Book Review: Cauldron

Cauldron is the sixth book in the "Academy" series by Jack McDevitt. I think of it as the "Hutch" series because the central character in the collection of novels is Priscilla Hutchins, nicknamed "Hutch." She took a supporting role in books 4 & 5 (Omega & Odyssey) but in this (final?) book of the series, she is once again part of the action, and ultimately back in her role as a starship pilot.

As the novel begins, we see that space exploration has almost died out. A small handful of corporate ventures are still doing some space travel, but the only institution trying to do exploration and science is supported entirely by donations, and those are drying up.

A good portion of the first act is spent showing us how few the supporters of space travel are, and how the world has become a less interesting, more myopic place as a result.

Enter a scientist, Jon Silvestri, who believes he has the design for a new starship engine which will make travel anywhere in the galaxy feasible. If it works, some of the major mysteries of the age will be within reach -- in particular, it might be possible to visit the source of the catastrophic Omega clouds.

The book takes quite a long time to get to the functioning engines, and it's interesting getting to know the characters and watching them overcome the struggles to get it working. While this first part of the story dragged a bit for me, in the final half of the book Hutch and her team investigate three unique and wondrous places, facing mystery and danger.

In some sense, I think McDevitt took too many ideas and pushed them into the second half of one book, but it's pretty clear this is meant to be an "end" and, all in all, it hung together well and had intriguing ideas about the possibilities in the universe.

I'll miss Hutch, but I'm certainly going to heartily recommend the series. And very soon, I will start reading McDevitt's "Alex Benedict" series. Jack McDevitt has earned my continued attention.