Jack McDevitt
Polaris (2004)
Author: Jack McDevitt
Genre: Science Fiction (Storyteller Focus)/Mystery (Amateur Detective)
Plot Summary:
After sixty years of trying to solve the unsolveable Polaris case, the government is finally willing to sell the artifacts it held for investigation. The case involves the mysterious disappearance of all of the passengers on the space ship Polaris, who disappeared while the ship was in empty space. Antiquities dealers Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath are the first to purchase items taken from Polaris. These items soon become the only Polaris artifacts remaining when a bomb destroys the building in which the Polaris collection was kept. Soon, mysterious strangers start making inquiries into the Polaris artifacts Alex and Chase have bought. The more Alex and Chase look into the backgrounds of the strangers and the mystery of the Polaris, the more dangerous their lives become. The strangers have no traceable background, and every time Alex and Chase follow what may be a promising lead, an attempt is made on their lives. SPOILER: In search for answers as to who the mysterious strangers are, and convinced that these strangers have something to do with the solution of the Polaris mystery, Alex and Chase decide to go back to the site of the Polaris incident to see if they can figure out what happened. They find an abandonded outstation forty-five light years away from where the Polaris was found, and determine that the passengers got off the Polaris there, then the pilot flew to open space, where the ship was found. The pilot, Maddy English, snuck on board the rescue ship, and hid until she could go back and retrieve the Polaris' passengers. Having effectively disappeared from society, Maddy English and the six other passengers took the opportunity to sample a new treatment designed by one of the passengers to stop the ageing process. The treatment not only worked, but also reversed the signs and symptoms of aging, allowing the passengers to be unrecognized. By assuming false identities which cannot be traced, the passengers have lived on Rimway for the past sixty years, and they are the mysterious strangers who have been following Alex and Chase. Afraid that the artifacts Alex and Chase have would reveal their secret, the now immortal passengers of the Polaris had been trying to keep Alex and Chase from investigating the Polaris. Alex and Chase discover all of this when they find the outstation. Afraid of discovery, Maddy English follows Alex and Chase to the outstation and tries to kill them, but Maddy is killed instead. When Alex and Chase find and confront the other passengers about their actions and the need to share the formula for immortality with the rest of civilization, the passengers pull off another disappearance.
Geographical Setting: Deep space, various space stations, planets inhabited by humans other than Earth, specifically the city Andiquar on the planet Rimway
Time Period: Far Future (1428th year since the World Foundation of Associated States)
Series: Book Two in the Alex Benedict series
Appeal Characteristics:
While McDevitt does have to take time explaining the time period, setting, and especially the workings of the many electronic gadgets used in Polaris, he still manages to keep a fairly fast pace that keeps the reader interested. Many of the explanations are given in conversations, which helps keep the plot moving. The setting of a far future where humans inhabit multiple worlds yet still worry about overpopulation and famine (but not much about aliens) is believable, and helps raise some questions about the effects of overpopulation and immortality on the human race. However, McDevitt doesn't get too bogged down with a sense of the seriousness of his philosophical questions, allowing the book to keep a tense tone focused on the resolution of the Polaris case. Since this is a classic "locked room" mystery set in the future, some resemblance can be found between Alex Benedict and Sherlock Holmes and Chase Kolpath and Dr. Watson. The characters not only play the same roles as those in Sherlock Holmes, but the mystery can be solved by the reader just as one can solve the mystery in Sherlock Holmes.
Read-alikes: Readers who enjoyed Polaris for its setting in the far off future and for its discussion of the fate of the human race may like Dark as Day by Charles Sheffield. Polaris discusses overpopulation and immortality, Dark as Day discusses a cataclysmic event which may destroy civilization. Both stories also have characters who are interested in antiquities. Polaris' Alex and Chase are antiquities dealers, Dark as Day's Bat is constantly searching for additions to his collection of objects from the Great War. Dark as Day is the second novel in Sheffield's Cold as Ice series. Those who enjoyed Polaris' combination of mystery and science fiction may also enjoy Venus Preserved by Tanith Lee. Both novels discuss the question: What would happen to the human race if humans were genetically altered? Polaris deals with characters who have figured out how to become immortal, Venus Preserved clones people who were murdered. Another science fiction/mystery that may be of interest is Thomas Harlan's Wasteland of Flint. Both novels involve searching for people who have disappeared in deep space. The use of artifacts and antiquities as clues is also implemented in both novels. Those who enjoyed Polaris specifically for its science fiction elements may try a classic science fiction novel such as Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both novels deal with technology which cannot be trusted, and both involve characters who are smarter than average and must be relied on to save the human race. Those who were intrigued by the "locked room mystery" element of Polaris may want to try the Father Brown mystery series by G.K. Chesterton. Jack McDevitt cites this series as his inspiration for Polaris. The Innocence of Father Brown is the first book in the series. Those who still want the otherworldly quality of science fiction may prefer Chesterton's fantasy mystery novel, The Man Who Was Thursday.
Red Flags: theft, explosions, attempted murders
Seeker (2005)
Author: Jack McDevitt
Genre: Science Fiction (Adventure/Mystery)
Plot Summary:
On the planet Rimray, Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath are high-tech antiquarians in a high-tech far future. When a young woman appears at their doorstep with a cup over 9,000 years old from a mythic ship called the Seeker, Alex believes they have the opportunity to make the discovery of a lifetime. The Seeker was said to have taken renegade upper-class people of a totalitarian Earth to colonize a planet of unknown whereabouts called Margolia. SPOILER: After some heavy-duty sleuthing, Alex and Chase find the remains of Margolia and the Seeker. Upon their return to Rimray the shuttle that, had Alex not been in the mood for a long celebration dinner, was supposed to carry them home explodes. It is later discovered that the source was a specially placed bomb. Alex and Chase must figure out who is trying to kill them while simultaneously working on the mystery behind the extinction of Margolia and the possibility of survivors on another planet.
Geographical Setting: The planet Rimway and the far reaches of the galaxy
Time Period: 1429 Rimway Calendar (approx. 10,000 years into the future)
Series: 3rd book in Alex Benedict Series
Appeal Characteristics:
Seeker will appeal to those that enjoy a compelling read. It is 'written' by Chase Kolpath who speaks to the reader at times almost as if she is writing a letter to the future. Despite the mostly first person narrative, the characters appear to be somewhat distant in favor of the action-packed, issue oriented plot. The tone of the novel is at times suspenseful, at times humorous. Chase is direct in her telling of the story but the small bit of science fiction jargon used is unexplained. Overall, the reader will enjoy the carefully placed details of the future setting and the highly satisfying ending.
Read-alikes: Those that enjoy theorizing about how far artificial intelligence may go and want another engrossing first person sci-fi mystery tale should try Old Twentieth by Joe Haldeman. It is about a future world society who has discovered immortality through pill dosage and start to entertain themselves through 'murder' by going back in time via a virtual reality machine. When they actually start dying after they enter the machine, it is up to the engineer of the program to discover the reason. People who were interested in reading more about the colonization of a Margolia and the implications of dealing with the home planet Earth would enjoy the Nebula award-winning political epic Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, about the colonization of Mars and the complications that come with that choice. Those that enjoy a great sci-fi mystery in an intriguing future universe will want to read Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. It is a countless sci-fi award-winner about the discovery of a mysterious cylinder ship which appears near Earth and the suspenseful exploration that follows. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold is a space opera which may appeal to those who enjoyed the bantering between Chase and Alex. It is a sci-fi romance about a strong woman in a barbaric newly discovered world. Readers who want another sci-fi adventure about unknown territory may also be inclined to try the Philip K. Dick winner FourHundred Billion Stars by Paul J. McAuley about a telepathic heroine in a time of war who travels to an uncharted planet to find helpful information about the enemy.
Red Flags: Sci-Fi Jargon, some violence and language.
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