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Alex Benedict #7
Coming Home
Thousands of years ago, artifacts of the early space age were lost to rising oceans and widespread turmoil. Garnett Baylee devoted his life to finding them, only to give up hope. Then, in the wake of his death, one was found in his home, raising tantalizing questions. Had he succeeded after all? Why had he kept it a secret? And where is the rest of the Apollo cache?
Antiquities dealer Alex Benedict and his pilot, Chase Kolpath, have gone to Earth to learn the truth. But the trail seems to have gone cold, so they head back home to be present when the Capella, the interstellar transport that vanished eleven years earlier in a time/space warp, is expected to reappear. With a window of only a few hours, rescuing it is of the utmost importance. Twenty-six hundred passengers—including Alex’s uncle, Gabriel Benedict, the man who raised him—are on board.
Alex now finds his attention divided between finding the artifacts and anticipating the rescue of the Capella. But time won’t allow him to do both. As the deadline for the Capella’s reappearance draws near, Alex fears that the puzzle of the artifacts will be lost yet again. But Alex Benedict never forgets and never gives up—and another day will soon come around...
Antiquities dealer Alex Benedict and his pilot, Chase Kolpath, have gone to Earth to learn the truth. But the trail seems to have gone cold, so they head back home to be present when the Capella, the interstellar transport that vanished eleven years earlier in a time/space warp, is expected to reappear. With a window of only a few hours, rescuing it is of the utmost importance. Twenty-six hundred passengers—including Alex’s uncle, Gabriel Benedict, the man who raised him—are on board.
Alex now finds his attention divided between finding the artifacts and anticipating the rescue of the Capella. But time won’t allow him to do both. As the deadline for the Capella’s reappearance draws near, Alex fears that the puzzle of the artifacts will be lost yet again. But Alex Benedict never forgets and never gives up—and another day will soon come around...
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
64 people are currently reading
1073 people want to read
About the author
Jack McDevitt
187 books1,336 followersJack 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 International Prize for his novella, "Ships in the Night." The Engines of God was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and his novella, "Time Travelers Never Die," was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards.
McDevitt lives in Georgia with his wife, Maureen, where he plays chess, reads mysteries and eats lunch regularly with his cronies.
McDevitt lives in Georgia with his wife, Maureen, where he plays chess, reads mysteries and eats lunch regularly with his cronies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
May 28, 2017
The Alex Benedict books are always hit or miss for me. This one is a miss, but it's still very much worth reading if you're a fan of the series. It wasn't incredible, especially following 'Firebird' which was definitely a high point along with 'A Talent for War' and 'Seeker'.
Storywise it's a direct continuation from 'Firebird'. It was full of things that needed to happen in order to close off the series. Ultimately, that is why it struggled; it didn't function well enough as its own story.
I guarantee that McDevitt isn't completely satisfied with how this one turned out either. As it's winding down he has his characters discussing how the conclusion of their journey was "a bit of a let down", and how sometimes the "narrative just gets away from an intriguing setup''. It's very tongue in cheek, and I love that he did that. He knows.
There was also a really fun tie in with McDevitt's Academy series of novels, which I've also thoroughly enjoyed. Definitely some fan service nodding.
I think this will probably be the last Benedict book for a few different reasons. But I would be fully on board for more. I just really love this series. It's extremely comfortable adventure akin to Sherlock Holmes or Indiana Jones, if they were antique dealers 9000 years in the future.
Storywise it's a direct continuation from 'Firebird'. It was full of things that needed to happen in order to close off the series. Ultimately, that is why it struggled; it didn't function well enough as its own story.
I guarantee that McDevitt isn't completely satisfied with how this one turned out either. As it's winding down he has his characters discussing how the conclusion of their journey was "a bit of a let down", and how sometimes the "narrative just gets away from an intriguing setup''. It's very tongue in cheek, and I love that he did that. He knows.
There was also a really fun tie in with McDevitt's Academy series of novels, which I've also thoroughly enjoyed. Definitely some fan service nodding.
I think this will probably be the last Benedict book for a few different reasons. But I would be fully on board for more. I just really love this series. It's extremely comfortable adventure akin to Sherlock Holmes or Indiana Jones, if they were antique dealers 9000 years in the future.
February 9, 2017
This series continues to be a solid and consistent read. There are several plotlines going on simultaneously, with one picking up on the spaceship rescues from those outside of time, including relationship angst for Chase, and also the delightful return to Sol.
Of course, a return to the Earth and our solar system is roughly on par to returning to Sumeria a few thousand years from now to try and figure out, from scratch, what those people were like.
It's really a shame that humanity had a breakdown about 5k years go and anything that wasn't written in stone was lost, or else this little job of trying to figure out what a cell phone is or how the cradle of civilization had gotten to the moon in the first place would have been a much easier proposition.
Ah, but our favorite characters *do* have tidbits and hints from the diligent work of previous archeologists, at least, and some names have passed through 9k years relatively intact, the God Einstein not being one of those intact personages. ;)
Still, it's fun uncovering our present and our near future through the very distant eyes of these characters, thereby becoming a wonderful mirror to ourselves trying to figure out Sumerian culture or architecture from the scant clues that are left to us. The idea that our pasts, including what we might call our pre-written history, might actually be nothing of the sort.
Things fall apart. We could have come from a very advanced past, outgrowing so many kinds of needs, but even if they had all made things to last, the fact is: This is a Very Long Time. Nothing lasts. We just cannot know.
I feel pity for Alex and Chase, but pride in the fact that they're trying.
This is a very thoughtful novel. Not so exciting as some of the previous ones, but being thoughtful is good, too. :)
Of course, a return to the Earth and our solar system is roughly on par to returning to Sumeria a few thousand years from now to try and figure out, from scratch, what those people were like.
It's really a shame that humanity had a breakdown about 5k years go and anything that wasn't written in stone was lost, or else this little job of trying to figure out what a cell phone is or how the cradle of civilization had gotten to the moon in the first place would have been a much easier proposition.
Ah, but our favorite characters *do* have tidbits and hints from the diligent work of previous archeologists, at least, and some names have passed through 9k years relatively intact, the God Einstein not being one of those intact personages. ;)
Still, it's fun uncovering our present and our near future through the very distant eyes of these characters, thereby becoming a wonderful mirror to ourselves trying to figure out Sumerian culture or architecture from the scant clues that are left to us. The idea that our pasts, including what we might call our pre-written history, might actually be nothing of the sort.
Things fall apart. We could have come from a very advanced past, outgrowing so many kinds of needs, but even if they had all made things to last, the fact is: This is a Very Long Time. Nothing lasts. We just cannot know.
I feel pity for Alex and Chase, but pride in the fact that they're trying.
This is a very thoughtful novel. Not so exciting as some of the previous ones, but being thoughtful is good, too. :)
February 21, 2017
I have never read a Clive Cussler book. It's just not my normal sort of fiction, although I have nothing in particular against it. Reading Jack McDevitt's Coming Home, though, I kept thinking that this book was an awful lot like what I would expect a Clive Cussler book to be, just set in the future, with space-hopping treasure hunters and antiquarians, instead of being bounded by the confines of the Earth.
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
February 13, 2015
I've said many times (often, in reviews on Goodreads.com) that a day with a bad McDevitt novel beats a day with no McDevitt novel whatsoever. The last two or three Alex Benedict novels haven't been bad, exactly, but they have struck me as increasingly repetitive. COMING HOME follows closely on the heels of FIREBIRD, and the two share plot elements, particularly about the disappearing ships plot thread. The standard McDevitt plot structure is in play here (see my Firebird review for a rehash of it all), so there are no great surprises.
COMING HOME is probably the first novel where I've actually sort of egged on the author to get past the expected twists and turns of the standard plot structure and get to the meat of it all-- when a mysterious white skimmer shows up to shoot up Chase and Alex at one point in the story, I found myself saying "Yeah, right, we all know they are going to get past that.. so move on why don't you?"
I won't reveal much about the plot, except to say that the big McGuffin this time is a mysterious long-lost cache of Earth artifacts, from the early days of space exploration. So this gives McDevitt a chance to write a novel set on Earth in the far future, after severe climatic change and political/social evolution has had its effect. As the artifacts being sought are largely from the 20th and 21st century, we get to see the past from the perspective of someone searching for knowledge we take for granted as readers. It's an interesting literary device-- for instance, we learn that in the far future, only a relative handful of Shakespeare's plays survive intact. Coming Home is also the most self-referential of the novels so far, as it features Chase Kolpath discovering the life of Priscilla Hutchens, the star of the other big McDevitt series. Hutch lived millenia before Kolpath, it turns out. A nice Easter Egg. For the first time, as well, Chase mentions writing her memoirs in the real time narrative so we experience Alex's reaction to them.
This is a SPOILER. The other great reveal, the one we have been building up to since Firebird, was the rescue of Alex's Uncle Gabe from the hyperspatial rift his passenger liner fell into 20 years previous. When it actually happens, it's kind of a non-event. For such an influential character throughout the series, Gabe kind of comes off as a non-starter. He'll need fleshing out in later books.
SUMMARY: Coming Home wasn't my favorite of the Alex Benedict series of novels. It was solid and workmanlike, but the repetitiveness is starting to become increasingly obvious with every novel and that is starting to affect my enjoyment of them.
COMING HOME is probably the first novel where I've actually sort of egged on the author to get past the expected twists and turns of the standard plot structure and get to the meat of it all-- when a mysterious white skimmer shows up to shoot up Chase and Alex at one point in the story, I found myself saying "Yeah, right, we all know they are going to get past that.. so move on why don't you?"
I won't reveal much about the plot, except to say that the big McGuffin this time is a mysterious long-lost cache of Earth artifacts, from the early days of space exploration. So this gives McDevitt a chance to write a novel set on Earth in the far future, after severe climatic change and political/social evolution has had its effect. As the artifacts being sought are largely from the 20th and 21st century, we get to see the past from the perspective of someone searching for knowledge we take for granted as readers. It's an interesting literary device-- for instance, we learn that in the far future, only a relative handful of Shakespeare's plays survive intact. Coming Home is also the most self-referential of the novels so far, as it features Chase Kolpath discovering the life of Priscilla Hutchens, the star of the other big McDevitt series. Hutch lived millenia before Kolpath, it turns out. A nice Easter Egg. For the first time, as well, Chase mentions writing her memoirs in the real time narrative so we experience Alex's reaction to them.
This is a SPOILER. The other great reveal, the one we have been building up to since Firebird, was the rescue of Alex's Uncle Gabe from the hyperspatial rift his passenger liner fell into 20 years previous. When it actually happens, it's kind of a non-event. For such an influential character throughout the series, Gabe kind of comes off as a non-starter. He'll need fleshing out in later books.
SUMMARY: Coming Home wasn't my favorite of the Alex Benedict series of novels. It was solid and workmanlike, but the repetitiveness is starting to become increasingly obvious with every novel and that is starting to affect my enjoyment of them.
December 16, 2021
Notes:
That was fun! It was nice to see other plot threads come to a conclusion and answers to questions that have been spread throughout the series.
That was fun! It was nice to see other plot threads come to a conclusion and answers to questions that have been spread throughout the series.
February 26, 2015
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2.5 stars
Antiquarians Chase Kolpath and Alex Benedict search out lost space-age artifacts and participate in an attempted rescue of a spaceliner trapped in a spacetime warp.
In reviewing the prequel to this book, I said I feared the series was growing tired. Coming Home is unfortunate proof of that suggestion. The prose is good in some places, clumsy and repetitive in others. The series has never been based on action and adventure, but this book overdoes the dry descriptions of past excitement. I kept wishing I were reading the book about those adventures instead.
I couldn't find much of a plot, to be frank. Things happen, and Chase and Alex wander slowly around looking for artifacts. Mostly, though, Alex goes on talk shows, Chase has an active love life, and they talk with their clients. There is one fairly exciting development, but downplayed so far that it's hard to care much about. McDevitt also sets the stage for a change we've all seen coming from the start, but that change doesn't actually happen, and at this stage, won't until book ten.
The book reads more as an excerpt from Chase's diary than as a story with beginning, middle, and end. That didn't work for me even as a dedicated reader of the series, and I imagine anyone who tries this as a stand-alone work will be mystified as to the series' appeal.
If you really love the Benedict series, pick this up. If you don't feel so strongly, I advise leaving well enough alone. Firebird was an uptick after the disappointing Echo, but it appears to have been temporary. Based on the last three (of seven) books, it looks like the series is pretty well played out, and even McDevitt has lost his interest in it.
November 18, 2014
McDevitt fans always delight at the release of a new Alex Benedict novel. This novel is no exception for delight by the telling of human activities over 9 millennia in the future. In this story Alex and Chase are on a search for artifacts from the Golden Age of Space Travel, especially from the Apollo missions.
I was struck by an immense notion of history reading this novel. Events of my life are put a in historical perspective by my era being viewed as a time many millennia in the past when we are ancient history. So much has been lost due to a dark age and time. So much has been misinterpreted due to lack of context. Think of how we try so miserably to understand human civilization during the post-Roman dark age, before the burning of the Great Library, before writing was invented.
McDevitt uses the current state of our civilization as the foundation of the collapse leading to our coming dark age—Climate change and global warming, the failure of capitalism and its destruction of democracy, fascist governments and dictators, the accumulation of most wealth by the few, corporate rule...and the failure of our tribalized civilization to do anything to prevent it.
Coming Home is not only about the archeology of our time, but also a prediction of our near future.
I was struck by an immense notion of history reading this novel. Events of my life are put a in historical perspective by my era being viewed as a time many millennia in the past when we are ancient history. So much has been lost due to a dark age and time. So much has been misinterpreted due to lack of context. Think of how we try so miserably to understand human civilization during the post-Roman dark age, before the burning of the Great Library, before writing was invented.
McDevitt uses the current state of our civilization as the foundation of the collapse leading to our coming dark age—Climate change and global warming, the failure of capitalism and its destruction of democracy, fascist governments and dictators, the accumulation of most wealth by the few, corporate rule...and the failure of our tribalized civilization to do anything to prevent it.
Coming Home is not only about the archeology of our time, but also a prediction of our near future.
March 18, 2019
Direct suite of Firebird, Coming Home is a disappointing novel. The subplot of the book, an investigation about an archaeologist who has suddenly abandoned his research, is very dull. Any reader with a minimum of experience in detective novels is able to guess the solution of the plot quite quickly.
This narrative thread is only a pretext for visiting McDevitt's future, and in particular that of the Earth. This is far from the strong point of the author, his universe is neither exciting nor convincing.
The main plot, that of the rescue of Capella, occupies only the beginning and the end of the novel: it is about the only interesting thing in the book, even if the author has already done much better.
This is not the first time McDevitt has written a boring novel because of a weak plot. The Mutes, the great aliens of this series, are again almost completely absent from the book.
As inconsistent as McDevitt's universe may be, there has always been in all his books a great idea of science fiction to save them. For the first time, there is absolutely no great idea in this book. Here there is only the envelope (a yellowed and poor quality envelope), and nothing inside.
Unlike the Academy series whose latest books are great, the series of Alex Benedict is less and less exciting.
This narrative thread is only a pretext for visiting McDevitt's future, and in particular that of the Earth. This is far from the strong point of the author, his universe is neither exciting nor convincing.
The main plot, that of the rescue of Capella, occupies only the beginning and the end of the novel: it is about the only interesting thing in the book, even if the author has already done much better.
This is not the first time McDevitt has written a boring novel because of a weak plot. The Mutes, the great aliens of this series, are again almost completely absent from the book.
As inconsistent as McDevitt's universe may be, there has always been in all his books a great idea of science fiction to save them. For the first time, there is absolutely no great idea in this book. Here there is only the envelope (a yellowed and poor quality envelope), and nothing inside.
Unlike the Academy series whose latest books are great, the series of Alex Benedict is less and less exciting.
October 21, 2018
I'm coming home, I'm coming home, tell the world I'm coming home...
(Sorry; couldn't resist referencing that song.)
Seriously, I enjoyed this one.
(Sorry; couldn't resist referencing that song.)
Seriously, I enjoyed this one.
January 1, 2015
Jack McDevitt books, especially the Alex Benedict/Chase Kolpath novels, tend to be books that, when they are released, I put down whatever else I'm reading to read the new one. And I did so with this one. Overall, it was OK. It tied up some things from the first book (indeed, that set the whole series in motion) but overall it felt like a shaggy dog story. A well-written shaggy dog story, but a shaggy dog story. In fact, it almost seemed like it would have been better as a novella (or two novellas, each dealing with one of the plots). And Chase seemed kinda dumb in this one. But that's the problem with having a character a lot of people like that has to be slow enough for exposition, but sharp enough to be believable as writing a series of memoirs: I think someone who's really as slow as you need them to be for the story would not know they were that slow (and hence would not say things to the effect of "Maybe I'm dumb ..."). Anyway, mostly recommended for Benedict completists, but still an OK read.
September 29, 2021
Безусловно, Азбуке спасибо большое за то, что выпустила седьмую книгу цикла! (Правда, тогда еще никто не знал, что будет и восьмая на английском). Я возлагал большие надежды на "Возвращение", потому что в этом романе мы наконец-то должны были получить ответ на вопрос, который был поставлен в самой первой книге цикла. Дядя главного героя, известный археолог, пропал на космическом туристическом корабле, но есть надежды, что все может быть не так плохо. как кажется.
И название этого романа намекает на то, что корабль таки может вернуться. Не будет спойлером, если я скажу, что это именно так. В самом начале нас обрадуют известием, что судя по всему корабль с туристами застрял во временной петле, и следующее появление корабля можно вычислить. Кстати, первые расчеты подсказывают, что это будет очень скоро. Алекс Бенедикт и его верная помощница Чейз Колпат приготовились помогать всей бригаде спасателей всем, чем могут. А мы, читатели, запаслись попкорном.
Но тут Макдевит подумал, что было бы слишком прямолинейно вот так просто сразу раскрывать все карты. Читателя нужно потомить, помариновать, заставить поволноваться. Поэтому вот вам история об умершем археологе и его секретном артефакте - древнем двигателе еще той поры, когда люди учились летать в космосе. Почему артефакт один? Почему его наличие скрывали? Какую тайну хранит этот кусок железа?
В общем, типичный такой старт любой книги цикла. И да, к сожалению, это огромный минус цикла. Сюжет в нем почти всегда строится одинаково - артефакт (находка или поиск), копание в истории, нахождение несхождений, поиски-поиски-поиски, кому-то это не нравится, погоня на скиммерах, неудачная перестрелка, но все главные герои живы-здоровы, потом раскрытие тайны (часто враги оказываются совсем не врагами), хэппи энд.
В "Возвращении" у нас тоже артефакт, полеты на соседние планеты (включая на олд скульную Землю, с которой вышло все человечество - интересно кстати читать, как там все изменилось в далеком будущем), небольшое покушение, Чейз Колпат опять сходится с красавчиками, но они все ее недостойны...
И где-то на второй трети чтения я стал ощущать, будто автор водит меня за нос, оттягивая финал. Эта история про тайный артефакт не тянет на Оскар ну никак. История обыденная, простая. И ее финальная часть меня ни капельки не зацепила (айайай, во имя конспирации и хорошего имени давайте закроем глазки на ЧП - кто читал роман, тот поймет эта фразу). Я ждал, когда же наконец-то мы узнаем, чем закончилось путешествие дядюшки Бенедикта. И оно таки закончилось. Ванильно, сладко, душевно, с обнимашками и хлопушками.
Для меня цикл закончился. Читать восьмой роман (на любом языке) я точно не буду. В целом цикл мне показался простым, местами интересным, местами предсказуемым. По нему можно снять сериал, который можно смотреть для снятия стресса. Когда вроде и ничего такого, но вроде привык, да и семья вся с удовольствием смотрит.
В общем, для любителей добрых историй с небольшими вкраплениями тайн, интриг и погонь. Что вы хотите от 80-летнего автора?
И название этого романа намекает на то, что корабль таки может вернуться. Не будет спойлером, если я скажу, что это именно так. В самом начале нас обрадуют известием, что судя по всему корабль с туристами застрял во временной петле, и следующее появление корабля можно вычислить. Кстати, первые расчеты подсказывают, что это будет очень скоро. Алекс Бенедикт и его верная помощница Чейз Колпат приготовились помогать всей бригаде спасателей всем, чем могут. А мы, читатели, запаслись попкорном.
Но тут Макдевит подумал, что было бы слишком прямолинейно вот так просто сразу раскрывать все карты. Читателя нужно потомить, помариновать, заставить поволноваться. Поэтому вот вам история об умершем археологе и его секретном артефакте - древнем двигателе еще той поры, когда люди учились летать в космосе. Почему артефакт один? Почему его наличие скрывали? Какую тайну хранит этот кусок железа?
В общем, типичный такой старт любой книги цикла. И да, к сожалению, это огромный минус цикла. Сюжет в нем почти всегда строится одинаково - артефакт (находка или поиск), копание в истории, нахождение несхождений, поиски-поиски-поиски, кому-то это не нравится, погоня на скиммерах, неудачная перестрелка, но все главные герои живы-здоровы, потом раскрытие тайны (часто враги оказываются совсем не врагами), хэппи энд.
В "Возвращении" у нас тоже артефакт, полеты на соседние планеты (включая на олд скульную Землю, с которой вышло все человечество - интересно кстати читать, как там все изменилось в далеком будущем), небольшое покушение, Чейз Колпат опять сходится с красавчиками, но они все ее недостойны...
И где-то на второй трети чтения я стал ощущать, будто автор водит меня за нос, оттягивая финал. Эта история про тайный артефакт не тянет на Оскар ну никак. История обыденная, простая. И ее финальная часть меня ни капельки не зацепила (айайай, во имя конспирации и хорошего имени давайте закроем глазки на ЧП - кто читал роман, тот поймет эта фразу). Я ждал, когда же наконец-то мы узнаем, чем закончилось путешествие дядюшки Бенедикта. И оно таки закончилось. Ванильно, сладко, душевно, с обнимашками и хлопушками.
Для меня цикл закончился. Читать восьмой роман (на любом языке) я точно не буду. В целом цикл мне показался простым, местами интересным, местами предсказуемым. По нему можно снять сериал, который можно смотреть для снятия стресса. Когда вроде и ничего такого, но вроде привык, да и семья вся с удовольствием смотрит.
В общем, для любителей добрых историй с небольшими вкраплениями тайн, интриг и погонь. Что вы хотите от 80-летнего автора?
November 25, 2014
Another very enjoyable entry in the Alex Benedict series.
What struck me about this one was the way McDevitt balanced the dramatic tension in an unusual way. There were dramatic moments in the story, but there were a lot of moments of, "This could turn out to be a red herring, but we're going to investigate it," where it did turn out to be a red herring. That could have fallen flat, but it didn't, at least for me.
Part of this book felt a little bit like "fan service" -- the reference to the Priscilla Hutchins books, for example. All in all, I got the sad sense that this may be the last Benedict book, as it has the most connection to the first book, A Talent for War, of any of the sequels. I'm still looking for whatever McDevitt comes up with next, which if I remember correctly, is going to be a sequel to Time Travelers Never Die. (That remind me, there were also various references to a book from the year 11252 called "Time Travelers Never Wait In Line". Funny, but it helped give me the sense that the book was not as deep as others in the series.)
What struck me about this one was the way McDevitt balanced the dramatic tension in an unusual way. There were dramatic moments in the story, but there were a lot of moments of, "This could turn out to be a red herring, but we're going to investigate it," where it did turn out to be a red herring. That could have fallen flat, but it didn't, at least for me.
Part of this book felt a little bit like "fan service" -- the reference to the Priscilla Hutchins books, for example. All in all, I got the sad sense that this may be the last Benedict book, as it has the most connection to the first book, A Talent for War, of any of the sequels. I'm still looking for whatever McDevitt comes up with next, which if I remember correctly, is going to be a sequel to Time Travelers Never Die. (That remind me, there were also various references to a book from the year 11252 called "Time Travelers Never Wait In Line". Funny, but it helped give me the sense that the book was not as deep as others in the series.)
February 11, 2015
This book, for some reason, didn't seem to catch me as much as the earlier ones did. The book was enjoyable, but the narrative - normally McDevitt's strongest point - seemed a little lacklustre when compared to earlier books in the series.
Unlike the previous stories, this one does introduce a permanent change to the circumstances of the main characters, in the person of Gabe Benedict, but it will remain to be seen in the next novel whether he allows his characters to grow from that, or to remain fairly static as they have done so far.
On the whole, enjoyable, with sections that did keep me reading until long past when I should have put it down, but lacking when compared to the earlier efforts.
Unlike the previous stories, this one does introduce a permanent change to the circumstances of the main characters, in the person of Gabe Benedict, but it will remain to be seen in the next novel whether he allows his characters to grow from that, or to remain fairly static as they have done so far.
On the whole, enjoyable, with sections that did keep me reading until long past when I should have put it down, but lacking when compared to the earlier efforts.
October 12, 2017
This was a great story, even though I accidentally read this first out of the series. Loved the characters and the dual plotlines.
Growing up with parents who care a lot about history and museums, it was definitely interesing to see this perspective of that. I liked the idea that at least the people they sold antiques to really cared about having the item and were excited about it. I do understand the importance of having things in museums, but I'll not appreciate some of it as much as others would.
Time travel is another concept I like to see from different angles of possibility. I'm pretty sure I missed some of the background for this from a previous book though.
Growing up with parents who care a lot about history and museums, it was definitely interesing to see this perspective of that. I liked the idea that at least the people they sold antiques to really cared about having the item and were excited about it. I do understand the importance of having things in museums, but I'll not appreciate some of it as much as others would.
Time travel is another concept I like to see from different angles of possibility. I'm pretty sure I missed some of the background for this from a previous book though.
February 19, 2015
I wish I had time to do a proper review on this one. If you're planning to read Firebird, do so first, because this one follows on the action of that one pretty closely and will spoil a fair bit of it. However, like most of the series, I think it stands alone just fine. Definitely an engaging read.
August 31, 2017
First line: When Alex Benedict graduated high school, his uncle Gabe, the only parent he’d ever known, provided the ultimate gift: a flight to Earth, the home world, the place where everything had started.
Summary: The year is 11,256 C.E. Earth is no longer the only inhabited planet in our galaxy. Thousands of years have passed and new worlds have been discovered but the artifacts from the Golden Age (early space travel) are rare and valuable. Many items have been destroyed or lost as Earth has dealt with flooding and other disasters. When an artifact is brought to Alex and his assistant, Chase, they begin to search how the item was just discovered and where it may have come from.
At the same time, a ship has been missing for 11 years. The passengers are believed to be dead. However, when the ship appears it is only available for a few short hours. For the passengers aboard they believe it has only been 3 days. How are all the people off the ship in such a short time?
Highlights: A very imaginative science fiction novel with a very intriguing plot. This was recommended to me and I was immediately interested. The idea of space travel and that items from our lives are considered ancient artifacts is fascinating. The science is not overwhelming which is perfect for me who has very little scientific knowledge. I liked the mysteries intertwining. I kept trying to think what I would do in the situation if I were stuck on a ship not realizing that 11 years had passed by in the blink of an eye. What would I be willing to do to get back to my family who have moved on? Highly enjoyable novel.
Lowlights: The book is part of the Alex Benedict series but he was in the story very little. It mainly followed the assistant, Chase. We never found out too much about him but those details may have been included in other books in the series.
FYI: Part of a series but can be read as a standalone. It has references to other books in the series but not enough to hinder the reading of this one.
Summary: The year is 11,256 C.E. Earth is no longer the only inhabited planet in our galaxy. Thousands of years have passed and new worlds have been discovered but the artifacts from the Golden Age (early space travel) are rare and valuable. Many items have been destroyed or lost as Earth has dealt with flooding and other disasters. When an artifact is brought to Alex and his assistant, Chase, they begin to search how the item was just discovered and where it may have come from.
At the same time, a ship has been missing for 11 years. The passengers are believed to be dead. However, when the ship appears it is only available for a few short hours. For the passengers aboard they believe it has only been 3 days. How are all the people off the ship in such a short time?
Highlights: A very imaginative science fiction novel with a very intriguing plot. This was recommended to me and I was immediately interested. The idea of space travel and that items from our lives are considered ancient artifacts is fascinating. The science is not overwhelming which is perfect for me who has very little scientific knowledge. I liked the mysteries intertwining. I kept trying to think what I would do in the situation if I were stuck on a ship not realizing that 11 years had passed by in the blink of an eye. What would I be willing to do to get back to my family who have moved on? Highly enjoyable novel.
Lowlights: The book is part of the Alex Benedict series but he was in the story very little. It mainly followed the assistant, Chase. We never found out too much about him but those details may have been included in other books in the series.
FYI: Part of a series but can be read as a standalone. It has references to other books in the series but not enough to hinder the reading of this one.
January 1, 2019
Might even be 4.20 stars.
McDevitt is excellant. His posts flow well and his descriptions are very well done. In this one he gets into some political stuff as as side issue but still worth reading. This series isn't action packed and violent as many SF books are these days. It is more of figuring out a mystery. One that is very old. This book has two events going along, plus a couple of minor mysteries, which you need to pay attention to but that's good.
I do recommend it fully. You could get away with reading just this one but start at the beginning to get a better understanding of what is happening.
McDevitt is excellant. His posts flow well and his descriptions are very well done. In this one he gets into some political stuff as as side issue but still worth reading. This series isn't action packed and violent as many SF books are these days. It is more of figuring out a mystery. One that is very old. This book has two events going along, plus a couple of minor mysteries, which you need to pay attention to but that's good.
I do recommend it fully. You could get away with reading just this one but start at the beginning to get a better understanding of what is happening.
February 19, 2015
Alex Benedict, the hero of Jack McDevitt’s outstanding sci-fi series of the same name, is the Indiana Jones of interstellar archeology gallivanting through a universe over 9000 years in the future. He’s suave, brilliant, and just a little reckless. With his daredevil pilot and all around gal Friday Chase Kolpath he’s been responsible for some of the most fantastic finds (and lucrative sales) known to man. He’s the proprietor of Rainbow Enterprises. For the right price he can give you your very own piece of history from any corner of the universe.
McDevitt is that brilliant kind of writer who blends believable scientific theory with expert storytelling. His novels are equal parts mind bending science and high-octane thrill rides replete with space battles, near death rescues and shocking twist endings. I see him as the thinking man’s science fiction writer because he devotes just as much attention to what his characters are wrestling with internally as he does with what they’re doing. Alex and Chase are frequently at odds over Alex’s questionable means to an end and they wrestle constantly with the moral ambiguity of their line of work. Ironically despite their similarities Alex is just the kind of character Indiana Jones would hate since his end game is always to sell whatever wonder he acquires to the highest bidder.
They’ve discovered lost space ships and ruined worlds, artifacts from ancient wars and the answers to mysteries that have plagued their people for generations. What’s always such fun about an Alex Benedict novel is McDevitt’s wonderful creation of this vast history of a society that for the reader is still thousands of years in the future. The hints of what happened to our own world and the millennia of war and strife and discovery that came after us are always tantalizing and just detailed enough to make this reader wish he’d actually write an entire history of the universe Alex and Chase live in. But, in Coming Home McDevitt tries on something new. Instead of sending his daring duo to some ancient civilization in search of an alien artifact for the first time in the series his heroes are returning to the home world. They’re going to earth.
This time Rainbow Enterprises is in search of none other than the lost treasures of NASA. When the first swells of revolution and chaos were beginning to rise in our time the great artifacts of the early space age; the first moon lander, the bronze plaques left by the first astronauts on the moon’s surface, space suits and even plates and spoons used by those first pioneers were rescued and hidden by those desperate to remember our first steps into the wider universe and subsequently lost to the ages. Now after one of their long time clients makes a shocking discovery that seems to indicate someone has finally tracked them down Alex and Chase can’t very well pass up the chance or the potential windfall. But, as is often the case someone has a vested interest in keeping them from learning the truth.
Of course this aptly titled novel does have a double meaning. In the midst of their search Alex and Chase must also confront another mystery that has plagued them both since this series began. McDevitt’s first Alex Benedict novel opened with the disappearance of Gabriel Benedict, Alex’s uncle and Chase’s mentor. Along with 2600 other passengers he disappeared aboard the Capella, an interstellar cruise ship. It was through Alex and Chases efforts that the fate of the Capella was eventually learned and now, eleven years later, it seems a rescue may be possible.
McDevitt elects to spend much of the novel on the emotional and mental battering Chase and Alex go through as they deal with their conflicting feelings about returning to the birthplace of their ancestors and the implications of having Gabriel, a famed archeologist who disapproved wholeheartedly of Alex’s work, back in their lives. I also admit that it was a bit jarring to spend so much time on earth when I’m so used to McDevitt transporting me to an alien space station or a planet halfway across the galaxy. But he captures this earth of the future just as well as he does some distant world we can only dream about; with a deft and delicate hand that paints beauty and darkness with equal skill.
I can’t recommend these books highly enough. This is a rollicking good series that harkens back to the great classic science fiction writers like Robert Heinlein and Frederick Pohl. Stephen King himself has referred to McDevitt as Isaac Asimov’s most worthy successor. These are also marvelous books for anyone who’s never tried science fiction before. McDevitt never tries to outsmart his readers with overblown scientific theory, he’s fascinated by the fundamentals and his characters struggle with the most basic human issues; hubris, burning curiosity, greed, passionate love. And at the heart of each book is a fantastically described epic journey of discovery that never fails to deliver a terrific pay off. Coming Home is no exception.
McDevitt is that brilliant kind of writer who blends believable scientific theory with expert storytelling. His novels are equal parts mind bending science and high-octane thrill rides replete with space battles, near death rescues and shocking twist endings. I see him as the thinking man’s science fiction writer because he devotes just as much attention to what his characters are wrestling with internally as he does with what they’re doing. Alex and Chase are frequently at odds over Alex’s questionable means to an end and they wrestle constantly with the moral ambiguity of their line of work. Ironically despite their similarities Alex is just the kind of character Indiana Jones would hate since his end game is always to sell whatever wonder he acquires to the highest bidder.
They’ve discovered lost space ships and ruined worlds, artifacts from ancient wars and the answers to mysteries that have plagued their people for generations. What’s always such fun about an Alex Benedict novel is McDevitt’s wonderful creation of this vast history of a society that for the reader is still thousands of years in the future. The hints of what happened to our own world and the millennia of war and strife and discovery that came after us are always tantalizing and just detailed enough to make this reader wish he’d actually write an entire history of the universe Alex and Chase live in. But, in Coming Home McDevitt tries on something new. Instead of sending his daring duo to some ancient civilization in search of an alien artifact for the first time in the series his heroes are returning to the home world. They’re going to earth.
This time Rainbow Enterprises is in search of none other than the lost treasures of NASA. When the first swells of revolution and chaos were beginning to rise in our time the great artifacts of the early space age; the first moon lander, the bronze plaques left by the first astronauts on the moon’s surface, space suits and even plates and spoons used by those first pioneers were rescued and hidden by those desperate to remember our first steps into the wider universe and subsequently lost to the ages. Now after one of their long time clients makes a shocking discovery that seems to indicate someone has finally tracked them down Alex and Chase can’t very well pass up the chance or the potential windfall. But, as is often the case someone has a vested interest in keeping them from learning the truth.
Of course this aptly titled novel does have a double meaning. In the midst of their search Alex and Chase must also confront another mystery that has plagued them both since this series began. McDevitt’s first Alex Benedict novel opened with the disappearance of Gabriel Benedict, Alex’s uncle and Chase’s mentor. Along with 2600 other passengers he disappeared aboard the Capella, an interstellar cruise ship. It was through Alex and Chases efforts that the fate of the Capella was eventually learned and now, eleven years later, it seems a rescue may be possible.
McDevitt elects to spend much of the novel on the emotional and mental battering Chase and Alex go through as they deal with their conflicting feelings about returning to the birthplace of their ancestors and the implications of having Gabriel, a famed archeologist who disapproved wholeheartedly of Alex’s work, back in their lives. I also admit that it was a bit jarring to spend so much time on earth when I’m so used to McDevitt transporting me to an alien space station or a planet halfway across the galaxy. But he captures this earth of the future just as well as he does some distant world we can only dream about; with a deft and delicate hand that paints beauty and darkness with equal skill.
I can’t recommend these books highly enough. This is a rollicking good series that harkens back to the great classic science fiction writers like Robert Heinlein and Frederick Pohl. Stephen King himself has referred to McDevitt as Isaac Asimov’s most worthy successor. These are also marvelous books for anyone who’s never tried science fiction before. McDevitt never tries to outsmart his readers with overblown scientific theory, he’s fascinated by the fundamentals and his characters struggle with the most basic human issues; hubris, burning curiosity, greed, passionate love. And at the heart of each book is a fantastically described epic journey of discovery that never fails to deliver a terrific pay off. Coming Home is no exception.
August 8, 2024
Its interesting but I mean, another detective disguised as SF, please can we get over this
August 15, 2019
https://delivreenlivres.blogspot.com/...
J'ai passé un bon moment dans ce livre mais il était moins "fort" que le précédent, bien que bien chargé en émotions, surtout à la fin.
Alors dans ce tome Alex et Chase se préparent au retour imminent du Capella, le mastodonte de transport spatial perdu en hyper espace depuis 11 ans et qui re-surfacera pour une 10ène d'heures avant de re-sombrer pour un bon nombre d'années. Les interrogations sur comment sauver les passagers coincés sont très nombreuses. Des chercheurs pensent avoir trouvé une solution mais elle n'est pas parfaite car il y a toujours entre 5 et 10% de chance qu'au lieu de sauver tout le monde elle fasse exploser le moteur du vaisseau, condamnant tout les passagers.
Dans la même période la fille d'un archéologue de renom contacte Alex car elle a trouvé dans le bureau de son père défunt depuis des années un artefact qu'elle pense être très ancien. Et en effet, il s'agit d'un capteur utilisés lors de l'age d'or du spatial, au début du 3ième millénaire.
Comment on a pu en retrouver un et le garder pour soi sans même s'en vanter est une question qui taraude Alex. Les artefacts de cette période sont extrêmement rares, ayant tous été détruits sur terre lors de l'age sombre qui a suivi, dans lequel les humains ont perdu toutes leurs technologies et sont retombé un obscurantisme violent.
Il existait cependant à l'époque ou le monde a sombré un musée consacré aux premiers age du spatial. Mais son contenu a été évacué on ne sait ou, personne ne l'a jamais trouvé. Ce pourrait-il que ce capteur fasse parti des stock du musée qu'aurait redécouvert l'archéologue sans le diffuser ?
Il n'en faut pas plus pour pousser Alex et Chase à partir à la chasse au trésor ...
C'était un tome très érudit, avec beaucoup d'informations qui arrivent pas vagues de découvertes. En ce sens ça m'a fait penser au tout premier tome de la série qui m'avait fait le même effet, à nous bombarder d'informations sur une période de l'histoire de ce monde.
A certains moment on se serait cru dans un livre d'histoire du futur. L'auteur invente l’histoire entière du monde lors du 3ièm et 4ième millénaire (qui sont l'age d'or et le premier age sombre post spatial).
Et ça fait un nombre énorme de personnages, de lieux qui changent de noms, d'informations en tout genre par exemple les différents pays et comment ils ont évolués dans cette période et les conflits qu'ils avaient entre eux.
L'ensemble fait très réaliste, un peu fragmentaire comme on s'imagine se souvenir d'une époque lointaine. J'ai bien aimé les détails comme le fait qu'il nous dit que certaines personnes sont encore en faire de chercher comment récupérer les données de l'internet de l'époque qui a été totalement coupé et abandonné lors de l'age sombre.
En plus ce tome est vraiment la suite directe du précédent. Une bonne partie de l'intrigue (et ça se voyait au titre et sur la couverture) n'est donc pas vraiment une nouveauté.
L'autre intrigue de découverte prend donc moins de place.
Au final une bonne lecture comme toujours avec cette série, mais ce tome ne restera pas dans mes favoris malgré le fort coté émotionnel de la fin.
16/20
J'ai passé un bon moment dans ce livre mais il était moins "fort" que le précédent, bien que bien chargé en émotions, surtout à la fin.
Alors dans ce tome Alex et Chase se préparent au retour imminent du Capella, le mastodonte de transport spatial perdu en hyper espace depuis 11 ans et qui re-surfacera pour une 10ène d'heures avant de re-sombrer pour un bon nombre d'années. Les interrogations sur comment sauver les passagers coincés sont très nombreuses. Des chercheurs pensent avoir trouvé une solution mais elle n'est pas parfaite car il y a toujours entre 5 et 10% de chance qu'au lieu de sauver tout le monde elle fasse exploser le moteur du vaisseau, condamnant tout les passagers.
Dans la même période la fille d'un archéologue de renom contacte Alex car elle a trouvé dans le bureau de son père défunt depuis des années un artefact qu'elle pense être très ancien. Et en effet, il s'agit d'un capteur utilisés lors de l'age d'or du spatial, au début du 3ième millénaire.
Comment on a pu en retrouver un et le garder pour soi sans même s'en vanter est une question qui taraude Alex. Les artefacts de cette période sont extrêmement rares, ayant tous été détruits sur terre lors de l'age sombre qui a suivi, dans lequel les humains ont perdu toutes leurs technologies et sont retombé un obscurantisme violent.
Il existait cependant à l'époque ou le monde a sombré un musée consacré aux premiers age du spatial. Mais son contenu a été évacué on ne sait ou, personne ne l'a jamais trouvé. Ce pourrait-il que ce capteur fasse parti des stock du musée qu'aurait redécouvert l'archéologue sans le diffuser ?
Il n'en faut pas plus pour pousser Alex et Chase à partir à la chasse au trésor ...
C'était un tome très érudit, avec beaucoup d'informations qui arrivent pas vagues de découvertes. En ce sens ça m'a fait penser au tout premier tome de la série qui m'avait fait le même effet, à nous bombarder d'informations sur une période de l'histoire de ce monde.
A certains moment on se serait cru dans un livre d'histoire du futur. L'auteur invente l’histoire entière du monde lors du 3ièm et 4ième millénaire (qui sont l'age d'or et le premier age sombre post spatial).
Et ça fait un nombre énorme de personnages, de lieux qui changent de noms, d'informations en tout genre par exemple les différents pays et comment ils ont évolués dans cette période et les conflits qu'ils avaient entre eux.
L'ensemble fait très réaliste, un peu fragmentaire comme on s'imagine se souvenir d'une époque lointaine. J'ai bien aimé les détails comme le fait qu'il nous dit que certaines personnes sont encore en faire de chercher comment récupérer les données de l'internet de l'époque qui a été totalement coupé et abandonné lors de l'age sombre.
En plus ce tome est vraiment la suite directe du précédent. Une bonne partie de l'intrigue (et ça se voyait au titre et sur la couverture) n'est donc pas vraiment une nouveauté.
L'autre intrigue de découverte prend donc moins de place.
Au final une bonne lecture comme toujours avec cette série, mais ce tome ne restera pas dans mes favoris malgré le fort coté émotionnel de la fin.
16/20
April 3, 2018
A bit of a letdown.
Written as a kind of wrapping up book it don’t really work as a stand alone book, which is also emphasised by the fact that this it’s simply continuing the story from the previous book.
Even weaker than the previous books it’s still a good story.
Written as a kind of wrapping up book it don’t really work as a stand alone book, which is also emphasised by the fact that this it’s simply continuing the story from the previous book.
Even weaker than the previous books it’s still a good story.
January 20, 2025
This Alex Benedict sort of wraps up the intrigue that started back a few volumes ago where the mystery of Alex's disappeared uncle and Chase's mentor is resolved. It is well-written and has all the action and business saavy that readers have come to expect from this series. It did however feel like a final book of a series, so I am a bit hesitant for fork out more money for the last two books...
January 17, 2016
Jack McDevitt continually puzzles me. He's got the same knack as Alastair Reynolds for stuffing the margins of the story full of fabulously imaginative little throwaway worldbuilding facts... but unlike Reynolds, he completely loses it when it comes to making the main story interesting.
I first ran into this with Seeker - there's a wonderful little interlude buried deep, about 2/3 of the way into the book, where Chase is traveling into a region of space occupied by the Mutes, a telepathically-communicating species who regard humans as a kind of mental noise pollution, since we're all thinking continuously and AT HIGH VOLUME and have no mental discipline whatsoever. And she's trying to be diplomatic and is terribly embarrassed in the face of their grace, and it's a lovely, well-done glimpse of interactions with a truly alien culture. But... the whole thing is maybe 40 pages long, and then it's back to the status quo.
And the status quo in McDevitt's books is... well, pretty much the same always. It's taking what could be an interesting archaeological adventure in space, resolving most of the interesting bits off-camera, and what few bits do remain are told in the most incredibly dry manner possible. Reading the nutrition label off a cereal box would be more engaging.
And yet - Coming Home has some great ideas squirreled away in its margins. The whole concept that human civilization 7,000 years from now would have forgotten so much of early space history is definitely food for thought, and the Dark Ages of our not-too-distant-future when the Internet was lost and society tore itself apart sounds interesting indeed, and much too quickly breezed over.
And that's a puzzling thing too: Alex and Chase are so freaking passive. If they're really treasure-hunting archaeologists, they should be living and breathing ancient manuscripts and digging into the history - they should be excited to learn more about how things were! Not just hitting up the occasional museum and asking a few questions. The quests are always brought to them by clients, not something they seek out on their own, and the answers always seem to magically resolve with very little effort.
To be honest, I wouldn't even have tried Coming Home if there hadn't been a Kindle pricing fluke that temporarily made it free. But after this and Seeker, I think it's pretty clear that this is just McDevitt's writing style, and it's not for me.
I first ran into this with Seeker - there's a wonderful little interlude buried deep, about 2/3 of the way into the book, where Chase is traveling into a region of space occupied by the Mutes, a telepathically-communicating species who regard humans as a kind of mental noise pollution, since we're all thinking continuously and AT HIGH VOLUME and have no mental discipline whatsoever. And she's trying to be diplomatic and is terribly embarrassed in the face of their grace, and it's a lovely, well-done glimpse of interactions with a truly alien culture. But... the whole thing is maybe 40 pages long, and then it's back to the status quo.
And the status quo in McDevitt's books is... well, pretty much the same always. It's taking what could be an interesting archaeological adventure in space, resolving most of the interesting bits off-camera, and what few bits do remain are told in the most incredibly dry manner possible. Reading the nutrition label off a cereal box would be more engaging.
And yet - Coming Home has some great ideas squirreled away in its margins. The whole concept that human civilization 7,000 years from now would have forgotten so much of early space history is definitely food for thought, and the Dark Ages of our not-too-distant-future when the Internet was lost and society tore itself apart sounds interesting indeed, and much too quickly breezed over.
And that's a puzzling thing too: Alex and Chase are so freaking passive. If they're really treasure-hunting archaeologists, they should be living and breathing ancient manuscripts and digging into the history - they should be excited to learn more about how things were! Not just hitting up the occasional museum and asking a few questions. The quests are always brought to them by clients, not something they seek out on their own, and the answers always seem to magically resolve with very little effort.
To be honest, I wouldn't even have tried Coming Home if there hadn't been a Kindle pricing fluke that temporarily made it free. But after this and Seeker, I think it's pretty clear that this is just McDevitt's writing style, and it's not for me.
March 11, 2015
End of series? Certainly for me it is.
I've read all the others except Polaris, but it doesn't seem that I missed much. My notes for Echo say that I gave it a C, and this one's a C-. And I've liked a lot of McDevitt's other stuff.
First the quibbles.
As others have noticed, the year is 11276, and we have FTL and alien allies. But our heroes still have tea in china cups, and go into libraries as if it were 1976. Their "Dark Ages" were as long ago for them as the Neolithic era is for us, pre-Sahara desert, yet it sounds as if the suburbs of Dubuque still have white picket fences and neatly-mown lawns, and down by the bandshell Norman Rockwell is doing a painting. Chase remembers songs that are NINE THOUSAND YEARS OLD. They watch HV instead of TV, but the content seems unchanged from now.
We're told that when the Dark Ages began, and electric cars wouldn't work, everyone switched to horses. Which of course were plentiful then, right?
The editing/assembly process gets sloppy midway. Tokata becomes Tocata for two pages then reverts [A Tocata and fugue? Sorry, couldn't resist]. An asteroid is called Prosperina (for Proserpina).
I got annoyed the ninth time Jack reminded us that Winnipeg was the world capital.
Maybe I missed it in Polaris, but I am baffled that the entire Confederacy seems to think Alex should be the one to decide what to do with the Capella.
Now, the real problem. The book is BORING!
They decide on scanty data that X must be interviewed. Jaunt, fly, travel, skim .. X says "I got nothin'" but suggests they talk to Y. Repeat ad nauseam. Every once in a while they hit a library instead, skim 100 books, and see a reference to "fruit." Alex is all fruit .. juice .. .grape .. Nehi ... M*A*S*H .. aha, we have to go to Korea. Or Neptune, Or an asteroid. Wherever. Unsurprisingly, he's mostly wrong. McDevitt never explains how everyone seems to have unlimited fuel.
Meanwhile a spaceship's gone AWOL. Jack gives an acceptable handwaving explanation. He makes a Bad Thing happen and fails to explain it, but I'll give a mark for not having everything go well. The scenes of difficult decision-making are OK. Meanwhile, let's wait for the ship. And wait some more.
Will the people be rescued? Will they get Gabe back? Gosh, it's so hard to guess; what do YOU think?
This series has run out of gas. Doesn't even have enough energy to jump the shark.
I've read all the others except Polaris, but it doesn't seem that I missed much. My notes for Echo say that I gave it a C, and this one's a C-. And I've liked a lot of McDevitt's other stuff.
First the quibbles.
As others have noticed, the year is 11276, and we have FTL and alien allies. But our heroes still have tea in china cups, and go into libraries as if it were 1976. Their "Dark Ages" were as long ago for them as the Neolithic era is for us, pre-Sahara desert, yet it sounds as if the suburbs of Dubuque still have white picket fences and neatly-mown lawns, and down by the bandshell Norman Rockwell is doing a painting. Chase remembers songs that are NINE THOUSAND YEARS OLD. They watch HV instead of TV, but the content seems unchanged from now.
We're told that when the Dark Ages began, and electric cars wouldn't work, everyone switched to horses. Which of course were plentiful then, right?
The editing/assembly process gets sloppy midway. Tokata becomes Tocata for two pages then reverts [A Tocata and fugue? Sorry, couldn't resist]. An asteroid is called Prosperina (for Proserpina).
I got annoyed the ninth time Jack reminded us that Winnipeg was the world capital.
Maybe I missed it in Polaris, but I am baffled that the entire Confederacy seems to think Alex should be the one to decide what to do with the Capella.
Now, the real problem. The book is BORING!
They decide on scanty data that X must be interviewed. Jaunt, fly, travel, skim .. X says "I got nothin'" but suggests they talk to Y. Repeat ad nauseam. Every once in a while they hit a library instead, skim 100 books, and see a reference to "fruit." Alex is all fruit .. juice .. .grape .. Nehi ... M*A*S*H .. aha, we have to go to Korea. Or Neptune, Or an asteroid. Wherever. Unsurprisingly, he's mostly wrong. McDevitt never explains how everyone seems to have unlimited fuel.
Meanwhile a spaceship's gone AWOL. Jack gives an acceptable handwaving explanation. He makes a Bad Thing happen and fails to explain it, but I'll give a mark for not having everything go well. The scenes of difficult decision-making are OK. Meanwhile, let's wait for the ship. And wait some more.
Will the people be rescued? Will they get Gabe back? Gosh, it's so hard to guess; what do YOU think?
This series has run out of gas. Doesn't even have enough energy to jump the shark.
February 1, 2015
DISTANT FUTURE... FAMILIAR ATMOSPHERE.
I love this series. Precisely because there aren't many out there like it. In general, my science fiction needs tend to wade in the "big dumb object", exploration, space travel and some military action waters. You can see that in the books I've listed as "read".
But this style of science fiction interests me the most. Lost civilizations, xeno-archeology, ancient space ships... exciting stuff. Nothing needs to blow up, though some times it does so and rather well. Entire galaxies don't need to be in peril, though people often are, and that's just fine with me. Political commentary need not apply, and, frankly, I prefer it that way.
Just good, old fashioned space mystery. Add to that, the fact that, even though the series takes place in the distant future, the settings, the language, everything, is very accessible. I like that. The author didn't go out of his way to invent some strange dialect (which works in some cases like the belters in the Expense series). I'd rather not read an entire book, where I don't understand every third word. There's an easy, almost an offhand, way to explain that these characters are no longer speaking the language we speak now, on Earth. You go, hmm, and move on, not giving it a second thought. Perfect.
And to be clear, I'm reviewing the entire series here, not this particular book. Coming Home was quite serviceable. It did it's job for me. But it wasn't as interesting as McDevitt's other books.
As a whole, however, the series is worth it. It may dip and rise with each release, but generally speaking, it works more often than not. So if your preference, when it comes to science fiction, tends to run a little more on the academic side, give this series a read. It's not as dry as I make it sound, to be sure. It's just... well, you'll see.
-D
I love this series. Precisely because there aren't many out there like it. In general, my science fiction needs tend to wade in the "big dumb object", exploration, space travel and some military action waters. You can see that in the books I've listed as "read".
But this style of science fiction interests me the most. Lost civilizations, xeno-archeology, ancient space ships... exciting stuff. Nothing needs to blow up, though some times it does so and rather well. Entire galaxies don't need to be in peril, though people often are, and that's just fine with me. Political commentary need not apply, and, frankly, I prefer it that way.
Just good, old fashioned space mystery. Add to that, the fact that, even though the series takes place in the distant future, the settings, the language, everything, is very accessible. I like that. The author didn't go out of his way to invent some strange dialect (which works in some cases like the belters in the Expense series). I'd rather not read an entire book, where I don't understand every third word. There's an easy, almost an offhand, way to explain that these characters are no longer speaking the language we speak now, on Earth. You go, hmm, and move on, not giving it a second thought. Perfect.
And to be clear, I'm reviewing the entire series here, not this particular book. Coming Home was quite serviceable. It did it's job for me. But it wasn't as interesting as McDevitt's other books.
As a whole, however, the series is worth it. It may dip and rise with each release, but generally speaking, it works more often than not. So if your preference, when it comes to science fiction, tends to run a little more on the academic side, give this series a read. It's not as dry as I make it sound, to be sure. It's just... well, you'll see.
-D
March 13, 2015
Alex Benedict is back in the seventh book of the series by SF writer Jack McDevitt. Readers of the series are aware that the books are set in the far future,9000+ years. Given that fact,lurking in the background, are two questions. What does the timeline look like and the additional question of whether mankind has been able to hang on to the history and knowledge accumulated over the centuries. In this book some of those questions are answered. The author writes of the collapse of the digital age and the resulting loss of knowledge because of everything being digitized. And with answered questions come even more questions. The Earth of the future has been altered due to ecological damage, the United States is a memory, as is the use of English. Sharp-eyed readers of the previous novels are aware of this and other facts. In this story Alex and Chase are looking into the disappearance of artifacts from the early days of Space Exploration, at the same time becoming involved in an attempt to rescue a 'lost' starliner. For all the changes that Humankind has experienced, the novel still points to the feuding and disagreements that are a part of life. I highly recommend this series to all readers of SF, newcomers and those who have been reading the genre for years. Hopefully this will not be the last book in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2014
I am a big fan of Jack McDevitt, I like what he creates.
There are two series that McDevitt writes. This one is from the Alex Benedict series (#7) which I don’t quite enjoy as much as the Priscilla Hutchens Series.
Interstellar archeologists in this universe fail to find the big prize more than they succeed. I am sure that is true of archeologists throughout history. While the characters have to build a tolerance for disappointment, the reader does not. We get it; you spend a lot of time going to places only to be disappointed. Cops spend much of their times sitting on their butts in their cruisers eating donuts, there is no Law and Order: Type II Diabetes division.
However, the two plot lines here are both handled deftly in the end.
***********Spoiler*****************
The book has a bit of a happily ever after feel, which I am not allergic to. I am a bit mistrusting of it.
Maybe it is too much Stephen King, or the fact the my fourth grade teacher dragged me out of class by my ear when I innocently (really, I was when I was 10) ended a story with “and they lived happily ever after until they died.”
There are two series that McDevitt writes. This one is from the Alex Benedict series (#7) which I don’t quite enjoy as much as the Priscilla Hutchens Series.
Interstellar archeologists in this universe fail to find the big prize more than they succeed. I am sure that is true of archeologists throughout history. While the characters have to build a tolerance for disappointment, the reader does not. We get it; you spend a lot of time going to places only to be disappointed. Cops spend much of their times sitting on their butts in their cruisers eating donuts, there is no Law and Order: Type II Diabetes division.
However, the two plot lines here are both handled deftly in the end.
***********Spoiler*****************
The book has a bit of a happily ever after feel, which I am not allergic to. I am a bit mistrusting of it.
Maybe it is too much Stephen King, or the fact the my fourth grade teacher dragged me out of class by my ear when I innocently (really, I was when I was 10) ended a story with “and they lived happily ever after until they died.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2014
I'm beginning to think the Alex Benedict series has reached the law of diminishing returns. McDevitt is at his strongest when he builds a believable world with references to a deep and rich history, something he achieved superbly in the first book of the series, /A Talent For War/, but here he stretches his world to breaking point, and for me, it broke. This book is set over ten thousand years in the future, and yet everything but the history and the interstellar technology feels like our world just a few decades hence. That didn't matter in /A Talent For War/, whose historical detective tale was based around just the preceding few centuries (and much the same can be said of the other books of the series), but here where the history is so firmly attached back to our times, the failure of imagination stands out starkly.
I fear that McDevitt's other main strand, the Priscilla Hutchins series, is similarly running out of steam. I hope Mr McDevitt can find some new pastures to till, because when he writes a good book, it's very good indeed. Sadly this book is not one of them.
I fear that McDevitt's other main strand, the Priscilla Hutchins series, is similarly running out of steam. I hope Mr McDevitt can find some new pastures to till, because when he writes a good book, it's very good indeed. Sadly this book is not one of them.
November 13, 2014
Jack McDevitt has been writing of Alex Benedict and his assistant Chase Kolpath for a while. They live nine thousand years from now in a confederation at peace and hunt for sellable artifacts from the past. In the latest they are given a communicator that would have been with artifacts from the early space age and lost during the dark ages of the early three thousands. The quest finds them Coming Home (Hard from Ace) to an Earth pleasantly warmed with many of today’s cities under water. Plenty of tourists, but someone doesn’t want them digging and they face an attack on their sailboat while diving at the Huntington Space Museum. At the same time the interstellar transport Capella, lost in a space warp is due to emerge after eleven years (several days to the passengers). Alex’s mentor Gabe was a passenger. Fun, as usual.Review printed in the Philadelphia Weekly Press
January 21, 2015
Coming Home is the latest in McDevitt's Chase Kolpath/Alex Benedict series. The title is doubly meaningful, because a long lost character from early in the series comes home, and also because Chase and Alex visit Earth, the original human home. The artifacts they're seeking this time around are the relics of the Apollo program, and they have quite a series of adventures attempting recovery. (One of the ancient artifacts that's mentioned is a novel about Priscilla Hutchins, the star of McDevitt's other popular series; Chase comments that she'd like to get to know Hutch.) While I didn't enjoy it quite as much as The Devil's Eye and perhaps one or two of the other earlier Kolpath/Benedict books, Coming Home is another terrific science fiction/archaeology adventure.
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