Jack McDevitt
Born	1935 (age 72–73)
Occupation	Novelist, Short story writer
Nationality	American
Writing period	1981 - present
Genres	Science Fiction
Influences Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke
Official website http://www.sfwa.org/members/McDevitt/JMinfo.html

Jack McDevitt (born 1935) is an award-winning American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917–19 March 2008 was a British Science fiction Author, Inventor, and Note that this Partial list contains some authors whose works of fantastic fiction would today be called science fiction even if they predate or did not work in that genre Extraterrestrial life is Life originating outside of the Earth. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Xenoarchaeology is a hypothetical form of Archaeology concerned with the physical remains of past (but not necessarily extinct) alien Cultures

McDevitt's first published story was "The Emerson Effect" in The Twilight Zone Magazine in 1981. Twilight Zone literature is an umbrella term for the many books and comic books which concern or adapt The Twilight Zone Television series. Two years later, he published his first novel, The Hercules Text, about the discovery of an intelligently conceived signal whose repercussions threaten human civilization. A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements This novel set the tone for many of McDevitt's following novels, which focused on making first contact. Frequently this theme is mixed with both trepidation before the unknown and a sense of wonder at the universe.

With The Engines of God (1994), McDevitt introduced the idea of a universe that was once teeming with intelligent life, but contains only their abandoned artifacts by the time humans arrive on the scene. A cultural artifact is a human-made object which gives information about the Culture of its creator and users Although it was initially written as a standalone novel, the main character of The Engines of God, pilot Priscilla Hutchins, has since appeared in five more books, Deepsix (2001), Chindi (2002), Omega (2003), Odyssey (2006), and Cauldron (2007). The mystery surrounding the destructive "Omega Clouds" (which are introduced in The Engines of God) is left unexplored until Omega. ^[1]

McDevitt's novels frequently raise questions which he does not attempt to answer. He prefers to leave ambiguities to puzzle and intrigue his readers: "Some things are best left to the reader's very able imagination. " ^[2]

His novel Seeker won the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA (ˈsɪfwə or /ˈsɛfwə/ was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award fourteen times; Seeker is his only win. The Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA for the best Science fiction / Fantasy fiction ^[3][4]

Contents 1 Biography 2 Bibliography 2.1 Novels, series 2.2 Novels, stand-alone 2.3 Short stories 2.4 Collections 2.5 Introductions 3 Awards and nominations 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External links

Biography

McDevitt went to LaSalle College, where a short story of his won the annual Freshman Short Story Contest and was published in the school's literary magazine, Four Quarters. Montreal 's LaSalle College is the largest private Bilingual Technical college in Canada. As McDevitt explained in an interview, "I was on my way. Then I read David Copperfield and realized I could never write at that level, and therefore I should find something else to do. David Copperfield or The Personal History Adventures Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to publish I joined the Navy, drove a cab, became an English teacher, took a customs inspector's job on the northern border, and didn't write another word for a quarter-century. Customs is an Authority or agency in a Country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods " He returned to writing when his wife, Maureen, encouraged him to try his hand at it in 1980. As of 2007, McDevitt lives near Brunswick, Georgia. Brunswick (ˌbrʌnswɪk is a city in the US state of Georgia and the County seat of Glynn County. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule In 2005, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University. Northern Illinois University (NIU is a Public university located in DeKalb Illinois.

Bibliography

Novels, series

• Academy Series - Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins
  • The Engines of God (1995)
  • Deepsix (2001) Author's comments
  • Chindi (2002) Author's comments
  • Omega (2003) Author's comments
  • Odyssey (2006) Author's comments
  • Cauldron (2007)[1]

• Alex Benedict
  • A Talent for War (1989)
  • Polaris (2004) Author's comments
  • Seeker (2005) - winner of Nebula Award
  • The Devil's Eye (expected November 2008)

Novels, stand-alone

• The Hercules Text (Ace Special, No 7) (1986)
• Ancient Shores (1996) Author's comments
• Eternity Road (1998) Author's comments
• Moonfall (1998)
• Infinity Beach (2000) (variant title (UK) Slow Lightning) Author's comments

Short stories

(partial list)

• The Emerson Effect (1981)
• Cryptic (1983)
• Promises to Keep (1984)
• Tidal Effects (1984)
• In the Tower (1987)
• The Fort Moxie Branch (1988)
• Time's Arrow (1989)
• Whistle (1989)
• Lake Agassiz (1991)
• "Ships in the Night" (1993)
• Midnight Clear (1993)
• Talk Radio (1993)
• Time Travelers Never Die (1996)
• Dead in the Water (1999)
• Good Intentions (1999) (with Stanley Schmidt)
• Oculus (2002)

Collections

• Standard Candles (Tachyon Press, 1996)
• Hello Out There (Meisha Merlin, 2000) (omnibus edition of A Talent for War and The Hercules Text) Author's foreword
• Ships in the Night (AAB, 2005)
• Outbound (ISFiC Press, 2006) Author's comments

Introductions

• Pellucidar (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (2002)

Awards and nominations

• Nebula Best Short Story nominee (1983) : "Cryptic"
• Philip K. Dick Award (special citation) (1986) : "The Hercules Text"
• Nebula Best Short Story nominee (1988) : "The Fort Moxie Branch"
• Hugo Best Short Story nominee (1989) : "The Fort Moxie Branch"
• International UPC Science Fiction Award winner (1993) : "Ships in the Night" (first English language winner)[2]
• Nebula Best Novella nominee (1996) : "Time Travelers Never Die"
• Hugo Best Novella nominee (1997) : "Time Travelers Never Die"
• Nebula Best Novel nominee (1997) : Ancient Shores
• Nebula Best Novel nominee (1998) : Moonfall
• Nebula Best Novelette nominee (1999) : "Good Intentions" (co-writer Stanley Schmidt)
• Nebula Best Novel nominee (2000) : Infinity Beach
• Nebula Best Short Story nominee (2002) : "Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City"
• Nebula Best Novel nominee (2003) : Chindi
• Campbell Award winner (2004) : Omega
• Nebula Best Novel nominee (2004) : Omega
• Nebula Best Novel nominee (2005) : Polaris
• Nebula Best Novel winner (2006) : Seeker

See also

• Flickinger field

Notes

External links

• Jack McDevitt's Home Page

• Ten Favorite Novels, literary influences

• Official forum at The Internet Book Database of Fiction
• Jack McDevitt's Short Story Bibliography
• Jack McDevitt at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• The Jack McDevitt Papers at Northern Illinois University

Persondata
NAME	McDevitt, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American novelist, Short story writer
DATE OF BIRTH	1935
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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