Deepsix: 2 (Academy Series (Priscilla Hutchins)) - Softcover

McDevitt, Jack

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061020060 ISBN 13: 9780061020063

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2002

Synopsis

In the year 2204, tragedy and terror forced a scientific team to prematurely evacuate Maleiva III. Nineteen years later, a rogue moon hurtling through space is about to obliterate the last opportunity to study this rare, life-supporting planet. With less than three weeks left before the disaster, superluminal pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins -- the only even remotely qualified professional within lightyears of the ill-fated planet -- must lead a small scientific team to the surface to glean whatever they can about its lifeforms and lost civilizations before time runs out. But catastrophe awaits when they are stranded on this strange and complex world of puzzles and impossibilities. And now Hutch and her people must somehow survive on a hostile world going rapidly mad -- as the clock ticks toward apocalypse for a doomed enigma now called...

About this title

Review:

Deepsix is concerned with the motivating force that drives all scientists--the quest for truth, for expanding the limits of human knowledge. How much are we willing to risk for that moment of discovery, of knowing what no other soul yet knows? Our time? Our reputations? Our careers? Our lives?

The premise is this-just weeks before the planet Deepsix will be destroyed by a collision with a gas giant, ruins are detected on its surface, suggesting the presence of civilisation. The Academy diverts scientists from the nearest spaceship to go down and explore, and they are joined by their century's Ellsworth Toohey: a misogynistic, sanctimonious gadfly who has never before been off of Earth's surface. The party's landers are destroyed in an earthquake induced by the approaching gas giant, so now they must find a way to get off Deepsix before it is destroyed by the collision. Needless to say, their excavations are placed on the back burner.

The science and technology, both the physics describing the space travel and the archaeology used to reconstruct the lost culture of Deepsix, are interesting and explained well. There is plenty of action and suspense-will the party survive? And the evolving characters and group dynamics are more complex than those usually found in science fiction books, making Deepsix a worthwhile read. --Diana Gitig, Amazon.com

Review:

"The tension hums and twangs throughout; add on the intriguing exploration of an ancient alien civilization, and the life-sized characters: another triumph for the splendid McDevitt."--"Kirkus" (starred review) "McDevitt's captivating scenario plays out in a surprisingly straightforward manner. His writing is sometimes a bit fulsome, but being able to follow a single story line to its conclusion, without numerous subplots and disjointed passages, is refreshing. Hopefully, McDevitt will give us more stories from this universe."--"Booklist""Deepsix"?[is] the most controlled and complete of McDevitt's books, where character, setting, and motifs come together: the cast of flawed and heroic people?The result is an individual vision, a space that manages to be near Poul Anderson, Clifford Simak, and Fred Pohl?Interesting neighborhood, no?"--"Locus""Those who like their science hard and their alien adventures bloody will enjoy this latest from Philip K. Dick Award runner-up McDevitt."--"Publishers Weekly Praise for JACK McDEVITTand his previous novelINFINITY BEACH:

?Jack McDevitt is that splendid rarity, a writer who is a storyteller first and a science fiction writer second?.I simply could not put it down. You're going to love it even if you think you don't like science fiction.?--Stephen King?[It] unfolds as precisely as an origami flower and will hold readers in thrall.?--"Publishers Weekly (* Starred Review *) ?A writer capable of haunting beauty and sharp insight?[who] will carry you along by the sheer force of enthusiasm and loaded prose.?--"Locus""Gripping mystery, taut intrigues...and fascinating aliens; an altogether splendid, satisfying puzzle." --"Kirkus" (starred review) ?Awell-crafted, hard-to-put-down story?.a fast-moving, intelligent and clever science fiction adventure-mystery that is well worth reading.?--"Orlando Sentinel"

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0061020060
• ISBN 13: 9780061020063
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 528