the best science-fiction tradition, guaranteed provocative no matter what your personal opinions.

(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 15, 2009
Aliens calling themselves the Atoners have confessed to committing crimes against the human race thousands of years ago and have recruited a few individuals to travel to select worlds to "Witness" what they have done. Kress ("Stinger") once again demonstrates her absolute mastery of alien-human encounters, fleshing out her characters as believable individuals while at the same time managing surprising plot twists and philosophical conundrums at every turn. For most libraries.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2009
Aliens calling themselves Atoners appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the Internet. The ad said they had once wronged humanity. Now, to make such amends as they could, they were asking for human volunteers to visit other planets as capital-W Witnesses for the Atoners. Governments and people alike thought this was a stupid joke, but no. Kress presents three Witnesses, what they found on the planets they visited, and what they learned about the Atonersand themselves. The story is set about 2020, and the Witnesses are randomly selected humans from an environment not much changed from today. None are scientists, journalists, or spies. They are people who are curious but have no training that would be useful for analyzing any kind of alien environment. There is plenty of interpersonal conflict in their story, backgrounded with the questions of what the aliens really want and how far they can be trusted. A curious and absorbing novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)