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Jack McDevitt
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Odyssey (The Academy Book 5) Kindle Edition

by Jack McDevitt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 521 ratings
See all formats and editions
To boost waning interest in interstellar travel, a mission is sent into deep space to learn the truth about "moonriders," the strange lights supposedly being seen in nearby systems. But Academy pilot Valentina Kouros and the team of the starship Salvator will soon discover that their odyssey is no mere public-relations ploy, for the moonriders are not a harmless phenomenon. They are very, very dangerous-in a way that no one could possibly have imagined.
Previous page
  1. Book 5 of 8
    The Academy
  2. Print length
    543 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Ace
  6. Publication date
    October 30, 2007
  7. Reading age
    18 years and up
  8. File size
    1233 KB
  9. Page Flip
    Enabled
  10. Word Wise
    Enabled
  11. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  12. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in the 23rd century, this straightforward adventure from Nebula-finalist McDevitt (Omega) explores the immorality of big business and the short-sightedness of the American government in minimizing support for space travel. These destructive forces are held off by the insight and brilliance of individuals such as the influential Gregory MacAllister, editor of a non-partisan journal, The Nation, and Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins, manager of a government-sponsored space-research agency, the Academy. While often on opposite sides of support for the Academy's research budget, MacAllister and Hutch together uncover and react to evidence that Orion Tours' CEO, Charles Dryden, is engaged in a massive conspiracy to jump-start his intergalactic tour business. MacAllister unmasks the others supporting Dryden's faked alien attacks, targeting a physicist who colluded in the hoax. His skepticism about space travel, however, prevents him from seeing the existence of real aliens, something Hutch must pursue at risk to her career. Subtract the "inspirational quotations" and the newspaper headlines appended to some chapters, and what's left is enough space travel, heroics and speculation about the history of the universe to satisfy most hard SF enthusiasts.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchinson's fifth adventure opens with the former starship pilot deskbound at the Academy (the twenty-third-century equivalent of NASA), which is facing catastrophic cuts to the space program. In a media campaign led by Hutch's old friend, acerbic newspaper editor Gregory MacAllister, pundits and politicians alike argue that the program's money would be better spent on the earthbound threats of global warming and disease. Perhaps not coincidentally, humans everywhere from Earth to Ophiuchi begin witnessing repeated visitations from "moonriders" (apparently alien spherical spacecraft), and they prompt an Academy investigative mission. To humor Hutch and grab a good story, MacAllister joins a spacebound team including a celebrated pilot and a senator's daughter. When the moonriders apparently redirect a few asteroids to destroy an orbiting hotel and narrowly bypass Earth, suspicions begin to emerge that the moonriders--and certain members of the Academy--may not be what they seem to be. McDevitt's energetic, character-driven prose serves double duty by exploring Earth's future political climate and forecasting the potential dangers awaiting humanity among the stars. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000W94EZG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ace; Reprint edition (October 30, 2007)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 30, 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1233 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 543 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 521 ratings

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Jack McDevitt

Jack McDevitt

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
521 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

ALittleNightMusic
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and well paced if a bit morose
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2019
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An excellent member of the Academy series, with enough action and philosophy. I find myself more and more disliking McAllister, however. He has no self-perspective regarding actually DOing anything as opposed to simply opposing everything. Anyway, an excellent read with some deep thoughts.
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Wildness
4.0 out of 5 stars A new direction in the universe of Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2007
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In this fifth installment, the start of a new chapter in the life and universe of Academy Captain Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins, McDevitt has taken the series started with *Engines of God* in a darker, more introspective direction (in regards to humanity). With less action and more pondering on the meaning of life (so to speak), this book focuses on the corruption of government and big business and the frailties of the human species as a society; all while investigating our place in the galaxy, the mass delusion of crowds, and our own hubris in the face of our limitations of understanding. This new direction has obviously turned off some of the series' fans, which is understandable as McDevitt sometimes seems to be on soapbox a bit too high; but, all and all this is strong effort and interesting new direction.

A few years after the people of Earth rallied together to stop the threat of the Omega Clouds and save an unsuspecting young civilization, Hutch has been promoted to the Director of Operations for the Academy of Space and Technology where she struggles with a nation's waning interest in space travel and exploration and the aging fleet of Superluminals that seems to be crumbling before her eyes. While she deals with the fallout of the failure and near loss of one of her ships, a spike in the reports of Moonriders (squadron-like groups of black spheres that buzz spaceships and research stations alike) brings attention to the issue of humans in space. First widely dismissed as figments of the imagination (much like UFOs of the 1950s and 1960s) or quantum anomalies or the visual affect of light on the observer, evidence seems to mount as an expedition to place monitors in the systems with a lot of recent reports actually observes through one of the monitors a Moonrider alter the course of an asteroid so it would impact a planet vibrant with non-intelligent life. An outcry ensues as the people of earth cry for intervention in the fate of this planet as well as a need for a space navy to protect Earth from the obviously hostile aliens.

At the same time, the Origins Project, a hypercollider placed almost 20 light years from earth, is on the verge of an experiment into the origin of the Big Bang. This has caught the attention of Gregory MacCallister (of *Deepsix* fame) - and seemingly the Moonriders - as it has been suggested by a physicist that the experiment could quite possibly rip a whole in the fabric if space and time. But, the revelation of a conspiracy in the midst of all of this threatens Hutch's career, the fate of the Academy and humanity as a whole.

Though a bit preachy at times, this is still a worthy addition to the "Chronicles of Hutch" series.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Slow moving, but excellent
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2017
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This is a book to read with patience. It is slow moving, but it reads like a National Geographic story.
The characters are interesting and believable. He created a future world where humans travel to the stars. It is hard science fiction at its best.
Jack McDevitt is a very talented writer. You enjoy his style as much as you enjoy the story. He reminds me of Jules Verne.
3 people found this helpful
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S. Crouch
3.0 out of 5 stars Competent but not great
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2006
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Being a long time fan of hard science fiction I look forward to all of Jack McDevitt's books. Sadly, "Odyssey" is not one of the best but it's still a reasonable read.

This is the latest book in the Priscilla Hutchin's series or Hutch as she is more often known. Hutch has moved into an administration job at the Academy (a 23rd century version of NASA)and is not having a good time. There is strong pressure to cut Academy funding and concentrate on earthbound problems such as the greenhouse effect (sound familiar?). It looks as if many interstellar missions and projects will have to be severely cut. She also has to deal with a boss who is a very poor people manager.

At the same time there are increasing reports of "Moonriders", strange spherical objects possibly of alien origin that appear around interstellar sites. Partly as a PR exercise for the Academy, an expedition is organised to place sensors to study these objects if they really exist. Gregory McAllister, one of the Academy's critics and a character in previous books is part of the crew together with the space cadet daughter of a senator who is also highly critical of Academy policy.

Predictably, the moonriders turn out to be real and dangerous and the final part of the book centres around the interstellar "Origins" project, a hypercollider intended to investigate the Big Bang in much greater detail than before. There are the usual space rescues and brushes with death but everything basically turns out okay in the end.

The main problem with this book is that it is glacially slow moving and nothing much really happens until close to the end. There are tantalising hints about why no intelligent life has yet been found in the galaxy which I thought might be resolved by the moonriders but nothing happens in this regard. It's really quite a disappointing book and I was expecting much more. There are enough Mcdevitt touches though for it to be worth three stars but only just.
17 people found this helpful
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Pil
4.0 out of 5 stars Another enjoyable old fashioned space adventure
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2006
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Jack McDevitt is one of the authors I look forward to the most. I love challenging, take-no-prisoners SF, but once a year it's great to settle down with an easy, enjoyable read. His writing is concise, his plots are clear, he has a great sense of humour and there are always heroes to cheer and wonders to discover. His science is always inventive and interesting.

The setting is Earth in the 23rd century, and most of the action takes place on "Academy" ships, science vessels exploring and investigating phenomena in deep space. Famed Academy pilot Hutch and some other familiar faces are back, and it's more fun if you have read at least one other Hutch story, but McDevitt makes sure that the novel can stand alone.

Only 4 stars because it doesn't have as much adventure as the other books in the series, but for a fast, fun read, 'Odyssey' doesn't disappoint.
6 people found this helpful
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Robert G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great read!
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2021
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I have always enjoyed Jack McDevitt's Books and this one is no different.
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Ellis Underwood
5.0 out of 5 stars She read part of the books at work that a coworker brought in and fell in love with the stories
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2017
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Bought these for my Fiance. She read part of the books at work that a coworker brought in and fell in love with the stories. She is no way a sci-fi fan but LOVES the Jack McDevitt stories. I am lovingly purchasing each book for her one at a time and watching her get into them.
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Philip K.
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable reading
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2014
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Have been reading the Hutch series and I am now up to the last book. I enjoyed the series, and will keep looking for more Jack McDevitt stories.
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Top reviews from other countries

DENNIS
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2024
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Another wonderful story from a master storyteller.Full of action intrigue and mystery from start to finish.This is a great read one you should not miss.
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Gerri
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent addition to my collection
Reviewed in Canada on July 29, 2018
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as with his other stories i was pulled in to another world and entertained till the end
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars First half is a bit slow, shines in second half
Reviewed in Germany on September 1, 2019
Verified Purchase
While it starts rather slow in the first half, pace picks up in the second half and it proves to be another great McDevitt book. I can't lie, I liked the former ones a bit better, but still nobody does it better than McDevitt (or for that matter MacAllister).
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NiN
4.0 out of 5 stars A good reading, a nice plot.
Reviewed in Italy on September 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
I found Odissey to be a very good book in the Academy series, the events flow nicely and I didn't find slow chapters. Recommended.
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Kindle Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in Australia on December 18, 2015
Verified Purchase
It's too preachy, while criticising the same.
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