John Sandford broke from his genre and tried his hand at SF. He partnered with someone named Ctein, whose name I still haven't figured out how to pronounce. Bottom line - stick with what you know and do well.
Strange activity is seen around the rings of Saturn and it is suspected that aliens have planted something out there. The decision is made to investigate and a race between the USA and China is on to investigate what is out there. The book then goes into detail concerning the propulsion system, construction of the vessel and life aboard the space ship. There is very little character development and I found that I didn't really care what happened to any of them. The Chinese were almost forgotten about until the last part of the book and then they were portrayed as caricatures of their race.
I have always found that Sandford's crime novels get a hook into you and you want to keep reading to see what happens next. In Saturn Run, not so much. Much of the book is as boring as interplanetary space travel. It doesn't begin to get interesting until the last 100 pages and then it's predictable. The final victory of the good guys seems almost anticlimactic.
SF fans may like this novel. Comparing it against Sandford's other works, this is not one of his best. But, if you are faced with a long airplane flight, this book may be just the thing.
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