Time for a sequel! – review of the book “Currents of Space” by Isaac Asimov

It’s just not

When I started my adventure with the second part of the cycle, I was quite disappointed, because after the first part I had certain expectations. The most important thing for me was the continuation of the story, which was just taking off and getting on the right track. The heroes emerged from the shadows of secrets and were to be openly confronted with adversities. Unfortunately, however, this is not the case. It turns out that the Currents tell about the adventures of completely different characters in a completely different corner of space. But after accepting this fact, does the book lose because of it?

Absolutely not!

This time the author takes us to Florina, the only place in the Galaxy where a special variety of cellulose, called kyrt, grows. Thus, it is the most expensive and most desirable material in the known universe. Not without a reason, as it has a number of applications. Many items are made of it, from rich decorations on clothes, through devices, to elements of spacecraft. Kyrt functions as a spice in Herbert’s world. Two main characters work on the production of the film. Valona, ​​a woman born and raised in Florina, and Rik, a young man who has been looked after by the protagonist since she was found senseless somewhere on the planet.

Owners, townspeople and villagers

The planet is divided into areas. The most prestigious are available only to the higher-ranking and richer. Caste division is commonplace here. The poorest workers must not even face the richest – the rulers of Florina, known as the Owners. Their voice among the peasants is made up of the townspeople, representing the middle class. All this perfect planet order begins to fall apart like a house of cards when certain facts are revealed. It turns out that some characters are not what they were thought to be and who they considered themselves to be, and the plot itself had started a year ago.

1 vs 2

The currents read better than the first part. Despite the more complicated structure and the relationship between quite a large number of more and less important characters, the reader is better introduced to the events. He becomes acquainted with them gradually, unobtrusively, and the details (which are later very important) are smuggled in by Asimov in a sly and imperceptible way. The consistency of the story and a much less open ending make the sequel a better position than the first installment in my opinion. We have interesting heroes here too, but a better, more criminal story and more interesting themes. You want to go back to the action intertwined between the protagonists.

Details, gossipy, silent running

The novel briefly presents the characters to us, but at the same time the descriptions are rich in details that seem to be meaningless or meaningless. In the climaxes, of which we have several, they come to the fore and throw a completely new light on the events. The latter turn interesting and well-arranged twists by several levels, starting the story anew each time. Something went wrong, someone turned out to be someone else, or a completely new hero enters the game.

Author

The spatial currents are a very well written item. Once again Asimov shows his writing skills and vast knowledge in the field of cosmology. In places a science fiction novel resembles a scientific treatise, but the author has already got us used to it. In any case, the work is worth recommending not only to fans of the sci-fi genre, but also to detective stories, because this is the flair of this story. It is a pity that it does not correspond to or connect with the first part in any way.

Cover

In terms of release, as before, Rebis does not disappoint. The cover looks nice, it corresponds to the title page of the Stars . Only the font is blue, not green. The text of the novel itself looks nice, not tiring, and the book itself remembers the shape and does not close, which makes reading much easier.