Odyssey

There seems to be alot of negative press on this book. But of the McDevitt books I have read to date this seems like the most realistic to me. Every sci-fi author is assuming some suspension of disbelief on the reader's part, and this is a lot easier to do in Odyssey then in some of McDevitt's other novels. Especially the one about the Ghoompahs, or the impossible human acrobatics he has his character's doing outside space ships going "warp speed". Same is true of alot of science fiction though. So I will give this book 4 stars for being believable enough that I could easily disappear into its pages, and have fun while on the journey.

Unidentified Flying Project Annihilators. Priscilla Hutchins is now a senior administrator in the Academy, dealing with politics and all that fun stuff. Gregory McAllister is the editor of a journal of political and social commentary, so the Academy, and the large amount of money they have spent on not finding a living sentient race is one of his targets, when there are a lot of environmental problems on earth that need fixing. Some shenanigans and manipulation in the background, and the appearance of an alien threat that can apparently throw asteroids around and likely has technology advanced beyond human. A fairly dry book, no real tension, and the McAllister character is the lead for most of it, and chapters are led with various 'headlines' from the media, playing on the fact that he is a commentator, so it is like observing what action there is one step removed, for quite a bit of it. 3.5 out of 5

Ok...after taking a look at some of the other reviews, I have to say that I think that some people need to read Mr. McDevitt's other works extensively before they slam "Odyssey." A Jack McDevitt novel is not space opera. If you want Star Wars type of action read David Weber and John Ringo. I have nothing against the space opera genre by the way, but that is not McDevitt's style. There IS acton in "Odyssey," it is just that it is subtle and does not jump out and slam you in the face. McDevitt is a thinking person's writer and this book makes very pertinent statements about our world today. For instance, doesn't Orion Tours remind you of a certain company that Darth Cheney is involved with? He also tackles other issues, such as religious fanaticism, global warming, the underfunding of NASA and the logical reasons for having a space program. Also, one reviewer could not see any connection with Homer's "The Odyssey." They are all through the book, go ahead and THINK and you'll find the connections. Hutch IS Odysseus; the weary wanderer who just wants the peace of home and the explorer, hungry to know what is beyond the horizon. Mr. McDevitt is subtle, NOT boring. His type of writing might not be for everyone: hell, musically I prefer the Byrds to the Beatles, but they both have merit. Different strokes for different folks, but at least be fair when you examine a work.

Odyssey (2006) is the fifth SF novel in the Hutch series, following Omega. In the previous volume, Priscilla Hutchins instigated a plan to save the Korb civilization from the Cloud. Digger Dunn led the crew on Lookout that set up the decoys for the Cloud and created fog over the Intigo peninsula. The team used the holographic projectors to drive the Goombahs to high ground. When the storms and tsunamis settled, they had saved about eighty per cent of the population. In this novel, sightings of moonriders were becoming almost common on the Orion Tours Blue Route. Jerry Cavanaugh, pilot of the tourship Ranger, sees a flight of nine in a vee formation close to Sungrazer, a Jovian world in orbit around Beta Comae Berenices. Other tour ships, Academy flights and even the Origins facility have spotted these black spaceships. The Academy funding is under attack by the NAU congress. The Greens want to spend these funds on projects to reduce global warming. Others -- including Hutch's friend Gregory MacAllister -- think that offworld projects are just a waste of money. Moreover, the Academy ships are wearing out. Then the Hefferman has engine problems and automatically drops out of hyperspace. The pilot, Abdul al Mardoum, gets off a message to Academy operations and immediately receives a confirmation. This fast response puzzles him, but he has other things demanding his attention. At Union Station, operations starts calculating the approximate location of the Hefferman -- about ninety light years out toward Betelgeuse -- and then informs Hutch of the incident. She reroutes Academy ships in the vicinity. Then she starts calling interstellar companies to see if any more ships can be directed to the search zone. Hutch reports the Hefferman incident to the Commissioner and sets up a press conference for the following morning. She also persuades him to take the remaining Colby class ships out of service. The next two days are hectic, until a radio message reaches Union from the Hefferman. The lost ship is not where they thought it would be, but still within the Solar System, although far beyond Pluto. The media have a frenzy over the lost ship that was found in the wrong place. Of course, the blame is directed at the Academy. Then an asteroid crosses between Union Station and Earth without any prior notice and the media blame the Academy for that too. Senator Hiram Taylor is a critic of the Academy. However, his daughter Amy is a big fan of Hutch and wants to be a pilot for the Academy. Despite Taylor's patronizing attitude, Hutch sees another space affectionata in Amy and invites her on a trip to Union. Hutch, her daughter Maureen and Amy are on the station when the Earth crossing asteroid passes at close range. In this story, Commissioner Asquith and Charlie Dryden of Orion Tours sets up a moonrider search as a publicity stunt to divert public attention. Hutch is told to invite MacAllister to go along and he accepts the invita

I, too, have read all of the previous entries in the "Hutch" series and was excited to dive into this latest chapter. Some have commented that the pacing was too slow with no action until the end but I found the plot to be an effective tension-builder, because I knew the action would eventually occur. The characters of Hutch and Mac were, to me, bonafide representations of the earlier characters, but somewhat later in life. The machinations of the antagonists seemed reasonable. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fans of the series and the author. I even hope there's at least one more book in the series. However... [spoiler alert] 1. I wish the near-miss encounter would've been tied in to the later incidents, somehow. Maybe the culprits again? 2. I wish the explanation of Valya's involvement would've been more detailed -- exactly how was the first of the expedition's encounters with moonriders arranged? How was the ship's AI seemingly duped? 3. I really was hoping to find *some* science-based attempt at explaining Amy's experience. 4. The trial and courtroom scenes seemed tacked on. Or did I miss some subtle connection? I did feel like the last quarter of the book was missing -- there were a sufficient number of unanswered questions/unfinished threads to add another hundred pages or so, I thought. Another mission, more encounters, wrapping up loose ends. A rush to meet a deadline? Possibly. A simple failure on the author's part? I find that hard to believe, given the content of the other books coming from this genuine fount of high-quality hard-science fiction writing. Perhaps these "letdowns" will be addressed in the next book. One can hope.