The Omega Clouds – agents of destruction which seem to be able to recognise right angles and other signs of intelligent life – have been studied intensively. Apart from the fact that they are based on nanotechnology, there is very little else discovered about them. One is heading toward Earth and will arrive in around a thousand years. Partly it's the setting - two hundred years in the future, but that odd sort of future which is just like 1995 with a couple of future-y things added. The telephones have video and there are faxes, but now they go faster than light. Are there really science-minded writers who think that the modern world is just like the early 19th century? Interested in some science fiction that features a killer cloud, a race against time, an almost-human alien race, and a romance that is both sweet and memorable? This fourth book in McDevitt’s Academy series may be exactly what you’re hoping for. It’s pretty important that you read the first three books in the series though. Earth has generally taken a "hands off" approach to living natives, but as pressure mounts to begin terraforming habitable worlds as an escape plan, this "Prime Directive" morality begins to seem less desirable. There is an interesting reversal of the classic sci-fi trope, and subtle commentary on colonialism and how we might justify it in the future, when an argument is made to colonize an inhabited planet "for the natives' own good." They are in the middle of a savage global war, and it is claimed that some of them have become aware of the existence of their alien watchers, and are begging for intervention. That technological aid and imposed peace would incidentally involve Earthlings resettling on their hosts' planet would be only a logical extension of a benevolent intervention... c) Inakademeri, a.k.a. "Nok", a moon of a ringed gas giant, and home to the only known non-human intelligent species still alive; the "Noks" had developed technology roughly equivalent to Earth's early 20th century. At the time of discovery they were engaged in a global conflict roughly analogous to World War I.

Fortunately, Maggie was soon able to decipher the perplexing inscription from Oz: "Farewell and good fortune. Seek us by the light of the horgon's eye." A horgon was a mythical Quraquan beast, and the passage referred to a part of a stellar constellation, pointing the way to the Monument-Makers' home. Using the out-of-place cylindrical towers on Oz as waypoint markers, Hutch and Frank Carson (the second-in-command of the Quraqua expedition) were able to make a list of potential stars to which the passage might refer. Using a powerful radio telescope, they surveyed all the candidate stars and found one that was broadcasting a faint artificial transmission – Beta Pacifica. After an FTL journey through space lasting nearly a month, Hutch and Richard arrive at the Quraquan star system. Before landing on the planet, Richard wanted to explore a mysterious structure on the planet's moon. Called "Oz," this monument consisted of an assembly of gigantic, smooth cubes and rectangles. Although Oz superficially resembled a city, the structures were completely solid, with no interior spaces or exterior features. No theories about the purpose of Oz had yet been proposed. Many scientists, including Richard, did not think that Oz was built by the Monument-Makers: all other known Monuments were elegant and many were floating in space, and this faux-city seemed crude and unwieldy by comparison. However, with the discovery of a Monument-Maker depiction on the planet below, Richard was intent to re-evaluate the potential link between Oz and the Monument-Makers. And we see the action from the perspective of Hutch, but I found she had little to no character growth throughout the book. I was kind of hoping for more, but I can’t fault McDevitt for this since it was not written as a character novel, and there is so much to like about jumping into a star system to find an floating space station abandoned for thousands of years - isn’t there?Disclaimer: The version of this book that I read was an ‘Uncorrected Proof for Limited Distribution’. So, it’s possible that the final draft is much improved over what I read, but for that to happen, this book would need a team of editors and a vast reserve of scientific advisors. (But it's still possible.) And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.

International UPC Science Fiction Award winner (1993): "Ships in the Night" (first English language winner) [9]

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Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide… The Earth is facing environmental catastrophe in the 23rd century. Humans have spread to other star systems, but generally not found a lot of Earth-like planets, and those they have found are already inhabited. A handful of intelligent alien races have been discovered, but all are primitive compared to humanity. Most alien races discovered, however, are long dead, and the most prominent is one that apparently traveled to other stars, as their monuments have been found across the galaxy. And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skilful men, to be on the towers and upon the corners, wherewith to shoot arrows and great stones. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong. No one could come up with a good reason for this event, which they all found very disturbing. Nor could anyone explain why the Monument-Makers were inhabiting a station of such inferior technology.