2007-07-08 Asimov's Nemesis

This is my review of Nemesis by Isaac Asimov. The book has been written 1989, only three years before Asimov's death. So why do I review such an old book? Well, I just read it and it's a great novel. But won't the review be a little biased? Yessiree! Here we go...
Nemesis is the story of Marlene, a teenage girl born in the year 2205, who lives on the space colony Rotor. Earth's orbit is full of such self-sufficient colonies, where living conditions are more pleasing than on overcrowded Earth. The Rotorians, under the guidance of their leader Janus Pitt, have an ambitious goal: 14 years ago they left the solar system for the sun Nemesis, to found a new humanity. They did not know (or in the case of Janus Pitt, not care to tell the people) that Nemesis is on it's way to the solar systems. 5000 years later it will pass Earth close enough to make it uninhabitable. That is why Earth spares no effort and develops a small ship with superluminal drive to go after Rotor.
In the meantime Marlene, who has last seen Earth when she was one year old, makes an intriguing discovery. The planet Erythro, Rotor's new host, is not completely without life! (This is where I better stop, because everything from here will only spoil it to you. Needless to say, the problem is solved by brilliant minds and out of the box thinking saves not only the day but the whole planet.)

The book has a little less than 400 pages which is not too much and not too little to let Asimov prove once again that he can forge a brilliant plot with interesting people in it. Being the grand master of science-fiction, Asimov does not only have the creativity to pull yet another world out of his hat, but also the technical know-how to make it just as interesting as the Foundation universe.

In case you still doubt my judgement, here's the last sentence from the author's introduction, after he told the reader that there are going to be two strands: I am sure you will have no trouble following the pattern, but since we are all friends, I thought I would let you know. Now tell me, how can you not like that?