Thunderbird
Jack McDevitt
Ace Books
Hardcover $26.95
ebook $13.99
Jack McDevitt’s latest novel takes up where Ancient Shores left off. This is not a stand-alone novel, although it’s not absolutely necessary to have read the first book. He focuses on different characters to some extent in this one. While McDevitt introduces dozens of characters whose lives are affected by the discovery of The Roundhouse, interstellar portal discovered on a Sioux reservation, his central character is Sioux Chairman James Walker.
Walker is not in an enviable position. The President, the UN, the press, and his own tribe are all pressuring him. Some want him to shut down or destroy The Roundhouse. Others want access to it. And some want to use it to colonize the tropical paradise world they’ve come to call Eden.
Walker tries to walk a careful path, not rushing and not making long term sacrifices for short term gains.
As the exploration of the other worlds continues, the Sioux and their companions make some startling discoveries. Some of them are the types of things you would expect them to find in a novel of this kind. Others are quite surprising, although some were hinted at in Ancient Shores. That was the best part of the novel for me, the discoveries and the sense of mystery they brought to the story.
McDevitt has Walker proceed cautiously. This works well to build suspense, especially once they extend their travels beyond the three worlds they visited in Ancient Shores and intelligent aliens begin to come into play.
McDevitt does an excellent job of showing all the different ways such a discovery could impact society. It’s clear he’s thought carefully about the implications of the scenario he’s developed. I was also impressed not only by how he kept track of so many minor viewpoint characters, but he made it easy for me to keep track of them. McDevitt shows all sorts of reactions to The Roadhouse. Fear, wonder, and excitement.
The only thing I didn’t like about the book was the ending. While I understand the reasons Walker has for the decisions he makes, I don’t agree with it. But that’s just me.
I’d like to thank Ace Books for the review copy of Thunderbird. It’s a great science fiction novel, full of wonder, awe, adventure, suspense, and heart. Check out both it and Ancient Shores.