gilda_elise | Entries tagged with jack mcdevitt

When physicist Michael Shelborne mysteriously vanishes, his son Shel discovers that he had constructed a time travel device. Fearing his father may be stranded in time—or worse—Shel enlists the aid of Dave Dryden, a linguist, to accompany him on the rescue mission.

Their journey through history takes them from the enlightenment of Renaissance Italy through the American Wild West to the civil-rights upheavals of the 20th century. Along the way, they encounter a diverse cast of historical greats, sometimes in unexpected situations. Yet the elder Shelborne remains elusive.

And then Shel violates his agreement with Dave not to visit the future. There he makes a devastating discovery that sends him fleeing back through the ages, and changes his life forever.

What could have been a tense search for a missing father, is instead a somewhat jovial ride through time. At times, Shel and Dave act like a couple of frat boys, using the time time devices to visit their favorite historical events.

There are a few moments of crisis, but the boys find a way through with almost ridiculous ease. I never felt that there was any real danger, especially with the men’s song and dance.

The book is a pleasant read, but not one I’d especially recommend. Something of a disappointment from an author whose work I usually greatly admire. I seem to have fallen into a pattern of finding the least likable of my favorite authors’ works.

Mount TBR 2024 Book Links

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

1. Bone Walker (Anasazi Mysteries #3) by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear
2. Holly by Stephen King
3. Inferno (Inferno#1) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
4. Fallout (Lois Lane #1) by Gwenda Bond
5. The Secret People by John Wyndham
6. Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
7. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
8. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
9. Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara
10. Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts by Shanna H. Swan, Stacey Colino
11. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
12. Night Songs by Charles L. Grant
13. President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier by C.W. Goodyear
14. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
15. Mine by Robert R. McCammon
16. Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt

APR– Darling, Funny, Familiar, Somewhere, List, Meet, Never, Word⁠

Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt

Alex Benedict and his executive assistant, Chase Kolpath -- ambitious antiquities dealers from Jack McDevitt's A Talent for War (1989) and, more recently, Polaris -- are back in Seeker, a story in which the two antiquarians search for a legendary lost colony that is both a science fiction thriller and a remarkably complex mystery.

More than 9,000 years after an interstellar transport named Seeker left an overcrowded and politically repressive Earth with the dream of founding a new society on an unspecified planet, Benedict and Kolpath stumble across a ceramic cup that was once on the now-legendary lost starship. But tracking down how the ancient artifact got from the ship into the hands of a maltreated woman and her thuggish boyfriend turns out to be more than Benedict and Kolpath bargained for -- as their search leads them across multiple star systems and straight into an anonymous assassin's crosshairs. But as the killer closes in, the two courageous antiquarians uncover the jaw-dropping truth about the lost starship and the legendary colony

Equally reminiscent of Frederik Pohl's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Heechee saga (Gateway, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, et al.) and a classic Ellery Queen mystery, McDevitt's Seeker will appeal to readers of hard-core science fiction, as well as adventurous mystery fans looking for an out-of-this-world story. And just like Polaris, Seeker is characterized by a bombshell of an ending that will leave readers absolutely awestruck.

A truly excellent installment in the Alex Benedict series. Once again, the book is in the first person, with, again, Chase as the narrator. But unlike the previous volume, I felt her portrayal this time was spot on. I don’t know if she matured or if McDevitt’s writing did. In either case, Chase is the perfect character to move the story forward.

And move it does. The reader is taken on a fast paced ride, as one discovery leads to another. And while the series is named for Benedict, Chase is being given a bigger role; just as big, if not bigger, than Benedict’s.

I don’t know of a lot of hard science fiction writers out there, but of those I do know, McDevitt is at the top of the list. And this book has only solidified his position. Part science fiction, part mystery, part archaeological search, the book keeps the reader guessing until the end. No surprise that it won the Nebula award for best novel of 2006.

There are several more books in the series, with a new one just out. I can’t wait to start the next one.

Mount TBR 2023 Book Links

( Mount TBR 2023 Book Links 1-20 )

21. The Magpie Lord (Charm of Magpies 1) by K.J. Charles
22. 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated by Eric H. Cline
23. Wanderers (Wanderers #1) by Chuck Wendig
24. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
25. A Dog's History of the World: Canines and the Domestication of Humans by Laura Hobgood-Oster
26. Bethany's Sin by Robert McCammon
27. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
28. The Tea Party by Charles L. Grant
29. Seeker (Alex Benedict #3) by Jack McDevitt

Goodreads 29

MAY- In It To Win It
“Read a book that involves a game or contest of some sort.” ie. Virtual reality, video games, war games, psychological mess-with-your-mind games, characters who participate in a contest, or a story in which the character takes on a personal challenge.

Seeker by Jack McDevitt

The national best-selling author brings back the daring Alex Benedict from A Talent for War and thrusts him into a far-future tale of mystery and suspense.

Sixty years ago, the space yacht Polaris was found deserted, the fate of its pilot and passengers a mystery. Now, to mark the anniversary of the disappearance, there is to be an auction of what was left behind on the ship.

Using his insider knowledge, Alex Benedict, one of the preeminent antiquities dealers in the galaxy, secures some of the artifacts. But then an explosion destroys most of the collection, convincing Alex that drastic measures are being taken to hide what happened aboard the Polaris - which is why that's exactly what he has to find out, especially if it means risking his life.

I’m not a mystery fan, but McDevitt may just turn me into one with his Alex Benedict series. Just as its predecessor, I found this book both entertaining and informative, because I am a hard science fiction fan and this book fits squarely in that category. I wasn’t crazy about the book being in the first person. While the first book was, too, it didn’t seem to work as well with Chase, Alex’s sidekick, being the one telling the story.

While there’s the mystery of the lost passengers of the ill-fated Polaris, there’s also lots of scientific theory and details to make a sci-fi fan happy.

My only problem, and it’s a small one, is with Chase’s propensity to be sidetracked by her attraction to men. Okay, we get it, they find you attractive. Get over it. Maybe McDevitt should stick with having the male character tell the story.

Mount TBR 2021 Book Links

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

1. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
2. Polaris

There's been a change. The Storygraft website was sort of wonky, and the challenge I had joined wasn't really much of one. But since I already post to Goodreads, I joined their challenge. 60 books...I hope.

Goodreads 2

Plus, our local library started up their winter challenge, "Let It Snow."

Let It Snow 2021 Banner

Another change! Book Bingo is back, if only in a smaller form.

Scifi - Polaris

Christopher Sim changed mankind's history forever when he forged a rag-tag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the alien Ashiyyur. But now, one man believes Sim was a fraud, and Alex must follow the legend into the heart of the alien galaxy to confront a truth far stranger than any fiction.

I came to McDevitt’s books further on in his career, so I wasn’t sure how I would like this one. Not a problem! The story is a mystery, wrapped in a puzzle, wrapped in a enigma.

What had Alex’s uncle found before his untimely death? Whose behind the threats now to Alex’s life? How does this all tie into what really became of Christopher Sim? And how much do the Ashiyyur have to do with any of it?

What surprised me most of all was how much I enjoyed a book written in the first person, because I rarely do care for that point of view. It’s probably the most difficult point of view to write in, yet McDevitt effortlessly pulls it off.

As much as I did enjoy the book, I would have liked for some of the minor, or maybe not so minor, mysteries to be wrapped up. But this is a very minor quibble about a superior novel.

To show the true exquisiteness of the book, I'll paraphrase my favorite passage, taken from an imaginary book that I wish was real:

We are all Hellenes. We owe all that we are to the restless thinkers along the Aegean, who, in the most exquisite sense, took the first steps to the stars. Only the mind is sacred. That notion was a dazzling insight in its time. Wedded to the observation that nature is subject to laws, and that those laws can be understood, it was the key to the universe.

Beautiful, huh?

( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )

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.

( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )

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