Sascha Rolfsen Rolfsen itibaren Gedikevi, 03600 Gedikevi/Emirdağ/Afyonkarahisar, Turkey itibaren Gedikevi, 03600 Gedikevi/Emirdağ/Afyonkarahisar, Turkey

I read this after I finished Lovely Bones. This book was depressing to say the least. Not worth the read.

Hoyle's "The Black Cloud" gives one of the best portraits of what it is like to do science. The novel captures both the excitement of science and the back-and-forth between scientists. It would probably be a perfect book were it not for two problems. First, as the book nears its end the dialog becomes increasingly pedantic. Second, the few women in the novel are treated with incredible condescension. One might argue that this is just a factor of the time. However, Hoyle could have as easily deleted the female characters from his book with almost no loss, which it makes it seem like they are there only for the purposes of contrasting with the smart, sophisticated scientific men.