Cauldron by Jack McDevitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Looking back on the other five books in the Academy series, I have to say I like Cauldron the best. It not only engages us back on Earth with something other than a religious diatribe, it gives us a look at the failing drive to get out into the stars.

Oh, and because there is hope for a brand new stardrive that would get us so much farther and faster out there, a great deal of the story is watching each attempt at the drive fail.

But let's cut to the chase. That's all great character-building stuff and when they finally go out there in much smaller ships to encounter and resolve all the great mysteries wondered at in the other novels, we're treated to real resolutions.

Setup, adventure, revisited mysteries, more death, and big reveals.

You know, like the Omega cloud, the one that seems to eat spacefaring species.

... And a lot of that is quite welcome. The pacing is much better, too.

But I will say this: the very last reveal was something of a major letdown. McDevitt's build-ups are always pretty awesome, but when we finally have an answer to the mystery, I'm kinda underwhelmed.

This is not a Peter Watts novel. *sigh*

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