Books like The Great Starship Race

Well I don't care how good it is, objectively speaking. I liked it. Of course, we know from the prologue what the main characters don't figure out until near the end, and all the foreshadowing gets annoying. And the sexism is problematic. But mostly it's a fun read for fans of the series. That is to say, genre fiction at its most comforting.One thing really bothers me, though, I guess I have to admit. In the beginning we're introduced to many of the other participants in the race, and we even see a copy of the list of entries. But knowing who's who never matters again... even though some of those individuals seemed very interesting....I wonder if it would be a better read if the first two sections (the prologue and the race prep) were skipped, and the reader had to piece together the backstory at the same time the characters were doing so....