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threemonkeysIsn't it a great feeling when you can just lose yourself in a book. All of the cares of the world just go away. Of course all those other things you had planned to do just don't get done but who cares. The book doing that today was Seeker by Jack McDevitt.
I once commented about a McDevitt book that it was nice to see orbital mechanics used as part of the solution to the end of the novel. That type of use of hard science as a plot point has dropped out of fashion but McDevitt used it well in a story that was also satisfying to more recent tastes. Orbital mechanics makes a brief return in Seeker too but there is much more to it than that. The title gives it away, the book is about a search. It is part detective story and part archaeology. A kind of hard sf/space opera "Search for Troy" kind of story. The search takes many phases and its nature changes as the story goes along. All the time you are in the head of one of the searchers as she and others try to find the solution to the mystery. It is spiced up with a dangerous opposing element and a bit of time set aside for her to have a personal life. It is a great piece of storytelling.
One little aside. A while back I noted that when Greg Bear included a political message in his latest novel that it detracted from the reading experience. In a few places, it is obvious that McDevitt has yielded to this temptation too. However he is much more light handed and clever with it. That these authors feel the need to include a message is a message in itself.
I once commented about a McDevitt book that it was nice to see orbital mechanics used as part of the solution to the end of the novel. That type of use of hard science as a plot point has dropped out of fashion but McDevitt used it well in a story that was also satisfying to more recent tastes. Orbital mechanics makes a brief return in Seeker too but there is much more to it than that. The title gives it away, the book is about a search. It is part detective story and part archaeology. A kind of hard sf/space opera "Search for Troy" kind of story. The search takes many phases and its nature changes as the story goes along. All the time you are in the head of one of the searchers as she and others try to find the solution to the mystery. It is spiced up with a dangerous opposing element and a bit of time set aside for her to have a personal life. It is a great piece of storytelling.
One little aside. A while back I noted that when Greg Bear included a political message in his latest novel that it detracted from the reading experience. In a few places, it is obvious that McDevitt has yielded to this temptation too. However he is much more light handed and clever with it. That these authors feel the need to include a message is a message in itself.