AKM, I think you, and your critics, are refering to pulp sci-fi, which has always been about just that.
I'm sure there are "hardcore" sci-fi books out there that at first glance fall into that category, but are well written, well reasoned out etc.
I'll give an example from a neighbooring field- fantasy.
While you have your typical D&D type of pulp fiction, you can get books that at first glance seem the same.
For example, GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire.
At first glance it's just a medieval fantasy world with warring kings, "undead" coming again to invade the world etc, but right from the start you see it's:
A. Well written. No drivel like P&B have, or, to give an example directly from fantasy- unlike Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth* books(geez, I'm sorry Terry Brooks, your name popped up first and I had to check Wiki' to see you're not responsible for that trash). No repetative history summeries, no shallow characters. Even those that at first glance are small, unimportant characters can get the spotlight, and can change alot.
B. Surprising. There are plans within plans within plans, and while I may not be the most Sherlock-like of readers, bugger me with a hot poker if anyone can see all the twists and turns. This has at least as much plotting asthe Duniverse IMO.
C. Gritty, realistic world. This ain't no high-fantasy, here you won't find Gimlies and Leglasses killing 40+ foes each with nothing more than a scratch. GRRM
LOVES killing off or maiming characters, even major ones.
And while there seem to be a few more well protected characters out there that many readers think are the main heroes/heroines, nothing really is certain.
You think Paul getting blinded was rough? Try some ASoIaF then.
So that's about it- what you've complained about is pulp fiction, the bane of any literary genre(except love stories- that's a whole pulp genre in itself).
P.S Chig, this above post is for your eyes too...go read it already!
*A little confession here- I've read like 5-6 books of the Sword of Shit, err, Truth series. I was bored. REALLY bored. It was somewhat fun at the begining and went downhill fast.
I laughed my ass off reading the "horrible" torture scenes in the first book though, so I can't say I hadn't enjoyed it.
*Seriously, you gotta read those torture scenes, 'tis hilarious!*