Well, I've
finally got to the end of "Forge of the Elders" by L. Neil Smith. This was a part of my "catch up on my past Baen purchases" project, which unfortunately is a losing race, since I'm buying 4 new Baen books a month, but only catching up on the old ones by 1 or 2 a month
. Anyway, be that as it may, this was a book I bought in April 2000.
The plot is that, in the mid 21st century, in a USA which is now a part of the world-wide Soviet Empire, an expedition is sent to an asteroid, in order to mine its resources, where it is discovered that the asteroid is populated by a wide range of sentient beings from alternate time-lines, in which evolution has followed different paths. Even worse, this is a capitalist society, rather than being good Marxists!
An interesting idea, but I found it terribly hard going, and I honestly can't recommend it.
On now to something a lot easier to read: "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" by Agatha Christie, one of her standalone detective stories not featuring any of her "regular" detectives.