Omega

He is a writer who draws you into the story. You become a part of the story and can't wait to see what's waiting for you around the next corner, on the next page. You become a participant, not a reader. He isn't full of himself and doesn't use obscure or complicated language in an effort to impress you with how smart he is. That's not his purpose. He wants you to "enjoy the ride" as he often puts it. And you do.

Nearly a decade after her exploits in *Chindi*, Prscilla "Hutch" Hutchins has hung up her wings and settled down into an administrative position with the Academy of Space and Technology. Like most of humanity, she is only worried about the impending doom from the Omega Clouds - which travel the galaxy destroying anything the seems to be created by sentient life - when she is thinking about it; but, since that confrontation is 900 years away, it seems remote and something for tomorrow. But, everything changes when a routine science expedition observes an Omega Cloud change course and head for an unexplored star system. They soon discover a world populated by a pre-technological civilization. Suddenly, the threat of the Omega Clouds become an obsession with Earth as everyone is moved by the plight of the cute and lovable humanoid creatures (a reaction not unlike people's reaction to cute and endangered species on Earth like the panda or koala). Hutch finds herself at the center of it all as she struggles to summon the spacefaring resources and technology of Earth in a desperate effort to save the unsuspecting planet from destruction - all while trying to not interfere with the developing species or reveal their presence. *Omega* is all action from start to finish, but of course it is also an intelligent science fiction story as all McDevitt books are. A superb ending to this chapter of the "Chronicles of Hutch". >>>>>>><<<<<<< <br /> <br />A Guide to my Book Rating System: <br /> <br />1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper. <br />2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead. <br />3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted. <br />4 stars = Good book, but not life altering. <br />5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

Chindi was the first McDevitt book I read and I was hooked. I was really looking forward to this book and was not disappointed. Between reading Chindi and Omega, I read all of his books except Moonfall which I am still trying to get. I think the best thing about McDevitt's writing is that he does include so many characters and not every one is important to the story -- hey, welcome to life! How many people are in the "story" of your life, you know their bio, they come and go, but they are not integral to the plot. He is simply a superb writer. I have brow-beat two people in my life who have no interest in reading sci-fi to read his books and they are also hooked. No book is perfect, so take all the criticisms with a grain of sand. Read anything and everything Jack McDevitt has written. Omega is not a bad place to start.

Okay, first off - this was, hands down, the best McDevitt I've read to date. If you've not read McDevitt, and are at all a fan of Science Fiction, you need to go out there and find yourself a copy of 'The Engines of God,' 'Infinity Beach,' 'Deepsix,' and 'Chindi.' Now. If you're not a huge fan of Science Fiction, let me tell you, though there's some astrophysics in there, McDevitt writes a lot more sociologically, adventure-action, and philosophically than nearly any other contemporary science fiction author I know, with the exception of Robert J. Sawyer. That said, his style is quite deft, as is Sawyer's, and a lot of people just don't 'get' it - as is obvious from some of the reviews written here. I happily suggest reading a chapter in the store prior to purchase, though I've yet to meet someone while working in my bookstore's Sci-Fi section who didn't like McDevitt. Okay, fan-boy praising hereby endeth. The story picks up the character of Priscilla Hutchins (who, now married and with a kiddy, plays a much more administrative and planet-bound role) and the storyline of the Omega clouds. Strange clouds that pop up, find anything remotely geometrical (especially, say, buildings), and blast them to bits. They're all over the universe, but why worry, as the one heading towards earth is not due for another, oh, nine hundred years. Yawn. But one of them being tracked by the Academy makes a right turn, and this time, in McDevitt's nearly lifeless galaxy, seems to be setting its sights on levelling an alien race who are somewhere around the Ancient Greece level of evolution. In about nine months. The race is on - but to do what? Try to stop the cloud - no one knows how. Try to save the race - again, how do you save a race that's about to be hit by tsunamis, tidal waves, tornadoes and all the other horrid things the Omega clouds do? Obviously, it would be wrong to step in, break protocol, and talk to the natives? Right? The story is very high paced, and as is always McDevitt's style, you never know who will make it to the end (he is not above killing off a character in a completely realistic fashion - by which I mean there's no hero capable of dodging all the bullets all the time), and his tendancy to through in a few philosophical characters absolutely shines in this book. McDevitt, as always, delivered a solid adventure worthy of any Sci-Fi buff's attention, but in a manner accessible to those who don't read Sci-Fi on a regular basis. Superb!

Chindi was the first "Hutch" novel I read and I suppose it's only natural that others are judged against that book. Jack McDevitt writes with the flair of a scientist. His novels deal with humans and our exploration and encounters with other alien lifeforms. He paints on a broad canvas with large strokes and this almost magisterial presentation covers up a few faults, both of which are common to many writers.By far the worst error is the use of too many characters. It is not that they are not interesting but the abundance of people (and having to follow their small storylines) gets in the way of the "real" story. For example, in this book there are the group at the Academy, her family, three separate ships and the group that has landed on the planet.Secondly, scientific progress is startling but society and politics seems static for 200 years. The many references to composers and authors of the 18th-20th century is just not realistic. The reproduction of headlines is a really BAD idea -it approaches parody.But that is not to say this is not an excellent read. The writing is, of course, literate, no obscenities, knowledgable and always interesting. The presentation of Hutch's saga, now with Tor and their daughter, was just the right touch, almost understated in tone. The love story between the explorers was another good point. The Goompahs were too human-like but that is part of our anthropomorphic tendencies. The ending was, like much else, delivered at low key only with a touch of poetry. The tie-in between Tor, Hutch's view on life, the alien's purpose for the Omega and art was a tour de force.

Omega is the fourth novel in the Hutch series, following Chindi. In the first volume of this series, Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins piloted the expedition that discovered the omega clouds in 2202. Twenty-eight years later, an omega cloud turned from its path and approached Moonlight (Brinkman IV), an iceworld with extensive ruins. David Collingdale led an Academy team that tried to destroy the cloud with nuclear weapons. Although the bombs tore great holes in the cloud, it recovered and carried through the attack, yet missed one city hidden within a blizzard. In this novel, four years later, Hutch is acting Director for Operations at the Academy. She receives word from Broadside that another omega cloud, 3000 lightyears away, has turned from its path and that an academy ship, the Bill Jenkins, has been diverted to check the target system for artificial structures. Elsewhere, other Academy ships have been investigating the omega clouds. The Peter Quaqmor team find something unusual directly in front of their cloud: a 240-sided vessel that looks like a hedgehog. When the team drills a hole into the vessel, however, everything in the vicinity disappears in a great flash.Academy ships soon find that hedgehogs are leading every omega cloud that they have investigated, with one exception. The cloud that recently turned aside does not have a hedgehog in front of it, but one was found on the original path. Apparently the clouds normally follow the hedgehogs, but can change directions after detecting objects with right angles, such as artificial structures, in order to attack those objects.When the Jenkins reaches the target system (which the team names Lookout), they find that funny looking aliens dwell in a limited area on the surface. Since Hutch has been anticipating this situation, she sends two more ships to Lookout. One contains a team of linguists and nabobs and the other is a freighter carrying rainmaking gear, holographic projectors and a huge box kite. The mission chief is David Collingdale, who is determined that the cloud will not destroy the homes of this civilization.In this story, the aliens, who look like the Goompahs in a popular children's show, catch the interest and sympathy of the general public, prompting a number of movements and activities to profit from the situation. For example, a drive to provide assistance to the natives is well funded from public donations. However, various firms also produce dolls and other products based on the alien society. Moreover, the media and other entertainment industries want footage of the aliens during the crisis to titillate their patrons.Hutch is squarely in the middle of the efforts to analyze the omega clouds and to avert a catastrophe on Lookout. The Commissioner stays as far away from these efforts as possible to avoid any fallout from a possible failure. Hutch gets to talk to all the flaky, greedy and narrow-focused opportunists who want transportation to Lookout.Meanwhile,