Thomcat
4/30/2017
A story in three sections, and the first is barely science fiction. Mostly politics, with a MacGuffin that gives free energy - or is it free? This book won a Nebula, a Hugo, and the Locus SF award, and was regarded by Isaac Asimov as his favorite book.
The second section is a very alien world, with the connection only visible near the end. The third section brings the whole story together quite well, though I found myself thinking of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, written six years earlier. Do all lunar colonies have intrigues and rebellions?
Keeping this from five stars for me was all the dialog to tell the story. There isn't a lot of action. How many other books did Asimov use a three part structure for? It turns out this was published serially in Galaxy Magazine, so that at least makes sense here. I am not sure I would have continued past the first in that format, it so lacked in sci-fi.
I am glad that it ended up on my list in book form, and also glad I finished it