Chindi

Rating:
Summary: Rama Revisited...
Review: This is my third try with Jack McDevitt and absolutely my last. Unengaging characters who spout drivel too long about nothing of real interest, and the least original premis and plotline of any book I've read recently.
More soap opera than space opera I'm afraid, and way too slow and derivative.

Rating:
Summary: Action packed space odyssey...
Review: This is one book that I found difficult to put down! True to his form, McDevitt asks the question: "Are we all alone?" Priscilla Hutchins (Hutch), yes from Deepsix fame, is back. Here she's Captain of a ship filled with passengers looking to make "first contact". What follows is a series of adventures and mishaps involving alien lifeforms, fantastic space scenary, interesting characters and inter-personal relationships and a rescue mission unlike anything previous. The Chindi (indian term for night spirit) a hugh spacecraft, provides the focus for the principal characters and, true to McDevitt form, additional food for thought, mystery and wonder.

McDevitt continues his hard science approach to his books along with his apparent interest in archaeology and archaeologists. All of these elements are combined with his central theme of "are we alone?" to give the reader a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. Reading Deepsix prior to reading Chindi is not absolutely necessary, but might help the reader better understand Hutch and some of the references to Deepsix made in Chindi.

Rating:
Summary: Action packed space odyssey...
Review: This is one book that I found difficult to put down! True to his form, McDevitt asks the question: "Are we all alone?" Priscilla Hutchins (Hutch), yes from Deepsix fame, is back. Here she's Captain of a ship filled with passengers looking to make "first contact". What follows is a series of adventures and mishaps involving alien lifeforms, fantastic space scenary, interesting characters and inter-personal relationships and a rescue mission unlike anything previous. The Chindi (indian term for night spirit) a hugh spacecraft, provides the focus for the principal characters and, true to McDevitt form, additional food for thought, mystery and wonder.

McDevitt continues his hard science approach to his books along with his apparent interest in archaeology and archaeologists. All of these elements are combined with his central theme of "are we alone?" to give the reader a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. Reading Deepsix prior to reading Chindi is not absolutely necessary, but might help the reader better understand Hutch and some of the references to Deepsix made in Chindi.

Rating:
Summary: Real Sci-Fi Exploration, even with flawed heroes...
Review: This is the first book I've read by Jack McDevitt, having picked it up somewhat randomly at a bookstore that was going out of business (the cover and description looked intriguing). I really enjoyed "Chindi", so I began browsing the Amazon reviews of other McDevitt titles and the consensus seems to be that the author follows a particular pattern and theme in almost all of his books. However, as a sci-fi fan reading "Chindi" as an isolated, single exposure to the author, I found it quite refreshing and creative.

I've always been a sucker for the space exploration dramas, where humans are exposed to alien intelligence or previously unknown phenomena, and are left to bumble through the often unpredictable results of such a discovery. I think "Chindi" pulls off that sentiment very well, though I sometimes found myself astonished that the main characters seemed to follow a path of reckless abandon in their unquenchable desire to "be the first to meet these aliens", even after friends had already died and mistakes had obviously been made. But at the same time, the untimely deaths of main characters because of their miscalculations, as well as their recklessness, seemed to make them even more believable for me. Face it, most people really aren't very analytical or calculating when jumping into new territory, especially when their deepest desires and aspirations are involved. Maybe some readers couldn't get over those character flaws or failures because often when you read an adventure story, you want an invincible hero. But in reality, your friends and even your heroes are mortal.

In other reviews, I've read complaints about the main character "Hutch", hinting that she didn't seem to be a strong character. For the same reasons mentioned above, I found myself really liking her. She was brave when she had to be, she was inventive and determined when it came to helping others out of a crisis, and she seemed genuinely interested in the people she worked with. Simply put, she seemed real. She wasn't a phaser-slinging, sword baring, alien-killing, man-bedding heroine, if that's what you want. She was human. I really liked the play between Hutch and her ex-boyfriend-returned, Tor. They had a tension of interest, concern, and love for one another, but had a difficult time expressing those feelings. They could feel tense as the other entered the room, wonder what to say or do, nervously try to show interest without exposing feelings that the other might not share, etc. How many times have we all felt this way about somebody? I was absolutely thrilled that I made it through an entire book without any key character hitting the sack with another, especially the main heroine! The emotions seemed more real that way.

I liked it. I'll probably read another book or two by Jack McDevitt, and hopefully won't find them too formulaic. If you want to check him out, I'd recommend this book as a great introduction, even if it's an isolated case.



Rating:
Summary: Excellent Science Fiction
Review: Well it's been a while since I've read a really good science fiction novel (Oh, how I started to long for the tales of Clarke, Asimov, Sturgeon, Bradbury, Ellison, Silverberg, and the rest of the masters of old--no slight intended to Brin, Card, Simmons, Gibson, Butler, or the score of other wonderful science fiction writers of the last 20 years), but low and behold I stumbled upon this novel with a blurb by Steven King upon the cover, and from the first page I was hooked. Ok, so the novel depends heavily (as does it's prequel "Deep Six" which I am now reading) on one disaster after the next taking place to advance the story, but the characters and the plot more than make up for this difficulty.

On the whole the book reminded me a great deal of Rendevous with Rama by the afore mentioned Clarke, but with a more satisfying conclusion. The wonder and awe of discovering a new sentient species is well portrayed, as are the perils involved in exploring the great beyond.

It's admirable that McDevitt, as he does in Deep Six, offers a story with strong a female lead character, something so often missing in much of science fiction (the stories of Octavia Butler, Kate Wilhelm, and Joan D. Vinge--all women writers--excluded). He also does a fine job of exploring the inner psyche of the characters in this book and the ways in which events, as they unfold, effect the way they think about themselves and the world around them.

All in all a fine tale of humanity's encounter with an alien unknown.

Rating:
Summary: I'll never read mcDevitt again
Review: While mcDevitt's basic idea is interesting -- the discovery of an automated alien exploration vessel that has been traveling for millenia -- the writing is terrible. There is almost no character development and nothing to like about them. They're whiny and one dimensional. And for supposedly highly successful people, they're dumb as bricks. Even if you're not a trained "explorer" you don't simply barge into dangerous situations without taking some precausions. And they do this repeatedly, despite their past mistakes, blundering into bad situations over and over and over and over again. Even though Hutch seems to be more intelligent and is aware of the potential the dangers involved, she repeatly lets herself be pushed around by her not-so-bright passengers.

Rating:
Summary: Narrow view of the future
Review: With the exception of FTL travel and extended life spans, the author creates a world two hundred years from now much like our own. It's hard to imagine that no other changes in technology or society will have occured in that span of time. This technique harkens back to the 50's when authors would extrapolate one trend in society to an extreme conclusion. While there might be adventure in the book as cited by other reviewers, I couldn't get that far because I found myself constantly saying "that's preposterous" when the characters reacted in an early 21st century fashion to a 23rd century situation.