Pebble in the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1950. This work is his first novel — parts of the Foundation series had appeared from 1942 onwards in magazines, but Foundation was not published in book form until 1951. The original Foundation books are also a string of linked episodes, whereas this is a complete story involving a single group of characters.
The science in this Science Fiction doesn't age well, however there is a great line:
"To the rest of the Galaxy, if they are aware of us at all, Earth is but a pebble in the sky. To us it is home, and all the home we know."
By far the best in the Empire series, yet still a little lackluster. I would have enjoyed hearing about more than three planets with a focus on only one in a book about an empire encompassing the entire galaxy.
The standard Asimov ruductionism is at play throughout, but at least here some of the characters actually fail to deduce reality correctly, and are consequently puzzled by the missing facts. This has seldom happened in the Asimov I've read so far - it seems that if you use logic and are intelligent then absolutely everything can be deduced by the wind and a toothpick in the Empire.
The obligatory romance has again aged terribly. But this should be of no suprise if you've read the first two books in the series.
Story wise, it was quite fine. I think the whole time travel idea didn't need to happen. That character could …
By far the best in the Empire series, yet still a little lackluster. I would have enjoyed hearing about more than three planets with a focus on only one in a book about an empire encompassing the entire galaxy.
The standard Asimov ruductionism is at play throughout, but at least here some of the characters actually fail to deduce reality correctly, and are consequently puzzled by the missing facts. This has seldom happened in the Asimov I've read so far - it seems that if you use logic and are intelligent then absolutely everything can be deduced by the wind and a toothpick in the Empire.
The obligatory romance has again aged terribly. But this should be of no suprise if you've read the first two books in the series.
Story wise, it was quite fine. I think the whole time travel idea didn't need to happen. That character could have been from the present, with a different demeanor and the whole thing would have turned out the same, and not leave unexplained questions about time travel.
Certainly better than Stars, Like Dust although still not that gripping.
Exploration into the idea of empire is interesting in its own right though. Especially since the story sits entirely outside the galactic empire that is Trantor, and focuses on a two planet empirelet. Still, subjugation here is rampant, and the expectations of each characters place in the social hierarchy are both explored in depth and shattered in some places - much to the incredulity of the characters that such an occurrence is even possible.
It's interesting to reflect on this idea of empire 70 years later (from time of the books writing). The notion that there is peace and war; if you are peaceful then you are subjugated, so better to subjugate first is the logical conclusion of Trantor, now that conclusion is more abhorrent than logical. Societies mindset has evolved in such a short time it seems.
Read entirely too much like pulp crime fiction. Rather uneven plotting.
First published on Forest Azuaron.
Depending on your point of view, The Currents of Space is either the last, second, or first book in the Galactic Empire trilogy: it was published last, but the depicted events happen before Pebble in the Sky and after The Stars, Like Dust, but is recommended as the first to read by Asimov himself. Personally, I find I can't read things out of in-universe chronological order, so The Currents of Space is my second foray into The Galactic Empire, following The Stars, Like Dust.
While I found The Stars, Like Dust to be merely good, The Currents of Space is now my favorite Asimov book.
Let's talk about the "main character has amnesia" plot, and how well Asimov side-stepped what makes that so clichéd anymore. First, while Rik is certainly the most important character in the book and drives the …
First published on Forest Azuaron.
Depending on your point of view, The Currents of Space is either the last, second, or first book in the Galactic Empire trilogy: it was published last, but the depicted events happen before Pebble in the Sky and after The Stars, Like Dust, but is recommended as the first to read by Asimov himself. Personally, I find I can't read things out of in-universe chronological order, so The Currents of Space is my second foray into The Galactic Empire, following The Stars, Like Dust.
While I found The Stars, Like Dust to be merely good, The Currents of Space is now my favorite Asimov book.
Let's talk about the "main character has amnesia" plot, and how well Asimov side-stepped what makes that so clichéd anymore. First, while Rik is certainly the most important character in the book and drives the plot forward, most of our time is not spent with him. We spend most of our time with people like the Townman and Dr. Junz, and Rik is merely around. Second, Rik is not "basically himself, but without his memories" or even "used to be a bad guy, but now is without his memories and naive". The process by which his memories are lost has had a catastrophic effect on Rik, and when he is first found he has the mental capacity of an infant. Finally, the plot isn't about making Rik remember. Remembering is something that happens during the plot, but no one sits around showing him things saying, "How about this? Does this trigger anything?" Sixty years later, and Asimov's handling of the amnesia plot feels fresher than anything in the past decade.
Then there's the plot itself. While the Robots series might be the explicit detective novels, The Currents of Space is, in my opinion, a better-crafted mystery than any of them. So well-crafted, in fact, that I hesitate to say anything about it for fear of spoiling, despite it being 60 years old and well passed the statute of limitations on spoiling.
Finally, I really enjoyed the characters. One of the primary problems I had with the Robots series was that everyone was, essentially, some academic or another and spoke appropriately, so there was no range of voices. The Currents of Space is the first of Asimov's books I've read that really shows his skill with dialog, and his ability to get inside the heads of a broad range of characters.
5 carbon atoms out of a supernova.
