Readings and Ramblings

This book was purported to be science fiction, but at first I doubted it. It seemed to me to be more of an espionage thriller. I liked it. It was an exciting read, but it just did not seem to be science fiction. Then there came a point in which there was some discussion of how Al Gore barely won over George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election. Okay, it was an alternate history novel. That is usually classified as science fiction. There are some who think it should be classified as a genre of its own and I do see the point and would accept that if whoever declares genres would declare that to be a genre, but I also accept the convention of calling alternate history science fiction. However, it still read like an espionage thriller. Then toward the end a number of cities across Asia apparently get nuked. Well, it turns out that they don't really get nuked, but they do disappear. If I told you what happened to them I suppose that I would be including a spoiler here, but, shades of James Blish, this part firmly establishes this book as science fiction. By the way, if you are familiar with the writings of James Blish and what he wrote about cities that vacate themselves from the face of the Earth then I suppose my reference to him may have introduced the spoiler anyway.