Okay, so sometimes I'm a little (YEAH, just a LITTLE!) slow on the uptake. Mention the Mississippi River, then mention an "enigmatic" Iron Pyramid in the next paragraph. I BEGIN to think it's Memphis. But I wasn't SURE until 6 pages later when there is mention of a sign that says Memphis Light, Gas, and Water. The one other sign mentioned was MEMPHIS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE--2009.

That's how author Jack McDevitt acquainted us with the fact that it is some future time after plague had destroyed most of the people but left most of our roads and buildings intact. We don't know exactly how FAR into the future it is. People have had to go back to basics for survival, and there is no more industrial society. But the Illyrians, as these Memphens now call themselves, have long had a legend of a great library at Haven. This library supposedly contained many of the books of the lost society of the Roadmakers'.

Nine winters before, an expedition left Illyria to search for Haven. All save one member were lost on the journey. Karik, the survivor told everyone that Haven did not exist. But when he dies, Karik leaves a young woman named Chaka a BOOK. And Chaka cannot quit wondering where he got the book. Chaka's brother was one of the lost members of the first expedition, an artist who left a pictoral record of the journey that Karik brought back with him. Chaka has to play burglar to search Karik's house for the pictures; she finds one called "Haven". Chaka could not rest then until she formed a second expedition.

Most of the book is about the journey. McDevitt has painted some really intriguing pictures both of a slightly future world ("2009") and a further in the future world after a devastating plague. It is the snapshots that keep running through my mind: what would our world look like 500-1000 years from now? What would our relatively "primitive" decendants make of the ruins, without books or records to explain things? For instance, in reference to the pyramid, "It's hollow, and the interior is given over to vast spaces that might have been used to drill an army, or to conduct religious exercises." They see our roads as "magnificent twin strips that glided across rolling hills and through broad forests." At Union Station, they don't know whether they are indoors or outdoors.

Some of the images, I couldn't figure out. I don't read many books that stay on my mind the way this one has. I heartily recommend Eternity Road, and, because it is a such a good read, I am pleased to nominate it for the 1998 Darrell Award.

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If you'd like to add your own review of Eternity Road to this site, email it to: the Memphen email box.

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About JACK MCDEVITT:
(from an article that appeared in the August 1998 issue of Memphen)

Jack is a 63-year old, Philadelphia native, who currently lives in Brunswick, Georgia. He was a 1957 graduate of LaSalle University, and received his Master's Degree from Wesleyan University in 1972. He is married to the former Maureen McAdams, and they have  3 children. In keeping with our recent program topic, he is a former Navy officer, English teacher, Philadelphia taxi driver, customs officer, motivational trainer.

 His first published story, "The Emerson Effect," appeared in the December 1981 Twilight Zone Magazine, and he has had about 50 stories see print since then, in most of the major SF publications and a number of anthologies. His published books include:

        The Hercules Text, Ace Special, 1986   *
        A Talent for War, Ace, 1989
        The Engines of God, Ace, 1994
        Ancient Shores, HarperPrism, 1996  **
        Standard Candles, Tachyon, 1996     (Story collection)
        Eternity Road, HarperPrism, 1997  **
        Moonfall, HarperPrism, 1998.  **

        (* review upcoming in Memphen;   ** reviewed previously in Memphen)

     His novella, "Time Travelers Never Die," which appeared in Asimov's SF Magazine, was a 1997 Hugo and Nebula Finalist and Ancient Shores is/was a Nebula finalist for 1998.

     Jack McDevitt's  personal Web page is at http://www.sfwa.org/members/ McDevitt/ and his email address is cryptic@gate.net ("Cryptic" was one of Jack's early short stories that received a Nebula nomination).

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 Here are some other Jack McDevitt pages to check out:

1996 Jack McDevitt Reviews

Jack McDevitt talks about Archaeology

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