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Chindi by Jack McDevitt
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Jack McDevitt Edition: Mass Market Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2003-10-28 ISBN: 0441011020 Number of pages: 528 Publisher: Ace
Book Reviews of ChindiBook Review: A Great Archaelogical Mystery Summary: 5 Stars
"Chindi" is the third novel in the Priscilla Hutchins series. The archaelogical mysteries continue.
"Hutch", as her friends call her, is fed up with her career as pilot. She gets all of the blame when things go wrong and none of the credit when things go right. She's been asked by her employer, the Science Academy, to pilot one last mission before landing a desk job: ferry the well heeled members of the "Contact Society", an E.T.-phile crowd, around in a ship they commissioned for the Academy on its maiden voyage to investigate a strange signal emanating from the vicinity of a neutron star.
We journey with the crew as they discover a network of stealth satellites engaged in the observation of several worlds. As Hutch and her passengers track down clues to who built the network and why, they visit several worlds in the network and even make first contact with a new alien species. It's significant in that most worlds explored in this series contain the ruins of long dead civilizations, with one or two exceptions.
One of Hutch's passengers is an ex-boyfriend. Readers of previous works know that Hutch has been unlucky in love. Her career doesn't leave much time on Earth for relationships. Interstellar pilot really gives a new meaning to long distance relationships. Most give up. Hutch's relationship with this ex, Tor, makes for an interesting sub-plot, though it takes a while to really develop.
I don't want to give away too much, but suffice it to say that the Contact Society may have bitten off more than it could chew. Fatal mishaps plague the expedition, but they press on. Their compelling need to get to the bottom of the mystery pushes them on. They're rewarded with the discovery of the "chindi," a massive starship that they believe is the key to the stealth satellite network. Despite everything that has gone wrong and Hutch's warnings, the remaining members of the Contact Society set out to make contact with the chindi. The story reaches its climax with Hutch setting out to rescue her passengers from the chindi after a surprise turn of events.
McDevitt's writing style returns to the top form he achieved with "Engines of God" and quite possibly surpasses it. While "Deepsix" was a bit of a disappointment to this reader, "Chindi" made up for it. While his ability to weave a good mystery has never been a problem, McDevitt's use of characterization in "Chindi" easily surpasses what he provided in the previous two novels in this series. And the level of action and suspense also return to the level presented in "Engines of God". This was a novel that I had a tough time putting down. Excellent work. Highly recommended.
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