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Just finished:

Going to knock this one out before the end of the year

I do those stupid goodreads yearly self-challenges so I can't stand reading a book that straddles from one year to the next.

Finished:

This was an audiobook. I don't listen to a lot of audiobooks, but since the pandemic I've been doing an 11 hour drive to visit family (instead of flying) and they make the time go fast. A classic Asimov book (which I hadn't read before) seemed like a good choice since they're relatively short (I could listen to the whole thing on the one drive). Also his writing style is dialog-heavy and direct.

I enjoyed it. It's the classic "buddy cop" story, with two massively different personalities forced to work together (and grow to respect and ultimately befriend each other) with a sci-fi twist. And props to Asimov, since this was written long before buddy cop stories became cliche. Although to be honest, the main cop Elijah doesn't seem to be so great at his job ... he repeatedly makes wild accusations that are shot down. Sure he solves the case in the end, but even a broken clock is right eventually It's a little sad that Asimov's idea of a massively overcrowded Earth was 8 billion people ... which is where we are now. Great Jehoshaphat indeed!

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I really enjoyed this author's Alice and Lost Boy (and was luke-warm on the Alice sequel Red Queen). This one is more on the luke-warm end for me. It may be that I just don't want to read or see pandemic horror stories anymore. Also, this frustratingly doesn't seem to have a proper ending (with the explanation for the "monsters" teased but never given, and not being given the "pay off" of finally entering Grandmother's house).

This book was a nice surprise for me with some unexpected twists and turns plotwise. It had a lot of heart to it and some nicely done relationships with a nice message in the end. Highly recommend it if you are in the mood for a quirky story and an easy read.

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Reading other reader comments, it seems Weir's last book Artemis got crapped on by many. I enjoyed it, but it seems Weir got the message and delivered something much more Martian-like: a snarky good guy isolated in a hostile environment "sciencing" to solve his problems and save the day. Certainly some different wrinkles are thrown in here, and I think fans of The Martian should like this too. Probably best to read before the Ryan Gosling movie (directed by Lord and Miller) comes out.

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I deliberately chose to read the first-published shorter version, since a) I've heard very mixed things about the reconstituted later version, and b) I'm a slow reader (when I'm reading for pleasure), and I wanted to wrap the book up by the end of the year. Mission accomplished! Overall, I wasn't as enamored of the book as many people seem to be. I DID enjoy it, but even this gutted version was too long for my tastes. I may try to read the undiluted version at some point in the future, but it's probably going to be several years before I work up the stamina to try it.

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