Nemesis: A Novel

by Isaac Asimov

“A totally new and original work that stretches his talents to their fullest . . . welcome back, champ!”—The Detroit News

In the twenty-third century pioneers have escaped the crowded earth for life in self-sustaining orbital colonies. One of the colonies, Rotor, has broken away from the solar system to create its own renegade utopia around an unknown red star two light-years from Earth: a star named Nemesis.  

Now a fifteen-year-old Rotorian girl has learned of the dire threat that nemesis poses to Earth’s people—but she is prevented from warning them. Soon she will realize that Nemesis endangers Rotor as well.  And so it will be up to her alone to save both Earth and Rotor as—drawn inexorably by Nemesis, the death star—they hurtle toward certain disaster.

• ISBN10: 0553286285
• ISBN13: 9780553286281
• Publish Date: 1 September 1990 (first published 24 September 1989)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553286281

Reviews

[Metaphorosis Reviews]

3 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews

Orbital colonies face tension with an overcrowded Earth. One, with the help of a new drive system, breaks away to orbit an unusual star. A teenage girl on the colony begins to develop a rapport with a local lifeform, while on Earth, her father seeks ways to find the colony and make a family again.

This is one of the last of Isaac Asimov's solo novels, and I'm sorry to say it's not his best. It has his usual light-hearted, friendly style, but it lacks the spark of ingenuity that brought his Foundation and Robot stories to life. He's got a lot of the right elements in place - Eugenia, the troubled but brilliant teen; Eugenia, her talented but outmatched mother; Crile, the focused but malleable father; Janus, the colony's megalomanic director - but much of the dialogue and introspection seems more rote than inspired. Asimov, in a brief foreword, makes a point that he tries to write clearly rather than poetically, and he's always succeeded at that. This time, however, clarity isn't enough to carry the story.

As always with Asimov, the science is credible, though he stretches the point with Nemesis' local lifeform. Unfortunately, the science here also isn't particularly interesting. By 1989, there wasn't much new in any of these ideas, and Nemesis lacks the human element needed to keep it engaging

Asimov was one of the true greats of science fiction (and, based on his autobigraphy and author's notes, a genuinely nice person), but this is not one of his best books. It's an adequate but not gripping SF sorta-thriller that doesn't stand out, and isn't the best testament to an SF Grandmaster. Read it for completeness sake, but don't expect too much.