The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt My rating: 3 of 5 stars My review which ran at SFFaudio. Climate change has Earth on the brink of disaster. The only\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt My rating: 3 of 5 stars My review which ran at SFFaudio. Climate change has Earth on the brink of disaster. The only\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Happy Catholic Bookshelf\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-20T16:20:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-07-19T19:21:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/photo.goodreads.com\/books\/1327926490m\/13356813.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Julie Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Julie Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/\",\"name\":\"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-07-20T16:20:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-19T19:21:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/66884f5929b085c38fcaa90ade35710d\"},\"description\":\"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt My rating: 3 of 5 stars My review which ran at SFFaudio. Climate change has Earth on the brink of disaster. The only\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/\",\"name\":\"Happy Catholic Bookshelf\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/66884f5929b085c38fcaa90ade35710d\",\"name\":\"Julie Davis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9827ca9a07b8e2c264179ab4c5870ccb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9827ca9a07b8e2c264179ab4c5870ccb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Julie Davis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/author\/juliedavis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt","description":"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt My rating: 3 of 5 stars My review which ran at SFFaudio. Climate change has Earth on the brink of disaster. The only","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt","og_description":"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt My rating: 3 of 5 stars My review which ran at SFFaudio. Climate change has Earth on the brink of disaster. The only","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/","og_site_name":"Happy Catholic Bookshelf","article_published_time":"2012-07-20T16:20:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-07-19T19:21:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/photo.goodreads.com\/books\/1327926490m\/13356813.jpg"}],"author":"Julie Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Julie Davis","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/","name":"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-07-20T16:20:07+00:00","dateModified":"2012-07-19T19:21:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/66884f5929b085c38fcaa90ade35710d"},"description":"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt My rating: 3 of 5 stars My review which ran at SFFaudio. Climate change has Earth on the brink of disaster. The only","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/","name":"Happy Catholic Bookshelf","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/66884f5929b085c38fcaa90ade35710d","name":"Julie Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9827ca9a07b8e2c264179ab4c5870ccb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9827ca9a07b8e2c264179ab4c5870ccb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Julie Davis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/author\/juliedavis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/359"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":825,"date":"2012-07-20T11:20:07","date_gmt":"2012-07-20T16:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/?p=825"},"modified":"2012-07-19T14:21:23","modified_gmt":"2012-07-19T19:21:23","slug":"the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2012\/07\/the-engines-of-god-by-jack-mcdevitt\/","title":{"rendered":"The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Climate change has Earth on the brink of disaster. The only viable solution is terraforming other planets to ensure survival. For a small group of archaeologists, however, terraforming is the worst possible solution. The only suitable planet is also the one planet with the most promising artifacts of an unknown alien race. Known as the Monument Makers, the aliens\u2019 buildings feature a seemingly uncrackable code on them. The team is looking for the alien equivalent of the Rosetta Stone and must race against time to finish excavations before terraforming begins.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that the book begins by talking about climate change, which always gives me a sinking feeling, that is just the pretext for launching readers into a mystery. The team\u2019s quest takes them to outer space, other planets, and into extreme danger as they follow the Monument Makers\u2019 trail to discover their whereabouts and why every alien civilization has been abandoned.<\/p>\n

This book reads as if it were a series of four novellas strung together with the common thread of tracking the Monument Makers. Each of the completed stories gives Jack McDevitt the opportunity to take the reader a bit further into archaeological mysteries while also examining different planets, space travel, and alien beings. Transitions between \u201cnovellas\u201d are minimal at best and character development is weak. Still McDevitt wove a mystery that kept me listening at a red-hot pace. This is surprising because the author revealed his story in a very straight forward manner with plenty of foreshadowing. In McDevitt\u2019s case, however, the telling itself was so compelling that I was fascinated to hear what would happen next.
\nIn short, I enjoyed this very much, although at the end the story suddenly threw off narrative and resorted to bullet points to finish things off. \u201cIn audio, it was an abrupt ending that startled me, however, that didn\u2019t spoil it as the story itself was done. In fact, I didn\u2019t care about the \u201c[insert name here] went on to do this\u201d summary and it could have been left out without hurting anything.<\/p>\n

Tom Weiner did a fine job of narrating the book. His reading was not something that stood out for any reason but which carried the story along very well. It left me with the memory of story rather than reader, which is surely what good narration should accomplish.<\/p>\n

McDevitt tells a very good mystery that gives answers to some questions and leaves others to the readers\u2019 speculation. Engines of God is ultimately a satisfying adventure which introduces us to a universe that he went on to write other novels about and which I will be seeking out.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"