Isaac Asimov’s Robots and Aliens Book 3: Intruder by Robert Thurston

I usually prefer reading books, but I have about a 15 minute drive to work which over time adds up to a lot of wasted time listening to the radio. A few years ago I listened to Steven King’s Dark Tower series, which took me over a year of trips to work. After Robert Jordan died and his Wheel of Time series was finished up by Brandon Sanderson, I revisited the books I already read on audio as I didn’t want to dedicate reading time to catching up, then read the new ones. This time I wanted ONE book, not a series so I after some digging around I came across Anathem by Neal Stephenson. I’ve previously read Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, and Cryptonomicon. I really enjoyed Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, however Cryptonomicon was insanely long. I about half way through, I started to feel fatigued and found myself just looking forward to the end. Given the length of Anathem, I knew I didn’t really want to dedicate that amount of reading time to the book. I normally read about 15-20 minutes a day during my lunch break at work, so it would have taken forever for me to finish. The audiobook format seemed like a good fit. In the end, it took me about 2 months to make it through the 32 + hours. (more…)

This book makes Back to the Future look like child’s play. Considering the publish date of this novel, Isaac Asimov proves that he is ahead of his time even today. I have not really read many time-travel intesive books but Hollywood can’t compare to the master of Science Fiction. This was a rather short read for me as I had just finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The pace of the book is a bit slow at the beginning but picks up quickly toward the end. I enjoyed the time perspective change from the main character and found it to be rather unique. If you are an Asimov fan and haven’t read this book, you are cheating yourself out of a good read.