Odyssey Index
Nebula Nomination for Odyssey
The Author Comments: Odyssey
Introduction to Odyssey
Prolog
Awards & Honors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Reviews"McDevitt's imaginative world stretches between the poles of Home and Out There — and as strange and wonderful and terrifying as Out There can be, Home is where his heart is." — Locus "...McDevitt's writing is crisp and flowing, leaving no plot line twisting in the wind...." — Florida Times Union "—A low-key, reasonably surprising and involving tale...." — Kirkus Reviews "McDevitt's energetic, character-driven prose serves double duty by exploring Earth's future political climate and forecasting the potential dangers awaiting humanity among the stars." — Booklist "The author of Chindi and other novels featuring the academy succeeds in visualizing a believable future of space exploration as well as believable peronalities whose lives and loves put a human face on scientific speculation. Expert storytelling and a thorough grounding in hard science strongly recommend this for most libraries. — Library Journal "...Not everything is what it seems.... Recommended." — Analog |
November 2006: Odyssey
The world has discovered, despite all the promises held out by the champions of interstellar travel, that it offers few prospects for economic advantage. Public funding and private contributions for the Academy have been drying up. Even sightings of mysterious lights in the sky, once called UFO's, now known as moonriders, draw only skepticism.
In an effort to recapture some of the glamor of earlier years, the Academy plans a well-publicized mission ostensibly to seek the truth about the moonriders. The mission will visit tour spots where they've been seen, while simultaneously — the real purpose of the flight — giving the general public a chance to get a good look at the magnificent orbiting temple left by the Monument-Makers thousands of years ago at 61 Cygni; at Terranova, the first world discovered with multi-cellular life forms; at the Origins Project, a hyper-accelerator thousands of miles long beyond 36 Ophiuchi; at Beta Comae Berenices, with its sungrazer; and at other famous locations in the solar neighborhood. In what she hopes will be a good public relations stroke, Hutch persuades the caustic Academy critic Gregory MacAllister to make the flight.
But the moonriders, never more than a semi-mythical presence, become suddenly aggressive. No one knows why until MacAllister sees a rationale during the celebrated hellfire trial.