Mark's Reviews > Cauldron

Cauldron
The Academy (Priscilla Hutchins) Novels #6
By Jack McDevitt

Publisher: Ace Books, The Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Group
Published In: New York, USA
Date: 2007
Pgs: 373

Summary:
In 2255, the Academy that trained pilots and sent missions into space is gone. The efforts in space have changed. For profit missions…very little pure science. The privately funded Prometheus Foundation is one of the only entities still devoted to deep space exploration. The Hazeltine Drive has been getting humanity between the stars for a number of years. But now an upstart physicist has taken a discounted theory and turned it into a new, faster way to get around. The universe is opening. And the origins of the civilization destroying Omega clouds may finally be within reach.

Genre:
Science fiction, space opera

Main Character:
Priscilla Hutchins though for much of the book you wouldn’t have guessed that it was her.

Favorite Character:
Antonio. The Dr. Science journalist is a great character.

Least Favorite Character:
Rudy. Not sure if it was the space madness or if he was just a 5th wheel and was intended for what happened for the get go. His character was a little bit of all over the place.

Favorite Scene:
“Hutch, get clear. Do it now. Get out of there. Up ahead. It’s watching you.”

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Rudy. I’ll just leave him at that. His character was fine up until the transit in Locarno/Barber/Silvestri Space. Would have probably went down better, if he’d had a bit of space narcosis or something instead of the way that it went.

Last Page Sound:
I really liked this book. It picks up pacing all the way through and it is kicking pretty good when you get to the end.

Author Assessment:
Definitely be reading this author again.

Disposition of Book:
This is a keep it and re-read it book. I might even have to look into some other books in this series. This is the best kind of series book. You don’t even have to be aware that it is part of a series to read it and enjoy it. This book stands on its own quite well and while it does reference things that happen in other books, it explains them in such a way that you don’t have to read the other book to enjoy this one.