This was a great book! The other reviews cover the plot well and point out the stylistic flaws well. I don't want to get as detailed. If you've read Heinlein's Friday then I think you'll appreciate this book. Our main character is cool, she's indestructible, she's clever, witty and likes to engage in a lot of sexual activity (read *ultimate male fantasy*). I found the sexual proclivity, prowess and talent of this android a little heavy handed but hey, it's science fiction and male authored. She's a little too perfect. There is nothing about her that really sets up the debate about her existence unless it is her very perfection but that wouldn't apply to all GIs as it does in the novel. The previous review mentioned the errors and stylistic flaws in the first chapter and I would concur. It made me a little nervous as I bought the book based on Amazon reviews. It turned out alright though. Slog through the first chapter, read it and know that the author is trying to set the scene, describe his heroine, and familiarize the reader with the city.

The techno babble distanced one from the story a bit; I didn't get enough explanation to really make it clear. Some of the detail and description was gratuitous and superfluous but at times, really adding to the story.

I like that some questions were left unanswered. It wasn't a neatly packaged story. It left room for thought.

Overall I enjoyed the book, was eager to return to it and would recommend it to any sci-fi lover. I loved the multi-ethnic cast! I loved that the commanders and sympathetic characters were female! Good show, Mr. Shepard!

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Cassandra Kresnov is a synthetic human created to serve in the League's armed forces. GI's (as these soldiers are known) are designed with special abilities. Most GIs are basically "cannon fodder" and therefore have limited intellectual abilities. Cassandra and her team were part of an elite group within the GIs, with greater intelligence. Of these, Cassandra herself is unique, a truly parallel synthetic human who not only possesses highly superior analytic reasoning capabilities, but has developed emotional and aesthetic sides to her personality as well.

This advanced intelligence creates a paradox within Cassandra - as she ages, she begins to mature and develop. This development sparks rebellion against authority. When Cassandra's eyes are "opened" so to speak, she realizes that life as a common soldier is not the life she would choose for herself.

She leaves the League and tries to integrate herself within a Federation city. Ironically, although the Federation recognizes what the League does not - that she is a sentient being who has the right to determine her own lifestyle and destiny, they also harbor a long-held prejudic and fear of GIs.


As Cassandra tries to incorporate herself into life on the planet Callay, she is torn between past traumas and emotions and her present day difficulty with a culture comprised of people who are, at best, deeply ambivalent about her presence in their community.

This is a high-action book with a very strong female lead and other sympathetic male and female characters.

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