The Hercules Text

If you liked "Contact," you will like the "Hercules Text" better. The story if tight and keeps you page turning at a quick pace. The social and political twists are surprising and thoughtful. What would you do if you received a "first contact" message and it contained unimaginable gifts and terrifying wonders? What would you tell everyone, and how could you prevent potential world destruction, but want to release a cure for cancer? And what if the Eden story was not true. A really fun read to the last page. This was one of McDevitt's earlier novels and one of his best.You can certainly see his mastery of telling a story which will show up in his Alex Benedict series.

One million years ago somebody build themselves a pulsar and used to broadcast an encyclopedia to the universe. As it happens, the transmission reached Earth just as the United States had built a massive astronomic observatory on the Moon; while all the other nations had demolished all radiotelescopes and shot their astronomers, the United States had wisely kept one or two alive. (The author does not explain how this troubling state of affairs came to pass, nor does he even mention it; yet we infer it because it is essential to the plot.) As a consequence, the broadcast is received only by carefully vetted team working for the NASA. Working overtime the intrepid Americans translate part of the encyclopedia, thus gaining the potential of immense technological advantage over the rest of the world. The knowledge that we are not alone in the universe is received by religious leaders all over the world with equanimity. When a leak in the press announces that at some point in the future technology will become available the stock-market capitalization of utility companies drops close to zero, and they file for bankruptcy. Russia threatens to launch a pre-emptive war, unwilling to give the United States time to apply the technology acquired from the alien encyclopedia. Then the book ends. The writing is good. Some characters are not unbelievable, and some tension does build up waiting to see whether a straying wife will be reconciled with her bureaucratically heroic husband or not. But, but, but what's with the abrupt ending? I understand the drive to begin a novel in medias res, in the middle of the action, but to end it just when a climax was coming into sight? Naughty. Yes, we have algorithms doing what no algorithm can ever do, yes, we have the unexplained total lack of astronomers in Russia, China and elsewhere, and yes, we have ample psychological silliness; yet everything is forgiven because of one resplendent idea: the main character is a bumbling bureaucrat, who is well aware of his limitations and struggles to keep the scientific team working as efficiently as possible. For this one idea The Hercules Text will never be forgotten. (Scale: * - unreadable, couldn't finish; ** - bad or very bad, but readable; *** - good work, well worth its price; **** - very good in its genre; ***** - timeless masterpiece.)

The Hercules Text, by Jack McDevitt. First Thoughts: I’ve read several later novels by Jack: Time Travelers Never Die, the whole Alex Benedict series, and so on. All of the forenamed books were exciting tales, great character analysis and exposure, no dropped plot lines and a satisfying if somewhat predictable ending. Alas, not so with Hercules Text. Story & Plot Points: (minor spoilers) We Earth guys and gals (in America only) receive a message from the stars, from a race a million years dead. At first they’re simple arithmetic messages. Later they start revealing philosophy and technology that could spell disaster or survival for Man. It can also spell global power and dominance to any country who takes advantage of this data. Great so far. Unfortunately it falls apart and ends in an unsatisfying manner. Harry is a father of a diabetic boy, and breaks up with his wife Julie. They’re last night of sex, their break-up, is all interesting but has little to do with the story itself nor the main plot. And the author drops this line completely. Whatever happened to his now ex-wife in all the ensuing activity? Plot point dropped. He gets a new girlfriend who is also part of the team of translators of the Hercules Text. What happens to this relationship? Plot point dropped. The American government’s answer? Keep it for ourselves and start developing weapons of mass destruction. But NOTHING is really done with this plotpoint, except some chatting with the Russian premiere. The Text has moral implications for the Church, but little is discussed about Vatican nor much in the way of the impact of the alien philosophy other than a best seller was written. Ho hum. Final Thoughts: Several points are developed then dropped, over and over. No one point is developed but the author leaves them all hanging. This is the author’s first novel that he rewrote a bit to update it. I’m really glad he got better! Not recommended except for McDevitt fans who want a complete library.

What a magnificent book, and a debut (twenty years ago!), to boot. The vast majority of today’s science fiction debut novels can’t hold a candle to this one. The Hercules Text is a first-contact story, wherein humanity finally receives signals from another life form, but more importantly, the story is about all the scientific, social, political and religious implications that follow. The alien contact is realistic, however, so there is no two-way communication because the message itself took a million years to reach Earth - it’s all just a bunch of sit-and-get for the humans sitting on our end of the telescope (and other fancy equipments). The plot does follow a few mysteries through the course of the book, but mostly the story is not about the alien contact, but the reaction to the contact. In lesser hands, such a story would be boring, and I can understand how some of today’s readers would be put off by the pace of this novel, but if you understand that McDevitt is taking a realistic, mature, and well-thought-out approach to how the characters react, then you start to find depth in the ideas, and sincere moments of self-reflection about how your notions of the world and of humanity’s place in the universe might change. The reason I knew that this was a five-star novel was because The Hercules Text made me feel the way a good science fiction novel should make the reader feel: small against the vastness of the universe, and hopeful that humanity will capably find its way into the future.

If you like your Sci-Fi a bit more in the classic vein, then I think you'll like this. Well written, blending people, places, things, and of course a message from space. The story is entertaining, with characters appropriately developed. Not Earth shattering, but a fun read that's easy to recommend

I am always impressed by this authors ability to put everyman into far out scenarios. This first outing for Mr McDevitt is no exception. Given all the answers to "everything, this group of scientist and theologians are faced with the consequences, economically and socially, of ultimate knowledge. Why didn't I think of that? This is so enjoyable to read and ponder that I'm sure I will read it again and again. As I have many of Mr. McDevitt's books. (I have read "Deepsix" a half dozen times, I think.) To those that are looking for space battles and action, this may not be for you. But, this is my type of book. And I'm not a scientist, or a doctor, and I don't waste my time criticizing what we must remember is after all Science FICTION. But it all is plausible enough for my taste. I think given the same scenario, our government would act the same as the fictional one in the book does. Protecting their political asses and the economy in the short term.

Jack McDevitt is a master at what he does -- which is to weave a great science fiction story in and out of a society's concerns about the larger picture. "Hercules Text" is a pure science fiction novel that addresses one of the major themes in sci-fi -- what happens when we make contact with another race of beings. Well, we don't actually see or meet them, we only intercept their radio signals because McDevitt adheres to the current models of astrophysics and it's not likely that physical contact will happen between two races separated by half a million light years. No, the real joy of this story is the conundrums posed by suddenly gaining access to all sorts of information about the sciences -- some of which humans were very close to discovering on their own, others of which were still a mystery to us. What results is a thoroughly solid examination of what would probably happen if such an occurrence was reality. Good science, great characters and a realistic approach to telling this story put "Hercules Text" on my own personal list of outstanding science fiction novels..!

The aliens lived long, long ago (a million years in the past) and far, far away (many light years). Just like we Earthlings did when we sent out Voyager probes with a disc containing greetings and a sample of our various world cultures, the aliens decided to send out a message. Scientists here on Earth have been listening to the stars for many years now (google the SETI program). Finally the "little green men" have answered. But do we really dare hear what they have to say? Especially when it turns out that their science is incredibly further advanced than ours? This is the premise of The Hercules Text by Jack McDevitt, first published in 1986 as an Ace science fiction special mass market pbk. Recently Mr. McDevitt decided to do some revision (to bring it into the 21st century) and this book was published "revised and with a new foreward" in 2015. And, of course, the 2015 edition is available as an eBook. Here is what Amazon.com and Goodreads had to say about The Hercules Text: "The classic first-contact science fiction novel that launched the career of Jack McDevitt" (Amazon.com) "His first novel, The Hercules Text, was published in the celebrated Ace Specials series and won the Philip K. Dick Special Award." (Goodreads) I have totally enjoyed every one of the Alex Benedict novels and the few Priscilla Hutchins books I have read. If you have never read anything by Jack McDevitt, this is an excellent place to start and I highly recommend it if you like thoughtful hard sf or even if you just enjoy a really well-told story!