Three by Jack McDevitt

Well, except for the lighthouse field guide I just posted, it's been several months since any new book reviews have been posted here. But that doesn't mean I've stopped reading in all that time. Far from it! Bookworm that I am, I can no more stop reading than I can stop eating or breathing or sleeping.

No, I've just gotten overwhelmed with the other activities in my life, and I haven't found the time to write about the books I've been reading. So, to get caught up, I'm going to resort to a succinct listing of the books, with just brief comments or recommendations regarding them. So here goes:

Infinity Beach by Jack McDevitt. New York: HarperPrism, 2000. ISBN: 0-06-105123-3

Chindi by Jack McDevitt. New York: Ace Books, 2002. ISBN: 0-441-00938-7.

Polaris by Jack McDevitt. New York: Ace Books, 2004. ISBN: 0-441-01202-7

Now this is science fiction—really hard science fiction—as it should be! Jack McDevitt is one of my new favorites, and this is my first stab at catching up on everything he's written so far. Chindi is another Academy (Priscilla Hutchins) novel. Polaris and Infinity Beach are both set much further in the future, a thousand years or so, when human-kind has spread throughout the stars. But people are still people! And they still behave in human ways.

This trio of novels share two overlapping themes. Chindi and Infinity Beach are both exciting adventures on the quest to find another nonhuman sentient race, another civilization out there among the stars. And both Infinity Beach and Polaris are science fiction mysteries. In Polaris the passengers on a luxury space yacht just disappear. What happened to them? Were they abducted by aliens? In Infinity Beach, four missing persons, a mysterious explosion, and a an ill-fated search for aliens some years before lay down a baffling set of clues that may lead to an alien encounter.

All three of these books are highly recommended for all science fiction fans. Any mystery readers who don't mind a SciFi setting will probably enjoy them as well.

Cauldron by Jack McDevitt

Cauldron by Jack McDevitt. New York: Ace Books, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-441-01525-2

I KNOW I've read some other Jack McDevitt books, but apparently not since August of 2003, when I started this blog. Strange. After reading Cauldron, I'm definitely in the mood for more. If only I can find the time. You know how it goes, “So many books, so little time.”

Nevertheless, I was surprised to learn that Cauldron is the sixth novel in “The Academy (Priscilla Hutchins) Novels” albeit, Hutchins is hardly a primary character in this novel. She does have a significant part, but not the most significant by any means.

This story takes place about 250 years from now, in a future in which an FTE (Faster Than Light) drive has been discovered, but, alas, it takes months to cross to the nearest star system. Consequently, humanity is pulling back from the stars, having only discovered a few other civilizations and life forms here and there, and somehow, for some not reasons, not altogether clear to me, has decided that it's too costly, too dangerous, just plain not worth doing any more.

Until, naturally, someone discovers a REALLY fast drive, that can travel to other stars in a matter of minutes, not weeks! And everything changes in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, so to speak. Of course, the drive doesn't work quite right at first, and there is a good deal of suspense over whether enough money will be raised to actually test and put it into practice.

But all is resolved in due course, and an intrepid crew, Priscilla Hutchins among them, is off for an amazing adventure or three among the far-flung stars, and the galactic core. Even though I find some of the premises behind this story a little far-fetched, the tale itself is just too good to be missed. McDevitt has a truly inspired imagination, and the adventures of his motley crew make for very entertaining reading, indeed. Highly recommended for all SciFi fans.