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75th out of 91 books
—
15 voters
Ancient Shores
It turned up in a North Dakota wheat field: a triangle, like a shark's fin, sticking up from the black loam. Tom Lasker did what any farmer would have done. He dug it up. And discovered a boat, made of a fiberglass-like material with an utterly impossible atomic number. What it was doing buried under a dozen feet of prairie soil two thousand miles from any ocean, no one kn...more
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Published
October 23rd 1996
by EOS (an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)
(first published 1996)
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Solid McDevitt read, though with a few annoying fourth-wall-breaking narrarator asides that are probably the result of sloppy editing. Also, the typical McDevitt open ending resolves so little as to be annoying. At least the Indian characters (including a lawyer!) are presented intelligently and non-stereotypically.
Apr 02, 2008
Jessica
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Jack McDevitt fans
Shelves:
fantasyscifi
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Who hasn’t dreamed of digging up something mysterious in the back yard? Especially something deemed otherworldly. As some commentators indicated, this novel asks more questions than provides answers. Get used to it. This is the authors style, and as frustrating as that can be—isn’t science, math, even life, like that? Once you surrender to this authors flight of imagination and concerneth not your relieth on plot (Plot? What is that?) this is a descent read. Go with the flow and don’t worry if t...more
"Stargate" Lite!
First Impressions:
I’ve read Jack’s “The Odyssey” and was mildly entertained. With that, I decided to explore his earlier novels including the stand-alone book Ancient Shores. A decent tale, but goes off on too many tangents to follow. Ending seemed rushed.
Story & Plot:
I enjoyed the build-up of the character Max, a man who was good with antique airplanes, had a military family history but shunned that route, deciding instead to restore old aircraft. The book makes a big deal...more
First Impressions:
I’ve read Jack’s “The Odyssey” and was mildly entertained. With that, I decided to explore his earlier novels including the stand-alone book Ancient Shores. A decent tale, but goes off on too many tangents to follow. Ending seemed rushed.
Story & Plot:
I enjoyed the build-up of the character Max, a man who was good with antique airplanes, had a military family history but shunned that route, deciding instead to restore old aircraft. The book makes a big deal...more
This is a stand alone book written by Jack McDevitt. I LOVE THIS BOOK!! When I was a teenager this was the first McDevitt book I had ever read and have since read everything he has ever published. I love the guy. Ancient Shores is a great read for both adults and young readers. If you go to the Jack McDevitt website he explains the town which was the inspiration for this book really interesting stuff.
Ancient Shores is about a farmer who finds a shark fin shaped metal stinking out of his farmlan...more
Ancient Shores is about a farmer who finds a shark fin shaped metal stinking out of his farmlan...more
*May contain spoilers*
This is the third McDevitt book I have read, and it is my least favorite. I've found McDevitt to be a creative writer, usually presenting interesting ideas in a well thought out manner, and this book is no exception, although this story focused more on human reactions to the situations presented in the book rather than the more interesting science-fiction aspects.
I found it difficult to care or relate to most of the characters, and some of the situations discussed seemed "...more
This is the third McDevitt book I have read, and it is my least favorite. I've found McDevitt to be a creative writer, usually presenting interesting ideas in a well thought out manner, and this book is no exception, although this story focused more on human reactions to the situations presented in the book rather than the more interesting science-fiction aspects.
I found it difficult to care or relate to most of the characters, and some of the situations discussed seemed "...more
An interesting story about finding alien artifacts / technology, and how we would deal with it. It has many details and scenes, that honestly sometimes lost my interest and I just had to read on through. However, I did love the ending.
The President of the U.S. had a choice, and it could have gone like this : "A long, long time ago, our world was visited by someone with an advanced technology. Many of us have wondered if we would ever have a visitor, and what would that moment be like. We imagine...more
The President of the U.S. had a choice, and it could have gone like this : "A long, long time ago, our world was visited by someone with an advanced technology. Many of us have wondered if we would ever have a visitor, and what would that moment be like. We imagine...more
written in 1996, "Ancient Shores" is eerily relevant to today's economic crisis, albeit for different reasons. in McDevitt's epic novel, the economy turns chaotic because of newly unearthed extraterrestrial technology that doesn't decay or wear out (thus throwing industries into free-fall for fear of not being able to compete with new scientific advances).
yet, the public response in this science-fiction scenario is so indicative of humanity's fear of the unknown--the most popular reaction is to...more
yet, the public response in this science-fiction scenario is so indicative of humanity's fear of the unknown--the most popular reaction is to...more
Something ancient old buried with a twist and a plausible alternate universe in McDevitt’s Ancient Shores. One of the greatest advances of history turned to fighting between Unite State’s government and Native American Indians resistance because of this relic and its old site never before uncovered. Attention of unity and importance of universal understanding is brought out by some of the greatest minds found from earth. This tripe written well keeping me in suspense as well as having sympathy f...more
This book was like a "wave" at a football game. You know the one where people stand up in turn waving their arms around and it gives the effect that the stadium is an ocean? Yeah. That. Let me explain the analogy.
Well you probably got that it was up and down with the suspense, drama and general kickassery of the story. It was indeed. The gait would pick up and get me real interested, then it would slow back down and even bog down with unnecessary character introductions and irrelevant loose ends...more
Well you probably got that it was up and down with the suspense, drama and general kickassery of the story. It was indeed. The gait would pick up and get me real interested, then it would slow back down and even bog down with unnecessary character introductions and irrelevant loose ends...more
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I picked this up randomly at a book shop and I gotta say, I was really surprised and ultimately satisfied with how intriguing and entertaining this story was. McDevitt is a talented writer and I'll be curious to check out his other works. He has a style that's reminiscent of Stephen King and a modern-day Ray Bradbury. Here I'll go over the good (which was most of it) and the bad (small complaints really):
The best thing about this novel was the concepts at it played with and how it revealed these...more
The best thing about this novel was the concepts at it played with and how it revealed these...more
The book started well, discovery of artifacts had a nice pace with good thought process behind it.
But then it all flopped for me. He added side-characters that ended up nowhere, and it seemed he didn't know what to do with the situation he created.
Government people acted like bunch of monkeys, private sector even worse (see spoilers).
(view spoiler)...more
But then it all flopped for me. He added side-characters that ended up nowhere, and it seemed he didn't know what to do with the situation he created.
Government people acted like bunch of monkeys, private sector even worse (see spoilers).
(view spoiler)...more
McDevitt's talent for imagining intriguing scenarios, asking what would hapen if... ?, and then fleshing out what interesting people would do if is I think unmatched today in science fiction. Ancient Shores is an engrossing book, without hardly any explosions or magic handwavium sci-fi plot helpers. It's ending is abrupt and ultimately unsatisfying enough to cost the book a star, but it's nothing that will ruin the experience of having read an accomplished storyteller with a bright and keen imag...more
There is very little story to Ancient Shores. If it were a movie, 80% of it would be film of the main characters sat in front of the TV watching Larry King or in front of the radio listening to local news about themselves. There are 33 chapters and a new character is introduced in almost every one of them. They appear--do nothing to contribute to the story--and then by chapters end we never hear from them again.
This was the first book I've read by Jack McDevitt and frankly I'm not impressed, but...more
This was the first book I've read by Jack McDevitt and frankly I'm not impressed, but...more
I like most of Jack McDevitt's work - but this is a tedious read.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I read this book because I really like McDevitt, and also because the digital version of it is available through the local library. Let me tell you, library ebooks are great. It combines all the greatness of not paying for books that libraries represent with the awesomeness of not leaving your house that Kindles offer.
One thing I have remarked about McDevitt's books is that he reworks many of the same plot ideas into different books. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand it's his rig...more
One thing I have remarked about McDevitt's books is that he reworks many of the same plot ideas into different books. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand it's his rig...more
Dans cet étonnant roman, tout part d’un postulat à côté duquel Contact fait figure de construction de la plus rigoureuse exactitude. Jugez plutôt : un jour, un agriculteur trouve au fond d’un de ses champs un étrange bateau, qu’il n’arrive pas à dater rg dhv nccnenîg nceèf radhêgr pbzzr vapeblnoyrzrag ivrhk.
Malheureusement, je crains de devoir dire que, même si ce roman est raisonnablement intéressant, il est d’un style qui a fait, à mon sens, son temps. En effet, la découverte de cet artefact...more
Malheureusement, je crains de devoir dire que, même si ce roman est raisonnablement intéressant, il est d’un style qui a fait, à mon sens, son temps. En effet, la découverte de cet artefact...more
This novel is a realistic look at what might happen to our world when an ancient but highly advanced alien technology is unearthed and made public. It addresses political and economic crises, religious issues, and the problems confronting the Sioux tribe on whose land it was discovered. All of this is perfectly legitimate, but I guess I was hoping for more exploration of the alien worlds (the artifact turns out to be a hyper-spatial gateway.) The ending feels a bit hokey and contrived. It's not...more
McDevitt starts with a question. What if we found something that could not be explained by our current knowledge of science, could not be rationalized. Right here, right now.
This is a story about how we would react, as individuals, as a society, as a world. There are no real villains, just people with different concerns and interests. The sociology and psychology in this book is outstanding and a very realistic view on how we would actually react.
This is a story about how we would react, as individuals, as a society, as a world. There are no real villains, just people with different concerns and interests. The sociology and psychology in this book is outstanding and a very realistic view on how we would actually react.
This is very thought-provoking, and I found myself lingering over it. There's a lot about how human institutions fear change and seek to stamp out something that will have a big effect on the status quo, particularly about how technology does this. Since the US is currently struggling with the change to an economy based on creating ideas and dealing with information rather than manufactured goods, I found this especially interesting. Highly recommended.
I love Jack McDevitt books. This one is peopled (and I do mean peopled, by the dozens) with interesting characters and an exciting premise. The ending is rather abrupt, considering the enormity of the ideas, and I wish he'd written a sequel. Shoot, I wish he'd written a different ending, but the book is exciting. You could argue that today's US government would have quite a different approach, since we're much closer to fascism ...
Artifact is dug up in ND and leads to the discover of a site that has portals to other worlds. Very interesting concept, interesting and I wanted to like this better than I did. Characters not very well developed, not much tension even in the final 'stand-off', ending wasn't effective.
This was probably more like a 2 1/2 star rating for me ... I didn't have trouble finishing the book, first half was interesting, last half a disappointment.
This was probably more like a 2 1/2 star rating for me ... I didn't have trouble finishing the book, first half was interesting, last half a disappointment.
Good idea, bad execution. Or perhaps I would have liked it better if I had read it before reading his Hutch series, because it was EXACTLY like all his other books. McDevitt has a formula, and I suppose it works, but I'm bored with it. He's got the exact same characters in every book--the sexy, ambitious career woman who's too busy to find love; the slightly slobby, lonely middle-aged man, the solid working man, the Noble Sacrifice. I found the ending predictable and unsatisfying and the "twist"...more
This was a decent read - as with most of McDevitt's novels the focus is on the characters and their reactions to the MacGuffin of the story line. The style seemed to ape that of David Brin's Earth without capturing the energy and urgency of that title. That being said it felt a bit like a heavily edited version of Carl Sagan's Contact, dealing with the fallout from the discovery as opposed to the its actual use.
This review contains minor spoilers.
This book, as with all of McDevitt's I've read, is great. The only reason I'm only giving it 4 stars is because of the come-to-the-rescue appearance of real-life figures at the story's climax. Using real people as incidental characters is fine for me. This use was a bit over the top. Also, the very open-endedness of the book left me a little unsatisfied. Still, overall, a great exploration of what we might really happen if we learned someone really had visited...more
This book, as with all of McDevitt's I've read, is great. The only reason I'm only giving it 4 stars is because of the come-to-the-rescue appearance of real-life figures at the story's climax. Using real people as incidental characters is fine for me. This use was a bit over the top. Also, the very open-endedness of the book left me a little unsatisfied. Still, overall, a great exploration of what we might really happen if we learned someone really had visited...more
I love this book. It had me from the moment a man dug up a sailboat on his farm. Miles away from any water! A sailboat that was perfect in every way and turns out to be 10,000 years old
Of course, you understand that it comes down to a political situation... bickering over who owns it and has the rights to it
Of course, you understand that it comes down to a political situation... bickering over who owns it and has the rights to it
All I can say is wow. This book is light on the sci-fi and deals more directly with the larger questions. What if stories are fun if done correctly and this book is no exception. This writing is very crisp and easy to follow the storyline. A good well-rounded tale. =)
I guess not all fans of sci-fy will like this book, it's actually about the present times and what could happen when we discover alien technology... Nice plot, wise thoughts. Probably not the best book of the author but good enough.
This was fun to read for non-sci-fi readers as well as trekkies. It brings alien ideas literally to your backyard and explores where they take you, while people of the world watch and interfere in their usual change-is-bad ways.
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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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