Rating: 
Summary: Very Entertaining!
Review: This book is a true page-turner. I simply couldn't put it down.It is a "true McDevitt" book. Very entertaining, and a very original storyline. Like other McDevitt books I read, one wonders how realistic the story is. I am not talking about the SciFi part, but about how the story integrates with things and organizations such as the government. Many things just don't seem right. But to be honest: I do not care! The story is entertaining, and that's why I like it.
Rating:
Summary: You won't be able to put it down...
Review: This is a true page turner in Jack McDevitt's typical style. Just when you thing "two more pages and I will stop reading at the end of the chapter...", something happens that keeps you from keeping the book down. Just like other McDevitt stories I read however, it again is not truely believable. Of course, this is a science fiction novel, and those tend to be less believable, but I actually am talking more about the details. All the scientists in McDevitt's books always seem to practice what I would call "cowboy science". However, if you can overlook that for a great story, you will have a lot of fun with this one...
Rating:
Summary: Simple but Compelling
Review: This is one of those novels that seemed to have been written in a single burst of creative energy. It is much simpler than his later novels (particularly the "Hutch" series) but in its way it is also much better. The writing seems more focused, the characters seem more "real" and the scientific explanations are as compelling and literate as ever. McDevitt's specialty is first contact and that is what this is all about. In a way, it's a lot like the fulfillment of the fantasies of any sci-fi enthusiast - run across an ancient, buried object that happened to have strange powers. Great story and great ending...
Rating:
Summary: Simple but Compelling
Review: This is one of those novels that seemed to have been written in a single burst of creative energy. It is much simpler than his later novels (particularly the "Hutch" series) but in its way it is also much better. The writing seems more focused, the characters seem more "real" and the scientific explanations are as compelling and literate as ever. McDevitt's specialty is first contact and that is what this is all about. In a way, it's a lot like the fulfillment of the fantasies of any sci-fi enthusiast - run across an ancient, buried object that happened to have strange powers. Great story and great ending...
Rating: 
Summary: More human interest than reals SF
Review: Too much, yet not enough. That is the way I would describe my feelings about this book. On the one hand, McDevitt once again has an interesting idea. The problem is he doesn't do enough with it, but tries to change the book into a human interest story. As a result the focus is too much on the persons in the book, whether relevant or not. This results the characters to be too extreme, and in a number of cases, irrelevant. The flip side of the coin is that he doesn't do enough with the science fiction ideas: not on the human side nor on the technical, political or socio-economical side.
Rating: 
Summary: Not my favorite McDevitt, but thought-provoking
Review: While I did enjoy "Ancient Shores," it was not my favorite of McDevitt's work by any means. The idea was quite sound: a boat made of materials that simply shouldn't exist is uncovered in a farmer's field. Further away, a building that grants a new type of technology - and a new way to travel - is uncovered. But from there, the book got a little scattershot and random. We follow many world reactions to this newfound technology - from the collapse of the stock market at the apparent use of materials that would never wear out, to religious fanatics, to the UN demanding the artifact be made a world-owned item, free of any one nationality. McDevitt certainly extrapolates the effect of technological change in this novel, and it is quite a classic approach to Science Fiction. However, the plot withers amid all of this extrapolation. The heroine and hero of the story begin to get less and less air-time, and ultimately fizzle out near the end. Likewise, a sub-plot of a potential "alien trapped on earth" peaks interest, then loses ground to yet another tangent in the story. For a better tale of the effects of Science and Technology on the world stage of economics and politics, try the "Red Mars," "Green Mars," "Blue Mars," trilogy by Stanley Robinson. McDevitt had a good idea here, but it just didn't quite fly as high as it should have. It was interesting, and made me think of a few new ideas, but didn't drive me to the end like his tales usually do.
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