The Hercules Text by Jack McDevitt

[gilda_elise]

The classic first-contact science fiction novel that launched the career of Jack McDevitt, the national bestselling author of Coming Home.

From a remote corner of the galaxy a message is being sent. The continuous beats of a pulsar have become odd, irregular…artificial. It can only be a code.

Frantically, a research team struggles to decipher the alien communication. And what the scientists discover is destined to shake the foundations of empires around this world—from Wall Street to the Vatican.

The book starts with a great idea, a message from out of the galaxy. But who’s sending it, and why? It’s an intriguing premise, one that’s been several times before. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of the better tries.

The problem is, the team of scientists brought together to figure that out in this novel aren’t all that interesting. Most are totally forgetful, and even those who are slightly less wooden aren’t what you would call captivating. They made such a small impression that I had to keep going back to try to keep them straight, especially since some of the names the author came up with are a bit odd.

This is the author’s first book, and it shows. It took far longer to read than a book of this length should have because it’s so dry. The author got a lot better, but this novel is totally forgetful.






Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.


1. A Wicked War
2. The Grapes of Wrath
3. The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses
4. Thera: Pompeii of the Ancient Aegean
5. Unbury Carol
6. The Institute
7. With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change
8. Elevation
9. The Remaking
10. The Great Lakes Water Wars
11. The Heresy of Dr Dee (John Dee Papers #2)
12. The Black Death
13. A Chain of Thunder (Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater #2)
14. American's Last Wild Horses
15. Children of Time (Children of Time #1)
16. Julius Caesar
17. The Elfstones of Shannara
18. Animal Farm
19. Bloody Mary
20. The Hercules Text




BOOK BINGO 2020 - 52. Read an author's debut book.

Comments

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

It's always a shame when characters are wooden and you keep having to remind yourself of who they are.

It's a good premise, as you say. Just a shame the book didn't quite deliver.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I'm cutting him some slack because it's his first book, plus I've read some of his later books and really enjoyed them. So he obviously got better. :-)