Publisher: Ace Hardcover
Authors: Jack McDevitt
List Price: $24.95
Amazon Price: $16.97
Usually ships in 24 hours
Reviews:
Summary: Thin story, laughable details
This book is meant to be a sci-fi story set in the very far future - but is actually a B-movie from the 60s.
In the first 5 chapters you're presented with 3 dozen names (90% of which have no significance and are dissolved as the story progresses) and just about every astronomical irregularity thought possible.
The author's obsession with giving tasteless names to characters was somewhat overwhelming. Keeping track of them is irritatingly useless, especially when reaching so far into the future you still encounter names like Windy and Marty (Did these names exist 1000 years ago? No, so why should they exist 1000 years into the future?!). The names were given with no consideration to the personality they're supposed to label - that said, most characters don't have any personality to speak of, which makes matters even worse.
Interaction and dialog between the characters is often worse than in porn movies. Unchallenging even in the most basic form - if mankind is supposed to evolve over the course of several thousand years, this book definitely is not showing for it.
The accessories, tools and gadgets used by the characters suggest that the author has not been in contact with modern civilization for over a century (Static on a view panel? Wrist-light?! what kind of cheap drugs are you on, man?!).
When it comes to Sci-Fi, details are everything. A story may be good, but if the plot is plagued with bad details, it'll fail to convince the reader. Such was the case for me. My time was ill spent and I'm thinking of sueing Mr. McDevitt for it. :)
Summary: Run of the Mill
All seven people aboard a vessel, including the captain, mysteriously disappear. A search by other vessels fails to reveal what happened to them. Years later, an antiques dealer and his intrepid assistant, who are interested in objects that were on the vessel, find that someone else is attempting to get the same objects. After several attempts on their lives, they finally figure out why these objects are important and what happened to the missing people. There is a classic confrontation scene between the heroes and the villain.
Does this sound like a run of the mill mystery? Well it is. So how was this novel nominated for the Nebula award, the annual award of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America? Well, the trappings of science fiction were added on. The empty vessel is a space ship. The time is in the far future. The McGuffin, the reason for the disappearance, is something that present-day science has yet to discover, but it could just as well have been illegal proceeds of some kind.
But none of these trappings do anything to illuminate the characters or the society in which this adventure occurs, or our own present-day society. Nor are the plot devices so clever that they are worth reading about for themselves. In fact the plot is not just pedestrian but repetitious. For example not once, but twice the heroes' vehicle is sabotaged by the bad guy. You'd think smart detectives would have learned after the first time! Finally, the heroes themselves are quite insipid.
There are some interesting elements, like the presentation of two sides of a social argument that is a driving force in the novel, but after presenting both sides the author steps back and provides an intervening event that removes anyone (including the reader) from responsibility for actually making a choice.
If you need something to read on a long airplane ride and nothing else is available, this book may satisfy your requirement. But if the ride ends before you reach the end, you won't miss anything by leaving this book on the plane.
Summary: Jack McDevitt- Polaris and Seeker
If you like Nora Roberts, you will probably like these books. But if you prefer characters to caricatures, Hard SF that is believable, and plots that have depth, spend your money elsewhere. I decided not to even finish Seeker. These are pulp novels, like Roberts. Those seeking literature in a SF format will be disappointed.
Summary:
,
amazon.co.uk
,
google.com
