quartonews.it » Fantasy and Science Fiction » Cauldron

Download Cauldron djvu

by Jack McDevitt

Author:	Jack McDevitt
Subcategory:	Science Fiction
Language:	English
Publisher:	Ace Hardcover (November 6, 2007)
Pages:	384 pages
Category:	Fantasy and Science Fiction
Rating:	4.7
Other formats:	docx mbr txt mobi

Download DJVU Download EPUB

More...

FREE shipping on qualifying offers. Chosen as One of the Five Best SF Novels of the Year by Library Journal

FREE shipping on qualifying offers. Chosen as One of the Five Best SF Novels of the Year by Library Journal. When a young physicist unveils an efficient star drive capable of reaching the core of the galaxy.

Cauldron is the latest in McDevitt's Acadamy series. It involves a new hyperspace sort of engine, allowing the characters to travel to the Galactic core and solve three different mysteries, two from previous books. On the plus side, it has plenty of Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins in it.

She was glad the mission had gone well, but she was clearly upset. It was probably guys again. Maureen fell in and out of love regularly. But she wasn’t inclined to relay the details. led how little she’d told her own mother. Remembered how shocked the woman had been when she’d announced she was going off to pilot superluminals. Stay home, she’d advised. Find a good man. Is this what we sent you to school for? Do you have any idea how much that cost? Everything okay, love?. Maureen was an attractive young woman

Chosen as One of the Five Best SF Novels of the Year by Library Journal

The academy that trained the starfarers is long gone and veteran star pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins spends her retirement supporting fund-raising efforts for The Prometheus Foundation, a privately funded organization devoted to deep space exploration.

Cauldron is a science fiction novel by American author Jack McDevitt. It is the sixth novel in the Academy series, featuring Priscilla Hutchins. Humanity now generally disregards spaceflight, and space exploration is in massive decline.

Chosen as One of the Five Best SF Novels of the Year by Library Journal

Chosen as One of the Five Best SF Novels of the Year by Library Journal. When a young physicist unveils an efficient star drive capable of reaching the core of the galaxy, veteran star pilot Priscilla ?Hutch? Hutchins finds herself back in the deepest reaches of space, and on the verge of discovering the origins of the deadly omega clouds that continue to haunt her. show more.

Jack McDevitt is a former naval officer, taxi driver, English teacher, and motivational trainer, and is now a full-time writer. Eleven of his novels have been Nebula finalists, and SEEKER won the award in 2007. In 2015 Jack won the Robert A. Heinlein Award, given an author of outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space. McDevitt was selected as the winner in recognition of his body of work, which includes over 21 novels and 81 short stories. McDevitt lives in Georgia with his wife Maureen.

When a young physicist comes up with an efficient star drive capable of reaching the core of the galaxy, retired star pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins once again embarks on a perilous mission into the far reaches of outer space to uncover the origins of the deadly Omega clouds, in the follow-up to Odyssey.

Comments:

LØV€ YØỮ

Someone tell McDevitt that an impostor stole his name and wrote what i assume was a short story dragged out to book-length, where the great Hutch character was turned into a muppet and the answer to the great omega cloud mystery was turned into a joke. An OK read, but his editor should've said "try again when you've got a clue to what you actually want to write, and how to write it." It's just the other books were so good! What the heck happened? I have the Hutch prequel Starhawk to read next and fingers are crossed...

p.s. Starhawk was excellent.And it even leaves a little hint about the ending scenario of Cauldron to either justify it, or perhaps lead to another book where someone from far far away comes looking for Hutch?

Naa

Cauldron -

I have found McDevitt's stories strangely compelling, despite the many throwaway characters and the only stable person, Hutch, at times making incredible decisions in her life, you just have to slap your forehead and ask why. Why? Because I like space adventure and a great female lead.

After reading the Hutchins' series of novels, I had to read Cauldron. The Cauldron is a place at the center of our galaxy that the omega clouds come from - strange machines, light-years wide, that destroy anything at right angles, i.e. buildings.

After a confrontation with one at the start of the story, we first get an update on what has been happening with Hutchins. That's fine, but the domestic stuff goes on and on way more than necessary. I want to get to the good stuff.

Faster than light travel is about to be trumped by a new drive that may save the space program, as more humans want to forget about space exploration and stay on planet Earth. This of course is a criticism of the same things now with NASA. We have not been on the Moon in decades and unmanned probes have taken the place of manned missions. (Frankly I thought I'd be on Mars Station by this time!). But I digress.

After a half a book of handwringing we finally make it back in space: an ex-pilot cum real estate agent who gets to go back in space, a man who invented the new space drive and wants to take some ships out for a spin and Hutchins, who had sworn never to do deep space exploration but what the heck, just this one more time. Yeowza.

Spaces and Places:

The Chindi - we find where it finally came from, but unfortunately the planet they discover is a 20th century technology of frumpy aliens who live a very long time. The A.I. on board, trying to translate their language confuses physics with physical. Hey, it happens.

The Omega - we find it possessed by an entity who, as one reviewer mentioned, is similar to the alien God in the film Star Trek V. Trek fans take note.

Sigma - hey, cool planet with lizards that blend into snow. I liked it!

Bottom Line:

Overall enjoyable. I liked how the new Earth looks, what global warming has finally done, and Hutchins' new love life and family. I enjoyed ex-pilot Mike's exploration back into the unknown and that he no longer felt archaic. And finally liked how new inventions still often meet with opposition - nice tension there. If you followed the novels from the first, you may be disappointed. But the book stands on its own.

Recommended.

Beazekelv

I've read all the books leading up to this 'climax'. This was supposed to answer the mystery of the Omega Clouds. You know they are going to fly to the center of the galaxy, because the back of the book says so. Yet, the first 200 pages of the book describe the story of how the group of travelers come about getting the funding for building a space ship that works. But you ALREADY KNOW they are going on the trip!!! So the first 200 pages is meaningless, and BORING!

Then, they meet the alien species that built the ships in the book called Chindi, a book that I mostly enjoyed. What a let down. I swear this guy has no imagination. They make one more pitt stop on the way to the galactic core, but find nobody home.

So at the climax, they get to the galactic core. They find the source of the Omega Clouds. And I don't even have the words to describe how unrealistic, boring, anti-climactic, and absurd their encounter was with this 'intelligence' they find at the galactic core.

McDevitt comes up with lots of neat ideas, but then through laziness or lack of imagination, he fails to develop those ideas. In this book, they find an artifact that is 1.2 billion years old. But then it gets blown up before anyone learns anything about it. The encounters that the crew does have with aliens are poorly thought out and completely lack imagination.

DrayLOVE

In the latest--and likely last--of his Priscilla Hutchins adventures, author Jack McDevitt wraps up the series-long mystery of the Omega Clouds. We first encountered them in The Engines of God and were tantalized with not-quite-enough more information in Omega. They emanate from the center of the galaxy and abhor and annihilate artifacts built by intelligent beings and anyone standing next to them. Hutch bludgeons reluctant funding sources into refitting a ship with a new drive that places the center of the galaxy within reach. After assembling a crew of familiar faces from previous books in the series, she sets out to solve the mystery once and for all.

She does, unfortunately. After a three-book build-up, we see the little man behind the curtain--and mourn the shadowy wizard who once impressed and terrified us. There is nothing left but to return home and pick up our lives. Long-term McDevitt fans should read this book for the closure it provides and for one more journey with familiar and beloved characters. That experience is worth the price of admission and time spent. But this series might have ended better, with more of a bang than a whimper.

eBooks related to Cauldron:

Download Starships of the Galaxy (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) djvu

Download Crystal Flame (Five Star Romance) djvu

Download Splinter of the Mind's Eye (Star Wars) djvu

Download ST9: Fallen Heroes (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) djvu