Ancient Shores by Jack McDevitt
Attendees: A. T. Campbell, III; Fred Duarte, Jr.; Cyndi Dunn; Wes Dunn; Emily Gamboa; Mona Gamboa; Ruben Gamboa; Jeff Rupley; Willie Siros; Lori Wolf.
A large group gathered at Adventures in Crime and Space to discuss Ancient Shores, a near-future novel involving the discovery of alien artifacts on a North Dakota farm, and the implications of this discovery on the discovers and the rest of the world. All of us over one year old had finished the book. Initial comments varied from “first draft, no heart” to “boring” to “liked everything except the ending” to “loved it.”
This book had a lot of elements we liked. The archaelogical theme was interesting, and there was a good sense of the thrill of discovery. The exploration of the impact of this discovery on the rest of the world was a fascinating and seldom-used approach. McDevitt presented carefully thought-out speculations of