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Codice Hercules
Da un angolo remoto della galassia viene inviato un messaggio. Gli impulsi di una stella pulsar sono diventati strani, irregolari… artificiali. Può essere solo un codice. Freneticamente, un gruppo di ricerca lotta contro il tempo per decifrare la comunicazione aliena. E quello che gli scienziati scoprono è destinato a scuotere dalle fondamenta gli imperi in tutto il mondo, da Wall Street al Vaticano. Un originale romanzo di fantascienza sul primo contatto alieno che ha lanciato la carriera di Jack McDevitt.
Copertina di Franco Brambilla
Copertina di Franco Brambilla
311 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1986
81 people are currently reading
964 people want to read
About the author
Jack McDevitt
186 books1,333 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 169 reviews
September 17, 2015
What a magnificent book, and a debut (twenty years ago!), to boot. The vast majority of today’s science fiction debut novels can’t hold a candle to this one.
The Hercules Text is a first-contact story, wherein humanity finally receives signals from another life form, but more importantly, the story is about all the scientific, social, political and religious implications that follow. The alien contact is realistic, however, so there is no two-way communication because the message itself took a million years to reach Earth - it’s all just a bunch of sit-and-get for the humans sitting on our end of the telescope (and other fancy equipments). The plot does follow a few mysteries through the course of the book, but mostly the story is not about the alien contact, but the reaction to the contact.
In lesser hands, such a story would be boring, and I can understand how some of today’s readers would be put off by the pace of this novel, but if you understand that McDevitt is taking a realistic, mature, and well-thought-out approach to how the characters react, then you start to find depth in the ideas, and sincere moments of self-reflection about how your notions of the world and of humanity’s place in the universe might change.
The reason I knew that this was a five-star novel was because The Hercules Text made me feel the way a good science fiction novel should make the reader feel: small against the vastness of the universe, and hopeful that humanity will capably find its way into the future.
On a side note: I get the impression that The Hercules Text is not the type of story that has become McDevitt’s bread and butter, but rather that he has spent most of his time writing military space operas. Is this an accurate assessment? While I’d love to read more McDevitt, but the military space opera niche is one that I have found to be less than awesome more times than not. How does the quality and thoughtfulness of his other writings compare to The Hercules Text? What of McDevitt's should I read next?
The Hercules Text is a first-contact story, wherein humanity finally receives signals from another life form, but more importantly, the story is about all the scientific, social, political and religious implications that follow. The alien contact is realistic, however, so there is no two-way communication because the message itself took a million years to reach Earth - it’s all just a bunch of sit-and-get for the humans sitting on our end of the telescope (and other fancy equipments). The plot does follow a few mysteries through the course of the book, but mostly the story is not about the alien contact, but the reaction to the contact.
In lesser hands, such a story would be boring, and I can understand how some of today’s readers would be put off by the pace of this novel, but if you understand that McDevitt is taking a realistic, mature, and well-thought-out approach to how the characters react, then you start to find depth in the ideas, and sincere moments of self-reflection about how your notions of the world and of humanity’s place in the universe might change.
The reason I knew that this was a five-star novel was because The Hercules Text made me feel the way a good science fiction novel should make the reader feel: small against the vastness of the universe, and hopeful that humanity will capably find its way into the future.
On a side note: I get the impression that The Hercules Text is not the type of story that has become McDevitt’s bread and butter, but rather that he has spent most of his time writing military space operas. Is this an accurate assessment? While I’d love to read more McDevitt, but the military space opera niche is one that I have found to be less than awesome more times than not. How does the quality and thoughtfulness of his other writings compare to The Hercules Text? What of McDevitt's should I read next?
July 7, 2018
“Slow down, Pete. What’s a lightbender?” Utter bobbins. Jack McDevitt’s first novel but still exactly the sort of cloth-eared writing that gives science fiction a bad name among the general public. A slog to read, no humour and pre-school level characterisation. If this novel had been beamed from the Altheans humanity would have given it one star and gone about its day. Yet it’s routinely called a classic and gets five star reviews. Colour me bemused.
For the purposes of reminding myself what this tract of text was about in years to come “The Hercules Text” had the misfortune to be published a year after Carl Sagan’s 1985 “Contact” which is a bit like a church deacon delivering a sermon just after Moses has declaimed from Mount Sinai. SETI (or, hello Mr Cameron, “Skynet” here) pick up a “hello” signal from the stars, point everything they’ve got at it and win the lottery, receiving an alien version of Wikipedia which, humans being humans, causes no end of squabbling. The whys and wherefores of this are not really worth discussing – in this novel the signal crosses intergalactic space without attrition and is picked up only by a narrow caucus of poorly managed scientists rather than, say, an entire hemisphere of listeners and the witholding of its details pisses a lot of people off – and the novel wants to depict the religious and political impact of such a Book of Revelations. It’s a rather nice idea, it’s just that McDevitt is clearly still learning how to bang a nail in prose-wise and depicting the sociological impact of imminent post-humanism would cause many an old hand to think twice. You want someone like Kim Stanley Robinson on something like this, not a genial hack.
Oddities abound. Harry Carmichael is a honkingly obvious enabler of info-dumps rather than a character. “Star Trek” plays a part in the plot. One boffin takes a transcription of the alien text home with him, idly starts building a machine from blueprints contained therein and unsurprisingly ends up blowing himself and half the surrounding countryside up. Loose talk of new energy sources immediately causes the stock market to crash and banks to fold…events that are never referred to again. The Hercules text contains details on how to cure blindness, create death rays and manipulate black holes which quickly gets silly, like Klaatu or the aliens of “V” offering to solve all of humanities ills at one stroke. There’s also no explanation why so much of the Hercules text is anthropomorphically-specific, right down to curing shortsightedness and little Tommy’s diabetes. As for the prose, sorry Jack but it’s sludge and we’re in Repetition City. Here’s what happens when I put the word “steak” into the search function of my ePub reader:
Page 44: a steak for Gambini, roast beef for Harry
Page 70: They ordered drinks and steaks
Page 145: While they grilled steaks and baked potatoes
Page 195: The steak was delicious
Page 236: …indulged in steaks
…and I list just the one steak reference for each juicy steak-related scene. I won’t start listing all the dead sentences or we’ll be here when the Altheans arrive.
So yeah, thumbs up for the idea, thumbs down for everything else really, I have no idea what book Stephen King read, probably just giving a tyro writer a helping hand. One last point: the version of “The Hercules Text” I read was the 2015 edition in which McDevitt had found necessary to defrost any Cold War references and otherwise bring up to date, which appears to have amounted to solitary mentions of 9/11, Obama’s second term, the internet and email. In the foreword he justifies these changes with “It seemed prudent to go back and reframe The Hercules Text in the light of these happier times.” What happier times Jack is referring to escapes me but I’m sure in light of his career as a best-selling author they involve steaks. Lots of steaks.
For the purposes of reminding myself what this tract of text was about in years to come “The Hercules Text” had the misfortune to be published a year after Carl Sagan’s 1985 “Contact” which is a bit like a church deacon delivering a sermon just after Moses has declaimed from Mount Sinai. SETI (or, hello Mr Cameron, “Skynet” here) pick up a “hello” signal from the stars, point everything they’ve got at it and win the lottery, receiving an alien version of Wikipedia which, humans being humans, causes no end of squabbling. The whys and wherefores of this are not really worth discussing – in this novel the signal crosses intergalactic space without attrition and is picked up only by a narrow caucus of poorly managed scientists rather than, say, an entire hemisphere of listeners and the witholding of its details pisses a lot of people off – and the novel wants to depict the religious and political impact of such a Book of Revelations. It’s a rather nice idea, it’s just that McDevitt is clearly still learning how to bang a nail in prose-wise and depicting the sociological impact of imminent post-humanism would cause many an old hand to think twice. You want someone like Kim Stanley Robinson on something like this, not a genial hack.
Oddities abound. Harry Carmichael is a honkingly obvious enabler of info-dumps rather than a character. “Star Trek” plays a part in the plot. One boffin takes a transcription of the alien text home with him, idly starts building a machine from blueprints contained therein and unsurprisingly ends up blowing himself and half the surrounding countryside up. Loose talk of new energy sources immediately causes the stock market to crash and banks to fold…events that are never referred to again. The Hercules text contains details on how to cure blindness, create death rays and manipulate black holes which quickly gets silly, like Klaatu or the aliens of “V” offering to solve all of humanities ills at one stroke. There’s also no explanation why so much of the Hercules text is anthropomorphically-specific, right down to curing shortsightedness and little Tommy’s diabetes. As for the prose, sorry Jack but it’s sludge and we’re in Repetition City. Here’s what happens when I put the word “steak” into the search function of my ePub reader:
Page 44: a steak for Gambini, roast beef for Harry
Page 70: They ordered drinks and steaks
Page 145: While they grilled steaks and baked potatoes
Page 195: The steak was delicious
Page 236: …indulged in steaks
…and I list just the one steak reference for each juicy steak-related scene. I won’t start listing all the dead sentences or we’ll be here when the Altheans arrive.
So yeah, thumbs up for the idea, thumbs down for everything else really, I have no idea what book Stephen King read, probably just giving a tyro writer a helping hand. One last point: the version of “The Hercules Text” I read was the 2015 edition in which McDevitt had found necessary to defrost any Cold War references and otherwise bring up to date, which appears to have amounted to solitary mentions of 9/11, Obama’s second term, the internet and email. In the foreword he justifies these changes with “It seemed prudent to go back and reframe The Hercules Text in the light of these happier times.” What happier times Jack is referring to escapes me but I’m sure in light of his career as a best-selling author they involve steaks. Lots of steaks.
September 21, 2018
A classic on the subject of communication with extraterrestrials, actually written before the much more famous CONTACT by Carl Sagan. I read it some years ago and went on to read other books by Jack McDevitt, one of the best of the science fiction writers today, in my opinion. Upon rereading it, I'm struck by how the Cold War background makes the book seem outdated. I think McDevitt later wrote an update of the book, taking out the Cold War aspects....?
August 8, 2019
VOTO PERSONALE:4,0
Nella narrativa fantascientifica, il tema del primo contatto con una civiltà extraterrestre intelligente ha giocato e sempre giocherà un ruolo fondamentale, in virtù delle numerose speculazioni a cui esso si presta, e credo che pochi altri temi interessino e stuzzichino la fantasia dei lettori più disparati, indipendentemente se si è o meno cultori di questo genere di letture.
Ci sono, tuttavia, e per fortuna, modalità differenti che possono essere adottate per raccontare una tale eventualità, e sicuramente Jack McDevitt, in questo suo romanzo di esordio, lo fa magistralmente, offrendoci una lettura matura e molto plausibile di ciò che potrebbe accadere se davvero l'umanità avesse l'occasione di imbattersi in una situazione del genere, anche grazie alla rivisitazione in chiave moderna che l'autore ha effettuato su quest'opera, la cui pubblicazione originale risale al 1986, periodo in cui la Guerra Fredda e lo spettro dell'olocausto nucleare che essa estendeva sul mondo intero giocavano un ruolo fondamentale nella psiche dei lettori di allora, cosa che al giorno d'oggi non avrebbe affatto retto, come spiega lo stesso McDevitt nella premessa al romanzo.
Il ritmo è lento e le implicazioni filosofiche, religiose, morali, nonché quelle di carattere sociale, economico e di politica mondiale che potrebbero scaturire da questo contatto alieno rappresentano il fulcro del romanzo, più o meno approfondite a seconda dei casi: ampio spazio viene concesso dall'autore all'eventuale sconvolgimento dei dogmi religiosi e alla plausibile posizione che le istituzioni religiose potrebbero adottare, nel tentativo di rassicurare e preservare la fede nei propri seguaci.
I personaggi principali sono in linea generale ben caratterizzati: alcuni sono abbastanza stereotipati, mentre altri risultano decisamente più interessanti dal punto di vista psicologico, ed inevitabilmente sono quelli ai quali il lettore si affeziona di più; ciascuno di essi, tuttavia, risulta funzionale alla narrazione stessa.
Nel complesso, un buon romanzo, non un capolavoro, ma molto più dignitoso di certo pattume che ho avuto la sfortuna di leggere anche recentemente: senza dubbio uno degli Urania più interessanti distribuiti recentemente.
Assolutamente consigliato, soprattutto agli amanti del genere.
Nella narrativa fantascientifica, il tema del primo contatto con una civiltà extraterrestre intelligente ha giocato e sempre giocherà un ruolo fondamentale, in virtù delle numerose speculazioni a cui esso si presta, e credo che pochi altri temi interessino e stuzzichino la fantasia dei lettori più disparati, indipendentemente se si è o meno cultori di questo genere di letture.
Ci sono, tuttavia, e per fortuna, modalità differenti che possono essere adottate per raccontare una tale eventualità, e sicuramente Jack McDevitt, in questo suo romanzo di esordio, lo fa magistralmente, offrendoci una lettura matura e molto plausibile di ciò che potrebbe accadere se davvero l'umanità avesse l'occasione di imbattersi in una situazione del genere, anche grazie alla rivisitazione in chiave moderna che l'autore ha effettuato su quest'opera, la cui pubblicazione originale risale al 1986, periodo in cui la Guerra Fredda e lo spettro dell'olocausto nucleare che essa estendeva sul mondo intero giocavano un ruolo fondamentale nella psiche dei lettori di allora, cosa che al giorno d'oggi non avrebbe affatto retto, come spiega lo stesso McDevitt nella premessa al romanzo.
Il ritmo è lento e le implicazioni filosofiche, religiose, morali, nonché quelle di carattere sociale, economico e di politica mondiale che potrebbero scaturire da questo contatto alieno rappresentano il fulcro del romanzo, più o meno approfondite a seconda dei casi: ampio spazio viene concesso dall'autore all'eventuale sconvolgimento dei dogmi religiosi e alla plausibile posizione che le istituzioni religiose potrebbero adottare, nel tentativo di rassicurare e preservare la fede nei propri seguaci.
I personaggi principali sono in linea generale ben caratterizzati: alcuni sono abbastanza stereotipati, mentre altri risultano decisamente più interessanti dal punto di vista psicologico, ed inevitabilmente sono quelli ai quali il lettore si affeziona di più; ciascuno di essi, tuttavia, risulta funzionale alla narrazione stessa.
Nel complesso, un buon romanzo, non un capolavoro, ma molto più dignitoso di certo pattume che ho avuto la sfortuna di leggere anche recentemente: senza dubbio uno degli Urania più interessanti distribuiti recentemente.
Assolutamente consigliato, soprattutto agli amanti del genere.
May 22, 2018
This one started a little slower than McDevitt's books usually do, but with a great payoff once it got moving. It deals with the implications of receiving an alien communication with tremendous new technologies: anti-gravity, free energy, the ability to live forever. Sounds great, right? But can humanity handle such an upheaval without tearing itself apart? Will we actually better off? McDevitt does a great job of handling these questions and getting the reader thinking about what might actually happen if such a message were to be made public.
One note: This is an updated version of McDevitt's first published novel. Unfortunately, although the political references have been updated, the computer technology has not, so it creates a bizarre juxtaposition of 21st century society and late 20th century computing. This wasn't a big obstacle to enjoying the story, but it makes me think I might just have soon have read the original.
One note: This is an updated version of McDevitt's first published novel. Unfortunately, although the political references have been updated, the computer technology has not, so it creates a bizarre juxtaposition of 21st century society and late 20th century computing. This wasn't a big obstacle to enjoying the story, but it makes me think I might just have soon have read the original.
June 1, 2019
Der einseitige Erstkontakt findet "nur" in Form einer Nachricht statt, die auf der Erde empfangen wird. Im Buch geht es daher auch "nur" darum, welche Auswirkungen alleine schon dieser passive Kontakt auf unserem Planeten auslöst. Spannend zu lesen, wenn auch etwas angejährt.
July 14, 2015
More like 2.5. Without doubt the weakest book of McDevitt that I've read. It's not so much a SciFi novel as a rather tiresome debate about how the White house would handle an alien message. The book works ok for the 200 pages or so but after that the story becomes more and more fragmented. Sagans (I'm not surprised) "Contact" is far better in every apsect. Also the main chrachters status or place in the story is - even in the end - quite unclear to me. Thankfully McDevitt has come a long way as an authour since he wrote this story back in 86. Can't really recommend it.
December 5, 2017
I was in the mood for a first contact novel, but I already read most of the classics on the topic (Childhood's end, Rendezvous with Rama, etc). So I decided to look for something less known. Normally when I do this, it ends bad. Well, not this time.
“The Hercules text” takes place in a very very near future, where a SETI-like project finally hits jackpot, receiving a non-natural signal that comes from another galaxy.
We are not alone: the novel focuses on the consequences that this newfound knowledge has on our society, from multiple point of views. Politics, religion, psichology, the personal belief of every individual, nothing is left out. And that happens even before a SECOND message is received, a very complex one, containing who knows what kind of knowledge. And who knows how that knowledge will change us…
This is speculative fiction at its best (emphasis on “speculative”). What would happen if. The kind of SF i prefer, because that’s what SF purpose should be: question the path we, as a species, are walking, trying to guess where it will take us.
The Hercules text does this very well, stating in more than one occasion than the contents of the second message, whatever scientific treasure it may contain, is not as important as the first one. Because the knowledge that we may not be alone has the potential to disrupt our way to see the world and ourselves in a much deeper way.
If I really have to split hair, there’s something I really didn’t like in this novel. That’s the way they translate the second message. I believe should something like that really happen, it would take decades (to say the least) to make any meaning of the signal. Here they do it in a matter of weeks. And the first breakthrough is achieved in a very very silly and unrealistic way. Put everything in a computer, press a button and we're done. And I say this as an IT guy. But hey, I understand the necessities to conclude the story with the same set of characters, so that’s ok.
So, read this. Without hesitation.
“The Hercules text” takes place in a very very near future, where a SETI-like project finally hits jackpot, receiving a non-natural signal that comes from another galaxy.
We are not alone: the novel focuses on the consequences that this newfound knowledge has on our society, from multiple point of views. Politics, religion, psichology, the personal belief of every individual, nothing is left out. And that happens even before a SECOND message is received, a very complex one, containing who knows what kind of knowledge. And who knows how that knowledge will change us…
This is speculative fiction at its best (emphasis on “speculative”). What would happen if. The kind of SF i prefer, because that’s what SF purpose should be: question the path we, as a species, are walking, trying to guess where it will take us.
The Hercules text does this very well, stating in more than one occasion than the contents of the second message, whatever scientific treasure it may contain, is not as important as the first one. Because the knowledge that we may not be alone has the potential to disrupt our way to see the world and ourselves in a much deeper way.
If I really have to split hair, there’s something I really didn’t like in this novel. That’s the way they translate the second message. I believe should something like that really happen, it would take decades (to say the least) to make any meaning of the signal. Here they do it in a matter of weeks. And the first breakthrough is achieved in a very very silly and unrealistic way. Put everything in a computer, press a button and we're done. And I say this as an IT guy. But hey, I understand the necessities to conclude the story with the same set of characters, so that’s ok.
So, read this. Without hesitation.
January 17, 2019
This was pretty good. A serious effort to look at what a SETI-type contact might do to the denizens of earth. Apparently it is a 2015 update of a 1986 book. Never read anything by this guy but he seems well-regarded. The book had some quite interesting debates on the impact such a contact might have on religion, politics, international relations and even on the future of life on this planet. The characters are a little wooden and not the strong suit of the effort. The interesting ethical and practical debates about the impact of curing all disease through DNA modifications on the future of the planet were really the most timely. Such a reality may actually be around the corner with modern medicine (and not from a recipe from outer space) and with a world population of 7 billion now it hardly needs to be stated that the pressures on the future survival of the planet minus death would be profound.
February 26, 2018
Wow....too underdeveloped. It feels like it has been written as a high school literature assignment where objective is to learn how to introduce a character. Writer introduces one character on each page and after a while you don't even care to read their names. The only subject matter the writer is concerned about is how these characters brood
None of the character is developed neatly or deeply. As for the story goes, even after considering that subject matter of alien transmission is not very easy to handle and can become some-what abstract, writer doesn't even seem to make an effort to work on that aspect. There are various major plot holes. It doesn't work like that! If compared with the novels like contact and Solaris which deals in the same subject matter, this seems like a damp squib. Even for the humanitarian aspect of the novel, you don't feel connected to any of the characters and their is nothing insightful about this writers writing about these characters for us to connect to.
None of the character is developed neatly or deeply. As for the story goes, even after considering that subject matter of alien transmission is not very easy to handle and can become some-what abstract, writer doesn't even seem to make an effort to work on that aspect. There are various major plot holes. It doesn't work like that! If compared with the novels like contact and Solaris which deals in the same subject matter, this seems like a damp squib. Even for the humanitarian aspect of the novel, you don't feel connected to any of the characters and their is nothing insightful about this writers writing about these characters for us to connect to.
October 31, 2016
This book was an early work by Jack McDevitt and is credited with much of his success as a new author. I had never read the original version which was released in 1986 and this one was re-released in 2015 and updated to reflect modern technology and the political climate of the 21st century. This is a cautionary tale of first contact with an advanced alien species through a radio signal from many thousands of light years away. They send us advanced technology and the U.S. unwisely doesn't share it with the rest of the world, at least at first. After sharing some of the information they then decide to destroy the information rather than share the rest and this story tells the tale of the conflict of the scientists who are interpreting the signals about whether to go along with the government or to release to information to the public and the world as a whole. It is a thought provoking tale and one can see why Jack McDevitt became a successful author with such a great beginning.
May 19, 2020
The book starts with a great idea, a message from out of the galaxy. But who’s sending it, and why? It’s an intriguing premise, one that’s been several times before. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of the better tries.
The problem is, the team of scientists brought together to figure that out in this novel aren’t all that interesting. Most are totally forgetful, and even those who are slightly less wooden aren’t what you would call captivating. They made such a small impression that I had to keep going back to try to keep them straight, especially since some of the names the author came up with are a bit odd.
This is the author’s first book, and it shows. It took far longer to read than a book of this length should have because it’s so dry. The author got a lot better, but this novel is totally forgetful.
The problem is, the team of scientists brought together to figure that out in this novel aren’t all that interesting. Most are totally forgetful, and even those who are slightly less wooden aren’t what you would call captivating. They made such a small impression that I had to keep going back to try to keep them straight, especially since some of the names the author came up with are a bit odd.
This is the author’s first book, and it shows. It took far longer to read than a book of this length should have because it’s so dry. The author got a lot better, but this novel is totally forgetful.
July 21, 2013
Jack McDevitt's first book, written back in the 80s, is a very engaging story of apparent first contact. The cast of characters offers an interesting mix of scientists, bureaucrats, and politicians, with a few military and security folks thrown in. They are so human, with personality quirks and attributes both likable and not. While some of the plot twists and turns are predictable, many are surprising. And the science is accessible to the average reader.
October 27, 2017
I really wanted to like this book given the premise that our world makes first contact with an alien world. Problem is that the story line has too many bland characters that the reader loses track of them or cares about them. Was expecting a bigger finale at the end but was disappointed. I recommend reading 'Contact' by Carl Sagan, the movie was great as well.
September 15, 2018
First contact, without any aliens. A meandering story of the societal impact of a message from the stars, with a wooden cast of (mostly male) characters, and with little suspense or resolution. Carl Sagan’s “Contact” did it a thousand times better.
February 6, 2019
There's something refreshing abotu McDevitt's debut novel, at least compared to his most recent works. He's gotten to be a bit meandering, as if he's filling pages (or his editor is no longer able to make him take out unnecessary material). This is by no means his best work, but it is a compelling and well written story of what we should/would do if we received a message from an alien race with technology far above our own.
I did have a few questions. The entire plot rests on the message being classified and kept from the public. Would a message received from NASA actually be something that could be classified? I guess in extraordinary circumstances, but I had the impression (more from other media I'll admit than any knowledge of government) that anything their telescopes etc. pick up automatically gets given out to the public.
But assuming that this could be classified, there are other issues with secrecy. Once they announced the initial message from Hercules, would not other observatories, in other countries, have started listening in? I know in Contact (the movie at least, I don't remember the book, which was contemporary and somewhat similar to Hercules Text) the astronomers have colleagues in other countries start listening in right away so they don't miss the signal. In this case it seems that America has built a network so that isn't necessary, and maybe the signal would be hard to pick up with inferior equipment, but it still raises questions. Even more, I have to ask why the aliens would only send their message once. What if there is interference en route? What if the equipment wasn't good enough or aimed right or...? It seems like they would of course have the message repeat, and if they did that, then of course other countries would have a chance to catch up and get a copy of the message, and the whole attempt to keep it secret would be moot.
I did have a few questions. The entire plot rests on the message being classified and kept from the public. Would a message received from NASA actually be something that could be classified? I guess in extraordinary circumstances, but I had the impression (more from other media I'll admit than any knowledge of government) that anything their telescopes etc. pick up automatically gets given out to the public.
But assuming that this could be classified, there are other issues with secrecy. Once they announced the initial message from Hercules, would not other observatories, in other countries, have started listening in? I know in Contact (the movie at least, I don't remember the book, which was contemporary and somewhat similar to Hercules Text) the astronomers have colleagues in other countries start listening in right away so they don't miss the signal. In this case it seems that America has built a network so that isn't necessary, and maybe the signal would be hard to pick up with inferior equipment, but it still raises questions. Even more, I have to ask why the aliens would only send their message once. What if there is interference en route? What if the equipment wasn't good enough or aimed right or...? It seems like they would of course have the message repeat, and if they did that, then of course other countries would have a chance to catch up and get a copy of the message, and the whole attempt to keep it secret would be moot.
February 28, 2018
That's by far the most realistic fictional book I have read so far, despite it dealing with extraterrestrials contacting our world. What makes this so realistic is the fleshed-out characters, each with an own mindset and his or her own convictions, and detailing of the impact such a signal would have on our society. Despite this book not being a thrilling roller coaster ride I sympathised greatly with the characters and wanted to see where the story takes them. The only point of critique really would be the ending which feels kinda forced and sudden. Other than that, if you want to know what happens if we discover we're not alone in the universe this is the book for you.
December 5, 2020
The answer to Man's fundamental question "Are we alone in the universe?" is answered in spectacular fashion when a mathematical signal is received from beyond the galaxy. The political and religious ramifications are awesome.
McDevitt's novel asks some deeply significant questions about our place in God's plan and postulates on how knowledge can be used and abused in society today.
McDevitt's novel asks some deeply significant questions about our place in God's plan and postulates on how knowledge can be used and abused in society today.
June 6, 2018
Interesting that this came out around the same time as Contact. While they share a similar premise (first contact via radio transmission), there is significant difference between the plots and the world's reaction for this to be written off as a copy of Sagan's novel.
September 13, 2023
Fascinating exploration of what would happen in our modern society if we discovered proof of aliens on the other side of the cosmos. No spaceships or ray guns, just a reasonable projection of the impact on science, politics, religion, and more. Highly recommended!!
April 28, 2019
Captan una transmisión alienígena. La descifran. Contiene todos los secretos del universo. No estamos preparados. Caos.
December 19, 2017
The Hercules Text is Jack McDevitt's first novel, yet it reads like a mature novelist at the height of his career. This novel of man's first message from the stars, proving finally that man is not alone and its terrible consequences, had me at times angry, because it read so true to form. For an author to make you, the reader, get angry at the turn that the characters take (when it is true to form, not because the author lost control of his characters) says a lot about the quality of the writing. I heartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in science and especially man's place in the cosmos.
March 11, 2017
This was one of the first few times that I read a first contact story (as opposed to watched) since Clarke - and honestly, it wasn't as good as I was expecting. The characters were nice, but the setting seemed very quaint for a near future setting - I suppose that's because of the anachronisms introduced by the fact that this was a War on Terror update of a Cold War setting book.
The bulk of the novel is interesting enough that I sped-read it (on weekdays), which I haven't done in ages, but the end really throws attempts at scientific accuracy out of the window, and is quite a mess.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're specifically a fan of this genre.
The bulk of the novel is interesting enough that I sped-read it (on weekdays), which I haven't done in ages, but the end really throws attempts at scientific accuracy out of the window, and is quite a mess.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're specifically a fan of this genre.
November 12, 2013
“From a remote corner of the galaxy a message is being sent. The continuous beats of a pulsar have become odd, irregular… artificial. It can only be a code.
Frantically, a research team struggles to decipher the alien communication. And what the scientists discover is destined to shake the foundations of empires around the world – from Wall Street to the Vatican.”
Blurb from the 1986 Ace Science Fiction Special paperback edition.
McDevitt’s Debut novel is almost a text-book examination of the effects of a superior culture on a more primitive one. In this case, Humanity is the primitive culture, in receipt of a radio message, sent one and a half million years ago from a binary star system outside the galaxy; so far in fact that our scientists can only conclude that the G2 sun and its pulsar companion were artificially created.
Harry Carmichael is a senior administrator at an American Space Centre where the message was discovered and is being decoded.
Rimford, America’s answer to Professor Stephen Hawking, along with a number of other experts, is asked to join the project. Also involved are a priest and working scientist (the Rev. Steele) an attractive linguistic psychologist (Leslie Davis) and an extraterrestrial-obsessive astronomer (Ed Gambini)
The alien transmission turns out to contain a vast amount of information which the team slowly decipher.
Despite the fact that McDevitt unravels the effects of the alien transmission in a sequence of events which seem portentous and inevitable, there are some aspects of the narrative which are weak due to their unlikelihood.
I think most people – having thought it through – would not think it a good idea to announce to the world that we can now tap the energy of the Earth’s magnetic field, rendering fossil fuel and other energy sources redundant. For the President of the US to do it is quite unbelievable, but this is what he does. As one might expect this triggers a stock market crash and economic chaos.
The consequences then extend to the USSR who threaten to initiate nuclear war unless the data is shared, and into religion, where various fundamentalist sects lay siege to the Space Centre, some claiming that the aliens are the creatures of Satan while others claim them to be God’s Children.
Slowly, most of those involved come to the conclusion that we are not ready for the knowledge of the aliens and the scientists destroy the data.
The focus of the novel is on the effect on US society which detracts somewhat from its power since the only other interested party appears to be the Soviet Union.
The narrative is interspersed with American headlines cleverly showing the ripple effect of the initial discovery of the broadcast and the later alien revelations.
As in the movie ‘Species’ and the story ‘A for Andromeda’ comparisons have to be made symbolically with the original story of Pandora who was sent in the form of a gift from Zeus (from the sky) only to become a curse to mankind.
Ironically, the female characters are few. There are no female scientists, apart from Leslie Davis, the linguistic psychologist who helps to translate the alien text and give insight into the psyche of the aliens themselves. She is under-used and employed mainly as a human interest element in the life of Harry Carmichael who is himself in the throes of a divorce and concerned for the future of his diabetic son for whom the data of the aliens could provide a cure.
It is a competent first novel and heartening to see that McDevitt in later novels puts female characters to the fore, even if his Americocentricity continues unabated.
Frantically, a research team struggles to decipher the alien communication. And what the scientists discover is destined to shake the foundations of empires around the world – from Wall Street to the Vatican.”
Blurb from the 1986 Ace Science Fiction Special paperback edition.
McDevitt’s Debut novel is almost a text-book examination of the effects of a superior culture on a more primitive one. In this case, Humanity is the primitive culture, in receipt of a radio message, sent one and a half million years ago from a binary star system outside the galaxy; so far in fact that our scientists can only conclude that the G2 sun and its pulsar companion were artificially created.
Harry Carmichael is a senior administrator at an American Space Centre where the message was discovered and is being decoded.
Rimford, America’s answer to Professor Stephen Hawking, along with a number of other experts, is asked to join the project. Also involved are a priest and working scientist (the Rev. Steele) an attractive linguistic psychologist (Leslie Davis) and an extraterrestrial-obsessive astronomer (Ed Gambini)
The alien transmission turns out to contain a vast amount of information which the team slowly decipher.
Despite the fact that McDevitt unravels the effects of the alien transmission in a sequence of events which seem portentous and inevitable, there are some aspects of the narrative which are weak due to their unlikelihood.
I think most people – having thought it through – would not think it a good idea to announce to the world that we can now tap the energy of the Earth’s magnetic field, rendering fossil fuel and other energy sources redundant. For the President of the US to do it is quite unbelievable, but this is what he does. As one might expect this triggers a stock market crash and economic chaos.
The consequences then extend to the USSR who threaten to initiate nuclear war unless the data is shared, and into religion, where various fundamentalist sects lay siege to the Space Centre, some claiming that the aliens are the creatures of Satan while others claim them to be God’s Children.
Slowly, most of those involved come to the conclusion that we are not ready for the knowledge of the aliens and the scientists destroy the data.
The focus of the novel is on the effect on US society which detracts somewhat from its power since the only other interested party appears to be the Soviet Union.
The narrative is interspersed with American headlines cleverly showing the ripple effect of the initial discovery of the broadcast and the later alien revelations.
As in the movie ‘Species’ and the story ‘A for Andromeda’ comparisons have to be made symbolically with the original story of Pandora who was sent in the form of a gift from Zeus (from the sky) only to become a curse to mankind.
Ironically, the female characters are few. There are no female scientists, apart from Leslie Davis, the linguistic psychologist who helps to translate the alien text and give insight into the psyche of the aliens themselves. She is under-used and employed mainly as a human interest element in the life of Harry Carmichael who is himself in the throes of a divorce and concerned for the future of his diabetic son for whom the data of the aliens could provide a cure.
It is a competent first novel and heartening to see that McDevitt in later novels puts female characters to the fore, even if his Americocentricity continues unabated.
September 3, 2015
Good but strangely unfinished
One million years ago somebody build themselves a pulsar and used to broadcast an encyclopedia to the universe. As it happens, the transmission reached Earth just as the United States had built a massive astronomic observatory on the Moon; while all the other nations had demolished all radiotelescopes and shot their astronomers, the United States had wisely kept one or two alive. (The author does not explain how this troubling state of affairs came to pass, nor does he even mention it; yet we infer it because it is essential to the plot.) As a consequence, the broadcast is received only by carefully vetted team working for the NASA.
The writing is good. Some characters are not unbelievable, and some tension does build up waiting to see whether a straying wife will be reconciled with her bureaucratically heroic husband or not. But, but, but what's with the abrupt ending? I understand the drive to begin a novel in medias res, in the middle of the action, but to end it just when a climax was coming into sight? Naughty.
Yes, we have algorithms doing what no algorithm can ever do, yes, we have the unexplained total lack of astronomers in Russia, China and elsewhere, and yes, we have ample psychological silliness; yet everything is forgiven because of one resplendent idea: the main character is a bumbling bureaucrat, who is well aware of his limitations and struggles to keep the scientific team working as efficiently as possible. For this one idea The Hercules Text will never be forgotten.
(Scale: * - unreadable, couldn't finish; ** - bad or very bad, but readable; *** - good work, well worth its price; **** - very good in its genre; ***** - timeless masterpiece.)
One million years ago somebody build themselves a pulsar and used to broadcast an encyclopedia to the universe. As it happens, the transmission reached Earth just as the United States had built a massive astronomic observatory on the Moon; while all the other nations had demolished all radiotelescopes and shot their astronomers, the United States had wisely kept one or two alive. (The author does not explain how this troubling state of affairs came to pass, nor does he even mention it; yet we infer it because it is essential to the plot.) As a consequence, the broadcast is received only by carefully vetted team working for the NASA.
The writing is good. Some characters are not unbelievable, and some tension does build up waiting to see whether a straying wife will be reconciled with her bureaucratically heroic husband or not. But, but, but what's with the abrupt ending? I understand the drive to begin a novel in medias res, in the middle of the action, but to end it just when a climax was coming into sight? Naughty.
Yes, we have algorithms doing what no algorithm can ever do, yes, we have the unexplained total lack of astronomers in Russia, China and elsewhere, and yes, we have ample psychological silliness; yet everything is forgiven because of one resplendent idea: the main character is a bumbling bureaucrat, who is well aware of his limitations and struggles to keep the scientific team working as efficiently as possible. For this one idea The Hercules Text will never be forgotten.
(Scale: * - unreadable, couldn't finish; ** - bad or very bad, but readable; *** - good work, well worth its price; **** - very good in its genre; ***** - timeless masterpiece.)
December 6, 2018
second read - 6 July 2015 - *** I recently rescued this book from my wife's donation pile, as I have since become a Jack McDevitt fan, and this was his first novel. I think I have read every novel of his at least once now.
It is a fairly low action book, which explores first how awareness of a pulsar-signal-generating alien civilization changes us, and then how the technological advances learned from that signal further disrupt and change us. In the time since it was written, and when I first read it, there have been two significant changes that impact this novel. The first is the end of the Cold War, and of the USSR itself. A lot of the political machinations and brinksmanship are not currently relevant, so that disrupts the plot tension. The other change is that our updated theories of cosmology no longer involve the possibility of a Big Crunch. This has less impact on the plot, but does stick out during some of the didactic explanations. But the novel still recalls for me how Jack McDevitt's early works established him as an introspective and scientifically oriented SF writer. In comparison, his more recent works are more space opera, and character-driven.
The strength here is that McDevitt has pulled together a group of characters which expose diverse social perspectives on the impact of the discovery of alien intelligence - politicians, scientists, military leaders, church leaders, as well as the main character who is essentially an Human Resources bureaucrat. Meanwhile, the main character is undergoing a separation and divorce from his wife, which may be a realistic consequence of his workaholic lifestyle, but somehow rings shallow in his merely bewildered response to that. McDevitt has gotten better at character development since then, but this is primarily a novel of ideas, so it's not a big objection for me. It's still an interesting read, but less so than when it was new.
first read - 2 April 1988 - **** I read this at the recommendation of my wife.
It is a fairly low action book, which explores first how awareness of a pulsar-signal-generating alien civilization changes us, and then how the technological advances learned from that signal further disrupt and change us. In the time since it was written, and when I first read it, there have been two significant changes that impact this novel. The first is the end of the Cold War, and of the USSR itself. A lot of the political machinations and brinksmanship are not currently relevant, so that disrupts the plot tension. The other change is that our updated theories of cosmology no longer involve the possibility of a Big Crunch. This has less impact on the plot, but does stick out during some of the didactic explanations. But the novel still recalls for me how Jack McDevitt's early works established him as an introspective and scientifically oriented SF writer. In comparison, his more recent works are more space opera, and character-driven.
The strength here is that McDevitt has pulled together a group of characters which expose diverse social perspectives on the impact of the discovery of alien intelligence - politicians, scientists, military leaders, church leaders, as well as the main character who is essentially an Human Resources bureaucrat. Meanwhile, the main character is undergoing a separation and divorce from his wife, which may be a realistic consequence of his workaholic lifestyle, but somehow rings shallow in his merely bewildered response to that. McDevitt has gotten better at character development since then, but this is primarily a novel of ideas, so it's not a big objection for me. It's still an interesting read, but less so than when it was new.
first read - 2 April 1988 - **** I read this at the recommendation of my wife.
March 2, 2012
Jack McDevitt has, over the past few years, become one of my favorite authors. His masterful writings of a future where humankind hasn't changed a bit regularly draws me in like few others. The Hercules Text is his earliest novel, and it shows in some ways. The plot isn't quite as engaging as that of his later works, and some of the dialogue is a bit awkward. Also problematic were a high use of profanity and some sexual content. However, it does earn points in my book for positive portrayals of those of the Christian faith, and the "news" updates were a nice touch. This shouldn't be your first McDevitt novel, but, if you've read and enjoyed his previous works, you'll probably like this.
January 14, 2019
The Hercules Text is about what happens on earth when a signal from ET is received. Apart from bureaucratic complications the focus is on effects on religion. McDevitt also, for some reason, felt the need to include a love story.
I love the subject of discussion so for me this is an almost automatic 5/5 stars. I do see some some flaws in the writing, like too many characters, a pointless love story and a serious flaw in the main reasoning the book is based on. However I still looked forward to every chance of reading this book and the 7-8 hours it took to read it just flew by. Obviously the conclusion is 5/5.
I love the subject of discussion so for me this is an almost automatic 5/5 stars. I do see some some flaws in the writing, like too many characters, a pointless love story and a serious flaw in the main reasoning the book is based on. However I still looked forward to every chance of reading this book and the 7-8 hours it took to read it just flew by. Obviously the conclusion is 5/5.
May 7, 2020
This one was kind of a disappointment for me. It was my first try with something from Mr. McDevitt and was left a bit perplexed.
The story BARELY qualifies as science fiction. Well, there is science and it definitely is fiction. But…
There is mention of an alien civilization and of a «message» coming from lightyears away but the overall feeling is that this book dwells more in the philosophical essay category.
There is absolutely no action in there. I was still hoping for something to happen when I realized I had only 20 pages to go…
Couldn’t care less for the characters.
I’ll try my luck elsewhere.
The story BARELY qualifies as science fiction. Well, there is science and it definitely is fiction. But…
There is mention of an alien civilization and of a «message» coming from lightyears away but the overall feeling is that this book dwells more in the philosophical essay category.
There is absolutely no action in there. I was still hoping for something to happen when I realized I had only 20 pages to go…
Couldn’t care less for the characters.
I’ll try my luck elsewhere.
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