Wednesday, February 11, 2009

What is Jack McDevitt reading?

The current featured contributor to Writers Read: Jack McDevitt, author of the recent works The Devil's Eye, an Alex Benedict mystery, and Cryptic: The Best Short Fiction of Jack McDevitt.

His first novel, The Hercules Text, was published in the celebrated Ace Specials series, and won the Philip K. Dick Special Award. In 1991, he won the first $10,000 UPC International Prize for his novella “Ships in the Night.” The Engines of God was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and his novella “Time Travelers Never Die” was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula. Omega received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel, 2003.

His writings to reach the final list for a Nebula include Infinity Beach, Ancient Shores, “Time Travelers Never Die,” Moonfall, “Good Intentions” (cowritten with Stanley Schmidt), “Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City,” Chindi, Omega, and Polaris, "Henry James, This One's for You," and Seeker.

One book mentioned in his entry:
Blasphemy, by Douglas Preston. This is the one I've been reading on my stationary bike during workouts, the last part of my daily physical routine, a twenty-minute ride to nowhere. Blasphemy actually has me looking forward to pumping the pedals. Religious extremists and angry Navajos take exception to a supercollider in Arizona, which, with luck, may reveal what brought on the Big Bang. But the scientists are keeping something quiet. An investigator arrives to find out what's going on. I'm almost halfway through, and got my first real indication today. Almost fell off my bike.[read on]
Visit Jack McDevitt's website.

Writers Read: Jack McDevitt.

--Marshal Zeringue