James Nicoll Reviews

2001’s Crossover is the first volume of Joel Shepherd’s Cassandra Kresnov science fiction adventure series.

April Cassidy has a perfectly pleasant life in the delightfully cosmopolitan city of Tanusha on the planet Callay. However, should the Callayans discover that April Cassidy is actually Cassandra Kresnov and that Cassandra is a more a what than a who, a torch-waving mob is not out of the question.

But first! A word about global economic convergence.

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2004’s Covenants is the first volume in Lorna Freeman’s Borderlands secondary-universe fantasy series. Covenants is not a mystery, but on researching its author, I discovered that the author is a bit of a mystery.

Freston is the border outpost to which the Royal Army of Iversterre dispatches all those soldiers who do not fit the army mold, but who cannot be summarily dismissed or executed. Rabbit is one such, raised in the Borderlands by Iversterre expats, a man who dresses as well as he can under the circumstances and is considered finicky, who nevertheless has considerable woodcraft skills.

Or so everyone, including Rabbit, assumes. But currently Rabbit and the routine patrol for whom he scouts are hopelessly lost. Help arrives in an unwelcome form.

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