Customer Reviews

Omega

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After recently discovering McDevitt, I've been burning through the Hutch/Academy series, of which this is the fourth book. However, this one had brought be to a stop, at least for now.

In many respects, it's a fine novel. Once again McDevitt has a good idea and the world he creates at the center of the book is interesting. Sure, it contains the usual McDevitt standards, like somewhat shallow characters and the inevitable "moment of chance that changes everything" that's plays a prominent role in almost all of his books, but regular readers aren't going to let those hold them back.

So why didn't it work? For me it's because Hutch, the central character of the previous three novels, is not the central character here. Sure, McDevitt spends some time with her, but in the end it felt like she wasn't really necessary. Some other person could have filled the role. And instead of Hutch on the front lines, we get a substitute character, introduced in a previous novel in the series, who is basically a younger version of the same basic character.

I understand why McDevitt did it, I suppose, but if he felt the need to ease Hutch out, he might as well end the series.

He's one of the best writers in modern science fiction. He explains his technology somewhat, but not to the point you need an advanced degree in physics to understand (that might even hurt!) and has very character driven stories.