Traviss, Karen: Crossing the Line
Crossing the Line (2004)
Written by: Karen Traviss
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 373 (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Book Two of Six
I thought I was going to have to wait forever to read this book. It's the second installment of Karen Traviss's Wess'Har Wars series, and of the six books, it's the only one out of print. I stuck it on my Paperback Swap queue and waited, thinking I'd probably end up tracking down a used copy at AbeBooks.com before it was all over. However,solsticedawn was kind enough to take pity on my plight and offered to let me borrow her copy of Crossing the Line. I was so thrilled and beside myself that I had to take her up on her offer, so the reading madness could continue.
And yes, it is madness. Halfway through reading this book, I decided to splurge and buy the rest of the series. Got a nifty 4-for-3 discount from Amazon too!
The premise: ganked from BN.com: Shan Frankland forever abandoned the world she knew to come to the rescue of a lost colony on a distant and dangerous planet--a hostile world coveted by two alien races and fiercely protected by a third. But in the course of her mission, she overstepped a boundary and stumbled into forbidden lands. And she can never go back--to being neutral, to being safe. To being human.
War is coming again to Cavanagh's Star--and this time, the instigators will be the troublesome gethes from the faraway planet Earth. Former Environmental Enforcement Officer Shan Frankland has already crossed a line, and now she is a prize to be captured . . . or a threat to be eliminated. But saving a coveted world and its fragile native population may require of her one unthinkable sacrifice: the destruction of her own ruthless, invading species.
Review style: First thing's first: there will be spoilers for book one, City of Pearl!!!! I don't recommend that you read this review without having read City of Pearl. In fact, if you haven't, just stop here. For the rest of you, the actual review will discuss how the series is progressing, how characters are changing, and how the themes from the first book are reflected here. There's a lot of juicy tidbits about dominant females and sexuality, so if you've read the series to this point, keep on reading. The rest of you? Go get your hands on City of Pearl!
This book started off a lot faster than City of Pearl. I suspect it's due in part to being already familiar with the characters and the world Traviss has already created. After all, I had a whole book to get acclimated, right? But also surprising, though I'm not sure why I was surprised, was seeing how Crossing the Line pretty much picked up right where City of Pearl left off. Why is this surprising? I can give you no good reason, but it makes me happy to see that, even though each book spans several months to a year (and the time between books seems to be a few months at least), we're getting a tight story. It's not action-packed in terms of cause and effect, but we do get juicy and interesting world-building, as well as a lot of meat in terms of characterization. That was a lot of fun for me, because the action, when it came, had a bigger impact.
One of the nice world-building surprises was learning that the wess'har of Wess'ej are actually not representative of the whole of the species. Like the colonists on Constantine represented a very peaceful, harmonic, and religious group of humanity, so the Wess'ej wess'har represent a much simpler way of life that respects natural habitat and other species. They live according to the Targassati, a code named after a one-time matriarch. What's fantastic is not just learning about this difference, that there's a bigger and BADDER wess'har population at the World Before, but seeing the actual difference between the two groups. Both have diverged from a common genetic line and pretty much look nothing like each other. It's cool and creepy. Also hard to visualize, but I tend to have difficulty visualizing alien species anyway, so maybe it's just me.
We also learn a lot about wess'har politics and how the matriarch system works. At first, I was a little startled and worried that Shan was able to accidentally overthrow a matriarch with her hormone balance. Reason being that I heard the ever-insulting cry of "Mary Sue!" about Shan regarding her capabilities later in the series, and while it's from a reviewer I don't trust the slightest bit (and not just because she read the fourth book in the series as a stand-alone), seeing Shan's changes via the c'naatat gave me pause. However, that being said, I absolutely hate the "Mary Sue!" cry because it's often used improperly, and while one could make an argument that Shan has Sue tendencies (go ahead, let's debate), she's really not a great or perfect character. She's a bitch. Some people happen to admire that, like me, and therefore see that as a strength. She doesn't hesitate to take action, which is another strength, but sometimes that action is immediately violent, which is on par for the character, but in truth, should make those of us who aren't desensitized to violence cringe a wee bit. People are obsessed with her, but in both good and bad ways. I called in my review of City of Pearl that it'd be interesting to see if a romantic bond formed between Aras and Shan, and sure enough, we get it in book two. I'm surprised it happened so quickly, but I like the way it was approached. I feel a little cheated that Traviss just alludes to sex scenes rather than gives us any detail whatsoever, but to each their own. I'm looking forward to seeing how this relationship progresses, which is an odd thing to say, but Shan is c'naatat, and there's four books left in the series. I don't really believe that Traviss is going to kill off her main character so soon in the series (also, I spoiled myself reading the third book's summary--hee!). At any rate, I love Aras's character, especially from a beta-male regard. He's so fragile and yet, so destructive when necessary. Unlike Shan, whose aggression is first and foremost, and those vulnerable moments are a nice surprise.
At any rate, something I noticed about people obsessed with Shan. Aras and Bennett are in love with her. Fair enough. Eddie sees her as a hero. The matriarchs respect her. And interestingly enough, Lindsay is also obsessed. It starts out as a drive for vengeance, and while I'm not convinced vengeance isn't still driving her in some way at the end, I do think she sees Shan as kind of a role model, because she's always comparing herself to Shan, trying to act as Shan would in the same situation or as she THINKS Shan would act in a certain situation. While I'm glad to see Lindsay knocked off her rocker a bit, that's quite the cost. She didn't ask the questions she should have, and she's gonna pay for this severely. God knows that if she'd known what would've happened going in, she would've done SOMETHING different, even if it was plugging Rayat right between the eyes.
The destruction of Bezer'ej was a punch in the gut. I don't know why I didn't suspect anything, but I assumed that as long as Rayat got his hands on Shan, everything would go as Lindsay planned. I can't fault her TOO much for making the same mistake I probably would have, but at least I would've made it for different reasons. The end result is still the same, and it saddens me to see how careless sects of humanity are when it comes to other species. If we can't quantify its sentience, it doesn't count. Again, I know that's a pessimistic, cynical view of humanity, but it's one that works because it makes sense in regards to human nature. Sometimes we mean well and we still screw up because we just don't fully understand the scope of the situation, but we think we do because we, well, us. This book captured that pride perfectly, especially in light of Josh's character. If the bezeri hadn't been destroyed, I would've thought Aras's reaction to Josh's complicity would've been too extreme, but due to the results, it all kind of leaves me a little numb, but in a good way. It's hard not to really think about the wess'har philosophy, which is so different from the way we view things: intent doesn't matter, only the results of your actions. It's heady stuff, when you look at the events in this book.
I'm glad to see Eddie fleshed out more, and while Bennett doesn't get much screentime, he does emerge as a hero as well. I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing how these two humans (well, one human and one c'naatat) integrate into the future books. Eddie in particular stood out for me, and I really enjoyed reading his passages where he's struggling to remain neutral when he so obviously has picked sides. It's good stuff.
My Rating
Must Have: but only if you read and enjoyed the first book in the series, City of Pearl. Make no mistake, there are some series that you can read out of order without much trouble, but with just the second book under my belt, I feel pretty safe in saying that The Wess'Har Wars is NOT one of those series. It continues a story that's already started and makes no apologies to those who might be jumping in without the first book as a life preserver, and let's face it: the action of this book will mean next to nothing to you if you don't already have an established relationship.
Me, I've got that relationship, and I'm pretty darn happy. So happy I've already ordered the rest of the six-book series. So all I can say is, if you read the first book and liked it, you gotta get the second, but good luck GETTING the second, as it's the only one of the six out of print, and even I had to borrow a copy (dear Eos Books, seriously, WTH?). But don't let it's lack of availability deter you: find it, read it, and be frightened by the direction of the plot (in a good way). If you thought Traviss made some shocking choices story-wise in the first book, wait until you get a load of this one!
Cover Commentary: On visuals alone, I have no problems with the cover. It's not as pretty as City of Pearl, but it captures the science fiction feel of the book pretty well and tells you what you're going to get (mostly). What I take issue with is the lack of consistency in the design. In City of Pearl, there are no black bars to set the text again, but here in Crossing the Line, we've got black bars to set the text against. Now, I know why they did it. You wouldn't be able to SEE the text otherwise. But now there's no consistent design for the covers of the series, and that always makes me twitch. As well it should, as my husband is a graphic designer. Then again, I've always been a nut for cover consistency, so there you have it. :)
Next up: Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn