Cross Fire (Book Two) (Exo)

Great Book! I couldn’t wait to receive it and continue Donovan’s story from the first book; Exo. Amazon delivered it in excellent condition. Very pleased.

Cross Fire is a perfect sequel to Exo. The story follows nicely from where the first book finished, and is as engaging as can be expected. The reader is immediately very familiar with the context, the characters and the zhree-specific parts of the story. Lee's writing is brilliant, and gracefully combines action sequences with teenage brooding over a powerful underlying philosophical context. Overall, a highly recommended read!

Crossfire, by Fonda Lee, is the science fiction sequel to the popular book Exo. Donovan Reyes, the protagonist, is certainly no ordinary man. He is an exo, or a human possessing an exocell. Implanted using a special procedure, exocells allow for heightened strength and intelligence compared to “squishies”, or ordinary humans. Having an exocell has never been more important, for Donovan resides on a vulnerable Earth, where humans are ruled by a superior alien species, known as the Zhree. They protect desperate humans from intergalactic threats like Sapience and are vital for humanity’s survival. Working as a member of the security forces and as an adviser to the Zhree “Zun” (leader), Donovan’s life is full of chaos and turns. But, everything changes when the Zhree choose to leave Earth, leaving humanity defenseless. Donovan and his friends know the situation is dire and must do whatever it takes to save the only home they have ever known. What will become of Earth, Donovan, and the galaxy? Read Crossfire to find out.I found out the hard way that this book is near impossible to understand without having read Exo first. I dove into Crossfire with zero background knowledge and struggled immensely. There is a whole plethora of vocabulary, like Prime Liaison, Hardening, Exocell, Zhree, and Erze that is necessary to process the events of the story. I finally gave up and skimmed Exo before coming back to Crossfire, and all my problems were solved. So, in closing, I’ll put it simply: read Exo first.Crossfire was action-packed once I was able to comprehend it. The entire last half of the book was one humongous climax, and was very entertaining. There was essentially no exposition, because it is assumed that the reader has already seen the characters in Exo, and is aware of what is going on. This contributed to the seemingly lightning-quick pace of the story.Additionally, I enjoyed puzzling through the numerous ethical questions in the story. For example, towards the beginning the "Zhree Zun" wanted all humans to become exos, despite the procedure having a 3 percent mortality rate.I rate this book 4 stars, since it was gripping and appealing to me as a lover of science fiction. However, I felt Crossfire could have done with a slight exposition to refresh the reader’s memory on the characters and terms. This is the only factor that lowered my rating from a 5 to a 4. Regarding age recommendation, I believe that children 10 and up would enjoy this book most. Because of the fast pace, even impatient readers can get through it without dealing with boring monologues. This makes Crossfire highly attractive to younger readers.Review by Anya A, 13, Metropolitan Washington Mensa

Loved the characters. High stakes exciting read with an unexpected ending. Exo was a good read and this was even better.

A slower start than the first. There's more character development and more political posturing. Still a good story, with no easy answers to some of the issues raised, it just takes a wider view, so the action is more spread out.

Arrived quickly. Daughter is super excited to read it!

(Note: Originally reviewed for YA Books Central.)Smart, well-paced, and intensely thought provoking. This series is on track to redefine sci-fi expectations for the YA genre.Once again, the story is told in third-person past tense—entirely from the viewpoint of young soldier Donovan Reyes. Donovan is still mentally recovering from his time in captivity, and the loss of both parents to opposing ends of the conflict over the alien colonization of Earth. His instilled-since-childhood loyalty to SecPac and the Zhree is evolving—as is his perspective on Sapience, the recently fragmented extremist group his sort-of-girlfriend belongs to.The human resistance (Sapience) is seemingly getting what they’ve always wanted. Thanks in part to the terror attacks and opposition they’ve been met with in recent years, the Zhree homeworld has decided that Earth isn’t worth developing or protecting any longer. They’ve ordered an evacuation of their entire species. And they’ve decided a small percentage of their human collaborators will evacuate with them, to preserve the human species in some form once the planet inevitably falls to the scavenging Rii.But many Zhree were hatched on Earth and know no other home. For those carrying eggs, the trip back to their technical homeworld would endanger or doom their brood. And all would look forward to being dismissed and discriminated against as “offworlders.” As for the humans, the consequences are even more bleak. The evacuation of human Exos demands that most leave some or all of their families behind to face certain death—either at the hands of a vengeful Sapience anarchy, or eventually, to the whims of the genocidal Rii.Oh, the sociological and political nuances!There are still no easy answers to any of the moral conundrums we encountered in Exo, and I love it for that alone. But in Crossfire we do see that the prioritizing of survival demands a mighty shift in the power dynamic. The interpersonal aspects are truly honed in this installment. The closer relationships between the SecPac soldiers and some of their Zhree comrades illustrates the interrelational conundrums in their uneven governing structure. The tensions between homeworld Zhree and Earth colonist Zhree highlights a vast cultural and political complexity within the alien species itself. And the empathy-building connection between Donovan and Anya is used expertly to show both “sides” (or more accurately, the grey-area gradations) to the underlying issue of colonialism.The ethical quandaries abound. Is propaganda a means justified by its ends? Is access to tech advancement a privilege or a right? If you could guarantee your children a better life and doubled lifespan with the 1% chance of mortality up-front, is it worth the risk? Can there ever be true equality between fundamentally different species? What, exactly, constitutes “freedom?”One thing is certain—this series isn’t done asking hard questions that may never have clear-cut answers. Which should leave many a reader pondering the story long after they’ve reached “the end.”Again, we see the romantic angle is more of a side-note amid the much bigger picture. But in this book, said angle felt more natural and enhancing than it did in Exo. There is now the sense that these star-crossed almost-lovers could actually be a catalyst to some desperately needed unity. If they can restrain their biases long enough to find some common ground to stand on…Final Analysis:Superb worldbuilding, solid character development, lucid descriptions, and high action balanced by compelling introspection. It’s rare to find a series in which the second book actually surpasses the first… but here, Fonda Lee has done just that.

I'm finding myself, all these days later, still thinking about the themes brought up in this sequel and how much they relate to what is happening in current times. We follow Donovan Reyes again, and this time he's caught in the middle of intergalactic politics as well as that of humankind. The Rii have arrived, as have the Zhree from the homeworld, and their attitudes are not those of the Zhree who were born and grew up on Earth. This book and its predecessor should be taught in schools, if for the colonialization and immigration discussion alone, and about what it means to be first or second generation alien on planet Earth.

Nise story

I finally got to book 2 of this series and I’m horrified to discover the binding is so poor. Fonda Lee is an amazing author and the cheap binding does not do her nor the price of the book justice. Disappointed.