Nemesis

I am reading Nemesis by Isaac Asimov, as mentioned in another post. I haven't really presented my take on the book, and I shall do so here.

Surprising to me are the number of characters the author uses. I don't think this was one of his strongest or most hailed books, or if it was, it wasn't because he wove a complex tale of multiple people. I sense the lack of participation on the part of scientists, workers, government people, settlers, etc, since they're all lumped together.

I do enjoy, however the logic and reasoning in the book. I've often tried to place a reasonable, logical train of thought into words, via email, and it takes me brain time to craft the sentence, and the most frustrating thing about that is that the sentence looks perfectly normal. In this case, I'm enjoying the author's depth of thought into why this will happen and why this else won't happen. The political pushes and pulls that are demonstrated along the plot, either in explanation or through actions are neatly stitched, so that the reader has no trouble gliding down the pages.

Synopsis: (I realize many of my reviews don't include synopses, or if they do they're very limited. In this case it's a little easier because this is a relatively short and pointed work of fiction, at least compared to some of the other books I've read, and easier to summarize. I of course can only summarize to the point where I have read.) Technology on Earth has developed to the point where people have built space stations to orbit earth, and they are big enough to house entire neighborhoods with bulidings, streets, shops, and gardens. The floating neighborhoods are called Settlements, and they look down on dirty mixed up earth. On one station, Rotor, where much of the action of the story takes place, they have discovered the ability to partially move through hyperspace. They have also discovered a star closer than Alpha Centauri. They go there and establish themselves. Everyone else who are back on Earth or orbiting Earth wonder where they've gone and start to peice the puzzle together. Throughout the story is a girl named Marlene who is enthralled by the new world they discover.

There's actually a LOT about Marlene, such that it almost becomes tiresome how long it's taking for the big Marlene reveal at the end, if there is one.

In all, it's a page turner, and a good one. I'm sorry to say I was never a fan of Asimov till now, but I'll now gladly join the ranks of those who like his work. I take the tack that if I can like one book, I can count myself a fan in general.