Skip to main content

Nemesis by Isaac Asimov

NemesisNemesis by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nemesis by Isaac Asimov

I consider myself a fan of Isaac Asimov literature, I know the robots and Empire series by heart as well as the foundation series. Asimov in his prologue wanted to go in a different direction with his novel nemesis. But then he hinted that maybe Nemesis and follow up novels would tie everything to one Asimov universe.

It seems to me that Isaac Asimov was always interested in the Progressive future of humanity as a collective. You may have noticed that he also was behind the woman's right to progress to her full potential, but with taste.

The protagonist and supporting characters are mostly females. I say females because the protagonist was a child of 15 not a full adult. I don't want to get the impression that I'm some sort of sexist but I try to use the proper wording the best way I can.

It was a woman astronomer who discovered a star closer to earth.

A woman who discovered superluminal flight. A girl who communicated to an entire planet.

There is a lot of hard science in this particular story. Astrophysics concepts were well developed.
One has to admit there wasn't anything special with Nemesis. I do have mixed thoughts about his characters, here he has a young lady about 15 who has a unique ability to read body language. That is very interesting, but he is also updating his personal view of Society as he saw it at the time. The main character "Marlena" is part of a single parent household. I don't think I have seen that in any of his books before, but please correct me if I am wrong. The single parent is also a working woman, who made the decision to abandon her husband in pursuit of her career.

In his earlier books, more so in his Robot novels, like " The Caves of Steel" women we're just to be wives and mothers and hysterical creatures, however, he evolves his viewpoint over time. Later on, he has strong women characters in many of his books. But I just don't know where he was going in Nemesis. He gave Marlena's mother, the personality of a woman in hysterics most of the time when it came to any issue regarding her daughter. It just didn't mix well for me.

I digress to one item, In this particular novel, in his notes said Nemesis was to be a stand alone, but eventually he did mention Nemesis in his later foundation books I believed he was setting up of the origin of the Asimov universe, the beginning of the Settlers Worlds, and the effort of Earth in maintaining control over the Settlers worlds. He was also setting up the method of how humans would settle other worlds. Which I find more interesting than his main plot. Asimov, I believe died three years after writing Nemesis. I wonder how it would have turned out is Asimov have written more nemesis novels.

View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Long Mars

The Long Mars by Terry Pratchett My rating: 3 of 5 stars "The Long Mars," the third installment in the Long Earth series, continues to expand the already vast canvas of Pratchett and Baxter's creation. While the concept of "Joker Mars" – echoing the familiar "Joker Earths" – is intriguing, it's just one of three distinct narrative threads woven throughout this book. We follow Sally Linsay on a journey across the Martian Stepped worlds, unraveling the mysteries her father, Willis, seeks. This exploration of the alien landscapes of the Long Mars is certainly compelling, but personally, it was the storyline involving "The Next" that truly captivated me. Joshua Valiente's arc, which delves into the emergence of these post-human children, is where the book really shines. It's a powerful exploration of prejudice, fear, and the potential societal clashes that arise when faced with the "other." The authors masterfully tackle ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Long Utopia

The Long Utopia by Terry Pratchett My rating: 3 of 5 stars In The Long Utopia, a novel in the Long Earth series, the artificial intelligences Agnes and Lobsang embark on a unique endeavor: adopting a human child, Ben, and attempting to build a normal pioneering life on one of the seemingly infinite parallel Earths. However, their peaceful existence takes a dramatic turn with the human pioneers discovering a peculiar species dubbed 'silver beetles'. These insects exhibit an unusual behavior of 'stepping down' to lower-numbered Earths. As the pioneers observe them, a terrifying realization dawns: the silver beetles are not merely migrating; they are systematically transforming their chosen parallel Earth into a colossal Dyson Motor, a structure designed to harness the star's energy. Lobsang, with his advanced analytical capabilities, understands the catastrophic implications. These silver beetles can step sideways to other parallel Earths, potentially converting an...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Long Cosmos

The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett My rating: 2 of 5 stars Having just finished "The Long Cosmos," the final installment in the "Long Earth" series—a collaboration Stephen Baxter completed after Terry Pratchett's passing—I found myself a bit disappointed by the number of loose ends left unresolved. I think a core challenge in classifying this series as traditional science fiction lies in its fundamental premise, which sidesteps the real-world physics limitations of interstellar travel. Knowing the near impossibility of venturing beyond our solar system due to light-speed limits, the authors cleverly engineered the parallel Earth concept as their vehicle for cosmic exploration. Instead of launching spaceships, the characters simply "step" into new worlds. This ingenious workaround allows for adventure without grappling with conventional astrophysical constraints. While "The Long Cosmos" does bring humanity's journey across the infinite ...
Post a Comment
Read more