For McDevitt fans and those who can't get enough space exploration adventure

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	• Cauldron Jack McDevitt Ace Hardcover, 2007 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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For McDevitt fans and those who can't get enough space exploration adventure

Jack McDevitt finally reveals the origins of the mysterious Omega Clouds, first introduced in "The Engines of God and explored further in "Omega." "Omega" promised answers, but all it really told the reader was what the Omega Clouds did, a little about their technology, and some further exploration of past races wiped out by encounters with the right-angle hating storms.

McDevitt fulfills the promise of explanations in "Cauldron," although like most of the great mysteries that McDevitt likes to pepper into his sci-fi novels, the answer is not as intriguing as the question. The real meat of the story here is his tale of a future human race that has the ability to navigate among the stars, but is quickly losing the interest. Much like the modern day space program the technology is amazing, but it has little practical use. At the opening of the novel the only people still interested in traversing the stars are tour groups to Alpha Centauri.

Unfortunately, McDevitt never really explores the implications or the solutions to such a state. He provides a miracle technology which allows the human race to go farther and faster than the previous hyperspace technology, but at the end of the novel they've explored deeper into the cosmos than anyone in his sci-fi universe and still haven't found anyone worth talking to.

That's not to say it's a bad novel. McDevitt's strength is at writing adventures in the shadow of a great mystery, and the adventures here are thrilling and memorable. He has more of his trademarked alien ruins and derelict space ships, and the story is gripping as long as danger is looming. Even the finale, while lacking in what I think should be a considerable amount of awe, is exciting. This feels like the last of McDevitt's Hutchins books, and it does have a conclusion to her story. It's been fun to watch Hutch age over the course of these novels in a way that few fictional characters are allowed to, and McDevitt allows her to go out with any melodramatic indignities.

McDevitt never does well when it comes time to shine a light into the dark corners he creates in his narratives. In Eternity Road he tossed off the explanation in a single sentance, without any further comment. Here, he gives it a bit more heft, but it still left me with a feeling of "that's it?" The mystery of the Omega Clouds was drawn out over 3 novels, and referenced in the background of at least 2 others, but the final revelation just seems a let down. Frustratingly, McDevitt also feels the need to tie up a couple other mysteries from his Hutchins series, and these again were more interesting as mysteries than as solutions.

I don't want to spoil it, but I will say that McDevitt seems to have attempted to answer not only his own mystery, but one of the great rhetorical questions of Star Trek history. He does have an answer, but it boggles my mind much more upon contemplation than it did when reading it.

However, aside from the unsatisfying mystery, the novel has plenty of adventure and space opera-esque thrills. Like all McDevitt books, as long as the biggest mystery answered is how to escape from the monster, it more than delivers.

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Voyage to the Core

Cauldron (2007) is the sixth SF novel in the Hutch series, following Odyssey. In the previous volume, the Moonriders destroyed the Origins project. After the incident, Priscilla Hutchins forced her boss to resign and then retired from the Academy.

In this novel, Hutch returned to the Academy when her children were grown, but retired again just before the Department of Technological Development absorbed its remains. The Department is gradually winding down the government space effort. The only ongoing spatial exploration is being conducted by the Prometheus Foundation.

Hutch still lectures on her experiences as well as the history of space exploration. Although many believe that space investigations should be left to the next generation, there is still enough interest to keep her busy giving presentations.

The Prometheus Foundation currently has only two ships. The Jenkins is investigating an Omega cloud when it finds a 1.2 billion years old derelict. The cloud has veered aside to destroy the object, so two of the scientists on the Jenkins board the derelict to discover as much as possible. But they stay too long in the artifact.

The scientists return from the derelict at the last minute and the Jenkins barely gets away before the cloud destroys the artifact. The main engines of the ship fail during the escape and are beyond repair. The crew and passengers have to be rescued by another vessel.

Now the only remaining ship owned by the Foundation is the Phyllis Preston. Prometheus is raising funds to buy another ship, but interest in space exploration is waning. Hutch attends the fundraiser and has an unusual encounter with Jon Silvestri, a physicist who worked with Henry Barber on the Locarno drive.

The current Hazeltine stardrive has limits that preclude exploration of the galactic center and other far off features. The Locarno drive seems to promise much greater range, but it hasn't yet worked properly. Since the death of Barber, Silvestri has continued to tinker with the drive and believes that it is ready for further space trials.

In this story, Hutch continues to be involved with the Locarno space trials. Although the initial test is unsuccessful, subsequent efforts show the feasibility of this approach. Eventually, the Prometheus Foundation funds a two ship voyage to the galactic core.

Matt Darwin is a former Academy starpilot who is now selling real estate. While he is very successful in his sales, Matt just can't shake the desire to return to space. He is instrumental in the first successful tests of the Locarno stardrive and is chosen as a pilot for the trip to the galactic core. Hutch becomes the starpilot of the second ship.

The galactic core is selected as the ultimate destination of the voyage because of the omega clouds. Backtracking the paths of many clouds point to the Mordecai Zone as the origin of these civilization killing objects. Since the drive transitions have limits, the planners also select several intermediate destinations.

This story takes the expedition to several features that have puzzled astronomers for some time. One of the intermediate visits is to Sigma 2711, the origin of the only SETI transmission received on Earth. The director of the project then -- Jason Hutchins -- was Hutch's father.

One plot element in this series has been overdone. Once again, Hutch gives in to a fervent request to explore the planet and someone dies in the field. Although the explorers are willing to take their chances, only Hutch realizes the risks they will face. She alone knows that the unexpected is most likely to kill them, but she lets them go anyway.

Recommended for McDevitt fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of galactic exploration, extraterrestrial planets, and intrepid explorers.

-Arthur W. Jordin

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

The year is 2255. 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. But when a young physicist unveils an efficient star drive capable of reaching the core of the galaxy, Hutch 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.