20 years after an initial disastrous expedition to Maleiva III, another expedition is sent to observe the destruction of the planet in a collision with a gas giant. Although there was not supposed to be intelligent life on the planet, scans reveal the remains of cities.

The archaeology in space was well done and left me wanting to know more, but I found the race against time to rescue the stranded explorers dragged a bit, with me just wishing they'd get on with it. The climax of the actual rescue in the last 15% or so was exciting, though. The biggest drawback was the character of Gregory MacAllister, a conservative populist "common sense" journalist who seemed to be fighting exactly the same enemies in 2220 as his predecessors in 1990s/early 2000s America (women, academics, the poor - undeserving almost by definition). As the epigraph for each chapter was taken from his writings, this grew tiresome very quickly. ( )

(2001)Very good story about an effort to study the archeology of a planet before it is destroyed by another space body headed its way. Priscilla ?Hutch? Hutchins, a pilot, becomes the heroine of the story and look forward to another book with her in it.

A quick note before briefly discussing the actual book. I read this during the "great" Coronavirus pandemic of 2020. When I say read, I mean that I listened to it during my commute for my job. I was not forced to stay at home and was able to work throughout the event, at least so far.

Anyway, this is the second book in a series of books that follows a character named Priscilla Hutchins. She is an archeologist of sorts. I read the first book in the series "Engines of God" back in 2005. At the time I did not really enjoy it and rated it only 2 or 3 stars. The biggest problem I had with it was that it never revealed anything about the mysterys presented concerning the ancient civilization etc. At the time I felt this was done just to create and drag on a series.

So, I started this book fully expecting to be presented with some ancient dead alien civilization and see some of the mystery surrounding them. All the while some story would be told with that as the backdrop and ultimately nothing would never get revealed. I was not disappointed as that is exactly how the book went. However, because I had no anticipation of reading much about a cool dead civilization and certainly not learned anything about their final outcome I was able to actually focus on the real story of the Hutchins and her group's challenges and how they overcame them. This was somewhat entertaining so I am giving it four stars.

There are more books in the series, but I do not feel now like jumping into the next one. Maybe in 10 to 15 years or so.... LOL. ( )

They say he is the new Asimov - I say I think he might be. ( )

In this science fiction space story, it's the 23rd century, and scientists are gathering near the planet Maleiva III. A wandering gas giant is about to collide with Maleiva III, and the scientists want to observe this event close up. It was known that Maleiva III supported life (plant and animal), but previous expeditions had not seen evidence of advanced intelligence or civilization. However, shortly before the collision, remnants of an intelligent civilization were found, and a small group of scientists, led by pilot Patricia Hutchins are sent to the surface to quickly explore and to save what they can of this previously unknown civilization before the collision. Of course, there are all kinds of complications and unexpected disasters as they explore the planet.

I found this to be an imaginative depiction of an alien culture, as well as an exciting adventure story. Good escapist reading.

3 stars ( )