Omega

Rating:
Summary: wow this is terrible
Review: *spoilers, but not really b/c there is nothing to spoil* the only reason i continued to read this book was i thought he'd have some tight explaination for why omegas exist, some sort of neat purpose for them that even if not plausible was intersting. Somewhere near the middle of the book he just gives up on writing about the Hutch side story of why the omegas exist and delves into over describing the alien society. I kept reading in hope that there would be some clues or mention, but eventually I gave up and was forced to skip to the end to see why the omegas exist, but no explanation is ever given! So, the premise for the whole series is concluded with "we don't know why omegas exist, sorry." After reading series like hyperion with a actual mystery revealed (what is the shrike?) at the end of the series, this is just pathetic.
i got this book as a present not realizing i'd read this author before (a talent for war) that book sucks as well. this is a good fantasy book but as far as sci fi is conserned it is utter crap. a good sci fi book can't end with a crappy explanation like that.

Rating:
Summary: Not McDevitt's best...
Review: ...but still a very good read.

Maybe I'm just not very bright, as some other reviews might suggest, but I enjoyed McDevitt's story mainly because the "Goompah" characters were as human as they were (no, I don't enjoy Barney).

McDevitt left most of the "wonder" of discovery out of this story, deciding instead to tell the tale of a race about to face the Omegas rather than repeat the story of finding planets and remnants of civilisations that have already fought and lost their battle with the clouds.

I thought it was well done, and will continue to enjoy McDevitt's future work.

Rating:
Summary: Totally in the style of his earlier books
Review: A quiet, contemplative read. Readers accustomed to McDevitt's earlier works will enjoy this book. His style tends to resemble that of Asimov's books. The book is hard science fiction, but far removed from the grand space opera of clashing Dreadnought fleets in David Weber's work, or the technopolistic beepings of William Gibson. The action scenes in Omega, while well done, are comparatively low key. It is the idea that dominates, that of robots (or somethings) going from star to star, destroying civilisations that make buildings. In some ways a toned down version of Saberhagen's berserker hypothesis. The Omega clouds do not try to kill all life. And given that Saberhagen has not published anything recently about berserkers, McDevitt's musings are the best that you will find, from a current major author.

The descriptive prose is minimal. Again you can see the resemblance to Asimov's works. The planetary scenes include several in the countryside of an inhabited world. McDevitt's sparse sketchings of this stand in utter contrast to the baroque lushness of Steve Stirling's rural worlds.

Rating:
Summary: great world building SF
Review: By 2230, humanity has known about the Omega Clouds for a quarter of a century. They seem to hunt planets where signs of civilization exist. When they find them, they destroy all life forms and geometric shapes and angles. Even though an omega cloud is due to pass Earth in nine centuries, not much research has been done on them because humanity believes they have plenty of time to find a way of dealing with them.

Time runs out when mankind discovers a sentient race of humanoids, so much like us they could be our cousins. An Omega cloud has diverted from its path when it finds the world of Goompahs and the masses on Earth do not want them killed. Linguists, scientists and socialists from all over the galaxy race to the newly discovered civilized world (technologically on a level with Ancient Rome) to try to find a way of destroying the Omega. Failing that they hope to convince the Goompah's to flee their cities and seek higher ground so that they will survive the coming catastrophe.

It is great to watch a united galaxy use all its power to save a newly discovered sentient race (a rare find in the McDevitt universe) despite the danger they bring unto themselves. The society of the Goombahs is examined in such great depth that readers will feel they have actually visited their planet. As more is learned about the Omegas, mankind comes to believe they are not forces of nature but things constructed by an unknown entity. Mr. McDevitt is one of this decade's great world builders.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Reluctant Five Star
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: C+
Review: Decent enough read, but oddly enough, I think the books in this series stand better on their own, than in the context of the series, as there are too many repetitive cliffhanging themes... a lot of them involving ropes and/or nets.

Rating:
Summary: A question???
Review: I bought Chindi, because it was on display and it looked really good. I have just now found out that it is a sequel to two earlier books and is then followed by Omega.

Should I read Chindi first? Or should I read Engines of God and Deepsix first?

Thanks!

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not as good as other books in the series
Review: I enjoyed this book, because it's part of the series about the omega clouds, and I've enjoyed the other books, and was looking forward to a good conclusion.

However, I felt this book wasn't quite as strong as the other "Hutch" books that McDevitt has written (Engines of God, Deepsix, Chindi, ...). The problem, as some other reviewers have pointed out, is that there are far too many minor characters to keep track of. You never really get to know any of them, and it really becomes confusing trying to remember who is who, and why you even care what happens to each particular character.

It's hard to really figure out who is the main character in this book. It certainly isn't Hutch, as she spends all of her time in an administrative role back home.

The other main problem is that I felt the book kind of bogged down and got a bit slow towards the middle. The main characters were spending most of their time observing an alien civilization, and there really wasn't much action. They observed minute details about the aliens, such as who was going to marketplaces, who was going to lectures, etc, and it just really wasn't that interesting. When the action finally picks up near the end, everything is very predictable. It's not as good as Deepsix or Chindi where you were really drawn into the struggle of the characters.

The final attempt at an explanation of what the omega clouds purpose is was a little weak. I won't spoil things by giving away any details, but I sure wouldn't mind if McDevitt forgot this ending and wrote another book that offered a better attempt at a final explanation.

McDevitt also kills off minor characters far too easily. I swear in each of his books, theres been some bonehead character who takes a laser cutter to some alien artifact with obvious results. I mean, these people are scientists, explorers, archaeologists, etc -- they should have more sense than they do.

All that being said, I would still recommend this book, especially if you've read the others in the series. The writing is good, and entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: A good read that could have been very good, but not great
Review: I have read several of Jack McDevitt's books and found them amiable, and usually engaging. His characters feel real, even if you would not want to spend a lot of time with them, not because they are bad, but they are just a little too sincere.

There was enough in Omega to keep my interest, but I got the sense that McDevitt was not sure what kind of book he was writing. It had elements of a thriller, but not one to raise my heart rate. It showed some of the challenges of cultural anthropology, but the natives themselves were not particularly compelling, though I do not think I will get the image of their orgies out of my head anytime soon. The book had political challenges which were promising, but were abandoned by the middle. The allocation of resources for a future crisis is an issue that has implications for our own time, and I would have liked to have seen more discussion. If not, it could have been left out.

I have noticed that McDevitt is good at creating mysteries and creating some interesting characters to pursue those mysteries, but the more time you spend with the characters the less compelling they become. The resolution to the mystery does not just remain hidden, but seems not to exist.

All in all, reading the book was a pleasant way to spend a dreary winter afternoon. I would like to see McDevitt push us a little harder. I have not given up on him, but I do not think I will invest much more time if his next book or two is not deeper and more exciting.