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    Ancient Shores
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    Ancient Shores
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    Ancient Shores
    Ebook428 pages6 hours

    Ancient Shores

    By Jack McDevitt

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    It turned up in a North Dakota wheat field: a triangle, like a shark's fin, sticking up from the black loam. Tom Lasker did what any farmer would have done. He dug it up. And discovered a boat, made of a fiberglass-like material with an utterly impossible atomic number. What it was doing buried under a dozen feet of prairie soil two thousand miles from any ocean, no one knew. True, Tom Lasker's wheat field had once been on the shoreline of a great inland sea, but that was a long time ago -- ten thousand years ago.

    A return to science fiction on a grand scale, reminiscent of the best of Heinlein, Simak, and Clarke, Ancient Shores is the most ambitious and exciting SF triumph of the decade, a bold speculative adventure that does not shrink from the big questions -- and the big answers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061802102
    Unavailable
    Ancient Shores
    Author

    Jack McDevitt

    Jack McDevitt is the author of A Talent for War, The Engines of God, Ancient Shores, Eternity Road, Moonfall, and numerous prize-winning short stories. He has served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, taught English and literature, and worked for the U.S. Customs Service in North Dakota and Georgia.

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    Reviews for Ancient Shores

    3.5/5

    224 ratings19 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Good ideas in this novel about proof of alien existence, but it reads more like an outline than a fleshed-out book
    • 3/5
      ::sigh:: it's passable, i guess, but it's simplistic and sloppy too. reads like a 50s-70s sf novel of a certain type, you know? and i have to admit that it's kinda depressing to read right at the moment, in the summer of 2016, when it compels me to recognize way too much of the greed, paranoia, ruthlessness, and default to violence it portrays. should i give it the extra half-star for verisimilitude? nah, it's too lazy in all its assumptions, not to mention its execution. didn't like the ending either, which exploited and misused all the real-life characters it suddenly introduced.
    • 2/5
      Flawed characters discover amazing artifact that can change the world. Enjoyed the first half as they overcome different challenges on their quest of discovery. Then it all falls apart, as the world's reaction changes everything. At this point, so does the book.
    • 5/5
      Compelling story with a lot of believable imagination. Great tale that makes one think!
    • 4/5
      When you are turning the soil on your farm you expect to find rocks. Or some trash. What you do not expect is a yacht - complete with sails and rigging. And when the yacht leads to more artifact, everyone in the country start wondering what all that is - especially when it turns out that the boat is made from an element that cannot exist. McDevitt constructs the novel around these discoveries - with the whole paranoia and craziness that it entails - all happening on a Native American land does not help matters much. The scientists have their own ideas of how to handle things but politics and economy get into the picture. That's a part of the story that SF authors do not cover that often - the story of how we discover things is always fascinating but what happens to humanity at the background is even more fascinating. McDevitt chooses an interesting way to show us what is happening - introducing characters for a page or so and never mentioning them again; using newspapers' and books and TV segments to show what happens outside of the story. And all that adds up to a background that allows you to see what is really happening. I am not sure how much I liked the end - it felt almost like deus ex machina - it was an interesting way to wrap things up but I wish that things were actually resolved inside of the novel, with everyone involved. The novel blends a lot of social issues - from private property and race relationships to religion and beliefs (and both things are not the same thing). And under the whole story is another one - about responsibility and trust and who has the right to make decisions about something that influences humanity.
    • 3/5
      Fort Moxie lent itself to timelessness. There were no major renovation projects, no vast cultural shifts imposed by changing technology, no influxes of strangers, no social engineering. The town and the broad prairie in which it rested were caught in a kind of time warp.A farmer works his land in the far reaches of North Dakota — just a few miles away from the Canadian border. Something pokes from the flat lands that he calls home. He lives in a large basin of prairie-land, farms and flat as far as the eye can see. “The plain stretched out forever.”It’s manmade. Clearly not of the land. The farmer digs it up and finds that the cylinder is just the beginning. It’s connected to something even larger… a mast. Underneath is the rest of the sailboat. Buried in ground that’s been a prairie for millions of years.The discovery of the sailboat is the launching point for Jack McDevitt’s short novel of first-contact, Ancient Shores, originally published in 1996. It’s a complex tale of humanity’s discovery that we’re not alone.The cover of many newer copies of Ancient Shores and other McDevitt fare includes a quote from Stephen King referencing that McDevitt is “the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.” I’m not sure if King’s quote planted the seed, but I see much of Clarke in Ancient Shores. McDevitt’s language is straightforward, spare in its characterizations and sparse in its exposition. It’s a complex tale told in simple terms. His themes are common (first contact, mysterious alien artifacts, the cultural and political reactions to alien discoveries), but not all are dealt with in the most common nor expected of ways.Word of the farmer’s discovery spreads beyond the small towns of North Dakota and speculation broadens around the aliens and their advanced technologies. Scientists are unable to determine what the boat is made of, however it’s beyond human ability to manufacture. And as word leaks out, rumors of a super-material starts hitting the boardrooms of leading manufacturers… leading to a broader theme whole of economic impact and industrial collapse.Two individuals orbit McDevitt’s plot, though I found them thin and largely unmemorable. Max Collingwood restores and sells military warplanes, and rather than developing Max’s internally driven motivations through action, McDevitt lays out his personality very clearly. Max… had no taste for military life or for the prospect of getting shot at. His father, Colonel Maxwell E. Collingwood, USAF (retired), to his credit, tried to hide his disappointment in his only son. But it was there nonetheless, and Max had, on more than one occasion, overheard him wondering aloud.April Cannon is a chemical scientist who first establishes that the material used to manufacture the boat didn’t come from any known process or chemical makeup. She’s single, Max is single and there’s a smidgen of a love connection, but like much of the characters that float around McDevitt’s story, it’s background hum to the ongoing alien mystery.The Plains on which North Dakota sits “had been the basin for Lake Agassiz, the inland sea whose surface area had been broader than that of the modern Great Lakes combined. Agassiz. Long gone now.”April and Max theorize that whomever left the boat must’ve been cruising Lake Agassiz. And who cruises without having a dock? So they search and dig and find a structure buried close to the edge of the ancient lake. The location is on the reservation of a Sioux tribe, which drives a key theme to the story… the inherent conflict and contradictions between the ancient world and the modern. And the rather clear analogy between the “discovered” becoming the “discoverer.”Buried deep beneath the Sioux reservation, positioned precisely to have served as a dock for a sailing ship the size of what was discovered just a few miles away, sits The Roundhouse. The Roundhouse is actually a portal, or a stargate. With the proper pressure placed on one of a few symbols carved into the walls, a person or object is transferred (not unlike a Star Trek transporter) to a seemingly distant location. At first it’s a Cupola in an Eden-like jungle on the edge of a lake. Another symbol takes the traveler to a seemingly endless maze, confusing, unbalanced and with more than a hint of the travelers not being alone.The mystery deepens when a ghost-like entity follows the travelers into our world, from somewhere through the Roundhouse. It affects people in different ways. Some turn angry, some feel an incredible “otherness” of being. The invisible force makes the rounds in North Dakota. Some people hear voices… hear their name being called.Ancient Shores made me reflect on Carl Sagan’s Contact. The discovery of other beings is just the core of the story, around which its impact is explored to greater and lesser degrees. McDevitt prods into the societal, religious and economic impacts of the discovery. He delves more deeply into the political impact of the alien discovery, and the military and religious factors that drive a face off at the Roundhouse between the Sioux guardians and U.S. Government heavies. He incorporates interludes of how people are affected, and how the discovery is treated in the media. A scientist is interviewed on TV: A long time ago somebody with advanced technology went sailing on Lake Agassiz. They tied up at least once to a tree or a pier. I think if we accept the results of the analysis, we are forced to one of two conclusions. Either there were people living here at the end of the last ice ago who were technologically more advanced that we are… Or we have had visitors.The story ends. Rather abruptly. The conclusion, within the context of this single volume, is satisfying enough. But there are no answers, no sweeping consequence that addresses the key questions: who are the intellectual beings that created the stargate and where have they gone. Ancient Shores is ripe for a sequel that has just arrived… fortunately for you reading this at a minimum of 19 years after Ancient Shores was originally published. Thunderbird was published just this month, and yes, it delves into the unanswered questions left on McDevitt’s ancient shores.As a short preface to many chapters in the book, McDevitt quotes a poem from the fictional Walter Asquith, aptly named Ancient Shores. I made a note to review all of the appropriate chapter headings after I completed the book and compiled the poem for this review. I found it a solid conclusion and framework for McDevitt’s story. …Glides through misty seas With its cargo of time and space… The distant roar of receding time… This antique coast, Washed by time… For the moonlit places where men once laughed Are now but bones in the earth… Shopkeepers, students, government officials, farmers, Ordinary men and women, they came, And were forever changed… In all that vast midnight sea, The light only drew us on… The true power centers are not in the earth. But in ourselves.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      From the airport fiction end of the sci fi spectrum - but a rolicking yarn.Read in Samoa Mar 2003
    • 3/5
      Two things surprised me about this book: that it was Nebula nominee, and that the sequel didn't come out for 9 years. I usually enjoy McDevitt in novel form, but this was pedestrian and only seemed to exist to set up a new series. Unlike most of his books, it's not far future space travel, but basically present tense. A boat is found buried on a farm in North Dakota, and it quickly becomes clear it's at least 10,000 years old and of alien origin. What happens next -- an abandoned alien portal -- is no surprise, nor are there any surprises for the entire book. Everything plays out just every other version of this story you've seen, just more slowly, with Native American rights thrown in. McDevitt apparently wanted that story to be the focus, but since he never gets inside his Native American characters, there's no story there. He spends more time inside the head of a TV evangelist for a thread that goes nowhere. Move along. There's nothing to see here.
    • 2/5
      It had some wonderful concepts, but was a little poorly executed. The ending was extremely rushed, as mostly fell apart completely in the last couple chapters.
    • 2/5
      Jack McDevitt is a pretty good writer. I’ve enjoyed a couple of his series. He’s thoughtful, has interesting ideas, and thinks big. But he has some weaknesses too. For one thing, many of his books border on boring. Not much happens. Compared to other sci fi books out there, his books are antiquated. I know they’re mysteries masquerading as sci fi, but God, they drag. By the time you’ve discovered the three or four major things/events in his books, you’ve read 400-500 pages and not much has actually happened. I’ve always thought his books could be cut in half (by page count) and still get his ideas across.Ancient Shores is an example of McDevitt’s propensity for boredom. He tends to start slow and slowly work up to major points or events, but it usually takes half the book and I find I no longer have the patience with him that I once had. In this book, a farmer finds something unusual on his land. It’s a completely buried yacht, a ship we soon find out is made of material no one on Earth currently possesses in terms of the technology it would take to manufacture any of it. By the time I got to page 81, the boat has been pulled out of the ground and tourists are coming to look at it. The farmer’s friend and his scientist colleague who has made these secret discoveries are asking the local Native Americans to look over and possibly do some digging on their land. Maybe that sounds like a lot to you, but trust me, it drags. Boy, does it drag. And I’m sorry, while finding an ancient buried yacht with futuristic technology is certainly sci fi, I like a little more diversity and action in most of my sci fi novels these days. For instance, I’ve been reading Alastair Reynolds, Thomas Harlan, John Barnes, and Peter Hamilton. There’s just so much more there. So, I gave/am giving up on this book before finishing it. I’ve started doing that recently because I’m no longer content to read hundreds of pages that don’t satisfy me when there are so many other books available that do. This book probably appeals to many people, especially those who like sci fi mysteries, but it’s too dull for me. Two stars and not recommended.
    • 5/5
      Explores the revelation that Earth was a destination of some advanced alien culture. Very reminiscent of A C Clark.
    • 3/5
      The mix of Archaeology and bureaucracy is never easy. I enjoyed the book as an exercise in studying the curious American habit of designing government bureaus to operate badly, and then blaming them for failing. The story itself is a good entertainment, reminding us that a place may have more than one function, in time as well as plans.
    • 3/5
      "Stargate" Lite!

      First Impressions:

      I’ve read Jack’s “The Odyssey” and was mildly entertained. With that, I decided to explore his earlier novels including the stand-alone book Ancient Shores. A decent tale, but goes off on too many tangents to follow. Ending seemed rushed.

      Story & Plot:

      I enjoyed the build-up of the character Max, a man who was good with antique airplanes, had a military family history but shunned that route, deciding instead to restore old aircraft. The book makes a big deal of a horror accident where he could have saved but did not save a girl in a plane that exploded on a runway as a hapless man attempted to save her.

      From this we get that Max is not one to take chances or risks that would endanger himself. Later in the book this takes the form of his not defending the “Roundhouse” (an alien artifact that turns out to be a transporter to other worlds) from the USA which wants to destroy it in order to save the economy (a roundabout way of building that plot!).

      April, the Black scientist, who thought it sad that her retiring collegue got recognized for his work and then faded out, wanted fame and fortune and saw the sailboat found on a farm in North Dakota her ticket to ride. It’s a story of “be careful what you wish for.”

      And the author’s tendency to give the reader the complete rundown of each main character’s love life was a bit much and did not add to the overall plot.

      The book tends to go off on several tangents, telling stories of minor characters who are affected by the discovery of alien technology – some find religion, some radio minister makes money off it (not sure what the point of that was) and some want to blow the Roundhouse up (an odd account of a man who has a radio-controlled bomb in his truck and drives by someone who just happens to have the same frequency for his garage door opener – really?).

      There are some interesting points that are immediately dropped – who is this invisible alien who comes onto Earth? What happened to him?

      And the subplot of the Native American plot of land and how they’re repeating history by defending their land against the government was a fine opinion of exploitation and political ranting & raving, but highly unlikely.

      Bottom Line: As other reviewers have found, the book seemed to have a hard time finding its way until the end, where we finally get some closure – but a disappointing ending where we’re still left to wonder what about the other worlds out there – would the discovery of super-human technology actually crash the economy?

      I recommend reading his Nebula and Hugo award-winning tales instead. Ancient Shores, like Odyssey, are cute one-time novels that make a point of the human condition but leave the reader unsatisfied at the end.
    • 4/5
      My reactions to reading this novel in 1996. Spoilers follow.I enjoyed this novel which reminded me of Clifford Simak’s Mastodonia and The Visitors (for its speculations on the public’s reactions to radically new technology) and his Way Station (an alien teleport device in a rural setting), McDevitt’s own The Hercules Text (for its speculation on what to do with advanced technical knowledge), and a little of George Zebrowski’s Stranger Suns (for its network of alien built – and abandoned – teleporters). Of course, the North Dakota setting appealed to me, but I also admired McDevitt’s sparse prose and many little throwaway scenes and characters which illustrated public phobias about the possible use of alien technology and, less so, the rational response that the technology will not only destroy some sectors of the economy but also create wealth and new opportunities. he ending, where the attempted government destruction of the Roundhouse is thwarted by the physical presence of real intellectual celebrities (including Gregory Benford and Ursula K. Le Guin), is a bit touchy-feely but entirely plausible. The novel, coming from an ex-customs officer and naval officer, is a bit libertarian. A minor character called Harry Markowitz, economist, states “Sometimes the law is stupid”. The president – supposedly a man of integrity – is shown ordering the Roundhouse destruction for short term gain though he knows it's wrong. A gung ho US Marshall is willing to kill the Indian occupants of the Roundhouse just to occupy it – hardly good or legal lethal force policy. On the other, the government is not a monolithic force. It is implied that Jason Fleury, presidential representative, organizes the public relations event that ends the novel. Then again McDevitt briefly shows, in a very sympathetic light (he doesn’t like his job but knows it's important in maintaining civilization), a tax collector. Perhaps it's more accurate to say McDevitt realistically presents characters who are sincere and have many different motives and goals and not stock villains. He also has an archaeologist angry that professional archaeologists are not excavating the Roundhouse. As with The Hercules Text, McDevitt definitely leaves you wanting more and leaves many plot elements unexplored: Will the alien technology be exploited? If so, who gets the economic rights to it? What will the social effects be? What awaits on other worlds of the network of teleporters? Who built them are where they went? The novel, though, draws a lot of power from such mysteries. I also liked the Indian element with the Sioux viewing alien worlds as a place where the old way of life can be revived. However, at novel’s end, it is implied the Indians will let others into the alien world. How this reconciles with returning to a nomadic existence is one of the unexplained elements. I also liked the poetry of the fictitious poet Walter Asquith
    • 1/5
      some people seem not have read the book. otherwise bluetyson would not have written such a review. the owner of a strip of land found the boat while toiling his field, not "scientist types", whatever this means.. the plot is totally stupid. seeker is a great novel by mcdevitt, this is a complete waste of time.
    • 4/5
      Review # 1049 in my blog....coming soon!
    • 5/5
      Intriguing introduction focusing on ancient Earth's geography. McDevitt's depiction of the media circus around the discovery of ancient artifacts and the legal wrangling over them is extremely realistic. I really enjoyed the book but the ending disappointed somewhat, leaving a lot of unanswered questions for me. Unfortunately life is like that... and it must have been very tempting for McDevitt to tie it all together into a neat little package at the end.
    • 4/5
      This was an entertaining book. As with the first McDevitt novel that I had read, Infinity Beach, it felt a lot like a mystery/suspense novel set in a science fiction tableaux. Infinity Beach raises a few interesting questions about the potential economic and political impacts of finding an alien artifact, but it is much more about telling a story than asking profound questions. I didn't feel a whole lot of empathy for either of the two main characters, Max and April; the Sioux characters were more interesting to me. I felt that the escaped alien and other linked worlds plot lines could have been further pursued, building additional layers into the story and its conclusion, but I suppose that leaves plenty of room for sequels. All in all, I enjoyed this quick paced, entertaining story.
    • 2/5
      After reading Seeker this was seriously disappointing. The idea sounds great but it reads like a bad made for TV mini-series.