Search - Chindi

Apparently, 'Chindi' is part of a series of books all set in the same universe by McDevitt, but this is the first book I've read by this author. A wealthy group devoted to the search for extraterrestrial civilizations gets an experienced pilot assigned to their mission. Although they're widely regarded as being a bunch of kooks, the mission is more successful than anticipated: a network of broadcasting satellites is discovered, all circling planets which have signs of now-dead civilizations - and they lead to a mysterious, gigantic alien spacecraft which seems to be an unmanned craft, creating a museum of alien civilizations.
The book is written reasonably entertainingly - in that it's got decent characterization, a constant flow of mystery, romance, action, and a near-constant death toll, but the problem was that I kept waiting for the big revelation that was going to reveal why all these alien civilizations seemed so remarkably and unbelievably HUMAN - I mean, one place they find is a near-exact simulacrum of a 19th-century European sitting room, just a little bit bigger - and no one even thinks that that is odd. But nothing of the sort ever came up in the book, and all I can attribute it to is a remarkable lack of imagination in describing possible alien cultures.

I am anxiously waiting to read the sequel, Omega. This book has made me request other books by Jack mcDevitt.

If you like wordy science fiction in the vein of the masters Asimov and Clarke then this will be a delight to read. Humans finally find out if there is other life in the universe. But maybe they don't want to have the answers to all the questions they want to ask?

If you like Jack McDevitt, then you will like this book.

A nice trip into outerspace the way we imagined it as kids. An entertaining book with nicely imagined alien landscapes. But will there be aliens.....?

This is one of the best stories about the search for and possibility of extra-terrestrial life. Humans get a signal from a distant star, and the almost extinguished hope of finding life out there is re-kindled with a passion. The question is what does the message say? And what should be done about it? Great sci-fi, as I expect from Jack McDevitt.

Wonderfully imaginative and exciting !!

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