Most science fiction seeks to excite and gratify the reader's sense of wonder. Jack McDevitt's hard SF novel Chindi both satisfies and examines this sense of wonder, which inspires not only SF readers and writers, but every explorer and scientist who seeks to understand the universe.

In Chindi, humanity has expanded to the stars and found very few other intelligent races--all but one extinct, with the survivor none too impressive. Humanity has resigned itself to being alone. Then an alien satellite is found, orbitting a distant star and beaming an unreadable signal across the galaxy. Academy starship Captain Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins finds herself piloting a motley crew of eccentrics (one an ex-lover) from the idealistic, ridiculed Contact Society, seeking the signal's destination. Their quest turns deadly as it takes them far beyond the borders of explored space to an impossible planetary system--and a vast and terrifying alien artifact.

Chindi is an ambitious, exciting, big-idea hard-SF novel that ventures successfully into Rendezvous with Rama territory, and beyond. The sequel to The Engines of God and Deepsix, Chindi leaves some unanswered questions for McDevitt's forthcoming fourth novel. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly
In this sequel to last year's well-received Deepsix, McDevitt tells a curiously old-fashioned tale of interstellar adventure. Reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, the story sends veteran space pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins and a crew of rich, amateur SETI enthusiasts off on a star-hopping jaunt in search of the mysterious aliens who have placed a series of "stealthed" satellites around an unknown number of planets. After visiting several worlds, and losing two of her dilettantes to a murderous group of alien angels, Hutch follows the interstellar trail to a bizarre, obviously artificial planetary system. There, two spectacular gas giants orbit each other closely, partially sharing the same atmosphere, while a large moon circles them in a theoretically impossible circumpolar orbit. The explorers soon discover a number of puzzling alien artifacts, including a gigantic spaceship that fails to respond to their signals. First contact is McDevitt's favorite theme, and he's also good at creating large and rather spectacular astronomical phenomena. Where this novel falls short, however, is in the creation of characters. Hutch, beautiful and supremely competent, is an adequate hero, but virtually everyone else is a cartoon. The book abounds in foolhardy dilettantes, glory-hogging bureaucrats and capable space pilots. Oddly, in a novel set some 200 years in the future, McDevitt's cast is almost exclusively white and Anglo-Saxon. This is a serviceable enough space opera, but it operates far from the genre's cutting edge.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
On her final active mission for the Academy, spaceship pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchinson ferries a group of wealthy UFO hobbyists to the site of a mysterious signal from distant space. After discovering only dead planets and unexpected danger, Hutch and her crew of amateurs finally encounter a vehicle that seems to promise a long-awaited first contact. The author of Deepsix relates the further adventures of a resourceful and determined woman who places her duty to those under her care before her personal ambitions. First-rate sf adventure and smooth, well-plotted storytelling make this a superior choice for sf collections. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
McDevitt continues his lovingly detailed exploration of interstellar reconnaissance and alien contact in something of a sequel to Deepsix (2001). After artificial signals are received near a neutron star, starship captain Priscilla Hutchins, heroine of a space rescue, is hired to search for the signals' origins. The motley crew she commands includes a millionaire, a pop entertainer, and a would-be lover--in short, amateurs who will have to make up in chutzpah what they lack in skills. Rediscovering the signals sends them on a trail across the stars, for each signal is relayed from star system to star system by mysterious, sophisticated, and lethal satellites of alien origin. The trail eventually leads to a gigantic alien spaceship--a chindi--that seems to make regular rounds without a live crew, and to a trove of alien artifacts and indications of intelligent alien life that are just out of reach. The last encounter with the chindi, another hairbreadth escape, sets up at least one further book, but on its own this one is really quite splendid. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Washington Post Book World
His most fascinating novel yet...guaranteed to exhilarate the reader.

Book Description
The universe has been explored--and humanity has all but given up on finding other intelligent life. Then an alien satellite orbiting a distant star sends out an unreadable signal. Is it the final programmed gasp of an ancient, long-dead race? Or the first greeting of an undiscovered life form?

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Chindi is Jack McDevitt's third novel -- after The Engines of God and Deepsix -- to feature Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins, veteran starship pilot and one of the most credible heroines in contemporary SF. Both she and McDevitt are at the top of their respective forms in this big, lovingly detailed new novel of interstellar suspense.

Accompanied by an anthropomorphic AI and a crew of enthusiastic amateurs, Hutch discovers an alien satellite that is part of an intricate network of receivers and transmitters spanning an incalculable distance and leading to a series of inhabited -- or formerly inhabited -- worlds. Eventually, the searchers discover the Retreat, a small moon containing a treasure trove of alien artifacts. But this discovery only leads to a larger one: a massive interstellar vessel they dub "the Chindi," i.e., the "spirit of the night." As Hutch and her companions slowly uncover the Chindi's secrets, McDevitt's narrative achieves an impressive degree of visionary and conceptual grandeur.

McDevitt's virtues are on full display in Chindi: the clean, clear style, the easy humor, the sympathetic portraits of believable people under relentless pressure. McDevitt has written some of the most entertaining, thoroughly imagined SF adventures of recent years, and Chindi -- with its potent, wide-eyed evocation of cosmic mysteries -- is one of his most absorbing creations. Bill Sheehan

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"On a routine survey mission studying a neutron star, an Academy starship receives a transmission in an unknown language. Before leaving the area, the starship launches a series of satellites to find the signal - and perhaps discover its origins." "Five years later, a satellite finally encounters the signal - which is believed to be of extraterrestrial origin by the Contact Society, a wealthy group of enthusiasts who fund research into the existence of alien life. Providing a starship for the academy to be piloted by Captain Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins, the Contact Society embarks on a mission to find the source of the transmission. Across a myriad of stars, from world to world, Hutch and her crew follow the signal, but find only puzzles and lethal surprises." Then, in a planetary system far beyond the bounds of previous exploration, they discover an object. It is immense, ominous and mysterious. And it may hold the answer not only to the questions of the Contact Society, but to those of every person who has ever looked to the sky and wondered if we were alone.

FROM THE CRITICS

Locus

McDevitt [is]... a writer of hard, humane science fiction thrillers, and Chindi is one of his very best.

Publishers Weekly

In this sequel to last year's well-received Deepsix, McDevitt tells a curiously old-fashioned tale of interstellar adventure. Reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, the story sends veteran space pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins and a crew of rich, amateur SETI enthusiasts off on a star-hopping jaunt in search of the mysterious aliens who have placed a series of "stealthed" satellites around an unknown number of planets. After visiting several worlds, and losing two of her dilettantes to a murderous group of alien angels, Hutch follows the interstellar trail to a bizarre, obviously artificial planetary system. There, two spectacular gas giants orbit each other closely, partially sharing the same atmosphere, while a large moon circles them in a theoretically impossible circumpolar orbit. The explorers soon discover a number of puzzling alien artifacts, including a gigantic spaceship that fails to respond to their signals. First contact is McDevitt's favorite theme, and he's also good at creating large and rather spectacular astronomical phenomena. Where this novel falls short, however, is in the creation of characters. Hutch, beautiful and supremely competent, is an adequate hero, but virtually everyone else is a cartoon. The book abounds in foolhardy dilettantes, glory-hogging bureaucrats and capable space pilots. Oddly, in a novel set some 200 years in the future, McDevitt's cast is almost exclusively white and Anglo-Saxon. This is a serviceable enough space opera, but it operates far from the genre's cutting edge. (July 2) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

On her final active mission for the Academy, spaceship pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchinson ferries a group of wealthy UFO hobbyists to the site of a mysterious signal from distant space. After discovering only dead planets and unexpected danger, Hutch and her crew of amateurs finally encounter a vehicle that seems to promise a long-awaited first contact. The author of Deepsix relates the further adventures of a resourceful and determined woman who places her duty to those under her care before her personal ambitions. First-rate sf adventure and smooth, well-plotted storytelling make this a superior choice for sf collections. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews