I love tales of space exploration. I grew up dreaming about exploring the stars. It was natural to me to pick up Cauldron when I read the back cover. I turned the pages and read the entire novel but I wasn’t really pulled along by author force of will. Jack McDevitt made me work at it, and that isn’t a formula for success. Characters were boring and I never really felt like I got to know anyone much less like them. There were no “heros” in Cauldron. Not the kind I could relate to in any case. Some of the alien societies were initially interesting and then turned out to be really pointless. I thought we were going somewhere that turned out to be a dead end several times during the novel.
The best ideas in the book are only hinted at while the most boring details (a space pilot turned real estate agent, fund raising events) are explored in great detail to the detriment of the reader’s enjoyment. I wanted to like Cauldron but in the end it was a letdown. I wouldn’t recommend purchasing it to anyone but the most dedicated Jack McDevitt fans. One other note: this is the third in a trilogy. Amazon.com reviews indicate the other two novels in the series are much better but I haven’t read them yet (the book doesn’t make very clear that it is the end of a trilogy on the cover).
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