Omega
Omega was released in November 2003 by Ace Books. It will also be a featured selection by the Science Fiction Book Club. And Easton Press will publish a leather-bound, signed, limited edition.
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"Jack McDevitt: from Emerson to Omega"
"Unless they’ve been cut off from humanity for a good while, every serious Science Fiction reader knows that Jack McDevitt has been working at the top of his field for more years than he'd probably care to remember...." [complete interview]
— Rob Rowntree and Lisa Negus
thealienonline.com
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Reviewers react to Omega:
"...A truly epic feel....And...whatever you might have thought (the omega clouds') purpose was, you'll be surprised."Jesup, GA Press-Sentinel
"McDevitt takes his time moving all the players in this drama into position. He handles the back story so adroitly that readers unfamiliar with earlier volumes in this series should have no trouble following the action. Finally, he provides a satisfying answer to the mystery of the omegas that is appropriately cosmic without straining credulity."The New York Times
"Jack McDevitt rides...with panache and brio and solid workmanship....
"...A good job keeping us on the edge of our seats...."— Jacksonville (FL)Times-Union
Omega, like much of McDevitt's work, is not only about its well-developed SF motifs, but also about how recognizable people -- bureaucrats, scientists, pilots, PR flacks, or alien talk-show stars and able sea-Goompahs-- cope with these science-fictional phenomena, and in this way it is kin to other novels with a bureaucratic-procedural side (Greg Benford's Timescape and Cosm, Nancy Kress's Stinger). It's this convergence of the cosmic and the familiar that makes McDevitt one of the most engaging writers pursuing an understanding of our place among the infinities and imagining what the neighbors might be like.-- Locus
Over the course of several books including Chindi and Deepsix, McDevitt has been building toward a climax that is now upon us.... As with his previous novels, McDevitt manages to evoke a sense of wonder about the universe that is rare in much contemporary SF, and his aliens are an interesting and memorable culture.-- SF Chronicle
"Having mastered the big, sprawling adventure stories called space opera in books like Chindi, McDevitt extends the form in this feel-good SF novel that earns its hopeful conclusion....McDevitt is very good at imagining strange challenges, and at picturing humans coping when things don't work out as planned."— Publishers Weekly
The (series) McDevitt began with The Engines of God...concludes in a decisive confrontation with the omega clouds....As before, McDevitt forges out of ethical dilemmas a plot as gripping as any action fan could want....A felicitous concoction that rather recalls Gregory Benford and David Brin's stuff, and surely will please their fans as well as McDevitt's.— Booklist
"The real strength of the narrative lies in its profound evocation of cosmic mysteries, and in its corollary concern for the tiny nuts-and-bolts details that underlie the largest, most complex enterprises....No one writing today is better than McDevitt at combining galaxy-spanning adventure with the genuine novel of ideas. This latest amalgam of hard SF and humanist concerns is McDevitt at his best, and that is very good indeed."
"...There is plenty of excitement, some sympathetic characters to follow, and an answer to a puzzle McDevitt first posed almost a decade ago. If you've enjoyed the earlier novels in the series, you won't want to miss this one."— Analog
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Synopsis
After almost half a century of exploration, the Academy has finally found a true living civilization. It is advanced in many ways, but it is fragile and still in the very early stages of technological development. The bad news is that we found it because an omega cloud is headed its way, and we are now confronted with the problem that once overwhelmed the Monument-Makers (in The Engines of God): Find a way to perform a rescue. And do it without letting the locals know we're there.
While a reinforced team tries to work a miracle, Priscilla Hutchins, now director of Academy operations, seeks to solve the puzzle of the age: What are the omega clouds? The answer, she suspects, might be found in an art gallery in Georgetown.
Omega is the final book in the four-novel cycle that began with The Engines of God, and continues through Deepsix and Chindi. It is scheduled for release in November 2003 by Ace Books.
— Jack McDevitt