Book Review-Nemesis

Nemesis
by Isaac Asimov
364 pages
Science Fiction
Doubleday Books

I finished reading this book yesterday. It was the first Asimov book I've ever read, and it was okay. Definitely okay. Not great or wonderful, but okay. The plot was intriguing and the story moved fast enough to keep me going. There were a few problems I had with the book, however. I don't know if this is indicative of Asimov's writing, or just a problem with this book, but a lot of what gets said gets repeated. Multiple times. Marlene (Mar-LAY-nuh) is one of the main characters, and we are told that she is plump and not pretty. Asimov seems to need to remind us of this, as if we might fall in love with her personality and think she is attractive. I didn't. To me, her personality is more repulsive than her looks could ever be. She irritates me, and the way the other characters pander to her irritated me even more. Her mother, Eugenia Insigna, tells us all she loves her (which I never really believe-she seems to possess her more than anything), but never treats her well. She seems to get what she wants when she wants it, whether conditions are safe or not. We are often told that she will get her way whether anyone likes it or not. This ends up being true in the end, but no one knows it. Has anyone ever heard of grounding someone? And besides her looks, we are told about her eyes more in this one book than about Harry Potter's in all six Harry Potter books.

Besides Marlene, many concepts seem to be repeated. In fact, I think quite a few conversations repeated, with only a few of the words changed.

Beyond those nits, however, I liked the story. I liked the technology and the problems that the characters faced. I liked the resolution (even if I saw it coming) and how the "bad" guys met their end. Not necessarily bad guys, and not necessarily death, but it was fun nonetheless.

So:
Would I recommend this book to someone else?
If they were a hard-core science fiction fan? Yes.
Would I read another book by Isaac Asimov?
Yes.