This weekend I read one of the best science fiction books I have read in a long time, "Crossover by Joel Shepard"
Crossover centers on an artificial person named Cassandra Kreshnov who has deserted from the military of her home government to pursue life as a civilian in the Federation.
This is a very character driven story with the technology taking a back seat, and I think that the author does a great job with it. Kreshnov is believable in whatever personality she is exhibiting at any given moment (they tend to change depending on her particular needs at the moment) and the support characters although weaker are also pretty well fleshed out.
As I said the technology takes a back seat and that makes the book better. What is presented has a realistic feel. You can actually picture the hotel room or apartment Kreshnov is living in or the terrain she is running through.
The environment is a reflection of modern day international political tensions carried forward. Callay, one of the settings, is described as a very clean and organized place, much like Singapore, but there is a gritty feeling reminiscent of William Gibson or Walter Jon Williams "Voice of the Whirlwind".
Great Book - Highly recommended.
I also saw "Casino Royale".
This is the James Bond I remember from the books and the early Sean Connery movies. There are some differences of course such as it being implied that Bond is an orphan and a member of the SAS rather than the Royal Navy, but those are negligible.
Fleming described Bond as a hard man and the character in this film certainly comes of that way. It definitely adds to the story.
This is the best James Bond film in years.
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