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scottcurtis10's review against another edition
3.0
I do like this book. It has a good story, compelling and believable characters, and a star (Priscilla Hutchins) worth building a series of books around - in fact, McDevitt does.
I think the premise is compelling: archaeology done on ancient, highly advanced and now extinct alien civilizations on the outer fringes of the galaxy. The dialog is realistic, the interplay between the scientists is fairly believable as research banter, and you grow to care about the characters.
However, this is not a work of hard SF. Some may not be bothered by this, but transdimensional travel at faster than the speed of light, amorphous entities that obey no physical laws of gravity, planets with gasoline lakes and ethylene rainstorms (without any suggestion of how hydrocarbons could become so abundant) stretch my willingness to suspend disbelief a trifle too far.
There are three incredibly gripping climaxes in the book, suggesting to me that the book could have been written as three separate novellas. I think that, in some ways, the story would have been better divided up in this way. This is a book with some idea discussion but primarily about plot, character development, and action. I would have preferred more exploration of the concepts, which could have been elaborated about at length.
I think the premise is compelling: archaeology done on ancient, highly advanced and now extinct alien civilizations on the outer fringes of the galaxy. The dialog is realistic, the interplay between the scientists is fairly believable as research banter, and you grow to care about the characters.
However, this is not a work of hard SF. Some may not be bothered by this, but transdimensional travel at faster than the speed of light, amorphous entities that obey no physical laws of gravity, planets with gasoline lakes and ethylene rainstorms (without any suggestion of how hydrocarbons could become so abundant) stretch my willingness to suspend disbelief a trifle too far.
There are three incredibly gripping climaxes in the book, suggesting to me that the book could have been written as three separate novellas. I think that, in some ways, the story would have been better divided up in this way. This is a book with some idea discussion but primarily about plot, character development, and action. I would have preferred more exploration of the concepts, which could have been elaborated about at length.
phobicgirl's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the premise of this book. I mean a mysterious space archeological novel, yes please. After starting it, I looked into it and saw the book is the first in a series. This explained a lot. It really felt like this book is setting the plate for the future of the series, so it was a little slow. I am totally OK with this though. I like settling in for a good series. I can’t wait for the rest. I am going to take this one slow though.
thatswedishguy's review
3.0
I've been on a bit of a sci-fi binge lately. Some serious, some more on the fantasy side, others just straight up action stories that just happens to be set in space. I've been... broadening my horizons, as it were. -insert chuckle here- When I was doing research for what books to get, a couple came up repeatedly. [b:Rendezvous with Rama|112537|Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1)|Arthur C. Clarke|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405456427s/112537.jpg|1882772] was one such book, [b:Red Mars|77507|Red Mars (Mars Trilogy, #1)|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1440699787s/77507.jpg|40712] another. This was also such a book, The Engines of God.
The reason I was so curious about this book was because it was sold to me as "archaeology... IN SPACE!" and from a cursory glance, that's what it seems to be about. They go to a planet, explore some ruins and talk about how you would go about actually putting together an extinct civilization. And that's what I wanted. I wanted a more philosophical/theoretical idea about how we would go about actually examining and understanding this. With a bit of a fictional twist, obviously. Perhaps some personal drama in a confined space, some ruin exploration gone terribly awry and having to contend with directives from home base that conflict with personal ambition.
Aka, a slow, methodical plot that would, probably, bore a lot of people. But basically, what I wanted was a book that took a good, long look at future archaeology because... I'm interested in that. It sounds fascinating.
This book? It's not that. It definitely wears the guise of it but it never really delves into it much deeper than surface glances. They talk about how they would interpret the language, how they examine artifacts and explore ruins but they show very little of it and what they do show is mainly, of course, the exploration of ruins because that's where the most drama can be had.
It doesn't take long for the book to throw in some exciting action sequences and of course they have to race against the clock. Having a deadline looming overhead is a simple method of engaging the reader. And eventually the book just gives up on trying to portray it at all and resolves many of the scientific theorizing off the page, dropping us into the setting again when it's "exciting" and "heart pounding".
I make it sound like I hated this book which isn't the case. It's definitely rough and it didn't live up to what I had envisioned but what is there is good. I wouldn't have given it three out of five if I didn't think so. I poke fun at the use of action sections but they do get me excited, unable to put the book down until the event is over and you see the outcome. For the most part. The less said about the last part of the book, the better cause that was just... so unnecessarily gratuitous and out of left field that I nearly didn't want to continue reading the book. I understand the allure of wanting to spice things up but it just felt... not right for this book.
On that note, the whole ending just felt... wrong. It was built up appropriately, the whole thing reads like a mystery novel where little clues are scattered throughout. And it definitely had me engaged. But the ending still felt like... a complete twist. It felt built up to and yet not foreshadowed at all. It also wasn't very satisfying. At least to me.
I could also complain about the characters being paper thin but the other reviews have already discussed this. Personally I didn't read it for the characters so it didn't bother me as much but at the same time I felt there were way too many characters for what the story needed. And when they're this poorly defined, it becomes a chore to keep up with. Only for the characters to disappear from the second half of the book so why were they there to begin with? Maybe next time don't overload your story with characters and instead spend it actually building characters. Even towards the end, when the cast has been whittled down to a manageable amount I still had trouble keeping track of them because they were so interchangeable. I remember the main character, Hutch, and one of the sidecharacters, Maggie, because she was the only one with definable characteristics. Outside of being smart, I mean. Cause they're all smart, that's not really a definable trait in this case.
I guess it didn't help that they were some kind of young pensioners who drank Chablis all the time and played chess or bridge... for fun! I know this was written in the nineties and it's hard to predict the future but the author had heard of this... video game thing, right? It's not just a fad. The book does take a reasonable stab at what "movies" might be in the future and yet that too takes on a rather drab notion.
Admittedly this is quite nitpicky of me. The book is well written and the author definitely has a flare for describing alien environments, even if they do seem rather Earth like a lot of the time. And there were sections of the book where I was really into it, barely able to put the book down and paging through it like a demon, hungry for resolution.
Perhaps if this hadn't been described to me as a book about archaeology but rather a sci-fi with hints of archaeology, I would've rated it higher but I never said I was unbiased. Expectations going in do matter and normally I try to stay away from building expectations because they're inherently fragile things, not meant to prop anything up.
Does this mean I'm not gonna read the rest of the books in the Academy series. No, I still will at some point. Now having a decent idea of what they are, I'll probably enjoy the next one a lot more. We'll see.
Is this one worth reading? Yeah, I'd still say so despite my objections. Know what you're getting into and it's an exciting read.
The reason I was so curious about this book was because it was sold to me as "archaeology... IN SPACE!" and from a cursory glance, that's what it seems to be about. They go to a planet, explore some ruins and talk about how you would go about actually putting together an extinct civilization. And that's what I wanted. I wanted a more philosophical/theoretical idea about how we would go about actually examining and understanding this. With a bit of a fictional twist, obviously. Perhaps some personal drama in a confined space, some ruin exploration gone terribly awry and having to contend with directives from home base that conflict with personal ambition.
Aka, a slow, methodical plot that would, probably, bore a lot of people. But basically, what I wanted was a book that took a good, long look at future archaeology because... I'm interested in that. It sounds fascinating.
This book? It's not that. It definitely wears the guise of it but it never really delves into it much deeper than surface glances. They talk about how they would interpret the language, how they examine artifacts and explore ruins but they show very little of it and what they do show is mainly, of course, the exploration of ruins because that's where the most drama can be had.
It doesn't take long for the book to throw in some exciting action sequences and of course they have to race against the clock. Having a deadline looming overhead is a simple method of engaging the reader. And eventually the book just gives up on trying to portray it at all and resolves many of the scientific theorizing off the page, dropping us into the setting again when it's "exciting" and "heart pounding".
I make it sound like I hated this book which isn't the case. It's definitely rough and it didn't live up to what I had envisioned but what is there is good. I wouldn't have given it three out of five if I didn't think so. I poke fun at the use of action sections but they do get me excited, unable to put the book down until the event is over and you see the outcome. For the most part. The less said about the last part of the book, the better cause that was just... so unnecessarily gratuitous and out of left field that I nearly didn't want to continue reading the book. I understand the allure of wanting to spice things up but it just felt... not right for this book.
On that note, the whole ending just felt... wrong. It was built up appropriately, the whole thing reads like a mystery novel where little clues are scattered throughout. And it definitely had me engaged. But the ending still felt like... a complete twist. It felt built up to and yet not foreshadowed at all. It also wasn't very satisfying. At least to me.
I could also complain about the characters being paper thin but the other reviews have already discussed this. Personally I didn't read it for the characters so it didn't bother me as much but at the same time I felt there were way too many characters for what the story needed. And when they're this poorly defined, it becomes a chore to keep up with. Only for the characters to disappear from the second half of the book so why were they there to begin with? Maybe next time don't overload your story with characters and instead spend it actually building characters. Even towards the end, when the cast has been whittled down to a manageable amount I still had trouble keeping track of them because they were so interchangeable. I remember the main character, Hutch, and one of the sidecharacters, Maggie, because she was the only one with definable characteristics. Outside of being smart, I mean. Cause they're all smart, that's not really a definable trait in this case.
I guess it didn't help that they were some kind of young pensioners who drank Chablis all the time and played chess or bridge... for fun! I know this was written in the nineties and it's hard to predict the future but the author had heard of this... video game thing, right? It's not just a fad. The book does take a reasonable stab at what "movies" might be in the future and yet that too takes on a rather drab notion.
Admittedly this is quite nitpicky of me. The book is well written and the author definitely has a flare for describing alien environments, even if they do seem rather Earth like a lot of the time. And there were sections of the book where I was really into it, barely able to put the book down and paging through it like a demon, hungry for resolution.
Perhaps if this hadn't been described to me as a book about archaeology but rather a sci-fi with hints of archaeology, I would've rated it higher but I never said I was unbiased. Expectations going in do matter and normally I try to stay away from building expectations because they're inherently fragile things, not meant to prop anything up.
Does this mean I'm not gonna read the rest of the books in the Academy series. No, I still will at some point. Now having a decent idea of what they are, I'll probably enjoy the next one a lot more. We'll see.
Is this one worth reading? Yeah, I'd still say so despite my objections. Know what you're getting into and it's an exciting read.
mike_word's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
jonmontgo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A hidden gem of science fiction. A compelling, well written adventure and mystery. Harkens back to best of early sci-fi epics and space opera.
writings_of_a_reader's review
DNF at 27%. I'm so incredibly bored with this. I was hoping I would like it as much as I liked McDevitt's Alex Benedict series, but unfortunately that's not the case. I think the thing that made Alex Benedict work so well for me was the mystery in space thing that this doesn't have. This is classic hard sci-fi. I've heard the other books in the series are better, so I may revisit this sometime in the future and give it another chance because of that, but right now I don't have the patience for it.
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wilhelheim's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
most_trusted_lieutenant's review against another edition
3.0
Re-creating the alien history and culture was done great - totally mind-expanding, not feeling improbable or irrational. Anothe great thing - lack of the world-breaking conspiracy and scheming - characters are left doing just what they started to do, their world and society has no collapsed, which amounts to a lot for me!
But, those things take only 2/3 of the book - another one is oversaturated dramatic love story. It's shallow as hell - so are, to a much less extent all social interactions, but they are pleasant to have, since paint a better picture of the world. The love story completely hijacks the camera for almost the third of the book...
Because we just have to have it, apparently it's boring to have a book tell you only what it was supposed you to tell, while not having enough time-approved soap opera emotions.
But, those things take only 2/3 of the book - another one is oversaturated dramatic love story. It's shallow as hell - so are, to a much less extent all social interactions, but they are pleasant to have, since paint a better picture of the world. The love story completely hijacks the camera for almost the third of the book...
Because we just have to have it, apparently it's boring to have a book tell you only what it was supposed you to tell, while not having enough time-approved soap opera emotions.
atx24601's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cryingalot49's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0