false 10207136 672423 41821 1857989341 9781857989342 74 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169758013m/41821.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169758013s/41821.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41821.The_Gods_Themselves 3.86 1579 The Gods Themselves ('72) was his "comeback" SF novel, welcomed by both Hugo & Nebula awards.
It opens in the world of Big Science that Asimov knew well, full of in-fighting & the race to publish first. The Inter-Universe Electron Pump sucks unlimited energy from nothing, making all power stations obsolete & bringing a new golden age. No one--especially not the scientist who got the credit--wants to listen to the doomsayer Lamont who calculates that the pump's side effects may detonate the Sun. Worse, there's no kudos for him: "And no one on Earth will live to know I was right".
Part two moves to the dying parallel universe whose hyper-intelligent aliens actually invented the pump & don't care what happens to our Sun. Asimov cleverly focuses on three immature aliens whose intelligence is less daunting & who slowly learn--with very different personal reactions--about their race's weird analogue of sex, about the pump's moral implications, & eventually about the unexpected meaning of maturity. These are the most original, engaging aliens Asimov ever created.
Part three is set in a carefully worked-out Moon colony & grapples with the "para-physics" of inter-universe loopholes. Can a politically acceptable replacement for the pump be developed? Solid, workmanlike SF with far more talk than action: one of Asimov's rare standalone novels.--David Langford]]> 16667 3.90 104058 3720 1972 5 1 false Fri Jan 18 01:25:37 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 10 02:50:16 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 18 01:24:55 -0800 2008
Some of my favorite quotes from this year come from this b...more...]]>