Village in the Sky

Alex Benedict, Book 9

By: Jack McDevitt

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

In Nebula Award-winning author Jack McDevitt's ninth installment in the beloved Alex Benedict science fiction mystery series, humanity discovers new intelligent life lightyears away—only for it to disappear without a trace.

Centuries after a war with the Mutes, the first aliens to be encountered by humankind, a startling new discovery in the far reaches of the Orion Nebula appears. On a planet with conditions favorable to life, explorer vessel The Columbia comes across a small town seemingly inhabited by an intelligent species not yet discovered.

But when a highly publicized follow-up mission is sent to make contact mere months later, the entire town has vanished, leaving no trace—or such is presumed to be the case until Alex Benedict and his archaeological crew show up to investigate. Officially, their mission is to find concealed artifacts that may have been left behind, but the team's real goal is to solve the mystery of how these aliens disappeared so rapidly—and why. In turns terrifying and miraculous, the answers raise the stakes for every member on board as they look to make their mark on history.

Nebula Award-winning author Jack McDevitt, whom Stephen King has called "the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke," brings back Alex, Chase, and Gabe for another brilliantly crafted science fiction mystery.

©2022 Jack McDevitt (P)2022 Recorded Books

Enjoyable as always, but ending felt very hurried

Very interesting, I always enjoy the narrator. Alex Benedict stories are pleasant, but the last 30 minutes of the book felt way to hurried then book ended. .

far future travelogue

Things happen. Our heroes finally leave home and have an adventure. Major threads are started, possibly to be taken up in future volumes? Mostly uninspired and often self-referential. If you like the series, you should find it at least passable.

The weakest in the series

Reads like a middle school summer holiday report. I kept hoping that it would pick up and become interesting. it never did

Long wait but worth every minute and more

I am a fan or Dirk and Chase. I also enjoy the announcer. Any who love a strong woman with a will of her own will enjoy these books. As a man I enjoy the woman point of view and telling of the story. Can’t wait for the next one and don’t forget Chase, thanks all who worked on this audiobook.

All of a sudden, aliens all over

Jack McDevitt’s Village in the Sky is another installment in his Alex Benedict franchise. Benedict is an antiquities dealer as well as somewhat of a Sherlock Holmes, living in the far, far future. His faithful Dr Watson is his assistant and supraluminal pilot who also serves as biographer. Their adventures involve either something that others do not want found or else the provenance of an artifact. This time out, intelligent alien life has been observed, but upon a second mission, they disappear. Benedict seeks to investigate and eventually finds a colony near death which they manage to save.

McDevitt kinda throws in the kitchen sink with this one as intelligent aliens seem to be oozing from the woodwork all of a sudden. The early alien contact seemed a filler and the ‘Gaia’ like trees and psychic creatures seemed a bit over the top.

The narration is well done with excellent character distinction. Pacing is brisk, making for a quick listen.

Another superb offering

I've now read all of Jack's books. All are solid SF in the footsteps of Pool and Clarke. With much of SF subsumed by the fantasy category, I'm thankful for authors like Jack who are forwarding the SF tradition.

A good addition to the series

As with this whole series I liked the calm and real feeling of the people and culture. Some misgivings are that they are many thousands of years into our future and yet so many of their societal norms and economy aren't very advanced from our own. The populace is still chasing the 'dollar' all their lives just was we are. Sexism seems little in advance of our own. I find that disappointing. They do though seem more careing, hopeful and peaceful than we are in general.

The narratation was good mostly. My only criticizm is that both male characters on the voyage, Alex and Gabe sounded mostly alike. Alex in particular sounded more like an elder. Chase is a good character/narrator. She is even handed and honest. She doesn't back down but doesn't back down from a dispute.

I hope there will be more AB stories.

Another great story of Alex, Chase, and Gabe

Jack McDevitt’s Alex and Chase universe has always had a rich history, but it has also been lonely. Aside from the telepathic Mutes, humanity has never confirmed the existence of another intelligent species.

But this book changes that. It opens with the discovery of what appears to be a new tool-using species on a distant world. Most of humanity are excited at the prospect; but a cautious few are wary that a new species may be a threat. And they make the rules: a mission is sent to investigate further, but contact is strictly forbidden.

To this point, Alex (the antiquarian), Chase (his pilot), and Gabe (his uncle the archaeologist) are merely distant observers, like all humanity save for the mission. Then when the newly discovered aliens disappear as quickly as we found them, most people lose interest. Not Alex Benedict! It’s a mystery, and fans of Alex know he can’t resist a mystery.

Anything more would be spoilers. I can safely say, though, that this story expands the scope of Alex and Chase’s universe in intriguing new ways. The characters are spot on, and I enjoyed the performance. Once again, Jack McDevitt does not disappoint.

Great book, disappointing narration

Classic McDevitt, I enjoyed it. The narrator is articulate, clear and enjoyable to listen to, but...the aliens and AI's all sound equally flat, slow and bland. A McDevitt staple is that AI's always seem like real people with real conversations. Aliens, while very different have a conversational quality that show they're not so different as we might expect. It makes me wonder if the negative reviews might stem from this narrator's quirk.

Another great story

My only negative comment is that I didn’t want it to end. Please keep up the series. It’s so different than the normal space operas and it’s great having space mysteries.