Helpful Score: 3
I have now read a couple of this author's books with the same main character, Chase Kolpath. I have enjoyed both very much, with one exception. Chase Kolpath is a woman and in both books during the character's internal dialog, I found myself thinking "A woman wouldn't think like that!". The character "self-talk" was just too masculine. However, since I seem to be the exception and mostly men seem to read sci-fi, I guess it isn't getting noticed too much.
Seeker is another Alex Benedict novel by Jack McDevitt. Set in the far future, Seeker tells the story of a group of people fed up with earth who make their exit and hope to establish a new society on another planet. Well, actually, it tells that story from the perspective of Chase Kolpath, Alex Benedict's assistant, thousands of years after the actual event. She and Alex follow some clues that lead in the direction of that ancient story and wind up, well, you should read it for yourself.
As with earlier Benedict novels, I have some mild reservations about telling the story from Chase's perspective rather than Alex's, but it holds together and is a pretty good read.
With the obvious exception of the Mutes and their unexplained telepathic communication, this is basic, hard SF. There is faster than light travel with rules, a society spread among the stars, and a few complications and limits that keep things interesting.
So far I like McDevitt overall, and this holds up well compared with the other works of his that I have read.
Recommended if you like real SF.
As with earlier Benedict novels, I have some mild reservations about telling the story from Chase's perspective rather than Alex's, but it holds together and is a pretty good read.
With the obvious exception of the Mutes and their unexplained telepathic communication, this is basic, hard SF. There is faster than light travel with rules, a society spread among the stars, and a few complications and limits that keep things interesting.
So far I like McDevitt overall, and this holds up well compared with the other works of his that I have read.
Recommended if you like real SF.
Really excellent speculative fiction from McDevitt. The plot unravels like a whodunnit with each new revelation topping the last. I read this book compulsively and lost sleep over it. Highly recommended.
Third in the series, but okay if you haven't read the others. There are a couple references to the earlier books but if you haven't read them you won't even notice. Another search mission for Alex and Chase and once again the plot unfolds at a leisurely pace with Chase doing all the legwork, hitting dead ends, and Alex coming up with just one more place to look. I'm impressed by how much future history McDevitt invents for his plots. But people are still recognizably people with pretty much all the same strengths and faults as today. As in the last book I will say that once they had the first assassination attempt, they really ought to have been on high alert after that. It seems to take them a while to figure out they need to be careful. But that's a minor quibble, this is an enjoyable piece of SF.
Enjoyable, fast paced, interesting byplay. I recommend.
I have to agree with Terri T. on both counts: I have really enjoyed the Alex Benedict stories, and Chase Kolpath, his assistant, doesn't quite ring true to me as a female character. Since Chase is the first person narrator, this subtle difference in thought & expression is more apparent than if it were a third person book or if Alex were the narrator. She impresses me as all about the job, nothing about Chase herself. One might argue that in the very far future where these books are set, the culture & nature of women has changed such that they really do sound & act very like men, but then one would have to explain why so much else in this future is uncannily like present day society, only with better tech. Why would women change so much when other things didn't?
It's a minor flaw, though; people reading for the mystery & adventure & sense of wonder in these books might not think it an important point. Perhaps it's irrelevant to the kind of stories McDevitt wants to tell. Yet I still ask myself, if he was going to write a woman as pretty much like a man, then why not just make Chase male?
It's a minor flaw, though; people reading for the mystery & adventure & sense of wonder in these books might not think it an important point. Perhaps it's irrelevant to the kind of stories McDevitt wants to tell. Yet I still ask myself, if he was going to write a woman as pretty much like a man, then why not just make Chase male?
Interesting mix of archaeology and science fiction. While McDevitt's characters tend to be two-dimensional, the complicated and ingenious plot more than make up for it.
