Isaac Asimov
Notturno

THE REVIEW

First theorem: there must be at least 2 deaths within the first 5 pages.
Second theorem: the plot must be compelling and written with pace, but the 2 deaths must not be missing.
Third theorem: I must get inside a character's head and be the special guest precisely because of the plot and other elements, including corpses.

Instead, I stumble upon a novel by Asimov and Silverberg.
I step back about 30 years just to make you understand the choice of this reading.
As a teenager, I had read The Child of Time by these two writers. Beautiful. Perhaps a bit too much love but a nice story.
Then I had literally devoured Robot NDR-113. I talked about it for six months. It was my password for the first Unix system, and we are talking about 1992.
From this book came the film The Bicentennial Man in 1999 with the legendary Robin Williams. A MASTERPIECE.

Now I'm reading Nightfall. Here with me. On the bedside table. Within reach. What should I do, keep going or leave it halfway?
The story is slow, and there are several characters who seem important from chapter to chapter, but none become the main one.
Perhaps the writing is a bit dated for an idea from as early as 1941.
The plot is simple.
The planet has 6 suns and darkness does not exist.
For this reason, an amusement park is opened to give visitors the opportunity to take a totally dark tour inside the earth.
Most people who came out of this amusement park went crazy or had really serious problems.
Their brains literally shatter. The psychologist investigates.
At the same time, a prehistoric civilization with inscriptions similar to hieroglyphics is discovered, buried under the sand. The archaeologist investigates.
The planet seems to have taken a different course from normal. The balance of the 6 suns, on the gravitational pull, wavers. The future is feared. The scientist investigates.

Read like this it seems like a boring book. Indeed it is.
Or maybe I'll change my mind in the next few hours. Unless I'm forced to stay in the dark all night.