The Engines of God
by Jack McDevitt
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jack McDevittEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994-10-01
ISBN: 0441000770
Number of pages: 419
Publisher: Ace Hardcover
Book Reviews of The Engines of God
Book Review: Intelligent Science Fiction with Action and Adventure to Boot
Summary: 5 Stars
Jack McDevitt is a thinking man's science fiction writer. With *Engines of God*, he introduces a new series and universe and a new hero in superluminal pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins. In the second space age for mankind, exploration of our Solar System found little of interest - especially, it found no life on other planets or moons - Mars was lifeless with no evidence of eve having any, no life was found on the ice moons of Jupiter and Saturn - nothing. Just when humanity was about to turn inward again and abandon the cost of space travel, a shocking discovery was made: an ice sculpture of a strange, alien, winged creature on a pedestal with an indecipherable inscription was found on Saturn's moon Iapetus; and a single alien foot print in the dirt. The space age was back on schedule as everyone wanted to know who the Monument-Makers (as they were dubbed) were. Soon after, FTL travel was made possible with the invention of the Hazeltine Drive that allowed the transition into another dimension where 1 light year could be covered in a little over an hour of time.
At the dawn of the 23rd century, human exploration of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way has discovered a total of twelve monuments, all built by the enigmatic Monument-Makers. Also discovered are a few dead civilizations and some false cities built on the moons of these now empty worlds that are constructed entirely of right angles with signs heavy bombardment. Also, Earth is struggling with centuries of environmental damage and there is a push to expand onto new worlds. On the planet Quraqua, all of these factors collide. It is a planet with one of these dead civilization, it has a monument, and one of the mysterious moon-bound fake cities that has been dubbed Oz; it has also been selected as a perfect candidate for terraforming and a new home to humans.
While the terraforming effort proceeds indifferently, the last archaeological expedition to the planet works feverously to extract what knowledge it can about the long dead alien world and the Monument-Makers who had obviously been there at the end. Hutch, the superluminal pilot sent by the Academy of Space and Technology to extract the expedition, must come to the rescue as the team of archaeologists struggle past the point no return to extract a large artifact trapped under the sea. Through her Herculean effort, she is able to save the team while also being the one to see the connection between the Monument-Makers and the false cities.
This discovery leads Hutch and the Archaeology team on a trek across light years as they piece together who the Monument-Makers were, where they came from, and the discovery of the reason for these false cities and dead civilizations that accompany them.
With equal parts adventure and intellectual thinking, *Engines of God* and the rest of the series (*Deepsix*, *Chindi*, *Omega*, *Odyssey*, and the soon to be released *Cauldron*) breathe fresh life into science fiction and take space exploration beyond mere space opera.
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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.
Summary of The Engines of God
In the late 2100s, archaeologists journey into outer space to seek the secret meaning of fourteen mysterious statues that had been found among the stars, uncovering ruins and following clues to the builders' identity to the farthest boundaries of the galaxy.Literature & Fiction Books
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