| Ancient Shores | |
| Author: | Jack McDevitt |
| Cover Artist: | Jim Burns |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | HarperPrism |
| Release Date: | April 1996 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages: | 397 (first edition, hardback) |
| Isbn: | 0-06-105207-8 |
| Isbn Note: | (first edition, hardback) |
| Dewey: | 813/.54 20 |
| Congress: | PS3563.C3556 A8 1996 |
| Oclc: | 33948882 |
| Followed By: | Thunderbird (2015) |
Ancient Shores is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack McDevitt, published in 1996. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1997.[1] A continuation of this novel by the same writer was published in 2015, entitled Thunderbird.
A vast lake, known as Lake Agassiz, covered much of North Dakota, Manitoba and Minnesota during prehistoric times.
The story begins when farmer Tom Lasker and his son, Will, uncover a seemingly brand new yacht. Found on a landlocked farm, it draws tourists to the area. Max Collingswood, a friend of Tom's, tries to help discover the origins of the boat. Collingswood enlists April Cannon, a worker at a chemical lab who discovers that the yacht is made of an unknown material. In fact, it is a fiberglass-like material with an impossible atomic number (161).
Collingswood and Cannon discover something else on a nearby ridge which is part of a Sioux reservation. The Sioux assist in its excavation and examination. It turns out to be a green glassy roundhouse-like structure, made from the same material.
Eventually, they gain access to it, revealing a dock for the sailboat, but no entrance for it. The discovery that the structure contains the means to access other sites not on Earth sets off a struggle between the Government and the Reservation for control of it.