Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Beth recommends: "Echo" by Jack McDevitt

Is anyone out there? In Jack McDevitt’s world, humans have been traveling through space for 8,000 years and have encountered only one other sentient, alien race. Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath – dealers in interstellar antiquities, learn of an artifact owned by Somerset Tuttle, one of the most fervent believers in alien cultures. Tuttle devoted his life to the search, undeterred by his colleagues’ ridicule at his lack of success. A picture of this artifact, with its strange script, leads them to wonder about Tuttle’s last voyage, a voyage shrouded in mystery. In their search for the tablet, Alex and Chase attract the attention of individuals who are determined to delete that voyage from the historical record – at all costs. What happened on that trip? Who – or what – did Tuttle encounter? Why does even a casual mention of the tablet terrify Rachel Bannister, Tuttle’s friend and lover? Echo is the latest novel featuring Alex and Chase and I have thoroughly enjoyed every title in this series. Jack McDevitt has created a wide world “out there” – planets and cultures and space travel – that is fascinatingly detailed and complex as well as intimate and familiar despite its setting in the far future. Even if you are not a science fiction fan, I heartily recommend these stories of adventure and intrigue.

Recommended for: adults, young adults.

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