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Ancient Shores #2
Thunderbird
The Nebula Award–winning author of the Alex Benedict novels and the Priscilla Hutchins novels returns to the world of Ancient Shores in a startling and majestic epic.A working stargate dating back more than ten thousand years has been discovered in North Dakota, on a Sioux reservation near Devils Lake. Travel through the gate currently leads to three equally mysterious (1) an apparently empty garden world, quickly dubbed Eden; (2) a strange maze of underground passageways; or (3) a space station with a view of a galaxy that appears to be the Milky Way.The race to explore and claim the stargate quickly escalates, and those involved divide into opposing camps who view the teleportation technology either as an unprecedented opportunity for scientific research or a disastrous threat to national—if not planetary—security. In the middle of the maelstrom stands Sioux chairman James Walker. One thing is for Questions about what the stargate means for humanity’s role in the galaxy cannot be ignored.Especially since travel through the stargate isn’t necessarily only one way...
370 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2015
92 people are currently reading
846 people want to read
About the author
Jack McDevitt
185 books1,344 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 218 reviews
February 11, 2016
There are few things as disappointing as a beloved author...excuse my French...shitting the bed. I love Jack McDevitt, he's absolutely my favorite science fiction author. The fact that this book, a follow up to the terrific Ancient Shores, isn't so much bad as it is totally forgettable is almost worse than if it were just a crappy story.
Which by the way it also is. A crappy story.
Ancient Shores is another of McDevitt's terrific "future earth" stories where in a world exactly like ours humanity is faced with the reality of other life in the universe. It tells the story of the discovery of an interplanetary transporter similar to "beaming up" on "Star Trek." McDevitt weaves another great yarn about the average joes, political big wigs, scientists and explorers who uncover it and take the first steps toward a new age of discovery. It's a wonderful nail biter of a book with terrific tension as the reader wonders if humanity is really ready to deal with the power they've abruptly come into possession of.
Thunderbirdpicks up exactly where Ancient Shores left off. The transporter, discovered on a Sioux reservation, is now in the hands of the tribe who are allowing limited teams of scientists, explorers and reporters to take the first steps toward understanding both the technology behind "The Roundhouse" (their name for the transport and the installation it occupies) and the mysterious planets it transports the travelers to. The questions readers were left with after Ancient Shores namely "Who built this thing?" "What exactly is it for?", "Were we even supposed to find it?" seem like they should be the focus of the story but that would mean there would have to BE a story to begin with.
Which there really isn't. A story.
This book feels totally formless. Where most of McDevitt's books have a clear goal in mind for the protagonists and while we're at it actual protagonists this one just sort of slumps along in a bored, sleepy way and halfheartedly moves the goal posts as it does.
We spend a great deal of time with the poorly developed April who I vaguely remember as some sort of scientist from Ancient Shores who for unclear reasons is now the primary leader of every mission through the Roundhouse but what the heck she's trying to accomplish or how she even feels about the new life she has as an intergalactic explorer gets lost in mission after mission where she leads team after team to the various locations the transporter makes available where they proceed to walk around and look at stuff. There's absolutely no character development, the entire point of her character appears to be so we can have a set of eyes to show us what the explorer's are seeing.
Then we spend some chapters with some dude named Brad who does a radio call in show and eventually starts going along on the missions for again...no discernible reason. He has no special skills or even a talent for keen observation or turn of phrase that might at least make him a useful person to describe the missions to Joe Q Public. He just goes along with April and the rest of the teams and kinda checks out everything that's going on and comes home and hangs out there and stuff.
Also? Nothing happens on these missions. They walk through a forest on one planet. They walk through a tunnel on another. They walk on a space station on another. Whole lotta walkin'!
Its all very herp dee derp which is not exactly what I look for in science fiction.
McDevitt makes some seriously lame attempts at dramatic tension with continual calls from the president to the head of the tribal council where they question the wisdom of these trips and making the Roundhouse accessible to the world at large in a very bored kind of way.
"Hey chief elder guy I'm not sure we should be doing this."
"Yeah...I dunno mr. president guy...I think its pretty cool what we're doing."
"Yeah...I think you might be right..."
"Kay."
"Kay. See ya."
Even the discovery of aliens doesn't get these people excited! All the alien encounters that occur have this weird 1950's vibe to them.
"Oh look an alien that looks like popular cultures version of the devil! Agh! Based entirely on its appearance it must BE the devil! Run!"
A large hairy species is discovered and are immediately nicknamed "gorilla's" and everyone is shocked, shocked I tell you to discover they have things like clothes, books and the ability to create art. Pages are devoted to a very boring search for a linguist to work out their language and when McDevitt finally has a human sit down and talk to these creatures its with a whopping twenty pages left in the book.
We're also treated to the usual McDevitt trope of "aliens who are intelligent enough to have music and anti matter transport couldn't possibly be dangerous" that he breaks out in every book of his I've ever read and which I have never understood because has he ever hung out with...ya know.. human beings? A friend of mine pointed out that he might be attempting to make a point that having that kind of view of an alien species is pretty stupid but he always, always, always, counters it with the opposite extreme which is a group of characters who want to drop a nuclear warhead on the aliens. We never, ever see middle of the road characters with middle of the road opinions.
Back on earth things are equally boring even though they shouldn't be. There might or might not be an invisible alien hanging out in the town near the Roundhouse who came back with a team of explorers by mistake and we're treated to an "enthralling" debate between the townsfolk some of whom kinda sorta like the thing and some of whom kinda sorta don't like it. Things get totally crazy when one of them sprays it with a hose!!!
No really. A hose.
Fans of McDevitt will know that he likes to pull the rug out from under his readers. I'm reminded of the brilliant reveals in The Cassandra Project and basically every single book in the "Alex Benedict" series and he tries again with this one but it is, to put it mildly, a disappointment of epic proportions that comes entirely out of left field, has none of the usual fascinating scientific theory behind it that I've come to expect from him, and at the end of the day doesn't actually answer half the questions that have been building since Ancient Shores. There's also a "zero hour" attempt to bring the barely touched "this was found on a Reservation and didn't we treat the Indians terribly" story line full circle that feels not only false but kind of insulting.
Truth? This was boring as hell and sloppy. I get absolutely giddy when there's a new Jack McDevitt book out and having to slog through this snooze fest was seriously unfair.
What gives Jack?
Which by the way it also is. A crappy story.
Ancient Shores is another of McDevitt's terrific "future earth" stories where in a world exactly like ours humanity is faced with the reality of other life in the universe. It tells the story of the discovery of an interplanetary transporter similar to "beaming up" on "Star Trek." McDevitt weaves another great yarn about the average joes, political big wigs, scientists and explorers who uncover it and take the first steps toward a new age of discovery. It's a wonderful nail biter of a book with terrific tension as the reader wonders if humanity is really ready to deal with the power they've abruptly come into possession of.
Thunderbirdpicks up exactly where Ancient Shores left off. The transporter, discovered on a Sioux reservation, is now in the hands of the tribe who are allowing limited teams of scientists, explorers and reporters to take the first steps toward understanding both the technology behind "The Roundhouse" (their name for the transport and the installation it occupies) and the mysterious planets it transports the travelers to. The questions readers were left with after Ancient Shores namely "Who built this thing?" "What exactly is it for?", "Were we even supposed to find it?" seem like they should be the focus of the story but that would mean there would have to BE a story to begin with.
Which there really isn't. A story.
This book feels totally formless. Where most of McDevitt's books have a clear goal in mind for the protagonists and while we're at it actual protagonists this one just sort of slumps along in a bored, sleepy way and halfheartedly moves the goal posts as it does.
We spend a great deal of time with the poorly developed April who I vaguely remember as some sort of scientist from Ancient Shores who for unclear reasons is now the primary leader of every mission through the Roundhouse but what the heck she's trying to accomplish or how she even feels about the new life she has as an intergalactic explorer gets lost in mission after mission where she leads team after team to the various locations the transporter makes available where they proceed to walk around and look at stuff. There's absolutely no character development, the entire point of her character appears to be so we can have a set of eyes to show us what the explorer's are seeing.
Then we spend some chapters with some dude named Brad who does a radio call in show and eventually starts going along on the missions for again...no discernible reason. He has no special skills or even a talent for keen observation or turn of phrase that might at least make him a useful person to describe the missions to Joe Q Public. He just goes along with April and the rest of the teams and kinda checks out everything that's going on and comes home and hangs out there and stuff.
Also? Nothing happens on these missions. They walk through a forest on one planet. They walk through a tunnel on another. They walk on a space station on another. Whole lotta walkin'!
Its all very herp dee derp which is not exactly what I look for in science fiction.
McDevitt makes some seriously lame attempts at dramatic tension with continual calls from the president to the head of the tribal council where they question the wisdom of these trips and making the Roundhouse accessible to the world at large in a very bored kind of way.
"Hey chief elder guy I'm not sure we should be doing this."
"Yeah...I dunno mr. president guy...I think its pretty cool what we're doing."
"Yeah...I think you might be right..."
"Kay."
"Kay. See ya."
Even the discovery of aliens doesn't get these people excited! All the alien encounters that occur have this weird 1950's vibe to them.
"Oh look an alien that looks like popular cultures version of the devil! Agh! Based entirely on its appearance it must BE the devil! Run!"
A large hairy species is discovered and are immediately nicknamed "gorilla's" and everyone is shocked, shocked I tell you to discover they have things like clothes, books and the ability to create art. Pages are devoted to a very boring search for a linguist to work out their language and when McDevitt finally has a human sit down and talk to these creatures its with a whopping twenty pages left in the book.
We're also treated to the usual McDevitt trope of "aliens who are intelligent enough to have music and anti matter transport couldn't possibly be dangerous" that he breaks out in every book of his I've ever read and which I have never understood because has he ever hung out with...ya know.. human beings? A friend of mine pointed out that he might be attempting to make a point that having that kind of view of an alien species is pretty stupid but he always, always, always, counters it with the opposite extreme which is a group of characters who want to drop a nuclear warhead on the aliens. We never, ever see middle of the road characters with middle of the road opinions.
Back on earth things are equally boring even though they shouldn't be. There might or might not be an invisible alien hanging out in the town near the Roundhouse who came back with a team of explorers by mistake and we're treated to an "enthralling" debate between the townsfolk some of whom kinda sorta like the thing and some of whom kinda sorta don't like it. Things get totally crazy when one of them sprays it with a hose!!!
No really. A hose.
Fans of McDevitt will know that he likes to pull the rug out from under his readers. I'm reminded of the brilliant reveals in The Cassandra Project and basically every single book in the "Alex Benedict" series and he tries again with this one but it is, to put it mildly, a disappointment of epic proportions that comes entirely out of left field, has none of the usual fascinating scientific theory behind it that I've come to expect from him, and at the end of the day doesn't actually answer half the questions that have been building since Ancient Shores. There's also a "zero hour" attempt to bring the barely touched "this was found on a Reservation and didn't we treat the Indians terribly" story line full circle that feels not only false but kind of insulting.
Truth? This was boring as hell and sloppy. I get absolutely giddy when there's a new Jack McDevitt book out and having to slog through this snooze fest was seriously unfair.
What gives Jack?
January 16, 2016
Very Disappointing!
I've waited for YEARS for a sequel to Ancient Shores. What a huge disappointment. Overpriced, mediocre writing, antiquated concepts. This book should have been awesome and pointing towards a future where mankind joins the rest of the galactic community. Instead it's focus is on ignorance, superstition, fear and Xenophobia. Is this the BEST you could do?
I've waited for YEARS for a sequel to Ancient Shores. What a huge disappointment. Overpriced, mediocre writing, antiquated concepts. This book should have been awesome and pointing towards a future where mankind joins the rest of the galactic community. Instead it's focus is on ignorance, superstition, fear and Xenophobia. Is this the BEST you could do?
August 9, 2017
This is a fun, feel-good story about an ancient portal discovered in a Sioux Indian reservation in North Dakota. So, in principle, the portal is owned by the Sioux Indians, and all passages are controlled by a member of the tribe. The portal leads to other places in the universe, and those places lead to yet other places.
However, the U.S. president fears that bad things may come of the usage of the portal, and puts pressure to stop using it, or even to destroy it. And there is an additional ethical dilemma. Some sort of alien-energy being has slipped through the portal, and wants to go back to its home. Yet at the same time, it helps humans in dangerous situations. What to do? How to communicate with it?
I enjoyed this book, but I was continuously asking myself; is there something more coming to the story? There is really very little conflict, it is almost totally feel-good, and the ending did not seem motivated by the plot or the characters.
However, the U.S. president fears that bad things may come of the usage of the portal, and puts pressure to stop using it, or even to destroy it. And there is an additional ethical dilemma. Some sort of alien-energy being has slipped through the portal, and wants to go back to its home. Yet at the same time, it helps humans in dangerous situations. What to do? How to communicate with it?
I enjoyed this book, but I was continuously asking myself; is there something more coming to the story? There is really very little conflict, it is almost totally feel-good, and the ending did not seem motivated by the plot or the characters.
January 15, 2016
I'm a long time fan of Jack McDevitt's. I've been reading his work since his first novel, The Hercules Text back in the late 80's. I just finished Thunderbird, a recent work, and I was sincerely disappointed.
This novel is a followup to his novel, Ancient Shores, which was published in 1996. I quite enjoyed Ancient Shores, a combination of xenoarcheology mystery story and thriller, pitting scientists up against the overwhelming odds of the federal government, with science winning the day.
Thunderbird does not live up the the legacy of its predecessor. While the pacing in Ancient Shores was a race down an ever-steepening hill till you finally reached the bottom, the pacing in Thunderbird was uniformly flat. It was never really boring, but it never really got exciting. Instead of a pace that increased the closer you got to the climax of the story, it was a story that moved steadily forward at a constant pace. Because I was reading it via my iPad, I didn't even realize I was getting close to the end of the book until I looked down and realized I had less than twenty pages to go. This was disappointing because one thing I came to love about McDevitt's writing in the 90's and early 2000's was his mastery of pacing.
On top of that, the ending was perplexing, disappointing, and abrupt. Here there be spoilers:
This is the third book of McDevitt's recent releases that I've been rather disappointed by. I hope that this is a temporary lull in the author's skill in writing exciting, engaging, and satisfying books, and that in the near future, I'll look forward to his name appearing on the shelf on a new work. But with the current trend, I'll probably be a lot less inclined to pick up his next novel.
This novel is a followup to his novel, Ancient Shores, which was published in 1996. I quite enjoyed Ancient Shores, a combination of xenoarcheology mystery story and thriller, pitting scientists up against the overwhelming odds of the federal government, with science winning the day.
Thunderbird does not live up the the legacy of its predecessor. While the pacing in Ancient Shores was a race down an ever-steepening hill till you finally reached the bottom, the pacing in Thunderbird was uniformly flat. It was never really boring, but it never really got exciting. Instead of a pace that increased the closer you got to the climax of the story, it was a story that moved steadily forward at a constant pace. Because I was reading it via my iPad, I didn't even realize I was getting close to the end of the book until I looked down and realized I had less than twenty pages to go. This was disappointing because one thing I came to love about McDevitt's writing in the 90's and early 2000's was his mastery of pacing.
On top of that, the ending was perplexing, disappointing, and abrupt. Here there be spoilers:
This is the third book of McDevitt's recent releases that I've been rather disappointed by. I hope that this is a temporary lull in the author's skill in writing exciting, engaging, and satisfying books, and that in the near future, I'll look forward to his name appearing on the shelf on a new work. But with the current trend, I'll probably be a lot less inclined to pick up his next novel.
November 29, 2015
Probably closer to 3.5 STARS. However, it is definitely engrossing and moves at a rapid pace. I inhaled the book in just over 24 hours. The premise of a star gate which is found on Indian-controlled land in North Dakota is intriguing.
There are some annoying aspects of the book in that you want to shout at the characters, "you're doing it wrong!" They have multiple encounters on various works that are not recorded and they even have amateurs who are responsible for security.
The mystery of the shadowy alien (eventually named Louie) was intriguing but wasn't ever really fully resolved.
I disagree with the decision that was made to resolve the issues involved with the stargaze. But I understand why it was made and appreciate why it was made.
Overall, this book reminds me a lot of THE HERCULES TEXT in which an incredible technological event occurs and the story is about how our world reacts to it.
There are some annoying aspects of the book in that you want to shout at the characters, "you're doing it wrong!" They have multiple encounters on various works that are not recorded and they even have amateurs who are responsible for security.
The mystery of the shadowy alien (eventually named Louie) was intriguing but wasn't ever really fully resolved.
I disagree with the decision that was made to resolve the issues involved with the stargaze. But I understand why it was made and appreciate why it was made.
Overall, this book reminds me a lot of THE HERCULES TEXT in which an incredible technological event occurs and the story is about how our world reacts to it.
March 19, 2016
In general, I *love* McDevitt's books: great, big ideas; fast, tight plots; interesting characters, if not of the greatest depth; and a comfortable style of prose. I've read every book of his as soon as available for decades.
Well, every rule has an exception. I give it 2 stars, but it's really more like 1.5 stars. The big ideas are there, maybe a little less plausible than in other books, but some initial suspension of disbelief is necessary when ready SF & Fantasy. My problem is the behavior of ... well, just about every major character. The book includes the discovery and exploration of a working stargate (not giving away anything you can't read on the dust jacket). The planning and execution of the work by the major characters is what I'd expect from my 5th-grader. I don't want elaborate more - I'd have to give away details - but this aspect really felt like it was phoned in by the author. I don't believe that, were this circumstance to actually occur, the routine, plan-able activities would be handled in the off-the-cuff, ad-hoc manner described - and it's annoying enough to be distracting. And it's not that Mr. McDevitt is simply omitting details - for instance, I grant him considerable leeway when he's describing Alex & Hutch's activities (his two longest running protagonists) because they're experts in their field, and we should expect that any un-described activities are reasonable - it's that the actions taken in this book seem like they were planned on the playground.
Summary: This is *not* the book to start with if you're first trying McDevitt; and I can't wait for his next book.
Well, every rule has an exception. I give it 2 stars, but it's really more like 1.5 stars. The big ideas are there, maybe a little less plausible than in other books, but some initial suspension of disbelief is necessary when ready SF & Fantasy. My problem is the behavior of ... well, just about every major character. The book includes the discovery and exploration of a working stargate (not giving away anything you can't read on the dust jacket). The planning and execution of the work by the major characters is what I'd expect from my 5th-grader. I don't want elaborate more - I'd have to give away details - but this aspect really felt like it was phoned in by the author. I don't believe that, were this circumstance to actually occur, the routine, plan-able activities would be handled in the off-the-cuff, ad-hoc manner described - and it's annoying enough to be distracting. And it's not that Mr. McDevitt is simply omitting details - for instance, I grant him considerable leeway when he's describing Alex & Hutch's activities (his two longest running protagonists) because they're experts in their field, and we should expect that any un-described activities are reasonable - it's that the actions taken in this book seem like they were planned on the playground.
Summary: This is *not* the book to start with if you're first trying McDevitt; and I can't wait for his next book.
January 15, 2016
I usually like sci-fi, but my gosh, this one was just off the radar. The premise was okay but the characters were all taking actions that a rational person would ask "what the heck they doin?". I think they should all have put on red shirts and got killed off.
November 18, 2022
I enjoy McDevitt's writing style and this is an entertaining, engrossing study of how different people and groups would respond to the possibilities of first contact and advanced materials and science which would throw the world economy into a tailspin.
Clearly this sequel is intended as next in a continuing series.
Clearly this sequel is intended as next in a continuing series.
Read
July 17, 2020This was my first McDevitt and unfortunately - due to it not being mentioned anywhere in the cover copy - I didn't realize this was a sequel (to Ancient Shores).
DNF around halfway mark. I loved the idea of the Stargate - which leads to three different seemingly abandoned worlds - but the focus wasn't on the technology, it was on the politics of different factions - the natives who own the land, the US government, scientists, journalists, fringe groups - who want to either use it or destroy it.
Also, I don't think it's very plausible that they'd send journalists and any friends who have an in through first, before the scientists go there? Or that exploration groups would be unarmed and not to a tight timeline? The writing is very choppy and terse.
DNF around halfway mark. I loved the idea of the Stargate - which leads to three different seemingly abandoned worlds - but the focus wasn't on the technology, it was on the politics of different factions - the natives who own the land, the US government, scientists, journalists, fringe groups - who want to either use it or destroy it.
Also, I don't think it's very plausible that they'd send journalists and any friends who have an in through first, before the scientists go there? Or that exploration groups would be unarmed and not to a tight timeline? The writing is very choppy and terse.
December 14, 2015
Originally posted at fantasyliterature.com
When we last left Jack McDevitt’s North Dakota in 1996’s Ancient Shores, the U.S. Government had failed miserably and embarrassingly to wrest control of an alien stargate from the Spirit Lake Sioux, rightful owners of the land on which the alien artifact was found. Thunderbird, a sequel Ancient Shores, picks up several months after the showdown, which also saw fictional poet Walter Asquith shot dead.
The world of Grand Forks, North Dakota, with its brutal winters and routine working days, had been replaced by a cosmos that was suddenly accessible.
The story in McDevitt’s Ancient Shores orbits the discovery of seemingly alien artifacts – a futuristic sailboat buried deep within the plains of North Dakota, a stargate transports explorers across vast distances to an Eden-like world, a malfunctioning space station, and a maze; a telepathic ghost-like being followed some of those explorers back to North America. But none of those mysteries were explained. McDevitt left us semi-satisfied with the ending in Shores, but he sure did leave a lot of story left to tell. McDevitt never explained the reason and motivation behind these discoveries, and almost 20 full years later, fans of the Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel will have a chance at those answers.
Characters are enablers in this world of Jack McDevitt…not in the psychoanalytical way (although I’m sure some are of that ilk as well), but in a literary sense. Characters facilitate the story McDevitt wants to tell, which is not exactly hard scifi, but I’d characterize it as exploratory science fiction. McDevitt’s most interested in poking and probing at a future of world of discovery, how it influences today’s society and what it means to come into contact with something new. And it was the same way in Ancient Shores. Characters exist to further plot, and to advance McDevitt’s thematic notions.
The government was forced to back down after their failed attack and left the reservation and the Roundhouse in the charge of James Walker, Chairman of the Sioux tribe. Walker is left in full care of the Roundhouse and the stargate within it. He plans and coordinates all missions agendas and attendees.
April Cannon returns as the scientist-turned-explorer, leading missions to several of the worlds discovered in Ancient Shores, and a few news ones as well. Brad Hollister, Grand Forks morning radio talk show host is a fringe character in the first book gets more of a spotlight in Thunderbird, and rounds out the characters of note.
Several key narratives drive Thunderbird. The first is the further exploration of the world named “Eden”. The first world discovered by the users of the stargate consists of jungle and beach nestled on the shores of a large lake. On one journey, the scientists come across a man-man bridge. They follow a path that connects to a house, and April has humanity’s first otherworldly sentient contact:
Three wooden steps led up onto the porch. She climbed them and faced the door. It had a lever. She paused and listened. Something was moving around inside. The branches moved in the wind. She knocked. Softly.
The human-alien relationship develops throughout the book, but I fear describing too much further without drifting into ‘spoiler-land’.
The second key plot narrative is one which started in Ancient Shores – the political overtones of the existence of aliens and superior alien technology. The President of the United States, who ultimately approved the disastrous attack on the Sioux site at the end of Ancient Shores, builds his relationship with Chairman Walker and continually pushes for the complete shutdown of the site. He’s worried about alien attack, economic collapse driven by the new technologies, and the unyielding pressure from pretty much everywhere for the government to take over control of the Roundhouse. The President becomes a bit of Walker’s ‘devil-on-his-shoulder’ while continuously in his ear with caution after caution.
The political and economic influences aside, a friend of Walker highlights the cultural impact of the alien discoveries:
I'm not just talking about the potential for invaders. Or the possibility of economic collapse, which I’m sure you’ve thought of. But, as a result of what you find out there we may experience a total cultural shift… Historically, anytime a technology-advanced culture has connected with a relatively primitive one, a lot of things change. Values, for example. Perception. We could encounter an advanced society that laughs at religion. Or whose individuals have IQs at around two hundred. Or who live for centuries.
This exemplifies what McDevitt does well… cover the ground of the issues that surround the discovery while continually teasing us with incremental revelation. The societal issues are always humming in the background, while the scientists continue to plug away at exploring the different worlds: Eden, The Maze, A malfunctioning space station, a high-tech advanced city, and a world beaten down by a blazing sun, barely survivable by the explorers, but inhabited by other beings.
The clues continue to mount but the answer to the key question of where these places are and who provided this technology remain always just out of reach. Tantalizing hints drive Walkers’ internal debate around the Sioux’s opportunity to influence the future with their stewardship of the Roundhouse. The most enticing clue – a flag found, frozen stiff in the deep vacuum of a malfunctioning space station. Emblazoned is the stylized design of a Thunderbird… sky sprit of Sioux legend.
One of the most interesting plot elements also stems from an unfinished plotline of Ancient Shores – the alien ‘ghost’ that crossed over into the Roundhouse from the Maze world. The ‘ghost’ continues to haunt Fort Dixie and the surrounding areas. It seems to pull people’s consciousness out from within. It’s benign and often helpful: A old man falls in the snow in a frigid cold evening and the ‘ghost’ projects an image of the helpless man to a neighbor. A severely mentally handicapped girl has her first moments of full lucidity when in the presence of the being.
The fun of this book is the journey of exploration… McDevitt’s exploration of what the discovery of alien existence means to individuals, and humanity as a whole. His journey takes readers on a fun mystery ride of who these aliens are and what motivation and purpose they had for leaving the Roundhouse. And yes, we do find out who created the technology… and we mostly learn why.
When we last left Jack McDevitt’s North Dakota in 1996’s Ancient Shores, the U.S. Government had failed miserably and embarrassingly to wrest control of an alien stargate from the Spirit Lake Sioux, rightful owners of the land on which the alien artifact was found. Thunderbird, a sequel Ancient Shores, picks up several months after the showdown, which also saw fictional poet Walter Asquith shot dead.
The world of Grand Forks, North Dakota, with its brutal winters and routine working days, had been replaced by a cosmos that was suddenly accessible.
The story in McDevitt’s Ancient Shores orbits the discovery of seemingly alien artifacts – a futuristic sailboat buried deep within the plains of North Dakota, a stargate transports explorers across vast distances to an Eden-like world, a malfunctioning space station, and a maze; a telepathic ghost-like being followed some of those explorers back to North America. But none of those mysteries were explained. McDevitt left us semi-satisfied with the ending in Shores, but he sure did leave a lot of story left to tell. McDevitt never explained the reason and motivation behind these discoveries, and almost 20 full years later, fans of the Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel will have a chance at those answers.
Characters are enablers in this world of Jack McDevitt…not in the psychoanalytical way (although I’m sure some are of that ilk as well), but in a literary sense. Characters facilitate the story McDevitt wants to tell, which is not exactly hard scifi, but I’d characterize it as exploratory science fiction. McDevitt’s most interested in poking and probing at a future of world of discovery, how it influences today’s society and what it means to come into contact with something new. And it was the same way in Ancient Shores. Characters exist to further plot, and to advance McDevitt’s thematic notions.
The government was forced to back down after their failed attack and left the reservation and the Roundhouse in the charge of James Walker, Chairman of the Sioux tribe. Walker is left in full care of the Roundhouse and the stargate within it. He plans and coordinates all missions agendas and attendees.
April Cannon returns as the scientist-turned-explorer, leading missions to several of the worlds discovered in Ancient Shores, and a few news ones as well. Brad Hollister, Grand Forks morning radio talk show host is a fringe character in the first book gets more of a spotlight in Thunderbird, and rounds out the characters of note.
Several key narratives drive Thunderbird. The first is the further exploration of the world named “Eden”. The first world discovered by the users of the stargate consists of jungle and beach nestled on the shores of a large lake. On one journey, the scientists come across a man-man bridge. They follow a path that connects to a house, and April has humanity’s first otherworldly sentient contact:
Three wooden steps led up onto the porch. She climbed them and faced the door. It had a lever. She paused and listened. Something was moving around inside. The branches moved in the wind. She knocked. Softly.
The human-alien relationship develops throughout the book, but I fear describing too much further without drifting into ‘spoiler-land’.
The second key plot narrative is one which started in Ancient Shores – the political overtones of the existence of aliens and superior alien technology. The President of the United States, who ultimately approved the disastrous attack on the Sioux site at the end of Ancient Shores, builds his relationship with Chairman Walker and continually pushes for the complete shutdown of the site. He’s worried about alien attack, economic collapse driven by the new technologies, and the unyielding pressure from pretty much everywhere for the government to take over control of the Roundhouse. The President becomes a bit of Walker’s ‘devil-on-his-shoulder’ while continuously in his ear with caution after caution.
The political and economic influences aside, a friend of Walker highlights the cultural impact of the alien discoveries:
I'm not just talking about the potential for invaders. Or the possibility of economic collapse, which I’m sure you’ve thought of. But, as a result of what you find out there we may experience a total cultural shift… Historically, anytime a technology-advanced culture has connected with a relatively primitive one, a lot of things change. Values, for example. Perception. We could encounter an advanced society that laughs at religion. Or whose individuals have IQs at around two hundred. Or who live for centuries.
This exemplifies what McDevitt does well… cover the ground of the issues that surround the discovery while continually teasing us with incremental revelation. The societal issues are always humming in the background, while the scientists continue to plug away at exploring the different worlds: Eden, The Maze, A malfunctioning space station, a high-tech advanced city, and a world beaten down by a blazing sun, barely survivable by the explorers, but inhabited by other beings.
The clues continue to mount but the answer to the key question of where these places are and who provided this technology remain always just out of reach. Tantalizing hints drive Walkers’ internal debate around the Sioux’s opportunity to influence the future with their stewardship of the Roundhouse. The most enticing clue – a flag found, frozen stiff in the deep vacuum of a malfunctioning space station. Emblazoned is the stylized design of a Thunderbird… sky sprit of Sioux legend.
One of the most interesting plot elements also stems from an unfinished plotline of Ancient Shores – the alien ‘ghost’ that crossed over into the Roundhouse from the Maze world. The ‘ghost’ continues to haunt Fort Dixie and the surrounding areas. It seems to pull people’s consciousness out from within. It’s benign and often helpful: A old man falls in the snow in a frigid cold evening and the ‘ghost’ projects an image of the helpless man to a neighbor. A severely mentally handicapped girl has her first moments of full lucidity when in the presence of the being.
The fun of this book is the journey of exploration… McDevitt’s exploration of what the discovery of alien existence means to individuals, and humanity as a whole. His journey takes readers on a fun mystery ride of who these aliens are and what motivation and purpose they had for leaving the Roundhouse. And yes, we do find out who created the technology… and we mostly learn why.
November 23, 2015
Note: This book is a sequel to Ancient Shores, a book I thoroughly enjoyed. You don’t have to read that book to understand this one, but I highly recommend that you do. This review will necessarily include spoilers for that book.
I have sometimes said of Jack McDevitt that he likes to write archaeological science fiction: stories where an artifact from the distant past reveals a mystery in the story’s “present” (which might be our distant future). The Alex Benedict books are about a famous treasure hunter in this mold. Many of the Priscilla Hutchins books involve an ancient force that systematically wipes out civilizations, leaving us little to study but ruins.
But while reading Thunderbird, I realized that I wasn’t giving McDevitt broad enough credit: he likes cultural science fiction, exploring the impact of discoveries on a culture. That was true from his very first novel, The Hercules Text, the story of how a message from a distant civilization affects our own.
McDevitt also delights in not answering all the questions. He has said that not answering makes a story more realistic. In real life, we have to live with unanswered questions. Some mysteries must wait for another day.
And both of those ideas were found in Ancient Shores, a book that starts with a North Dakota farmer making a strange discovery: a yacht buried in his fields, fields which were beneath a vast inland sea… ten-thousand years ago. The sailboat has mysterious properties: it isn’t quite the right size and its fittings aren’t quite the right shape for humans; and it is impervious to wear and tear, almost impossible to damage, and hence impossible for anyone to estimate its age. The yacht leads eventually to the discovery of the Roundhouse, a dock on the Sioux-owned cliffs that once overlooked the sea; and in the Roundhouse they find a working gateway to other stars.
That book is classic McDevitt. We see how these discoveries affect both individuals and the culture at large. Some want to explore. Some want to run and hide. Some see danger in how these alien technologies can disrupt the economy and render the world more dangerous. Some see their own fears and must decide to stand up to them or cower in shame. And the Mni Wakan Oyate tribe of the Sioux see the return of an ancient conflict as the U.S. government decides to “solve” the problem by destroying the Roundhouse. Only through the timely intercession of scientists and celebrities is the destruction halted. For now.
It’s a victory, and the book ends on a high note; but… In real life, we have to live with unanswered questions. Where did the Roundhouse come from? How does it work? Can the Sioux keep control, or will the government take over? And what is that strange sentient whirlwind that aids travelers in distress? Some mysteries must wait for another day.
Thunderbird is another day. (Literally. Ancient Shores took place in 1996 or so, the time that book was published. Thunderbird takes place today; but at the same time, Thunderbird takes place immediately after Ancient Shores. There was a brief bit in chapter 1 or 2 where McDevitt sneakily brought the prior book into the present. You would have to really look to notice, but I was watching for it. This book is in the present, with ubiquitous cell phones and Internet and cable news and modern politics.) And answers are forthcoming – as are surprises.
Many of the same characters are involved: U.S. President Matthew Taylor, Sioux Chairman James Walker, scientist April Cannon, and security guard Andrea Hawk. Others have been reduced to cameos, such as Matt Collingwood, the pilot who helped to find the Roundhouse. Tom Lasker, the farmer who found the yacht, is mentioned but never appears.
And there are plenty of new characters, chief among them being Brad Hollister, a radio host and reporter who gets slowly drawn into the missions. The Sioux unexpectedly find themselves with a space program, one more advanced than anyone else on Earth can imagine; and Brad is there to observe it. While other characters are caught up in the diplomacy and politics, Brad is there as a witness, the reader’s eyes and ears to the excitement. He understandably struggles with fear (Would you trust your life to 10,000-year-old technology?) and then shame over that fear. This struggle made it very easy to identify with him. We all want to believe we’ll be brave in the face of danger, but what happens when we’re really tested?
And there are aliens. Yes, in this book, the Sioux and their allies meet aliens: the ape-like Arkons, the not-quite-human Riverwalkers, and the aforementioned sentient windstorm. McDevitt explores each culture (though some deeper than others), and each adds to the mystery of the Roundhouse.
In the end, McDevitt answers many questions, but subtly. The reader, like the characters, has to decide what to believe from the evidence they find. I think that Brad learned who the gate builders were and part of why the gates were built; but there’s enough room to argue about it, and not everyone accepts their answers.
If Brad is right about the gate builders, then the Sioux people have a fascinating future ahead if they can use what they have learned; and yet the ending puts that future out of reach. For now. It’s a more definitive ending than the end of Ancient Shores, but did it answer all the questions? Maybe you missed the part where I said this is a Jack McDevitt book. We have to live with unanswered questions. Some mysteries must wait for another day – and (I hope) another sequel.
My verdict? I was intrigued in many places. I was surprised in all the right parts. I laughed out loud at several scenes. I was frustrated by some of the stupid decisions while still understanding why the characters made them. I enjoyed the characters (particularly Brad and April). The ending satisfied me while still leaving me wanting more. And the epilogue made me smile. I recommend this book to anyone who likes thoughtful science fiction.
Full disclosure: I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Before that, I preordered the Kindle version on the first day it was available, and I have preordered the hardcover so that I can get it autographed.
I have sometimes said of Jack McDevitt that he likes to write archaeological science fiction: stories where an artifact from the distant past reveals a mystery in the story’s “present” (which might be our distant future). The Alex Benedict books are about a famous treasure hunter in this mold. Many of the Priscilla Hutchins books involve an ancient force that systematically wipes out civilizations, leaving us little to study but ruins.
But while reading Thunderbird, I realized that I wasn’t giving McDevitt broad enough credit: he likes cultural science fiction, exploring the impact of discoveries on a culture. That was true from his very first novel, The Hercules Text, the story of how a message from a distant civilization affects our own.
McDevitt also delights in not answering all the questions. He has said that not answering makes a story more realistic. In real life, we have to live with unanswered questions. Some mysteries must wait for another day.
And both of those ideas were found in Ancient Shores, a book that starts with a North Dakota farmer making a strange discovery: a yacht buried in his fields, fields which were beneath a vast inland sea… ten-thousand years ago. The sailboat has mysterious properties: it isn’t quite the right size and its fittings aren’t quite the right shape for humans; and it is impervious to wear and tear, almost impossible to damage, and hence impossible for anyone to estimate its age. The yacht leads eventually to the discovery of the Roundhouse, a dock on the Sioux-owned cliffs that once overlooked the sea; and in the Roundhouse they find a working gateway to other stars.
That book is classic McDevitt. We see how these discoveries affect both individuals and the culture at large. Some want to explore. Some want to run and hide. Some see danger in how these alien technologies can disrupt the economy and render the world more dangerous. Some see their own fears and must decide to stand up to them or cower in shame. And the Mni Wakan Oyate tribe of the Sioux see the return of an ancient conflict as the U.S. government decides to “solve” the problem by destroying the Roundhouse. Only through the timely intercession of scientists and celebrities is the destruction halted. For now.
It’s a victory, and the book ends on a high note; but… In real life, we have to live with unanswered questions. Where did the Roundhouse come from? How does it work? Can the Sioux keep control, or will the government take over? And what is that strange sentient whirlwind that aids travelers in distress? Some mysteries must wait for another day.
Thunderbird is another day. (Literally. Ancient Shores took place in 1996 or so, the time that book was published. Thunderbird takes place today; but at the same time, Thunderbird takes place immediately after Ancient Shores. There was a brief bit in chapter 1 or 2 where McDevitt sneakily brought the prior book into the present. You would have to really look to notice, but I was watching for it. This book is in the present, with ubiquitous cell phones and Internet and cable news and modern politics.) And answers are forthcoming – as are surprises.
Many of the same characters are involved: U.S. President Matthew Taylor, Sioux Chairman James Walker, scientist April Cannon, and security guard Andrea Hawk. Others have been reduced to cameos, such as Matt Collingwood, the pilot who helped to find the Roundhouse. Tom Lasker, the farmer who found the yacht, is mentioned but never appears.
And there are plenty of new characters, chief among them being Brad Hollister, a radio host and reporter who gets slowly drawn into the missions. The Sioux unexpectedly find themselves with a space program, one more advanced than anyone else on Earth can imagine; and Brad is there to observe it. While other characters are caught up in the diplomacy and politics, Brad is there as a witness, the reader’s eyes and ears to the excitement. He understandably struggles with fear (Would you trust your life to 10,000-year-old technology?) and then shame over that fear. This struggle made it very easy to identify with him. We all want to believe we’ll be brave in the face of danger, but what happens when we’re really tested?
And there are aliens. Yes, in this book, the Sioux and their allies meet aliens: the ape-like Arkons, the not-quite-human Riverwalkers, and the aforementioned sentient windstorm. McDevitt explores each culture (though some deeper than others), and each adds to the mystery of the Roundhouse.
In the end, McDevitt answers many questions, but subtly. The reader, like the characters, has to decide what to believe from the evidence they find. I think that Brad learned who the gate builders were and part of why the gates were built; but there’s enough room to argue about it, and not everyone accepts their answers.
If Brad is right about the gate builders, then the Sioux people have a fascinating future ahead if they can use what they have learned; and yet the ending puts that future out of reach. For now. It’s a more definitive ending than the end of Ancient Shores, but did it answer all the questions? Maybe you missed the part where I said this is a Jack McDevitt book. We have to live with unanswered questions. Some mysteries must wait for another day – and (I hope) another sequel.
My verdict? I was intrigued in many places. I was surprised in all the right parts. I laughed out loud at several scenes. I was frustrated by some of the stupid decisions while still understanding why the characters made them. I enjoyed the characters (particularly Brad and April). The ending satisfied me while still leaving me wanting more. And the epilogue made me smile. I recommend this book to anyone who likes thoughtful science fiction.
Full disclosure: I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Before that, I preordered the Kindle version on the first day it was available, and I have preordered the hardcover so that I can get it autographed.
January 12, 2022
A decent follow-up to Ancient Shores, in which an inter-spatial portal was discovered buried on a reservation in North Dakota. That novel dealt with sociopolitical issues, mainly "How does the U.S. government take control of a potentially dangerous artifact without looking like it is stealing from native Americans again?" With that resolved, this sequel goes into exploration of where the portals lead, and also addresses concerns about how the new technology would affect our structures such as the economy, business, etc. It is not a thrilling novel like most of McDevitt's others and proceeds in a leisurely fashion but is interesting enough and has a satisfying conclusion.
March 10, 2017
I did not like where it ended. But it was a very good book nonetheless.
September 7, 2019
I happened to find this book in my local library, with the jacket blurbs calling the author a successor to Asimov and Clark. Far from it. A clear disappointment.
Even though the book is a sequel, with very precise connections to the earlier one, I decided to take my chances. With a premise as terrific as this, and reasonable plot development opportunities, I would’ve been happy with a halfway good story. It’s just not there. Everything is squandered on mundane dialogue, plotless diversions and undeveloped characters.
What place does a local radio talk show host have on scientific exploration expeditions? Favors are literally distributed and, in at least one case, sold. Ridiculous.
You get a car. You get a car. You get a car!!!
Seriously!!!
Made for some really spineless plotting, with pages and pages of small talk and half-hearted character development, even though there are some glimmers now and then of brilliant possibilities, especially with Solya and her folks. Alas, nothing - absolutely nothing - is allowed to happen, at all.
The final encounter on Desolation Planet is the biggest wasted opportunity. It’s as if the author simply couldn’t imagine what could happen. Time travel is mentioned, but only in the last dozen-odd pages, and also wasted.
Not all stories are worth telling. Just because someone thought of it, doesn’t make it good enough to be written and read. I’ll probably not revisit this author’s works.
Even though the book is a sequel, with very precise connections to the earlier one, I decided to take my chances. With a premise as terrific as this, and reasonable plot development opportunities, I would’ve been happy with a halfway good story. It’s just not there. Everything is squandered on mundane dialogue, plotless diversions and undeveloped characters.
What place does a local radio talk show host have on scientific exploration expeditions? Favors are literally distributed and, in at least one case, sold. Ridiculous.
You get a car. You get a car. You get a car!!!
Seriously!!!
Made for some really spineless plotting, with pages and pages of small talk and half-hearted character development, even though there are some glimmers now and then of brilliant possibilities, especially with Solya and her folks. Alas, nothing - absolutely nothing - is allowed to happen, at all.
The final encounter on Desolation Planet is the biggest wasted opportunity. It’s as if the author simply couldn’t imagine what could happen. Time travel is mentioned, but only in the last dozen-odd pages, and also wasted.
Not all stories are worth telling. Just because someone thought of it, doesn’t make it good enough to be written and read. I’ll probably not revisit this author’s works.
January 10, 2016
This sequel to Ancient Shores, one of my favorite Jack McDevitt novels, was even better than it's predecessor. The characters deal with with the ramifications of the Stargate (called the Roundhouse in the book) in uniquely personal ways. As a reader, I travelled with some of them to other worlds and felt their sense of wonder on Eden, beyond the edge of the galaxy and elsewhere as well. Over the years, I've found few science fiction authors that evoke a sense of wonder as effectively as McDevitt and he does so more than once here. His books often bear a blurb from Stephen King declaring him the logical heir to Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov but his ability to write relatable, people, particularly in Ancient Shores and Thunderbird, has always seemed reminiscent of Simak to me.
Speaking of legendary science fiction authors, there are nods to a few of them in Thunderbird.
The book is well-paced and the ending satisfying. I'm reluctant to say more about it than that because I don't want to spoil it. i will say that Thunderbird features enough ideas to have been a much longer book, or even a series of books, and in the hands of a lesser, more self-indulgent author it might have been twice as long. McDevitt wisely leaves some avenues unexplored and ultimately, that serves his book well. It's an exciting, moving read. I highly recommend it.
Speaking of legendary science fiction authors, there are nods to a few of them in Thunderbird.
The book is well-paced and the ending satisfying. I'm reluctant to say more about it than that because I don't want to spoil it. i will say that Thunderbird features enough ideas to have been a much longer book, or even a series of books, and in the hands of a lesser, more self-indulgent author it might have been twice as long. McDevitt wisely leaves some avenues unexplored and ultimately, that serves his book well. It's an exciting, moving read. I highly recommend it.
December 20, 2015
The premise of this book is the discovery of a working teleportal, and McDevitt uses this to explore the what-ifs of using this device. Also, and more importantly to the story, he describes a variety of what might be termed real world consequences in terms of how people act and react to such a discovery. In this, the depictions are quite realistic and many of the major characters are well drawn and engaging. Where the story falls down, in my view, is that in no world I can imagine would such a stupendous artifact be left to the casual management of the Chairman of the Indian tribe on whose land the artifact happened to be located.
January 3, 2018
I could not read this book fast enough! Totally engrossing and with the kind of wondrous ideas that Jack McDevitt is so good at putting on the page.
March 30, 2018
This one started off well enough, but veered towards inanity, especially at the end. Mr. McDevitt is a longtime favorite of mine, so, this was especially disappointing.
March 21, 2021
I bought this book from an independent bookstore - a news article mentioned it was about to close forever because of COVID restrictions, but had started an online subscription. So to help out this independent bookstore, I told them to send me historical fiction and sci fi. This was the book they sent me. It must have been sitting on the shelf for eons. I'm they were relieved to get rid of it, finally.
OMG what an awful book - the first book "Ancient Shores" wasn't so great either, but at least the story was somewhat coherent. The narrative in this book was endlessly repetitive - let's explore, no we have to destroy it, let's explore, no we have to destroy it - for almost 400 pages. The science makes no sense, and people's reactions to the portals make no sense - whole industries are collapsing because an alien technology (that nobody understands how it works) will wipe out the need for the steel industry? and airplanes? What?
Oh and the characters are 2-D.
And the ending was beyond stupid.
Other people who have reviewed this book say that Jack McDevitt is their all time favorite sci fi author. I wonder if I'm brave enough to try another one of his book.
Ugh.
OMG what an awful book - the first book "Ancient Shores" wasn't so great either, but at least the story was somewhat coherent. The narrative in this book was endlessly repetitive - let's explore, no we have to destroy it, let's explore, no we have to destroy it - for almost 400 pages. The science makes no sense, and people's reactions to the portals make no sense - whole industries are collapsing because an alien technology (that nobody understands how it works) will wipe out the need for the steel industry? and airplanes? What?
Oh and the characters are 2-D.
And the ending was beyond stupid.
Other people who have reviewed this book say that Jack McDevitt is their all time favorite sci fi author. I wonder if I'm brave enough to try another one of his book.
Ugh.
August 28, 2017
I'm torn about this book. It was an amazing study, from a writers perspective, about shifting pov's within a chapter and jeep continuity. It was handled really well, with a nice ease. As a story goes, though, it felt very Grisham-esque...and not in a totally fulfilling way. The story just ends after 300+ pages of build-up and no payoff. And the scene that was supposed to be the "a-ha" moment gets almost no tension to it. It just felt like the author ran into a deadline and had no easy way to end the story, so he just did.
Meh.
Meh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2019
This was a very interesting story about a Sioux tribe finding a Stargate. It leads to all kinds of quandries especially when no one knows how the technology works or who put it there. What would it do to the economy if we figured it out? How do we exploit it? What do we do if we encounter other civilizations? The book has a rather surprise ending. You'll have to read it to find out. But in one way it probably makes a lot of sense.
January 19, 2016
Thunderbird, by Jack McDevitt [Minor spoilers]
First Thoughts
Just finished this on Kindle and though I was not a fan of the original Ancient Shores, this modernized sequel written many years later, was an improvement, but the ending was disappointing.
Story & Plot:
Basically picks up from the first book which is unnecessary to read to read this sequel, but it would be a good idea to since the characters won’t make a lot of sense otherwise.
It was really hard to really connect to any of the characters since most of them made their appearances and left, except for April, the dreamer and Walker, the realist.
A gate was discovered to new worlds, on Sioux land. The US and the Native Americans struggle to see who owns it. The international community wants everyone to share. They have a good point but that part of the tale is never developed.
The worlds all look interesting but again never followed up on. Example: Eden is inhabited by people on an island who resemble gorillas. The translator who travels there is invited to the main continent where she would have gotten a better look at their technology. (It’s like we went to Borneo and were told to come to America.) Then the author stops!
There is a water world discovered. Do we explore it? No.
There is a space station discovered, which tantalizingly has the same Thunderbird symbol as the Indians had for generations. Makes you think. Do we explore that further? No.
There is a world that turns out to a lot different than anyone imagined – until we see Earth’s moon in the sky! Wow! Is this explored? No.
Finally, a civilization is discovered (we make sure we’re not seen, naturally) that is more advanced than us and probably built these stargates. Do we say hello? NO!
---------------
Final thoughts.
The ending, which I won’t reveal, is a cop-out and does not explore in detail any of the issues brought up in the book.
There is an issue I’d be interested in – that we as Americans are somehow paranoid and when we see something we don’t like, we line up the alien in our rifle sites, yet wonder if the aliens are friendly! We sure ain’t friendly. I hope we take April’s approach of diplomacy, curiosity and courage than Walker being inconvenienced and pressured to shut it down so he can get some sleep. Lame.
Recommended reading, but be prepared for a let-down.
First Thoughts
Just finished this on Kindle and though I was not a fan of the original Ancient Shores, this modernized sequel written many years later, was an improvement, but the ending was disappointing.
Story & Plot:
Basically picks up from the first book which is unnecessary to read to read this sequel, but it would be a good idea to since the characters won’t make a lot of sense otherwise.
It was really hard to really connect to any of the characters since most of them made their appearances and left, except for April, the dreamer and Walker, the realist.
A gate was discovered to new worlds, on Sioux land. The US and the Native Americans struggle to see who owns it. The international community wants everyone to share. They have a good point but that part of the tale is never developed.
The worlds all look interesting but again never followed up on. Example: Eden is inhabited by people on an island who resemble gorillas. The translator who travels there is invited to the main continent where she would have gotten a better look at their technology. (It’s like we went to Borneo and were told to come to America.) Then the author stops!
There is a water world discovered. Do we explore it? No.
There is a space station discovered, which tantalizingly has the same Thunderbird symbol as the Indians had for generations. Makes you think. Do we explore that further? No.
There is a world that turns out to a lot different than anyone imagined – until we see Earth’s moon in the sky! Wow! Is this explored? No.
Finally, a civilization is discovered (we make sure we’re not seen, naturally) that is more advanced than us and probably built these stargates. Do we say hello? NO!
---------------
Final thoughts.
The ending, which I won’t reveal, is a cop-out and does not explore in detail any of the issues brought up in the book.
There is an issue I’d be interested in – that we as Americans are somehow paranoid and when we see something we don’t like, we line up the alien in our rifle sites, yet wonder if the aliens are friendly! We sure ain’t friendly. I hope we take April’s approach of diplomacy, curiosity and courage than Walker being inconvenienced and pressured to shut it down so he can get some sleep. Lame.
Recommended reading, but be prepared for a let-down.
November 11, 2024
Thunderbird is the sequel to Ancient Shores which I thought had one of the worst endings of any book I've ever read. I thought Thunderbird was a better novel but still frustrating and suffered from the same issues as its predecessor, and I'm wavering between two and three stars on this one. I did like the reveal at the end and the shocking final scene but the majority of this novel was frustrating and full of too much meaningless goings on.
Thunderbird picks up right were Ancient Shores left off. The focus of the plot are the too few "away missions" taken by astronauts / scientists / random people through the portal discovered in the first book. Of course we have the continuation of the political drama with a paranoid President and the Native American tribal leaders of the land the portal is located on. For some reason the President wants the portal destroyed because the technology which no one understands would crash the global economy somehow. The tribal leaders want the best for their people and wonder how they'll manage the positive (monetary) and negative (influx of people from all over the globe) effects of having the portal on their land.
Too much of the novel is jibber-jabber between secondary and characters, and not enough time is spent exploring the several locations the portal can transport those who enter. The missions through the portal are fairly dull, with the exception of one where a linguistic expert is able to establish communications with aliens inhabiting one of the worlds. Eventually, the author reveals what the different locations represent. The ghostly spinning-cloud alien returns in this novel as well but we learn virtually nothing of them. There are a lot of questions left unanswered.
I had a hard time getting excited to read this book. It dragged often and wasn't hard to put down. I did like the reveals but there was too much blabbering between people I didn't care about and not enough science fiction. Still, it was interesting having the mysteries reveled somewhat and it least the story arc was resolved.
Thunderbird picks up right were Ancient Shores left off. The focus of the plot are the too few "away missions" taken by astronauts / scientists / random people through the portal discovered in the first book. Of course we have the continuation of the political drama with a paranoid President and the Native American tribal leaders of the land the portal is located on. For some reason the President wants the portal destroyed because the technology which no one understands would crash the global economy somehow. The tribal leaders want the best for their people and wonder how they'll manage the positive (monetary) and negative (influx of people from all over the globe) effects of having the portal on their land.
Too much of the novel is jibber-jabber between secondary and characters, and not enough time is spent exploring the several locations the portal can transport those who enter. The missions through the portal are fairly dull, with the exception of one where a linguistic expert is able to establish communications with aliens inhabiting one of the worlds. Eventually, the author reveals what the different locations represent. The ghostly spinning-cloud alien returns in this novel as well but we learn virtually nothing of them. There are a lot of questions left unanswered.
I had a hard time getting excited to read this book. It dragged often and wasn't hard to put down. I did like the reveals but there was too much blabbering between people I didn't care about and not enough science fiction. Still, it was interesting having the mysteries reveled somewhat and it least the story arc was resolved.
October 21, 2020
I was disappointed by Thunderbird, which squandors an intriguing scenario -- a stargate is found in North Dakota on Souix land, so the tribe controls this portal to alien worlds -- with bland characters and unlikely, unsatisfying decisions. McDevitt, despite his blurb from Harlan Ellison, has his cardboard characters meander through situations with little drive or vision, squandering many opportunities. He makes much of the potential profit the stargate could bring, but also how a sudden jump in technology could hurt the fragile economy.
The use of the stargate is maddening sloppy. The tribe allows tourists and small-town journalists to venture to other worlds with little preparation or protection; they just bumble through the gate. A security guard goes to two different worlds out of curiousity and boredom, nearly dies, and doesn't lose her job. Guests are barely vetted other than asking them, moments before stepping onto another world, if anyone happened to bring a gun. I liked the idea of the Souix controlling this amazing discovery, but the lack of vision about what it could mean and how to proceed is very discouraging.
Also, the author has a disturbing habit of describing women very generally but almost always commenting on their attractiveness, which provides little to appreciate in a character. "She was beautiful" is not a description. Nor is "She was in her sixties but still pretty." His men aren't judged that way but their just as dull and perfunctory. The characters' flatness matches the novel's lack of genuine conflict.
The use of the stargate is maddening sloppy. The tribe allows tourists and small-town journalists to venture to other worlds with little preparation or protection; they just bumble through the gate. A security guard goes to two different worlds out of curiousity and boredom, nearly dies, and doesn't lose her job. Guests are barely vetted other than asking them, moments before stepping onto another world, if anyone happened to bring a gun. I liked the idea of the Souix controlling this amazing discovery, but the lack of vision about what it could mean and how to proceed is very discouraging.
Also, the author has a disturbing habit of describing women very generally but almost always commenting on their attractiveness, which provides little to appreciate in a character. "She was beautiful" is not a description. Nor is "She was in her sixties but still pretty." His men aren't judged that way but their just as dull and perfunctory. The characters' flatness matches the novel's lack of genuine conflict.
March 14, 2016
This book is one that I both loved and hated.
I loved it because it's just the sort of SF book of ideas and exploration that I love, with a touch of politics, which I also love. The 'roundhouse' that was found in the first book (which I read many years ago and no longer remember anything about, I'm afraid) is a gateway to other worlds. It falls on Indian lands, which means that the government can't simply grab it. The worlds they travel to are interesting (although the reaction to the on that appears to be the far future -- and the person they run into there -- was a little clichéd)
I liked the characters, especially April (one of the main expedition people) and Brad (a reporter)
But I did want a bit more plot. Basically, this story can be summed up as 'Indians travel to other planets, deal with people who want to blow up the gate, deal with Indians who want to be colonizers on a planet already inhabited (oh the irony), find something that really scares people, and dismantle the gate'.
Basically, it reads like the middle book of a trilogy, and I wanted a little more resolution. But I do hope that another book is coming.
I loved it because it's just the sort of SF book of ideas and exploration that I love, with a touch of politics, which I also love. The 'roundhouse' that was found in the first book (which I read many years ago and no longer remember anything about, I'm afraid) is a gateway to other worlds. It falls on Indian lands, which means that the government can't simply grab it. The worlds they travel to are interesting (although the reaction to the on that appears to be the far future -- and the person they run into there -- was a little clichéd)
I liked the characters, especially April (one of the main expedition people) and Brad (a reporter)
But I did want a bit more plot. Basically, this story can be summed up as 'Indians travel to other planets, deal with people who want to blow up the gate, deal with Indians who want to be colonizers on a planet already inhabited (oh the irony), find something that really scares people, and dismantle the gate'.
Basically, it reads like the middle book of a trilogy, and I wanted a little more resolution. But I do hope that another book is coming.
August 9, 2016
It would help this guy out a lot if he would read an ethnography once in a while. Or even if he had talked with the "Sioux" he says he stayed with for a time. He really seems to believe that every culture on Earth has evolved to be monotheistic, monogamous, heterosexual (and of course, gendered--don't miss that little lecture in there about how it would be totally inefficient for evolution for there to be three genders), you get the picture. So therefore every other culture in the universe would evolve that way too. It doesn't seem to occur to him that some cultures on THIS planet, including some Native American tribes, would view mainstream American culture as alien...
Anyhow, there's a same-same to McDevitt's books, and I've said before I'm done, and for some reason I just read another one. Someone stop me next time. Major lack of speculation for a supposed specfic writer.
Anyhow, there's a same-same to McDevitt's books, and I've said before I'm done, and for some reason I just read another one. Someone stop me next time. Major lack of speculation for a supposed specfic writer.
October 27, 2016
"Thunderbird" is the sequel to "Ancient Shores" by Jack McDevitt. Although it was written nearly 20 years after "Ancient Shores" the story picks up just days after events in "Ancient Shores". In "Ancient Shores" an advanced transport device, that connects to other worlds, is discovered buried on the shore of a lake that dried up 10,000 years ago. It is on an Indian reservation. This is the story about how this advanced technology affects everyone involved, from the Indian tribe that tries to use it to benefit their people to how it affects the U.S. government, the economy and the entire world. As a group of people explore the portals to other worlds it becomes clear that mankind may not be ready for this type of knowledge. This is an intriguing story and I recommend it to fans of Jack McDevitt.
December 29, 2015
Thunderbird is a sequel to Ancient Shores, one of McDevitt's more obscure early books from a couple of decades ago. I thought he did a good job of blurring the time jump, because this one starts out right where the first one ended, although it features some different characters. It's thematically similar to The Hercules Text in that it examines the sociological issues raised by proof of other life, including advanced civilizations, in the universe. I thoroughly enjoyed the exploratory sequences and character studies in the first 95% of the novel, but was completely put off by the ending. It just felt so wrong that I was left angry and indignant; the first forty-five chapters were great but the last one was a zero.
December 29, 2018
THUNDER..................da nana na nana na na........................THUNDER. A portal that leads you too other lands/universes I mean come on who doesn’t love that? Ancient alien theorists have talked about this as not only a possibility but a real thing that has existed. So my real question is, why is this listed as a Sci-fi book? Get your shit together and stop trying to fool your readers!!! Shame on you!
December 6, 2015
The novel is classic McDevitt about the discovery of a star gate on Sioux land in North Dakota during a present day political climate. It features a surprise ending which I did not see coming. As usual I loved his newest work.
But this is the 2nd recent Sci-Fi that left me feeling angry and wishing for Scientist-Kings in control of all political systems.
8 of 10 stars
But this is the 2nd recent Sci-Fi that left me feeling angry and wishing for Scientist-Kings in control of all political systems.
8 of 10 stars
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