Book Review: A Voice in the Night by Jack McDevitt

This review was first published by Booklist on July 5, 2018.

A Voice in the Night brings together 24 short stories by McDevitt (The Long Sunset​, 2018)—tales of space exploration and artificial intelligence, even a couple of alternate-history yarns. Many highlight McDevitt’s concerns about the future of space travel and the unlikelihood of encountering other intelligent life in the universe, as well as worries about the future of our planet. Most of the stories in this collection were published in the past two decades, with a handful from the previous millennium, so it’s not a complete retrospective. Two stories are award-worthy: “Good Intentions” was a Nebula nominee in 1998, and “Ships in the Night” was an International SF winner in 1993. Of particular interest to McDevitt’s readers are two stories from his well-known Academy series, detailing Priscilla Hutchins’ qualification flight when she first became a starship pilot, in addition to several other stories set in the Academy universe. McDevitt’s fans will welcome this collection.