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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780441013753
ISBN number: 0441013759
Label: Ace
Manufacturer: Ace
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: October 31, 2006
Publishing house: Ace
Sale Popularity Level: 15009
Studio: Ace
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
With Polaris, multiple Nebula Award-nominee Jack McDevitt reacquainted readers with Alex Benedict, his hero from A Talent for War. Now, Alex and his assistant, Chase Kolpath, return to solve a riddle that leads them to the edge of known space.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
I have to say this novel is not very interesting due to flat characters and uninspiring plot (at least in the very first 2/3 of the book). The writing leaves a lot to be desired, reading it is like reading guidebook to a RPG game, and apparently investigating a lost ship involves talking to a lot of people and asking endless questions.
It also unnerves me that human civilization 10,000 years in the future remains essentially the same as today's US society, that's just not believable. Usually I can suspend my belief in such matters, but unfortunately this book is about archeology so time is a factor here.
However, the author did pull of a twist near the end which, unlike early attempts, caught me by surprise. There're also some interesting knowledge about astronomy and some light humor, which makes the reading bearable.
Rated by buyers -
A very engaging story, perfect for killing a few airplane rides. It's about 50% mystery, 50% sci fi. It all starts with a lady who shows up with a 9000 year old plastic mug (this all set about 10K years in the future), and goes from there. The investigative parts were mostly boring/annoying for me, but the sci-fi aspects make up for it.
Rated by buyers -
Not much to say that hasn't already been written, But want to throw my two cents in on this one because it is a very good novel. McDevitt's story is 9,000+ years in the future and instead of going over board with the descriptions of what a future world is like, he just presents the future in a matter of fact manner. FTL travel is employed, AI's are common. He let's the characters really develop, and the plot carries the water. Nice twists and turns, has a gum-shoe element that works well. Worth reading!
Rated by buyers -
In Seeker, Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath have a 9,000 year old cup dropped in their laps by a potential client. The cup proves to be from the Seeker, one of two ships that set out to points unknown in the 27th century with colonists who were trying to escape Earth's oppressive leadership. On the hunt for the Seeker, Alex and Chase wind up visiting numerous locales (actually, it is Chase that does most of the "legwork", a point that does not go unnoticed by the character), all in the effort of tracking down the Seeker. The Seeker has been historically tied to the missing colony of Margolia, which, when the colonists left Earth, they refused to reveal the location of it to those they left behind and, therefore, the colony acquired a mythic status down the proceeding generations, similar to that of Atlantis and other "lost" places. Unfortunately, Alex and Chase's hunt for the Seeker, and ultimately Margolia, attracts some unwanted attention, and soon the pair not only have the hunt for the Seeker and Margolia at stake, but their lives as well.
McDevitt's Seeker follows a pre-established pattern that has worked well for the author in the past...and, indeed, works well for the author this time around as well. The pattern goes something like this: Mystery reveals itself surrounding some historic event or artifact. Characters discover there is much more to the event or artifact than originally believed. Characters traipse around galaxy on the search for clues to solving mystery. Unexpected danger pops up with somebody trying to off the main characters because of reasons that are not specified until near-end of book. Characters defeat bad guys. Mystery is completely solved (sometimes aspects of the mystery are solved earlier in the book) at end of book. Characters survive for the subsequent go-round.
So McDevitt's story's can be a tad formulaic. Who cares?! They are fun to read! And they present a realistic possibility of what our future may hold when we begin to colonize other worlds in this galaxy. I am totally looking forward to reading more of McDevitt's (formulaic) work sometime in the not-to-distant future.
Rated by buyers -
SEEKER is the third novel in the "Alex Benedict" mystery series and won the Nebula Award for best SF Novel of 2006. I found it an enjoyable read.
The "Alex Benedict" novels are essentially mysteries that take place thousands of years in the future. Benedict is a for-profit antiques dealer, along with his incredibly competent assistant Chase Kolpath (who serves as narrator). All of the novels begin with Benedict discovering a long-forgotten artifact, which opens up a mystery about the past that both he and Chase must solve. These novels are formulaic, but extremely well crafted. Mcdevitt is releasing a fourth novel in this series in late 2008.
McDevitt writes these novels in a low-key style, and the pacing is relatively slow. There are many scenes involving the characters having dinner, watching movies, and having philosophical conversations. Most of these scenes are well written, and provide insight into the day-to-day life of Mcdevitt's futuristic society. I found them quite fascinating, but some readers will no doubt be bored with the lack of action or intense drama.
Overall, SEEKER was a fine read and I look forward to the subsequent entry in this series.
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