Odyssey

A Little Rationality on the Side:
Yes, Jack McDevitt has pounded out a bit of a stinker here. I agree with most of the criticisms of this book: that it moves too slowly, that Hutch is consigned to a tertiary role, that it is too contrived in places, that McAllister resembles Alex Benedict too closely for proper series decorum...but I'm not going to pounce too quickly until I see how "Cauldron" turns out. And here's why: For a first-time reader of Jack McDevitt, "Odyssey" would have been quite a let down, but for those who have followed the series since its inception, "Odyssey" wasn't really that bad. I have enjoyed everything I have read by Jack McDevitt, and so I have confidence in his ability to turn this around. It seems that there is always a transitional book in any long-running series, a book that doesn't have the same immediacy and weight of the previous books (think "At All Costs", David Weber), and we can hope that this is the case with the Priscilla Hutchins series. McDevitt is trying to air out some legitimate concerns about human nature; our species' inability to remain focused upon long-term goals where instead we seem always to fall back upon self-serving hedonism and mysticism. The space agencies in the Priscilla Hutchins stories have actually saved the Earth, have discovered incredible wonders on distant planets--have laid bare a potential galactic threat exacerbated by ignorance, and yet people have returned their attentions to the silly and ludicrous. Those who are more far-seeing find themselves at odds with public attention and resort to manipulation and deflection to achieve their goals. There are real-world analogies: close-passing asteroids and the sure odds that one will hit us sooner or later, and yet NASA is sidelined into a menial agency, under funded and little appreciated. People debate religion while the Earth heats up, remain complaisant during a war defined as never ending, and allow media outlets to serve up emotionally distressed pop-culture stars instead. McDevitt is arguing for rationality; this is why a central character is Greek, why there are references to Plato, and a condemnation of the hoi polloi in all but name. But skepticism is also essential--McAllister's character is a virtual Skeptics Society, slashing at frauds manufactured by well-meaning scientists and officials as well as those propagated by irrational belief. If Jack McDevitt is trying to turn from space opera toward deeper themes, I will give him that chance.

Boring and predictable:
This book was billed as "flying off the shelves" and the author's books are said to be lapped up by eager fans. What's the attraction here? I sure don't know. The writing is pretty decent; the plot is fine, but what suffers is the development. McDevitt sets out to discuss a project in space that has a small (just a small) risk of tearing the universe apart (blithely ignored by the scientists) and a space exploration/tourism industry that is under fire by an equally blase world. Meanwhile "moonriders"--UFO's we'd say, manifest themselves and scare the interstellar space travelers. What are they? The author develops political intrigues and struggles fairly well, in fact, too well, as this takes up almost all of the action. If you remove this portion of the plot, you find that the story was pretty well covered by Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves Not enough to make me care about the new characters and the setting. The author should polish up his development skills and find a new plot --he can write well enough to do something a lot better than this.

Jack, please pick your pace:
I got started on Jack McDevitt with 'Polaris' and 'Seeker'. Both Imaginative stories with an exciting, high-paced plot. I'd expected the Academy series to show the same originality, and I must say, 'Chindi' definitely does. But I'm sorry to say that where I found 'Omega' just a trifle tedious, 'Odyssey' is a downright disappointment. The Academy series feels like a slide downhill. 'Odyssey' takes over 300 pages before it finally picks up any pace, only to ramble on to its conclusion 120 pages later. If you decide to go for this read, just skip the first 3/4 of the book and pick up from there. Better still, start on the Alex Benedict, much more value for your money.

It's a McDevitt Book, all right.:
Of McDevitt's books, I've read Eternity Road, Ancient Shores, and Moonfall. I've found each of his books readable, but not exactly well-written. His ideas are top-notch, but his characterization and plot development rub me in a strange way and I dislike his "Let's stop the action to give you character background" habit. Regarding Odyssey, I was unaware until I logged on here that it was a part of a series. This explained a lot because as this book was engaging enough, however it kept referencing a past which was never adequately explained. Too much time is spent covering a religious trial and the state of affairs on earth and having little to do with the actual plot. (Maybe this is an important vein in the series, but it didn't make sense to a first timer.) True to McDevitt's style a character who I had little sympathy for ends up the hero, huge patches of text drag on with no plot development, and the "action" stretches to within a few skimpy pages from the end of the book where it never truly explains the Moonriders motives. Still, this book was better than Moonfall which turned me off to McDevitt for years. If you're looking for a starter book by him, I would pick up Eternity Road.

Decent story all the way around:
Not one of McDevit's best, but a good story with loads of action none the less.