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The Engines of God

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The Engines of God

By: Jack McDevitt
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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Humans call them Monument-Makers. An unknown race, they left stunning alien statues scattered on distant planets throughout the galaxy, encoded with strange inscriptions that defy translation. Searching for clues about the Monument-Makers, teams of 23rd century linguists, historians, engineers and archaeologists have been excavating the enigmatic alien ruins on a number of planets, uncovering strange, massive false cities made of solid rock. But their time is running out.

Earth's ravaged environment is quickly making it unlivable, and colonizers want to begin terraforming these abandoned worlds for human habitation. Only interstellar archaeologist Richard Wald and starship pilot Priscilla Hutchins are convinced that uncovering the secrets of the monuments may hold the key to survival for the entire human race.

©1994 Cryptic, Inc. (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Adventure Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Psychological Science Fiction Interstellar Solar System
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Critic reviews

"Splendid. Not since Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama has the discovery of artifacts of alien intelligence been treated so skillfully." ( Baltimore Sun)
"McDevitt is at his best award-winning style in this intelligent and wide-ranging novel." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"With plenty of startling plot twists, a heavy dose of intrigue, and an unusual amount of character development for science fiction, McDevitt holds us fast right through to a thrilling finish." ( Booklist)
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Science fiction of mystery, awe, and foreboding - the best kind.
It has characters with depth, characters that develop however, that is not all. Its not just any old piece of fiction re-skinned with a shallow coat of technology, and thrown just enough years into the future so that the writer doesn't have to think too hard about the real world while writing the naval gazing critique on today's world that is their real desire; instead this is 'real' science fiction.
You view the shape of the mystery as it reveals itself through through the experience of the characters, and with that it builds.
Both surprising and gratifying.
Its not superlatively 'performed' but it is superlatively read/narrated.

Science fiction of awe and mystery

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This is a xeno archeology science fiction in a similar style to Rendezvous with Rama. Characters are a little more fleshed out (but only by degrees). Good read if you are looking for more Rama.

Good narrator

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Ok but it was a bit of a chore to listen to the narrator only just made it better.

Ok but a chore

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I can not rate the book overall or the story. I managed 5 minutes. The naration is terrible.

Unlistenable

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McDevitt is the King of BDOs in sci-fi literature and this book is no exception leaving the reader with many questions and too few answers.

However this is a solid start to a series of books and is a fun read.

BDOs everywhere!

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