Isaac Asimov was in general a great author, and Nemesis certainly isn't an exception. He is one of the few authors who can get away with so little romance or action.
Imagine if Alpha Centauri weren't the nearest star. What if there was a red dwarf hidden by a dust cloud, even nearer? No, the book doesn't deal with an encounter between Nemesis, the newly discovered star, and our Sun. Instead it supposes that a space Settlement decides to go live there without telling the rest of the world of the new star's existence. The goal of the Settlement's leader is to build a new society without all the squabbling caused by differences on Earth. We won't get into the odds of that working, especially since that isn't the point of the book. The daughter of the astronomer who discovered Nemesis has an unusual ability to read body language. She can tell when people are lying, no matter how they try to hide it, or how they really feel about something they're talking about. Not a very comfortable person to be around for those who prefer to keep secrets. But back on Earth, there are those who feel the Settlement's inhabitants deliberately and maliciously did not reveal the presence of Nemesis, and they intend to follow them. Now, if you aren't familiar with Asimov's style, you may find his stories dry. As I said above, there is very little romance or action in his stories, and this is no exception. Many readers dislike how often he emphasizes that Marlene, the daughter of the astronomer, is quite plain and that no one can hide anything from her. But I enjoy this book quite a bit. Maybe it's the exploration of human nature. The Robots of Dawn Lije Bailey and Daneel Olivaw have been called up yet again in The Robots of Dawn to solve a murder in another world. This time, the suspect is Daneel's own creator, and the victim is the second humaniform robot he created. The political implications of the destruction of this robot are serious, not only for Dr. Han Fastolfe, the roboticist who created Daneel, but also for Earth. The case occurs on Aurora, where Gladia from Solaria (The Naked Sun) has gone to live a life where she can interact with other people without shame. You have to love Asimov's style to enjoy this novel. In other words, there's lots of talk and explanations of technology. Fortunately, I enjoy that tremendously. Bailey's trip to Solaria inspired him to start working toward finding people on Earth who would like to colonize other planets. He's trying to train them to tolerate the outdoors and get permission to settle a new world. But the established Spacer worlds don't want to let Earhmen do that, yet don't feel comfortable settling new worlds themselves either. Bailey's ability to solve this mystery will determine who gets to continue exploration of the galaxy. The Spacer worlds have to power to keep Earthmen on Earth if they so choose. Fastolfe supports the idea, but other roboticists on his world oppose the idea, and want to use his humaniform robots instead. They're using the accusation that he maliciously destroyed his second humaniform robot and are trying to ruin his political influence. More book reviews here: https://writtenonthewind.tumblr.com/post/159152982068/house-on-mango-street-ages-with-its-readers http://ecatlibrary.weebly.com/blog/fahrenheit-451
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AuthorSamantha Black is author of this blog. She is from New York. Samantha is a passionate reader, professional novelist and writer. She likes Yoga, traveling and swimming. ArchivesCategories |