A review by manuphoto
The Nemesis from Terra by Leigh Brackett

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This book is an interesting snapshot of 1940’s pulpy science fiction. It reads like a sci-fi/action B movie, with all the tropes that come with it. Sort of Rambo II (with the crapy romance) meets Total Recall, but cheesier. 

It’s a quick and easy read, it does feel like an artifact of a past era in literature. It’s not really engrossing, the characters are very shallow and almost everything is quite predictable. But it’s still interesting given when it was written, plus Brackett’s style and pace makes it quite the page turner. I can see how it inspired other stories afterwards too, albeit much better ones.

It’s also pulpy as hell, with the main character Rick being the Uber macho-man, calling the women “baby” or “kid”, showing off is great musculature and healing from serious wounds like I would a little bobo.. Yeah, definitely a mix of Stallone and Schwarzenegger circa 1985, on steroids. Plus, he has charisma! See:

The novel contains passages like:

• (Rick) we’ll fight the power together!
• (The crowd) We don’t want to!
• (Rick) But I’m saying we can! And I’m me!
• (The crowd) OK, we changed our minds. Lead us to glory or death!

Deep stuff indeed…

Some funny concepts, a very “TV movie” execution, a so-so plot. Glad I read it, it’s off the Hugos list, but that’s about it.