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Seeker
(Alex Benedict #3)
by
The Barnes & Noble Review
Alex Benedict and his executive assistant, Chase Kolpath -- ambitious antiquities dealers from Jack McDevitt's A Talent for War (1989) and, more recently, Polaris -- are back in Seeker, a story in which the two antiquarians search for a legendary lost colony that is both a science fiction thriller and a remarkably complex mystery.
More than ...more
Alex Benedict and his executive assistant, Chase Kolpath -- ambitious antiquities dealers from Jack McDevitt's A Talent for War (1989) and, more recently, Polaris -- are back in Seeker, a story in which the two antiquarians search for a legendary lost colony that is both a science fiction thriller and a remarkably complex mystery.
More than ...more
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Mass Market Paperback, 373 pages
Published
October 31st 2006
by Ace
(first published November 2005)
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Start your review of Seeker (Alex Benedict #3)
Good Grief. I just lost my review.
Here's a summary, alas.
'06 Nebula winner, equal parts Space Opera and Noir Mystery, but that really translates mostly into Future History Archeology, with a treasure-hunting bent, twists and turns, lots of interesting characters, and lost spacecraft and lost colonies.
Was I really happy about the last twist and the epilogue? Hell yes.
All this takes place about 10k in the future, but there's a legend of a lost colony gone 9k ago before the advent of FTL travel or ...more
Here's a summary, alas.
'06 Nebula winner, equal parts Space Opera and Noir Mystery, but that really translates mostly into Future History Archeology, with a treasure-hunting bent, twists and turns, lots of interesting characters, and lost spacecraft and lost colonies.
Was I really happy about the last twist and the epilogue? Hell yes.
All this takes place about 10k in the future, but there's a legend of a lost colony gone 9k ago before the advent of FTL travel or ...more
It’s somehow difficult to qualify just why I enjoy McDevitt so much. His stories invariably have a long build up. Yet, I always end up enjoying them a lot. Perhaps it’s the big reveal mechanism that he so effectively employs. Perhaps it’s the fact that the Alex Benedict books are so hard to pigeonhole (Is it far future thriller? Is it Hard SF? Is it Space Opera? Is it archaeological mystery in space? Is it all of the above?). Perhaps it’s simply the fact that they feel so comfortable, like a
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This was the Nebula Award winner for 2006, so I thought I'd be in for a treat. The premise sounded pretty good: 9,000 years in the future, two antiquities/salvage experts find a relic from a lost colony ship which leads to big adventure and lots of danger.
There are a lot of cool ideas about future technology. I especially liked the avatars of famous historical persons, assembled from all available data on the net. The alien-relations the humans have with the "Mutes" is fairly interesting — ...more
There are a lot of cool ideas about future technology. I especially liked the avatars of famous historical persons, assembled from all available data on the net. The alien-relations the humans have with the "Mutes" is fairly interesting — ...more
First of all, this is the most entertaining science fiction novel I've read in ten years, since I discovered the Hyperion Cantos. I have read quite a bit of scifi, and this is among the best of the best. I honestly do not understand why there are not more five star reviews.
Here's why I loved it. It takes place in ten thousand years but it ascertains that human beings will be largely the same. History gets lost the older you go back. Lessons from history are still the same. Mystery begets ...more
Here's why I loved it. It takes place in ten thousand years but it ascertains that human beings will be largely the same. History gets lost the older you go back. Lessons from history are still the same. Mystery begets ...more
Seeker is the most original, interesting, and thoughtful of the Alex Benedict novels. Like the others, so long as you don't take it too seriously, you can have some fun reading it. I give this one four stars (instead of three like the others) because it has some really cool, original ideas woven in.
I'm not a big McDevitt fan, but I like the Alex Benedict novels. They're reasonably well crafted. Just think of this book as a little "roughage" for your mind.
I'm not a big McDevitt fan, but I like the Alex Benedict novels. They're reasonably well crafted. Just think of this book as a little "roughage" for your mind.
I listened to the audio book, don't do that. The woman who reads this is terrible. There is no drama in her voice. She differentiates the different women characters by making them more or less breathy. That's just too much for me to stand.
I cannot believe this is a Nebula Award winner. At first the plot was fairly interesting, although there is a ton of info-dumping going on. But it kept going long past when it should and the ending was unfulfilling. Plus there is bad science.
I don't have the ...more
I cannot believe this is a Nebula Award winner. At first the plot was fairly interesting, although there is a ton of info-dumping going on. But it kept going long past when it should and the ending was unfulfilling. Plus there is bad science.
I don't have the ...more
I stumbled onto this book when going over a list of Nebula Award winners. I must say as a sci-fi story it plays differently then most of the other books in the genre. It's a mix of Indiana Jones with Marco Polo set in the distant future. It's a "lost civilization" story where the main characters are treasure hunters looking for rare items from the distant past. The story takes place 10,000 years into the future; humans have been traveling in space for so long that space faring civilizations have
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Great mix of sci-fi, mystery and adventure.
Thes book remind me of a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones thrown into a sci-fi setting. (A mystery story set in the future, with an antiquities dealer as the main protagonist.) In this universe the human race has been in space for about 20,000 years. In that time many ships, colonies and valuable items have gone missing. Alex Benedict, with the help of Chase Kolpath, specializes in finding missing and valuable items.
Seeker is the story of ...more
Thes book remind me of a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones thrown into a sci-fi setting. (A mystery story set in the future, with an antiquities dealer as the main protagonist.) In this universe the human race has been in space for about 20,000 years. In that time many ships, colonies and valuable items have gone missing. Alex Benedict, with the help of Chase Kolpath, specializes in finding missing and valuable items.
Seeker is the story of ...more
Feb 26, 2010
Tamahome
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
mystery/hard sf fans/fans of strong female characters
3.5 stars. Pretty good. Along the way I was wishing for more action, like in Engines of God, but the ending is really good. McDevitt has an above average amount of humanity in his books, and that kept me going.
I read this some years ago and enjoyed it...and did the same this time as well!
I've broken the unwritten golden rule; I didn't finish this book, and I'm writing a review anyway. All apologies.
I just don't get it. I've only read a few of McDevitt's books, and while I've loved some, I can't seem to get into the Alex Benedict series. I barely made it through the previous entry, Polaris. But Seeker seemed to be a fan-favorite, so I figured major improvements must've taken place between novels. Nope.
Here's the thing. I'm so far live the Academy (Priscilla Hutchins) series. ...more
I just don't get it. I've only read a few of McDevitt's books, and while I've loved some, I can't seem to get into the Alex Benedict series. I barely made it through the previous entry, Polaris. But Seeker seemed to be a fan-favorite, so I figured major improvements must've taken place between novels. Nope.
Here's the thing. I'm so far live the Academy (Priscilla Hutchins) series. ...more
This is book three of the Benedict series. All the Alex Benidict books are set about 10,000 years in the future. So when one of Benedict clients come to him with a cup that came from a colony ship lost 9,000 years ago Alex sits up and takes notice. How did the cup get back to the known worlds? Where was the 9,000 year old ship it came from? Did the ship make it to it's mysterious destination? Is there a colony there now? These are the question Alex and his partner have to answer.
How this book won a Nebula is beyond me. Recycled plot devices, predictable story and wooden characters that never seem real enough to empathize with. The critical thinking of the main actors is straight up laughable - I suppose your not left much of a choice though when your story has so many holes. First time I’ve been truly disappointed by a Nebula winner, hopefully this was just an outlier...
Another great McDevitt story. I would have rated it higher, except the narrator's voice started to get to me in the last 1/4 of the book.
It was ok but nothing in this book really needs to be scifi, it could be set in any time from the past to now. Just a detective story that happens to occur 10,000+ years in the future (although there is little that seems much different from now besides instantaneous FTL travel). Surprised to find out this was an award winner. Some of his other books are much better. 2 Brown Dwarf Stars
_Seeker_ is essentially a mystery novel set in the far, far future. How far into the future? In this setting, humanity has been out among the stars for an astounding 15,000 years. Empires rose and fell, new religions, languages, and civilizations came and went. Dark Ages and Renaissances and new Dark Ages (three different ones apparently) have happened, with humanity on different worlds alternately turning towards the stars and then away from them for decades, centuries, millennia. Author Jack
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2006 Nebula Award winning book. And it was OK. The story moves along reasonably well. But I was hoping for something like Asimov or Clarke and it just wasn't there. Too many details and not enough big ideas for me. Still, a fun read.
Seeker is actually the third book in Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict series, but I picked up "A Talent for War" (book 1) some time ago and couldn't build any interest before putting it down and my library didn't have "Polaris" (book 2), so when the urge took me to give McDevitt another shot, Seeker is where my attention landed. Anyway, the basic premise is that protagonist Alex Hunter and his assistant/narrator Chase are antiquarians (grave robbers if you prefer) in the far future (ca. 10,000 A.D.
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Did I tell you I finished the book "Seeker" by Jack McDevitt? Well... I did. It was a lot like "Polaris" and I liked both.
It's called "An Alex Benedict Novel" and certainly Alex is one of the main characters, but the entire novel is written in the first-person perspective NOT through Alex but through his lovely assistant, Chase Kolpath. As in Polaris, she does most of the work, though clearly she is only doing it because she is Alex's employee and he told her to do it, but she uses initiative ...more
It's called "An Alex Benedict Novel" and certainly Alex is one of the main characters, but the entire novel is written in the first-person perspective NOT through Alex but through his lovely assistant, Chase Kolpath. As in Polaris, she does most of the work, though clearly she is only doing it because she is Alex's employee and he told her to do it, but she uses initiative ...more
Disclaimer: This is a re-read. My father introduced me to the Alex Benedict novels years ago. I remember enjoying them (there were only a few available at the time) and have decided to revisit them as an adult, and check out the latest in the series.
A Talent for War was excellent, but the subsequent novels have never managed to capture the mystery, intrigue and adventure of the first book. It's so strange to me that it appears to have the lowest rating out of the entire series. My ratings have ...more
A Talent for War was excellent, but the subsequent novels have never managed to capture the mystery, intrigue and adventure of the first book. It's so strange to me that it appears to have the lowest rating out of the entire series. My ratings have ...more
Apr 24, 2008
Gloria
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
Sci-Fi readers who like normal characters
Recommended to Gloria by:
Genreflecting
Shelves:
sci-fi
Similar to the familiar idea of searching for Atlantis, this novel's characters are searching for the lost civilization of Margolia. I'd just made the association that the main character and his assistant had a similar style and relationship as does Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson when I happened to glance at the book flap where I read that this novel is "a classic-style investigative tale with Alex serving as an amateur-sleuth Holmes and Chase as Watson." I guess this is testimony that my
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I was introduced to Jack McDevitt when my spouse picked up [u:]A Talent for War[/u:] at the bookstore about eighteen months ago and didn't have time to read it before I ran out of new books and picked it up; I have devoured everything he's written voraciously since then. I prefer the Benedict books to the Hutchins books; Priscilla is kind of a whiner while Alex is a badass capitalist, and he twigs as kind of a warm and fuzzy David Xanatos-lite. Also, space mysteries. What's not to love?
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The premise of this book was interesting--the search for a 9,000 year old space ship and a lost civilization. Unfortunately I never totally connected to the characters. This is the third book in the Alex Benedict series and I haven't read the first two but the book was told in first person by Alex's assistant, Chase Colpath. Alex seemed almost a minor character, except when he comes in and takes all the credit for Chase's hard work.
I think my problem with the characters is that they are in fact ...more
I think my problem with the characters is that they are in fact ...more
Definitely an entertaining mystery, but this is a flawed work. For one thing, it's hard to believe that a civilization set so far into the future - a civilization with faster than light speed travel and contact with an alien civilization - would end up being so remarkably similar to our own. Since I've been reading Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312 (with its evolving culture set only 300 years from now) concurrently with this story, I found it a little hard to suspend disbelief. McDevitt's various
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An interstellar archaeological mystery, Seeker is the story of an antiquities dealer and more importantly, his assistant. A shady woman brings them an artifact she wants to sell, and as they track down the item's provenance, they stumble on to a larger mystery surrounding a lost spaceship and the people on board.
This is plot-driven science fiction in the Niven tradition - characters are given some development, but there is no question they're secondary to the plot. Fortunately the plot is ...more
This is plot-driven science fiction in the Niven tradition - characters are given some development, but there is no question they're secondary to the plot. Fortunately the plot is ...more
Rereading using the Audible audiobook which is very well narrated.
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As with Polaris (Alex Benedict #2) there is plenty of actual science fiction to go with the mystery that antiquities dealer Alex Benedict is determined to solve. Although it seems to me that these really should be called Chase Kolpath #2 since she is the narrator and seems to do most of the work.
As in the other McDevitt books I've read, the storyline is fairly straight-forward and pulled me through by dint of action and ...more
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As with Polaris (Alex Benedict #2) there is plenty of actual science fiction to go with the mystery that antiquities dealer Alex Benedict is determined to solve. Although it seems to me that these really should be called Chase Kolpath #2 since she is the narrator and seems to do most of the work.
As in the other McDevitt books I've read, the storyline is fairly straight-forward and pulled me through by dint of action and ...more
This was my first introduction to Jack McDevitt and I must say since then I've read about 10 of his novels. Probably my favorite line of his, the Alex Benedict novels in which Seeker is I believe #3, involve both science fiction (future societies) and good old fashion detective yarns. A man who can start a plot over a murder about a porcelain tea cup in a future with star drive and all that goes with it has something going for him. Not to mention he writes first person female.
You want a break ...more
You want a break ...more
I gave this five stars because I just like the Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath stories. I could critically tell you where the holes are in the writing style and characterization, but who cares.
The fact is I find them interesting for the plot, the concept of future archaeology, and for the clever use of interstellar scenarios in the solution of his stories. This one struck me better than usual as well. I enjoy reading the stories or listening to them and at the end I am left with a satisfied ...more
The fact is I find them interesting for the plot, the concept of future archaeology, and for the clever use of interstellar scenarios in the solution of his stories. This one struck me better than usual as well. I enjoy reading the stories or listening to them and at the end I am left with a satisfied ...more
Another excellent far-future interstellar archaeology novel in the Alex Benedict/Chase Kolpath series. I was particularly struck with the number of convincing characters that are introduced, and the large number of events that transpire; there's a big, sweeping epic contained in an average length novel. Another nice trait is that McDevitt doesn't explain everything that happens; he leaves it up to the reader to fill in some of the blanks, which is refreshing and occasionally challenging. This is
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You can always tell the difference between a good book and a terrible one.
When an author can spend 150+ pages explaining the arduous efforts of a character researching the history of a cup, and you find yourself absolutely enthralled, you're reading a good book.
I've read novels that peg themselves as grand, epic space operas, where I couldn't even care one iota about a single character or story point.
Those were not good books.
This one was. Who knew a cup could be so interesting?
When an author can spend 150+ pages explaining the arduous efforts of a character researching the history of a cup, and you find yourself absolutely enthralled, you're reading a good book.
I've read novels that peg themselves as grand, epic space operas, where I couldn't even care one iota about a single character or story point.
Those were not good books.
This one was. Who knew a cup could be so interesting?
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Sci-Fi: A space archaeologist in the far future goes on mission to find valuable artifacts from space explorations from long ago. She (I think it was a she) gets caught up in a mystery... [s] | 9 | 154 | Dec 10, 2019 09:37AM | |
| What's the Name o...: Sci-fi book that begins with an S [s] | 17 | 81 | Sep 24, 2014 06:29AM |
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Jack McDevitt is a former English teacher, naval officer, Philadelphia taxi driver, customs officer and motivational trainer. His work has been on the final ballot for the Nebula Awards for 12 of the past 13 years. His first novel, The Hercules Text, was published in the celebrated Ace Specials series and won the Philip K. Dick Special Award. In 1991, McDevitt won the first $10,000 UPC
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Alex Benedict
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“Human existence is girt round with mystery: the narrow region of our experience is a small island in the midst of a boundless sea. To add to the mystery, the domain of our earthly existence is not only an island in infinite space, but also in infinite time. The past and the future are alike shrouded from us: we neither know the origin of anything which is, nor its final destination.”
—
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“Drink deep the cup of life; take it's dark wine into your soul. For it passes round the table only once.”
—
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