Jack McDevitt

Jack McDevitt
McDevitt at the Festive Bookweek in Budapest, 2010
McDevitt at the Festive Bookweek in Budapest, 2010
Born (1935-04-14) April 14, 1935 (age 89)
OccupationNovelist, short story writer
NationalityAmerican
Alma materLa Salle University
Period1981–present
GenreScience fiction
Website
jackmcdevitt.com

Jack McDevitt (born April 14, 1935)[1] is an American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology. Most of his books follow either superluminal pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins or galactic relic hunters Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath. McDevitt has received numerous nominations for Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell awards. Seeker won the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel.

McDevitt's first published story was "The Emerson Effect" in The Twilight Zone Magazine in 1981.

Biography

McDevitt went to La Salle University, where a short story of his won the annual Freshman Short Story Contest and was published in the school's literary magazine, Four Quarters. As McDevitt explained in an interview:

I was on my way. Then I read David Copperfield and realized I could never write at that level, and therefore I should find something else to do. I joined the Navy, drove a cab, became an English teacher, took a customs inspector's job on the northern border, and didn't write another word for a quarter-century.

McDevitt received a master's degree in literature from Wesleyan University in 1971.[2] He returned to writing when his wife, Maureen, encouraged him to try his hand at it in 1980. As of 2007, McDevitt lives near Brunswick, Georgia. In 2005, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University. The novel Seeker won the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award sixteen times; Seeker is his only win.[3][4]

Themes

With The Engines of God (1994), McDevitt introduced the idea of a universe that was once teeming with intelligent life, but contains only their abandoned artifacts by the time humans arrive on the scene. The main character of The Engines of God, pilot Priscilla Hutchins, has since appeared in seven more books, Deepsix (2001), Chindi (2002), Omega (2003), Odyssey (2006), Cauldron (2007), StarHawk (2013), and The Long Sunset (2018). The mystery surrounding the destructive "Omega Clouds" (which are introduced in The Engines of God) is left unexplored until Omega.[5]

McDevitt's novels frequently raise questions which he does not attempt to answer. He prefers to leave ambiguities to puzzle and intrigue his readers: "Some things are best left to the reader's very able imagination."[5] The SF Site's Steven H Silver has written about this:

McDevitt has a (probably unintentional) tendency to give the impression that his novels will go in one direction and then take them in a different direction. Or possibly his background is so well thought out, that throw away lines, or subplots, or minor characters, have enough information behind them to make the reader want to see their story as much as the main plot of the book. While slightly annoying, this is, I've decided, a strength of McDevitt's writing since it shows the depth of his created worlds.[6]

Bibliography

Novels

Academy Series - Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins

  • StarHawk (2013), prequel ISBN 0-425-26085-2
  • The Engines of God (1994), book 1 ISBN 0-441-00077-0
  • Deepsix (2001), book 2 ISBN 0-06-105124-1
  • Chindi (2002), book 3 ISBN 0-441-00938-7
  • Omega (2003), book 4 ISBN 0-441-01046-6
  • Odyssey (2006), book 5 ISBN 0-441-01433-X
  • Cauldron (2007), book 6 ISBN 0-441-01525-5
  • The Long Sunset (2018), book 7 ISBN 1-481-49793-6

The short stories "Melville on Iapetus" (1983), "Promises to Keep" (1984), "Oculus" (2002), "The Big Downtown" (2005),[7] "Kaminsky at War" (2006), "Maiden Voyage" (2012), "Waiting at the Altar" (2012), and "The Cat's Pajamas" (2012) are also set in the Academy universe.

Alex Benedict

The short stories "In the Tower" (1987) and "A Voice in the Night" (2013) are also set in the Alex Benedict universe.

Ancient Shores

Short fiction

Collections

Awards and nominations

  • Nebula Best Short Story nominee (1983) : Cryptic
  • Philip K. Dick Award (special citation) (1986) : The Hercules Text[9]
  • Nebula Best Short Story nominee (1988) : "The Fort Moxie Branch"
  • Hugo Best Short Story nominee (1989) : "The Fort Moxie Branch"
  • International UPC Science Fiction Award winner (1993) : "Ships in the Night" (first English language winner)[10]
  • Nebula Best Novella nominee (1996) : "Time Travelers Never Die"
  • Arthur C. Clarke Best Novel nominee (1997) : Engines of God[11]
  • Hugo Best Novella nominee (1997) : "Time Travelers Never Die"
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (1997) : Ancient Shores[11]
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (1998) : Moonfall[12]
  • Nebula Best Novelette nominee (1999) : "Good Intentions" (co-writer Stanley Schmidt)
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2000) : Infinity Beach[13]
  • John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel nominee (2001) : Infinity Beach[14]
  • John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel nominee (2002) : Deepsix[15]
  • Nebula Best Short Story nominee (2002) : "Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City"
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2003) : Chindi[16]
  • Campbell Award winner (2004) : Omega[17]
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2004) : Omega[17]
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2005) : Polaris[18]
  • Nebula Best Novel winner (2006) : Seeker[19]
  • John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel nominee (2006) : Seeker[19]
  • John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel nominee (2007) : Odyssey[20]
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2007) : Odyssey [20]
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2008) : Cauldron[21]
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2010) : Echo[22]
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2011) : Firebird[23]
  • Nebula Best Novel nominee (2014) : Coming Home[24]
  • Robert A. Heinlein Award winner (2015)[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ "I've been having a great birthday,... - Jack McDevitt (Fan Club)". Facebook. 2015-04-14. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  2. ^ "Locus Online: Jack McDevitt interview excerpts". Locusmag.com. 2005-09-29. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  3. ^ "Jack McDevitt's News". Archived from the original on September 9, 2005. Retrieved August 6, 2005.
  4. ^ "Jack McDevitt". Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards. Locus. Archived from the original on 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  5. ^ a b "The Author Comments: Omega". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  6. ^ Silver, Steven H. (1989). "A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt". SF Site. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  7. ^ "Connected Narratives". Archived from the original on September 19, 2010. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  8. ^ Briefly reviewed in the July 2015 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction, pp.107–111
  9. ^ "1987 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  10. ^ "Syfy - Watch Full Episodes | Imagine Greater". Scifi.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  11. ^ a b "1997 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  12. ^ "1998 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  13. ^ "2000 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  14. ^ "2001 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  15. ^ "2002 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  16. ^ "2003 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  17. ^ a b "2004 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  18. ^ "2005 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  19. ^ a b "2006 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  20. ^ a b "2007 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  21. ^ "2008 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  22. ^ "announces the 2010 Nebula Award Nominees". SFWA.org. 2011-02-22. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  23. ^ "2011 Award Winners & Nominees | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  24. ^ "Announcing the 2014 Nebula Awards Winners!". Tor.com. Jun 6, 2015.
  25. ^ "BSFS's Robert A. Heinlein Award Page [Version DA-16]".
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