Genre: science fiction
Length: 448 pages
Setting: the asteroid Pallas, in the future
Interest: It was a random book picked off my Kindle.
Summary: The main character, Emerson Ngu, was born into the Greeley Memorial Utopian Project on Pallas. This is a socialist, agrarian society where no one should have more than any others, but the guards and the administration invariably do. Emerson longs to get out of the Project and join the community on the Outside. One day, he manages to sneak out and join them. He’s horrified by some of the differences (they shoot guns! All the time! And eat meat!!!), but quickly adapts and learns that their way is much better than the society in the Project.
Final thoughts: I just couldn’t finish this book. I got over 150 pages in (usually I give a questionable book 50 pages to get better) and it just started driving me crazy. Emerson is one of those characters who does everything he turns his mind to wonderfully well (he sets a record at the shooting range, even though he’s just learned how to shoot), everyone loves him, and the female characters exist just to fall in love with him. Plus, there’s the whole political undertones of how much better life is if everyone just does what they want, as long as it doesn’t interfere with anyone else’s life (ala Heinlein) and guns are great. Heinlein was at least a bit more subtle about his politics. It didn’t help there wasn’t much happening. You have to enjoy reading about life on the asteroid to enjoy this book, and I didn’t.
Title comes from: the setting of the book.
Reading challenges fulfilled: None, since I didn’t finish the book
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