Omega is a good book, and the preceding Academy novels are awesome. However, if you are the impatient sort you should perhaps take note that this novel has a bit of a long build-up before, well, you know. But this is pretty much on the same level as the second Academy novel for me.more Or the amount he did go was a bit too far for the pacing and investment I was supposed to have in saving these guys.

The commentary was fairly clever but the way it was pulled off? I don't think McDevitt went far enough. I guess I can see it but I didn't really appreciate it. The whole self-aware cartoon character nod and the way we humans fell for how cute these buck-toothed aliens. As long as we stuck with the humans I was pretty invested. So what's my problem? We get a fully developed alien culture here including PoVs from these guys, right down to a fully religious world-build and science-debates and a huge survival thing. Including a very regular death toll on every single outing. Just a careful and methodical worldbuilding, care and devotion to characters, and a hopeful outlook despite everything. I never expected total and complete originality out of these. It sounds like a really good episode of Trek, right? Right. Hey, look, let's grab as much as we can of their civ to sell because they're all about to become instant relics! Oops.Įnter conflict, a race to save an alien species, provide tons of commentary on general human stupidity and opportunism. And the cloud will reach them during this novel. The next world in the path of one of these happens to be pre-industrial LIVING aliens! Oops. Cool, right? It might explain the lack of aliens. The Omega clouds are absolutely immense intergalactic clouds of nanotech that spike huge energies and are apparently programmed to seek out any intelligent life. These future humans happen to be peaceful, too, for once, and most of their principled actions reflect those of the Federation but there's also a more realistic bending of the rules, too.Įnter this book. The dearth of alien species is a nice touch, making it more of an archeological mystery. It's pretty damn awesome when it comes to characters and the gentle push toward an alternate Star Trek kind of universe with almost no posturing and no overpowered gunships. These future humans happen to be peaceful, too, for once, and most of their principled actions reflect those of the Federation but there's also a more realistic bending of the rules, too.

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