The Currents of Space.

By Isaac Asimov.

Synopsis:
On the fields of Florina - an enslaved planet, and the only place in the galaxy where kyrt will grow - a man with no memory appears. He is adopted by Valona, a worker in a kryt mill. But as time passes, he begins to remember his past - his home planet, a radioactive wasteland called Earth; his work as a spatio-analyst; and a terrible danger that threatens all of Florina...

Review:
A fairly entertaining mystery novel, or as the blurb seems to think "a nova-bright novel of tension and adventure." I wasn't particularly tense. Maybe I'm just a bit desensitised.

Overall, I only have one complaint - the Asimov standard women. All of whom seem to want nothing more than babies. (On the off-chance you have/do ever read the book, I know Samia didn't. She wanted to write her book. But she was fairly unimportant, and also upper-class. I'm sure she was only there so Myrlyn could fancy her, and therefore look a bit more human).

As with most of Asimov's work, I found myself wondering how much of the astrophysics was based on existing knowledge. Fortunately, I'm far too lazy to do any actual research, so I'll assume it all makes sense. There's nothing simple enough to challenge my willing suspension of disbelief, so beyond that I don't really care.

The best thing about Asimov's work is his ability to write plots. I'm (as always) very very envious. The characters are okay, none really stand out (and I'm speaking generally here, although the comments do apply to this particular book perfectly), but the plots are engrossing, consistantly interesting, and move forward smoothly. They usually even have a satisfactory climax, although in this particular case it was a little too happy and a little too sudden for my taste.

Conclusion - A perfectly satisfactory waste of a few hours.