Monday, December 8, 2014

Review of The Stars, Like Dust and writing progress update

I just finished The Stars, Like Dust by Isaac Asimov.

This book is the foundation of his Foundation universe, and one of the first novels Asimov published.

Let me first say that I realize Asimov is one of the premier writers of science fiction. The world building in this universe is excellent, both clear and unobtrusive.

However, I found the characters in this book shallow and the plot predictable. There were a few surprises, but when they were revealed I hadn't identified enough with the characters to really care. The protagonist was arrogant and despicable. The ultimate antagonist was not very interesting, and the most sympathetic characters were a crazy old man and a bored and jaded bureaucrat. The female romantic lead was a classic example of the trope: headstrong and foolish until love makes her compliant.

Overall, despite the top-notch worldbuilding, I found the novel archaic, sexist and rather dull. I must recognize, however, that without Asimov leading the way, many of the science fiction works I love would never have existed. I can see in this work the roots of what became something greater.

However, I intend to read more of his Foundation universe books, simply because the world is so interesting to me.

As far as writing goes, I've got no projects that I'm actively working on right now. I write this blog and a few random paragraphs in the evenings. I have a number of things unfinished. An untitled novel with the main character's name of Juri is in it's severalth editing draft. Unfinished first drafts include Fallen Daughter, Sharli's Home, Children of the Net and Little Claire Lost.

I'm not sure where to go from here, whether I should start something new or try to finish something I started before.

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