100th out of 210 books
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1,248 voters
Seeker (Alex Benedict #3)
The Barnes & Noble Review
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 9,00...more
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 9,00...more
Mass Market Paperback, 373 pages
Published
October 31st 2006
by Ace
(first published 2005)
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I stumbled onto this book when going over a list of Nebula Award winners. I must say as a sci-fi story it plays differently then most of the other books in the genre. It's a mix of Indiana Jones with Marco Polo set in the distant future. It's a "lost civilization" story where the main characters are treasure hunters looking for rare items from the distant past. The story takes place 10,000 years into the future; humans have been traveling in space for so long that space faring civilizations have...more
This was the Nebula Award winner for 2006, so I thought I'd be in for a treat. The premise sounded pretty good: 9,000 years in the future, two antiquities/salvage experts find a relic from a lost colony ship which leads to big adventure and lots of danger.
There are a lot of cool ideas about future technology. I especially liked the avatars of famous historical persons, assembled from all available data on the net. The alien-relations the humans have with the "Mutes" is fairly interesting — Human...more
There are a lot of cool ideas about future technology. I especially liked the avatars of famous historical persons, assembled from all available data on the net. The alien-relations the humans have with the "Mutes" is fairly interesting — Human...more
Apr 24, 2008
Gloria
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Sci-Fi readers who like normal characters
Recommended to Gloria by:
Genreflecting
Shelves:
sci-fi-fantasy
Similar to the familiar idea of searching for Atlantis, this novel's characters are searching for the lost civilization of Margolia. I'd just made the association that the main character and his assistant had a similar style and relationship as does Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson when I happened to glance at the book flap where I read that this novel is "a classic-style investigative tale with Alex serving as an amateur-sleuth Holmes and Chase as Watson." I guess this is testimony that my impres...more
An interstellar archaeological mystery, Seeker is the story of an antiquities dealer and more importantly, his assistant. A shady woman brings them an artifact she wants to sell, and as they track down the item's provenance, they stumble on to a larger mystery surrounding a lost spaceship and the people on board.
This is plot-driven science fiction in the Niven tradition - characters are given some development, but there is no question they're secondary to the plot. Fortunately the plot is engag...more
This is plot-driven science fiction in the Niven tradition - characters are given some development, but there is no question they're secondary to the plot. Fortunately the plot is engag...more
Mar 04, 2010
Tamahome
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
mystery/hard sf fans/fans of strong female characters
3.5 stars. Pretty good. Along the way I was wishing for more action, like in Engines of God, but the ending is really good. McDevitt has an above average amount of humanity in his books, and that kept me going.
9,000 years in the future a myth from humanity's first expansion is found.
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In the future humanity has roamed in the stars for over 9000 years. We have discovered that for the most part that we have missed the great civilizations of the past and we share the universe with only a few other intelligent races. This makes the mysteries of the past something of a lucrative field for those that are willing to chase myths and legends to find the next untouched archeol...more
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In the future humanity has roamed in the stars for over 9000 years. We have discovered that for the most part that we have missed the great civilizations of the past and we share the universe with only a few other intelligent races. This makes the mysteries of the past something of a lucrative field for those that are willing to chase myths and legends to find the next untouched archeol...more
I really enjoyed Seeker. Was it a perfect book? No. I thought it opened a bit slowly, with an antique's dealer being given a cup with origins that are a lot cooler than the trashy woman holding it could ever have dreamed.
But it was a fun book, with enough action to keep me entertained until I put it down. I did think that the ultimate ending was a bit weak (there were a couple of twists that were fun, but in the end, finding the mysterious planet felt a bit like, "Oh, okay...well, I guess that w...more
But it was a fun book, with enough action to keep me entertained until I put it down. I did think that the ultimate ending was a bit weak (there were a couple of twists that were fun, but in the end, finding the mysterious planet felt a bit like, "Oh, okay...well, I guess that w...more
I listened to the audio book, don't do that. The woman who reads this is terrible. There is no drama in her voice. She differentiates the different women characters by making them more or less breathy. That's just too much for me to stand.
I cannot believe this is a Nebula Award winner. At first the plot was fairly interesting, although there is a ton of info-dumping going on. But it kept going long past when it should and the ending was unfulfilling. Plus there is bad science.
I don't have the pa...more
I cannot believe this is a Nebula Award winner. At first the plot was fairly interesting, although there is a ton of info-dumping going on. But it kept going long past when it should and the ending was unfulfilling. Plus there is bad science.
I don't have the pa...more
I first put this book on my shelf to read (physically the pb book) not long after it found its way into my small used bookstore in Utah.
It is years later now, and I have finally gotten around to it, though the scene has changed to Reno, and the pb has been replaced by an audio version.
Not a kindle, never a kindle, I find it insulting, the very idea, that Amazon offers to sell me a device for a few hundred dollars (may be less now) that I can then use to PAY THEM MORE MONEY TO USE.... They shoul...more
It is years later now, and I have finally gotten around to it, though the scene has changed to Reno, and the pb has been replaced by an audio version.
Not a kindle, never a kindle, I find it insulting, the very idea, that Amazon offers to sell me a device for a few hundred dollars (may be less now) that I can then use to PAY THEM MORE MONEY TO USE.... They shoul...more
Seeker is a book of speculative fiction that will appeal to you if you're not into hard-core science fiction, and if you are a reader of mysteries. McDevitt has combined both into a story that begins with the discovery of a cup bearing some "English" letters, which antiquities dealer Alex Benedict and his partner Chase Kolpath trace back to a long-lost ship called Seeker. To be very blunt, Benedict and Kolpath plunder what we would consider archaeological sites and sell what relics they come acr...more
This was a little Sci-Fi break from more serious stuff. But it still had a few interesting thoughts about human nature, human evolutionary potential (in terms of evolution away from behaviors that cause war, suffering, dark ages, etc.), and the way passions can lead to very non-optimal outcomes (something that's very relevant in today's world.) It's a little slow, but only in that it's actually about searching/exploring, looking and finding - no massive space wars with lots of explosions.
Here ar...more
Here ar...more
I was introduced to Jack McDevitt when my spouse picked up [u:]A Talent for War[/u:] at the bookstore about eighteen months ago and didn't have time to read it before I ran out of new books and picked it up; I have devoured everything he's written voraciously since then. I prefer the Benedict books to the Hutchins books; Priscilla is kind of a whiner while Alex is a badass capitalist, and he twigs as kind of a warm and fuzzy David Xanatos-lite. Also, space mysteries. What's not to love?
[u:]Seeke...more
[u:]Seeke...more
A good example of what I like to call archaeology science fiction. I confess I read this out of order, not realizing it was third in a series of books about Alex Benedict, the antiquities expert. It doesn't seem to matter, I enjoyed it to the hilt. Told from the POV of Benedict's assistant Chase Kolpath, the story spins out from the discovery of an ancient cup that leads our characters to believe evidence of an Atlantis-like civilization may exist out in the universe. The Margolians are a group...more
The premise of this book was interesting--the search for a 9,000 year old space ship and a lost civilization. Unfortunately I never totally connected to the characters. This is the third book in the Alex Benedict series and I haven't read the first two but the book was told in first person by Alex's assistant, Chase Colpath. Alex seemed almost a minor character, except when he comes in and takes all the credit for Chase's hard work.
I think my problem with the characters is that they are in fact...more
I think my problem with the characters is that they are in fact...more
A solid sci-fi story with an easy style of prose. I enjoyed the plot and twists nicely. I didn't even figure out the last surprise until the end, though the details were placed ahead of time. The science was reasonable and believable. The business and economics in the story were also well detailed and felt realistic. The characters were well done with elegant depth and good personalities. I liked the portrayal of the alien race and their specific shortcomings.
I had only three nits with the book....more
I had only three nits with the book....more
Seeker is actually the third book in Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict series, but I picked up "A Talent for War" (book 1) some time ago and couldn't build any interest before putting it down and my library didn't have "Polaris" (book 2), so when the urge took me to give McDevitt another shot, Seeker is where my attention landed. Anyway, the basic premise is that protagonist Alex Hunter and his assistant/narrator Chase are antiquarians (grave robbers if you prefer) in the far future (ca. 10,000 A.D....more
This is a sequel to Polaris. We meet Chase Kolpath and Alex Benedict, antiquities finders/dealers extraordinaire, once again chasing after a missing ship which in turn becomes a search for a missing colony. After reading Polaris, Seeker was a little predictable: Alex manages to have the correct hunches about skimpy leads and they lead him to spectacular finds, danger, and the wrong people trying to kill him and his partner.
In this episode, Chase has to run down some leads on a truly alien world...more
In this episode, Chase has to run down some leads on a truly alien world...more
The third of the Benedict novels, and they have kept improving over the course of the series.
This was the most interesting plot of the three to my mind and Benedict becomes an even more remote figure in a sense as all of the narrative comes from Chase's perspective.
One does get a bit irritated that after so many attempts on their lives that they have not come to expect it or planned a bit better for them. Only once this time around did prior planning prevent catastrophe, a slow learning curve gi...more
This was the most interesting plot of the three to my mind and Benedict becomes an even more remote figure in a sense as all of the narrative comes from Chase's perspective.
One does get a bit irritated that after so many attempts on their lives that they have not come to expect it or planned a bit better for them. Only once this time around did prior planning prevent catastrophe, a slow learning curve gi...more
In questo prolungato periodo di crisi creativa e commerciale della SF classica capita ancora per fortuna di imbattersi in opere degne di nota come questo "Seeker" vincitore del premio Nebula 2007.
La suddetta crisi ha inoltre determinato, almeno in Italia, la scomparsa o il drastico ridimensionamento dell'editoria specializzata fiorita negli anni 70 e 80 ( e forse un po' troppo gonfiata...) per cui è di nuovo la vecchia e gloriosa Urania a tappare i buchi e a intercettare quanto passa il mercato...more
La suddetta crisi ha inoltre determinato, almeno in Italia, la scomparsa o il drastico ridimensionamento dell'editoria specializzata fiorita negli anni 70 e 80 ( e forse un po' troppo gonfiata...) per cui è di nuovo la vecchia e gloriosa Urania a tappare i buchi e a intercettare quanto passa il mercato...more
Much like Polaris, a mystery set in space. I liked it well enough, the characters are solid and enjoyable as is the premise. I can read one of these in a day, so it isn't too much of an investment in time for me, something I also prefer with a book of this type.
I am currently burning through McDevitt's work rapidly. Although he is being touted as the Robert Heinlein of our era, I wouldn't go quite that far. His work is serviceable without being terribly overwrought or sentimental. It also lacks...more
I am currently burning through McDevitt's work rapidly. Although he is being touted as the Robert Heinlein of our era, I wouldn't go quite that far. His work is serviceable without being terribly overwrought or sentimental. It also lacks...more
Entertaining, straight-forward "find Atlantis" type story. Two antiquities dealers follow a chain of clues, hoping to discover what became of a shipful of planetary colonists 9000 years ago. Of course they stand to gain a great deal by this discovery, and of course others could too, so much so that maybe it's worth killing for. Not the most original plot, admittedly, but its a good read anyway.
McDevitt spends a fair amount of time on cool stellar and planetary phenomena, but in general is never...more
McDevitt spends a fair amount of time on cool stellar and planetary phenomena, but in general is never...more
It's the third book in McDevitt's "Alex Benedict" series. The first book appeared in 1989 and was about Benedict unraveling a story about the galaxy's military history. He was doing it when he came across a puzzle his recently deceased uncle, an amateur archaeologist, was exploring. The next two books in the series have appeared in the past few years and are told from the point of view of Chase Kolpath, Benedict's assistant, and deal with his business as an antiquities dealer. The books shift fr...more
The Margolians were a group of intellectuals who were at odds with the repressive powers that were in control of Earth's government of their time. Expecting no change in the foreseeable future, they bought two starships , the "Seeker" and the "Bremerhaven", and transported their several thousand followers to a new planet where they could control their own destinies. They burned all bridges, telling no one the location of their new world, and they were never heard from again. Now, nine thousand y...more
A reasonably entertaining light beach read. The characters are two-dimensional, but I'm a fan of lost colony mysteries and this one kept me engaged. The author did a good job of creating a sense of long history between the reader's time and the novel's era, in which many human civilizations have risen and fallen, and the records of the older ones have become sketchy (including that of the United States, which apparently declined into a theocratic dictatorship with a Fox News-like media). It make...more
Oct 15, 2012
Michele (Mikecas)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantascienza
Da: http://www.webalice.it/michele.castel... ..... Questo Seeker � non solo leggibilissimo, ben scritto e logicamente molto ben costruito, ma ha alle spalle la costruzione di una societ� del lontano futuro molto ben pensata. Il tema centrale di tutta la serie � l'archeologia spaziale, che permette all'autore di intervenire su fatti molto pi� vicini a noi, e dare la sua visione di come e di perch� la societ� umana ha fatto tutti gli errori che ha fatto La struttura del romanzo � quella di un thri...more
I'm not really sure why I bother recommending individual Jack McDevitt books. You should simply read all the Jack McDevitt books you can find. This third book in his Alex Benedict series is no exception.
'Seeker' won the Nebula Award for 2006 and it was well-deserved. The beauty of McDevitt's books is that the story takes its time to build (without being slow, at least at this point in McDevitt's writing) and then sudden;y kicks into a page-turning high gear.
Like the previous novel in this series...more
'Seeker' won the Nebula Award for 2006 and it was well-deserved. The beauty of McDevitt's books is that the story takes its time to build (without being slow, at least at this point in McDevitt's writing) and then sudden;y kicks into a page-turning high gear.
Like the previous novel in this series...more
Very good read. His publishers should be publicly flogged for not admitting that this is, essentially, part of a series anywhere on the cover or inside the book. Yes, its technically a stand-alone, but it involves enough history of the characters that its really worth reading it _after_ the ones which come before. As near as I can tell, it begins with A Talent For War, continues with Polaris, this book, and then The Devil's Eye An Alex Benedict Novel.
Seeker is an interesting book that I would recommend to anyone who loves detective and science fiction genres.
Being a fan of science fiction, I think I've been spoiled by the fact that most of my science fiction comes to me from video games and movies, and that's led me to expect a lot of action and explosions. Seeker certainly does have those elements, but does not rely on them to be interesting. Instead, it offers mysteries that unfold via researched clues and testimonials of humans, aliens,...more
Being a fan of science fiction, I think I've been spoiled by the fact that most of my science fiction comes to me from video games and movies, and that's led me to expect a lot of action and explosions. Seeker certainly does have those elements, but does not rely on them to be interesting. Instead, it offers mysteries that unfold via researched clues and testimonials of humans, aliens,...more
Definitely an entertaining mystery, but this is a flawed work. For one thing, it's hard to believe that a civilization set so far into the future - a civilization with faster than light speed travel and contact with an alien civilization - would end up being so remarkably similar to our own. Since I've been reading Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312 (with its evolving culture set only 300 years from now) concurrently with this story, I found it a little hard to suspend disbelief. McDevitt's various pla...more
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Jack McDevitt is a former English teacher, naval officer, Philadelphia taxi driver, customs officer and motivational trainer. His work has been on the final ballot for the Nebula Awards for 12 of the past 13 years. His first novel, The Hercules Text, was published in the celebrated Ace Specials series and won the Philip K. Dick Special Award. In 1991, McDevitt won the first $10,000 UPC Internation...more
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“Human existence is girt round with mystery: the narrow region of our experience is a small island in the midst of a boundless sea. To add to the mystery, the domain of our earthly existence is not only an island in infinite space, but also in infinite time. The past and the future are alike shrouded from us: we neither know the origin of anything which is, nor its final destination.”
—
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Feb 24, 2012 07:22pm