I wrote a controversial book. I didn’t intend it that way, but that’s what happened.
I made a number of choices when writing the book. I chose to include science and engineering, as well as references to math. But no equations, just discussions. The book isn’t space opera, it was never intended to be.
I also chose to omit  descriptions of several scenes. There’s a rape, there’s sex, there’s a sudden disruption in a relationship. None of these are explicitly described; the reader must supply details from his/her imagination.
I also used considerable dialogue. Some felt that slowed down the action.
As a result, reviews are all over the place. One felt I left out a chapter and told me to go back and put it in. I didn’t; that was the way I wrote the book, some things inferred, not explicit. I tried to make it like real life. Real people aren’t omniscient, and often violence happens in boardrooms. Homes are foreclosed on, workers are laid off, healthcare denied, things like that. Disaster happens, and finding out who to blame is often impossible.
After some twenty reviews, all of them honest, those who like more science and less action love the book. Those who want more action, less science, are ambivalent at best. One said the book didn’t hold his interest, so he quit. And gave it a one star rating, despite not having read the book. Go figure. I’ve abandoned hundreds of books, including the Harry Potter series and the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series. Both were bestsellers, but I didn’t care for them. I didn’t feel it necessary to give them a bad review, however.
To each his own. If you like Science with your Science Fiction, you might like The Ship. If you want blood and mayhem, you’d be better off with The Trek.