Rating: 
Summary: NY Daily News was right: "Old Fashioned page-turner"
Review: The Cover quoted the New York Daily news "...[and] a nailbiting ending." I skipped over this book dozens of times. A boat in North Dakota--the plot just didn't move me. Then I read "Moonfall" by the same author so I gave "Ancient Shores" a try. And found that the plot did move me...from one page to the next. Ohh and the Daily News was right--the ending is nailbiting. This was one of those books you hate to have end because you know you're going to miss the characters.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: The discovery of what appears to be a sailboat, buried for no apparent reason in North Dakota. Upon further inspection, we find out that the sailboat is more than 10,000 years old though it still looks brand new. Additionally, it is made from materials that will virtually never wear out. Max Collingwood with the aid of April Cannon (a scientist) tries to determine from where the boat originated. This leads to the discovery of a portal to other worlds.This book raises interesting questions regarding technology. Each time there is an advance, invariably there is an industry producing old technology that will be affected economically. In this book, ancient relics are unearthed that have technology that is light years ahead of what currently exists; creating panic in several industries including transportation, clothing and tires. Now the question. Do we use the technology for all its benefits or do we destroy all evidence of the technology to preserve our existing economy and industries? I would vote for the former rather than the latter because the latter is a selfish attitude with very short-term thinking. Mankind must always make sacrifices in order to advance. The author brilliantly illustrates that notion here in a book that you will zip through rather fast.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: The discovery of what appears to be a sailboat, buried for no apparent reason in North Dakota. Upon further inspection, we find out that the sailboat is more than 10,000 years old though it still looks brand new. Additionally, it is made from materials that will virtually never wear out. Max Collingwood with the aid of April Cannon (a scientist) tries to determine from where the boat originated. This leads to the discovery of a portal to other worlds. This book raises interesting questions regarding technology. Each time there is an advance, invariably there is an industry producing old technology that will be affected economically. In this book, ancient relics are unearthed that have technology that is light years ahead of what currently exists; creating panic in several industries including transportation, clothing and tires. Now the question. Do we use the technology for all its benefits or do we destroy all evidence of the technology to preserve our existing economy and industries? I would vote for the former rather than the latter because the latter is a selfish attitude with very short-term thinking. Mankind must always make sacrifices in order to advance. The author brilliantly illustrates that notion here in a book that you will zip through rather fast.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong Start but Saggy Middle
Review: The first couple of chapters of McDivitt's book are among the stongest I've ever read. He maintains almost that level of wonder and excitment for a few more chapters, but soon the level drops off. I was having a hard time keeping going by the middle. Near the sixty percent point, we get to the following: The male protagnoist, who has of course already fallen in love with the female scientist protagnoist, discovers she has disappeared. He figures out it was a fantastically advanced piece of alien technology they'd discovered that had malfunctioned. She ended up on a planet thousands of light years from Earth. Using some electrical cable, connectors and a gasoline-powered generator he buys at a hardware store, he repairs it and saves her. If you buy that such advanced technology would use such mundane hardware you'll probably like the climax involving nothing more original than the government trying to take Sioux land. It was all too much for me. I think so much more could have been done with the original scenario. It was a missed opportunity.
Rating:
Summary: You've got to be kidding, right?
Review: The first part of the book held out so much promise. The middle part of the book seemed interesting enough but that ending is one of the worst I've ever seen. What the hell was he thinking?
I just got done reading this and I feel cheated.
Rating:
Summary: A flawed book, but not bad
Review: The main character in this book is not the one at the first of the book. Max Collingswood has met his test of life and basically failed. He is not a coward, just not a hero. His family has produced fighter pilots for three generations and he has opted out. In the story you get a look at how ordinary people handle extraordinary occurrences. The government doesn't send the black helicopters, it sends the US Marshalls. All of the responses are muted and hands off. The press is watching. The ending sucked. Instead of the action packed adventure novel ending, it gave you how civilized people handle violence. In short, this is a book about an extraordinary event: first contact. The thing is that the people in it have not gotten a press makeover. I am quite certain that ten years after the fact the story would have been remembered differently. We do NOT really have heros. We make them. This book is the before picture of the making of heros. Most people do not want to see that the hero has clay feet.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly old fashion sci-fi.
Review: The only thing I'd read by McDevitt before this was "Time Travellers Never Die" in Asimov's. This book is interesting & is the only Simakian sf novel I know of in the 90's. At times it did seem old fashion to the point of being anachronistic, but it's great for Simak fans & fans of the old style.
Rating:
Summary: No ending
Review: The story is about finding ancient technology in the form of a portal to other worlds. The author makes no effort to explore these other worlds and leaves the reader wondering what happens in the end. I was like ancient archeology but I was disapointed with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book
Review: This book blows my mind. I just wish there was a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Makings of a TV series
Review: This book is a masterpiece! I hope that a mini-series on TV can be properly developed and implemented. Ed.
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