VILLAGE IN THE SKY

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

Jack McDevitt returns to the adventures of Chase Kolpath and Alex Benedict in Village in the Sky. Following the reintroduction of Gabe Benedict in Octavia Gone, the ninth volume in the series further expands McDevitt's world with the discovery of a second alien race into this universe. Village in the Sky explores the impact of a prime directive-like policy in the aftermath of the discovery, as well as the puzzle that follows it.

The novel opens with the news that the Columbia found a planet that appeared to have intelligent life on it, but the fact that they had only seen a single village that had electric power, was confusing, making people wonder if it might be an outpost rather than a world with native life. A subsequent mission was prepared to re-visit the planet and see what they could learn, all under the aegis of the Confederacy's policy not to make contact with intelligent life. The policy is based, in part, on the fact that the first (and only other) time humans had encountered aliens in this universe, it led to a war with the Mutes, as they are called. The discovery, and the second mission, raised questions about the policy and whether the team sent out to learn more about the village would follow the policy. The team was comprised, mostly, of members of a think tank tasked with figuring out the best way to respond to other alien intelligences.

Although Chase had the chance to be on the mission, she declined, preferring to remain on Rimway with Alex, Gabe, and her new boyfriend, Chad, who owned a bookstore that specialized in physical books. Although there is plenty of activity as Chase describes her personal life and an unexpected event while the second mission is exploring the possible alien outpost, the first half of Village in the Sky feels as if it is slow moving. Neither Alex nor Chase are directly involved in the most exciting action, instead taking a spectator's view of all the activity. Furthermore, the possibility of a new alien intelligence in their world seems almost anti-climactic for the people living in the Confederacy. Eventually, unsatisfied with the results of the second mission, Alex and Gave decide to try to find the world themselves, with Chase piloting and an assist from Robbi Jo Renfroe, the pilot of the original mission.

McDevitt offers a somewhat realistic view of long-duration space travel. Although Chase is piloting the ship, there is little for her to do after the ship enters Armstrong Space, McDevitt's solution to the vast distances involved in interstellar travel. His characters, however, engage with each other and even decide to see if they can learn more about the void through which they are traveling. A stop off en route gives McDevitt's characters a chance for a break from the monotony of their journey and McDevitt a chance to show the reader an outpost world that is different from the cosmopolitan world on which his characters generally live. Eventually, they come across the world where the alien outpost had been discovered which leads them on another series of adventures.

As always, McDevitt offers an optimistic view of humanity's far future. His characters are essentially decent people, trying to do the best they can, despite Chase's comment early in the novel that "Alex and [she] are the bad guys." Chase’s description of herself is open to interpretation and not as black and white as she portrays it and her adventures in Village in the Sky are low key, even as McDevitt’s descriptions of alien worlds, space travel, and alien races engage the reader’s sense of wonder. McDevitt has a fantastic ability to channel the entertainment of classic space opera with a more modern literary sensibility.

Purchase this book
	Hardcover	Kindle	Audio book

---

Return to