Crossing the Line
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
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.
Series
4 primary booksThe Wess'har Wars is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2004 with contributions by Karen Traviss.
Reviews with the most likes.
The second novel of a series can be a tricky thing, especially when the author involved is fairly new to the book industry. Often unsure of later releases, they write the first novel in a series so that it can be enjoyed as a whole, and has a conclusion that is satisfying in its own right. The problem with this, howeve,r can be that when the later volumes in the series do come out, there has to be a re-establishment of the status quo before the author can continue with the series in a satisfying way. This is very much the case with the first half of Crossing The Line, the second novel in Karen Traviss' Wess'Har series.
Luckily, Traviss gets as much of that out of the way as quickly as she can. Shan Frankland, star of the last novel, adjusts to her new life as a warrior living with the c'naatat symbiont, and begins her somewhat inevitable romantic relationship with Aras, the only other c'naatat infectee on the planet that is her new home. As part of this, howwever, we learn more about the wess'har, including insights into their biology, their culture, and how the two intersect. [return]At the same time, however, the governments of Earth cntinue their uneaasy alliance with the isenj, and the two species together try to break the quarantine placed on the planet Bezer'ej, resulting in the unthinkable happening. Well, to be more accurate, several ‘unthinkable' things that all happen in quick succession.[return]That remains the greatest strength of Traviss' writing, I think: she does an excellent job of creating characters that are well-developed, and that it's easy to care about, and she then proceeds to torture them in ways that are both inventive and long-lasting. You go through the wringer with these characters, but you end up feeling stronger for it at the end.[return]One of the other strengths of Traviss' work is in her characterization of her alien species - each of the three nonhuman species in the book are well-developed, with a unique cultural outlook and philosophy, and yet each also has room for variation betwteen thee individual members of the society. NOt many authors take the effort to add that individuality to their aliens, and it's greatly appreciated that Traviss has made an effort to.
