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Didn’t Like It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “I have never liked the Hutch series as much as the Chase Kolpath books (Talent for War, Polaris, Seeker), so I'm biased, but I just don't like this version of the universe...it's more of what we have, only with aliens. It doesn't seem as interesting, or possibly it's just that there are no real...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“First Impressions: Odyssey took some getting used to in order to plow through it! My only other introduction to the author Jack McDevitt is through his excellent novel, "Time Travelers Never Die" so I was hoping this book was going to be a continuation of the excellent style I was used to.
James M wrote this review Thursday, February 9, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
"Not so" say a few other reviewers, who pointed out to this writer that McDevitt has a series and Odyssey is the culmination of such a series starring Hutch, a former space pilot now administrator of the Academy, a space-faring service for scientists and such, and MacKenzie, a snarky, cynical journalist whose 23rd century profession has not changed much in the last couple of centuries.
Odyssey moves slow, and takes its time in commenting on that 23rd century life, implying criticism of today naturally. It's just too obvious and too much! For example there is a thread through the story of a mousy man named Beemer who attacked a priest for preaching hellfire which frightened him and "ruined his life" when he was told there was no redemption for this 12 year old now man. MacKenzie was backing up Beemer hoping for some kind of conviction. The end chapters give headlines and blurbs of the ongoing trial. Very minor part of the story and a bit of a waste of time for this reader.
After a few hundred pages of administrative angst by Hutch, and her politically motivated boss, there are rumors that the Academy may be shutting down since it has been found that there is little to no life in the immediate vicinity of the Milky Way and that we are wasting our time on the space effort and that we should concentrate on the failing Earth's ecology – greenhouse has really come a long way in two centuries, apparently.
Finally some political intrigue, the death of a favored character and still the unexplained and incomplete ending of the first and only contact with alien life left me a bit "so what." There is also the senator's young daughter Amy who is contacted by these aliens but it comes in the form of a late-night visit. Was this a hoax? Should we pay attention to their threat of destroying an atomic collider that could give us the answers to the Big Bang, or should we worry about reputation and not tell anyone of the true dangers of this collider?
Bottom Line: Great potential, but the story could have been shortened a couple hundred pages as an interesting short story than a novel.
Still, I have not given up on Jack McDevitt. Let me look up his Hugo winners and see if I can see some of his early work. The present Odyssey, though supposedly in alignment with Homer's similarly-titled tale, drags for me and is more a political criticism in the guise of science fiction than a novel that would rival Heinlein or Asimov. No danger there!
”“Excellent.”
Ian M wrote this review Wednesday, July 28, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This far-future novel is about mankind’s attempt to learn the truth behind mysterious lights in space called moonriders.
plappen wrote this review Sunday, July 18, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Space travel and industrialization just has not paid off the way humanity had hoped. The search for intelligent life has been disappointing. On Earth, there is a growing call to cut the space exploration budget, and focus on domestic issues, like global warming. In a last-ditch effort, the Academy puts together a mission to investigate moonriders, once and for all. The modern equivalent of UFOs, they have been seen by many, but no one has gotten a close look at them.
The mission takes on added urgency when an asteroid misses Earth by a whisker (in astronomical terms), and no one knew it was coming. A luxury hotel under construction orbiting a nearby planet is destroyed by another asteroid. Both incidents are blamed on moonriders. The mission, including the journalist leading the campaign to cut the space fleet, discovers that the incidents blamed on moonriders have a much more Earthly origin. They also see, up close and personal, that the moonriders are not to be trifled with, when they attack a supercollider, thousands of kilometers long, under construction many light years away.
Here is another gem of a story from McDevitt. It’s an intelligent piece of space opera, it does a good job of combining ideas and action, and it is recommended.
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“The twist is kind of a let down. McDevitt's Hutchins novels are usually a little slow but enjoyable. This one just felt drawn out. Could have been a short story and got the point across more quickly. ”
Bobby L wrote this review Thursday, February 18, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“good book but seems the same plot in all the priscilla hutchins novels”
John H wrote this review Tuesday, November 3, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“CC 6-25-09
Clint C wrote this review Thursday, June 25, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Very keen on McDevitt right now
This is my cup of mead :)
Thoughful and intellectual, solid hard science fiction
plan to get and read the series ”
“Nothing really happens in this book. There's so much boring political description the plot gets buried and it's hard to maintain interest. And I don't think McDevitt realises how boring and unattractive MacAllister is as a character. Ugh.”
Icelandic T wrote this review Saturday, January 31, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“Not quite as engaging as Seeker, but just as thoughtful insofar as the political situation on earth 200 years from now. Jack McDevitt offers this novel as an argument against the hypercollider machine, a very large machine that can smash atoms together and possibly create tiny blackholes. The world's first of these machines already exists in Switzerland (in 2008). Because of this, Odyssey poses its ideas in a way that is slightly relevant now, but will certainly be more so in the not too distant future.”
Josh wrote this review Thursday, August 21, 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
