Review: Ancient Shores, by Jack McDevitt

Last updated on: September 2, 2014 at 8:00 am by willduquette

Review: Ancient Shores, by Jack McDevitt 2014-09-01T17:57:42-05:00 willduquette

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Recently I sang the praises of Jack McDevitt’s “Alex Benedict” series, and a reader suggested that I try his earlier novel Ancient Shores. And I did; but I didn’t like it.

I don’t usually write negative reviews; if I dislike it I ignore it. In this case I feel I have to, since it came up in the context of a largely positive review of some of McDevitt’s other book.

Ancient Shores takes place “present day”, when a farmer in North Dakota finds a fully rigged, perfectly preserved sailboat buried in his back forty. I don’t mean an ancient Viking longship; I mean something that would look perfectly at home at the boat dealers down in Long Beach. Well, except for boat’s name, which is written in an alien script, and the boat’s material, which proves to be the counter-intuitively stable and previously undiscovered element 161. It appears to have been buried there for 10,000 years…

One find leads to another, include a teleportation gate to the stars, and it should all be fascinating; but in the event it wasn’t. I was looking for a science fiction romp as the characters explore this strange new world. Unfortunately, Ancient Shores is all about this strange old world, and all of the weird characters (from the White House on down) who come out of the wood work and freak out over the new technology and possibilities of these amazing finds.

It might have been OK if I liked the main characters; but the two main characters are not overly likable. First there’s the farmer’s friend, a guy who restores antique warplanes and is otherwise colorless, diffident, and boring. And second, there’s a scientist—a lab tech, really—who gets involved after she tests the boat’s material and shows it to be a previously unknown element. She’s beautiful (but who isn’t in books like this), ambitious (which is OK) and utterly ruthless at pursuing as much of the credit as she can get for the discoveries, cutting her erstwhile employer completely out of the picture. McDevitt sets up a rather anemic possibility of romance between the two characters, and I swear I kept waiting for her to kiss him and then stab him in the back.

And then there’s the climax, about which the less said the better.

Many years ago, on the old rec.arts.books news group on Usenet, I learned about the Eight Deadly Words: “I Don’t Care About Any Of These People”. And I didn’t; I only finished the book to be sure that it really wasn’t going to get any better.

It may be, judging from some of the idiots we met in passing, that McDevitt intended it as a farce; but if so he didn’t signal it at all well.

Oh, well. Even Jove nods, and anyway he’s not been about much lately.

Woof Guide to Literature

ancient shores

jack mcdevitt

Previous Post

September 1, 2014

CT 10.3: Essence is no Accident

Next Post

September 3, 2014 The Ants Go Marching, Dammit!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Admin App o' the Morning Ask the Dogmat Believing Thomas Bits of Fiction Blasts from the Past Bootstrapping the Interior Life Catholic Mom Christian Living Deep Thoughts from the Doghouse Dominicana Evangelii Gaudium Interviews It Was A Dark and Stormy Night Links to This and That Lumen Fidei Meme Watch On Writing Operation Gratitude Pedant Errant Photography Quill Random Barkings S'Mary's World Shakers of Salt Software Development The Dog Whistler The Dogmat Sez Third Orders Thomas Aquinas Uncategorized Vikings at Dinos Woof Guide to Cinema Woof Guide to History Woof Guide to Literature Woof Guide to Obscure Catholic Music Woof Guide to Philosophy Woof Guide to Popular Music Woof Guide to Technology Woof Guide to Theology Words I Wish I'd Written Works For Me

Select a Month September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet was told to eat a scroll in a vision?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joel Daniel Obadiah Ezekiel