Mediocre sci-fi at its best

I just read Chindi, a science fiction novel by Jack McDevitt. I gave it two stars out of five on Amazon. Here are some excerpts from my review:

Have you ever read one of those books that, once you get about halfway through, you're not quite sure you really want to finish, but you slog through anyway, hoping against hope that there's a big payoff at the end? And when you finally reach the conclusion, you feel about as satisfied as if you'd been served a plate of rice cakes when you were expecting steak? Well, that's what "Chindi" like.

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The first fifth of the book starts out at a crackling good pace. After a mysterious explosion kills another captain and his alien-seeking passengers, readers are tantalized with the promise of an interstellar archeological mystery.

Sadly, the book devolves into a wild goose chase as [main character] Hutch and her team of amateur xenologists try in vain to track down the alien intelligence thought to be the source of the fatal blast. The crew jumps from planet to planet, stumbling across alien races that are either long dead or living but hostile and of murderous intent.

Apart from Hutch, the characters are as thin as the paper they are written on. The only promising character other than Hutch is the legendary captain Preacher Brawley, who is unfortunately killed in the blast that sets up the plot. The rest of the cast is embarrassingly laughable -- a brash billionaire CEO, his lackey bureaucrat, his movie star wife, a brilliant scientist, an artist. One reviewer aptly said this is "Gilligan's Island" in space.

* * * *

This 500-page novel could easily have been condensed to a 100-page novella. If it was even half its length, I might recommend it as a throwaway summer read. But as it stands I can only advise potential readers to seek sci-fi adventure elsewhere, perhaps in the military action pulp of Richard K. Morgan, or the transhuman punk epics of Alastair Reynolds.

I try to post reviews of books and CDs I don't like because in general, it seems people are motivated to review something on Amazon only when they really love the product.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of reviewers who put up thoughtful pieces that are highly critical of the product in question, but there are just far more that put up glowing comments, you know, stating that the latest Linkin Park album is the greatest CD of all time.

But I've seen so many mediocre CDs, movies and books get 4-5 stars that I think the system could really use some balance. Balance that of course I am best placed to provide.