Book Review: THE LONG SUNSET by Jack McDevitt

(Title: The Long Sunset / Author: Jack McDevitt / Publisher: Saga / Publication Date: April 17, 2018)


Jack McDevitt is a veteran author of Science-Fiction who to date has penned over 20 novels, most of which encompass two long series - The Academy series starring Priscilla Hutchins and the Alex Benedict series starring well, Alex Benedict.  To be truthful, I'm much more of a fan of the former rather than the latter, so when I was given the opportunity to receive an advanced reader copy for his newest Academy book The Long Sunset, I jumped at the chance.  

The Academy is a series that I have been reading for the past 15 years.  The gist of the series is that we are may not be alone in the universe and The Academy is specifically designed to discover concrete evidence to confirm or deny the existence of an alien culture or intelligence living in deep space.  In the first book of the series, The Engines of God, monuments are found on various planets that were believed to be constructed by an alien race that may or may not be extinct.  So if you like, archaeological thrillers that are based on other planets, then this is a series that you should pick up and start reading immediately.  That being said, it's time to let you know what I thought about The Long Sunset.

The Long Sunset follows much of the same formula that has made this series a success, The Academy finds some sort of radio signal in space, they send Priscilla Hutchins to the approximate location to see what it is, lots of fun stuff happens from there.  It literally is the same formula that has carried these books since the late 90's and yet, it works.  To a certain degree it works, I should say.  I must admit that even though this felt like another enjoyable and comfortable Jack McDevitt read, I also felt like McDevitt's writing is just not as top-notch as it once was.  There were times when the dialogue felt a bit stilted and forced.  These times especially made their appearance when Priscilla was engaging in a romantic scene with her significant other.  


I don't know if it is because Jack is getting up there in years and is a little out of touch with the way thirty-something people who are attracted to each other speak now, but I suspect that might be some of it.  It seemed that I had more eye-rolling moments in this book than with any previous ones by Jack McDevitt.  Once you get past that, the actual adventure and mystery of the space signal is done pretty well.  Jack knows what works in this area and he really excels at building up the mystery before the reveal at the end.  This particular time, a radio signal that appears to be a musical arrangement is detected by the Academy somewhere in a distant star system and Priscilla Hutchins must pilot a spacecraft to attempt to determine the source of the transmission.  

Once there, Priscilla stumbles upon the usual planets with traces of what could only be determined to be dwellings or structures, yet appear to now be abandoned.  Who are they?  Will they show up again?  Were they wiped out?  Is it the same civilization that constructed the monuments from book one in the series?  Will any of these questions ever finally be put to bed in now this 8th Academy entry?  You can only find out if you read The Long Sunset by Jack McDevitt.

My feelings about the Long Sunset are disparate.  First, the story is the usual very good one filled with all of the classic science-fiction elements that make Jack McDevitt an entertaining writer and storyteller.  There are moments of awkwardness with the dialogue as I mentioned, but these aren't too distracting.  They just indicate that maybe Jack needs to stop trying to write romantic scenes or characters who are in a relationship.  


The second contrary feeling I had from this book though, and one that I am a bit sad about, is that this series may have run its course.  I enjoyed it yes, but I just couldn't help feeling that the bite wasn't there and by the end I was simply satisfied rather than being blown away like I usually am with a Jack McDevitt story.  I still thought it was a decent-enough read, but it lost a couple of points for me just because the formula might be getting a little stale at this point.  Maybe The Long Sunset is an apt title since this does seem to be a series in need of some closure.  I do recommend reading it, but I would start with book 1 and read them in order from the beginning to get the full experience.

(My Rating: 6/10)

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