Pebble in the Sky

Galactic Empire #3

by Isaac Asimov

One moment Joseph Schwartz is a happily retired tailor in 1949 Chicago. The next he's a helpless stranger on Earth during the heyday of the first Galactic Empire. Earth, he soon learns, is a backwater, just a pebble in the sky, despised by all the other 200 million planets of the Empire because its people dare to claim it's the original home of man. And Earth is poor, with great areas of radioactivity ruining much of its soil--so poor that everyone is sentenced to death at the age of sixty.

Joseph Schwartz is sixty-two.

This is young Isaac Asimov's first novel, full of wonders and ideas, the book that launched the novels of the Galactic Empire, culminating in the Foundation books and novels. It is also one of that select group of SF adventures that since the early 1950s has hooked generations of teenagers on reading science fiction. This is Golden Age SF at its finest.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Classics, Audiobook, Space Opera, Fantasy

308 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robot/Empire/Foundation. Book #7 is the final 'Galactic Empire' series book, but much more significantly Asimov's first published novel (1950!). Despite very much a '1950s' feel sci-fi work, this is still set many many centuries in Earth's future; has an interesting and assertive female lead; has a core theme set around prejudice through the lens of a far future where Earth is on the very outskirts of the Galactic Empire, and the radioactive soaked planet and its 20 million sized population are generally seen, and treated as a backward people. 8 out of 12 for this very unpredictable story with some great twists!

2021 read

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Isaac Asimov's very first published novel, Joseph Schwartz, a retired Jewish tailor, is instantly transported from 1949 Brooklyn to a time many thousands of years in the future, through an odd nuclear accident (scientific unlikelihood, but we'll let it pass). He finds himself on an Earth marred by high levels of radiation, presumably from past nuclear wars, that (scientific impossibility) apparently hasn't resulted in any physical ill effects to Earth's population, but has resulted in Earthmen being completely ostracized from humanity's galactic society as third-class citizens. Fan's of Asimov's The Foundation Trilogy will recognize references to Trantor here.

And although this future Earth has a far lower population than now, The Powers That Be believe that there are not enough resources to go around, so this is an Earth where everyone over age 60 is euthanized, unless you're a government bigwig or some such. Bad luck for Schwartz, since he's already 62.

Schwartz ends up getting treated by a local scientist's brain-enhancing machine (more unlikely science) and gets major mind-reading and mind-control powers. Meanwhile, the scientist and his (of course) beautiful daughter are caught in the middle of a deadly plot that could have galaxy-wide consequences, which draws in a handsome (of course) galactic archeologist.

Pebble in the Sky is a little rough around the edges and shows its 1940s roots, with the outdated science and social attitudes. Other than the love interest, who is occasionally awesome but too often of the hand-wringing variety, and a cameo appearance by a farmer's wife, no women grace the pages of this book. But there are also some creative and intense parts where you see what would make Asimov such a great SF writer.

It's kind of corny but it has its charms, if you like very old-fashioned, Golden Age science fiction and are okay with some major disbelief suspension.

[Francisca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Schwartz, a retired tailor, walks along a street in 1949. Between one step and the next, suspecting nothing, he's caught by a side effect of a far future experiment and flung millennia into the future, to a forgotten Earth, the despised backwater of a far-flung human galactic empire. A violent history has turned far-future Earth into a world whose surface is unpleasantly radioactive and which is ignored whenever possible. Joseph, half scared to death, unable to speak the language and doubting his own sanity, is taken in by a farm family.

While Joseph struggles to understand his new circumstances, Bel Avardan, a renowned archaeologist from Sirius is visiting Earth to pursue his disregarded theory that humanity may have originated from a single planet rather than (as is the prevailing theory) evolving in parallel forms on many worlds. His path crosses with Joseph's, and eventually, circumstances forced them to work to stop a nasty plot.

Pebble in the Sky was Asimov's first published novel, predating the collection of Foundation into a novel by a year. So don't expect a well developed writing style but nonetheless this is a entertaining and well-worth reading book.

There is conflict, all types of conflict in this book, from internal conflict as Joseph questions his own sanity over and over, to conflicts between planets, people, societies. Yes, the science may sound obsolete (while the presented principles are still valid some of Asimov's interpretations may not be) but the social conflict--the us vs them and the we are all human but surely we are not the same--is well portrayed by Asimov's characters, and those conflicts are too close to nowadays reality not to makes us think about our own prejudices and why we hold them.

I like this book, with its twists and turns that give the story a good drive, and with all its flaws. Not the best Sci-Fi there is, but still pretty readable 70 years after being published.

[BJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asimov is a curious grand master. He is utterly without literary pretension, making him seem almost immediately inferior to a Bradbury or a Vonnegut. Lacks the spirit of wild invention that makes Philip K. Dick feel like a prophet. The intricacy and grandeur of Frank Herbert’s desert future, or the palpable wonder that makes Clarke’s novels read like strange dreams. Asimov somehow both was and wasn’t great at characterization, but he only occasionally musters enough insight into human nature to overcome his own prejudices—first and foremost an ugly strain of sexism. (Though it’s worth mentioning that, like The Currents of Space (reviewed here), this novel is powerfully and explicitly anti-racist.)

And yet, for all Asimov’s shortcomings, a grand master of science fiction he was, and Pebble in the Sky is a classic. A minor classic, to be sure, but a classic nonetheless. The novel is exactly what it is, no more and no less: a pulpy scifi adventure of the late 40s, with time travel and galactic politics, nuclear winter and psionic powers, a scheming villain, handsome hero, everyman detective, and maiden in distress—all four of whom half transcend, half glory in being mere types. Like The End of Eternity (which I also recently reviewed)—another Asimov stand-alone that’s better than it has any right to be—Pebble in the Sky has a twisty, propulsive plot, driven by a series of interlocking mysteries. And though I’ve claimed he lacked literary ambition, Asimov wasn’t afraid to indulge himself when the story seemed to call for it: “he turned the minds over delicately and probed them,” starts one memorable passage. “They fell apart like so many walnuts—dry husks out of which emotions and notions fell like sibilant rain” (164).

Five stars for the pleasure it gave me—though I suppose it probably deserves four.

[Andrei(Drusca) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprinzător de bună

[Krell75 · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'odio porta alla follia.

"Quando vedo com'è fatta la mentalità della gente, a volte perdo ogni speranza nell'intelligenza umana."

Immaginate di ritrovarvi catapultati attraverso un salto temporale sulla Terra di un remotissimo futuro la cui poco numerosa popolazione vive su un pianeta devastato dalle radiazioni atomiche.
Terrestri che vengono scacciati e tenuti a distanza dal resto della galassia perché inadatti a convivere con il prossimo, sospettosi, invidiosi e pronti a dubitare di tutti, incapaci di vedere al di là del proprio naso e vittime della loro mentalità ristretta e dell'odio.

Siamo davvero sicuri che si stia parlando del futuro?
Attraverso un'idea classica come il viaggio nel tempo, Asimov mostra un futuro agghiacciante, in cui purtroppo l'uomo non è cambiato poi molto ed ha tutta l'aria di un triste presente.

[Велислав Върбанов · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Камъче в небето“ е отлична постапокалиптична фантастика със силни антиутопични елементи... Тя представлява дистойна последна част от имперската трилогия на Азимов, в която той майсторски е описал различни впечатляващи истории из Галактическата империя от времената преди създаването на двете Фондации. Чрез този роман, писателят изключително умело е отправил критика към всякакви видове фанатизъм!

Действието в „Камъче в небето“ се пренася на Земята, която към момента се оказва незначителна и почти забравена планета в огромната империя. Атмосферата на нея е постапокалиптична и доста тягостна, а и са се развихрили страховити фанатични крайности. Ученият Арвардан, пристигнал на Земята от друга планета, и землянинът Шварц, появил се от далечното минало, се оказват въвлечени в страшно загадъчни и опасни бунтовнически събития...




„Този факт бе неоспорим. Залегнал бе в него още от детството, преживяно в атмосфера на сляп фанатизъм — невидим и неизменно присъстващ до степен да бъде приет като аксиома, като втора природа. Едва когато се откъснеш от тази атмосфера и погледнеш назад, осъзнаваш причината за всичко това.“


„Няма да те изслушат дори. И знаеш ли защо? Защото хората вече са си изградили определена представа за миналото. Никой няма да пожелае да я промени, дори и да е истина. Хората не се интересуват от истината, за тях по-важни са традициите.“


„Ако Арвардан притежаваше телепатичните способности на Шварц, сигурно щеше да почувства борбата, която се водеше в него. Макар и интуитивно, той осъзна, че най-подходящото сега е да изчака думите му да окажат своето влияние.“

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a now-famous interview, sci-fi legend Isaac Asimov once revealed how he avoided getting stuck with writer's block. The hugely prodigious author would often be working at four or five books at the same time, with five typewriters arrayed side by side, and when he would get inextricably bogged down with one book, he'd simply move to the neighboring typewriter, and recommence work on that one! Thus, one can almost understand how it was possible for Asimov--who claimed, in his later years, to do nothing but write, eat, sleep, and talk to his wife--to rack up the almost superhuman tally of just over 500 books written before his death in 1992, in every subject category of the Dewey Decimal System (does anybody here even remember the Dewey Decimal System, or am I just aging myself uselessly?) except, I believe, philosophy.

Yes, over 500 books, 38 of them sci-fi novels, not to mention 213 (by my count) short stories, and around 1,600 essays! (I urge you to go to the author's official website at asimovonline.com to check for yourself!) But every great novelist's career must begin somewhere, and for Doc Ike, that beginning was his very first sci-fi novel, "Pebble in the Sky," which was initially released in 1950, when Isaac was 30 years old. Asimov had already come out with 37 short stories at that point since his very first, "Marooned Off Vesta," had appeared in the 3/39 issue of "Amazing Stories" … including several that would soon be collected to form his "Foundation" trilogy. But "Pebble in the Sky" was his first genuine book. I had not had the pleasure of reading this one in almost 30 years, but a recent perusal has served to remind me of what a terrific, exciting and genuinely fun first novel this is.

In the book, the reader encounters a 62-year-old, retired ex-tailor, Joseph Schwartz, who is walking down the street in modern-day (i.e., 1949) Chicago when he is hit by an energy beam of some sort and instantaneously whisked far into the future. (Internal evidence would seem to suggest that Schwartz winds up at least some 50,000 years hence, in the year G.E. 827.) In this age, Earth is a largely radioactive pariah planet; the lowliest member of a Galactic Empire that comprises some 200 million worlds! Schwartz is taken in by a farming family and later brought to the local government laboratory, where volunteers are needed to test a new device, the Synapsifier. Schwartz is treated by the gizmo's inventor, Dr. Affret Shekt, with the result that Schwartz' mental abilities are greatly enhanced, to the point where he can read minds, control the movements of others, and even slay a human being using his mind alone! But what Schwartz is unaware of is that Earth's Society of Ancients, fed up with centuries of second-class Galactic status, is fomenting a revolution against the Empire, and has acquired a weapon that might just enable them to lay waste to 200 million other worlds. And through a series of wild coincidences and unlikely misreadings, the Ancients soon come to believe that Schwartz, as well as visiting Sirian archeologist Bel Arvardan, not to mention Shekt and his young daughter Pola, are all Galactic spies out to stop them. Arvardan, who has really come to Earth to prove his pet theory that this lowly planet is the actual cradle of mankind, falls in love with Pola at their first chance meeting. But can this love-struck pair (Asimov describes their first kiss as "limitless seas of sweetness"!), her aged physicist father, and the befuddled Schwartz, even with his newly acquired powers of rapid learning and mind control, avail against the massed might of the Ancients and their superweapon?

At one point toward the end of this complexly plotted narrative, an Earth colonel, apprised of recent events by Arvardan, replies "A very confusing story, all this," and indeed, one of the principal virtues of "Pebble in the Sky" is its complicated story line. The capsule description that I have just offered here does not even begin to suggest the many twists and turns, the labyrinthine machinations, that the book dishes out. Fortunately for the reader, we have Isaac Asimov at the controls, an author who would later admit that clarity in writing--as opposed to such authorial tools as elegant purple prose, experiments in technique, symbolism and suchlike--was the ability he most hoped to achieve. Thus, even in his first novel, Asimov maintains a firm grasp on the book's constantly shifting developments.

Schwartz, obviously a Jewish character close to the author's Jewish heart, is a hugely sympathetic fellow for the reader to identify with, as is Arvardan, a Galactic citizen who is liberal enough to accept the low-grade Earthfolk as equals, and even fall in love with an Earthwoman. At times, the people of Earth almost seem like stand-ins for the blacks and other minorities of Earth's mid-20th century. Thus, we have a despicable Galactic lieutenant telling Arvardan "…what I can't understand is the working of the mind of an Earthie-lover. When a man...can get so low in filth as to crawl in among them and go nosing after their womenfolk, I have no respect for him. He's worse than they are...You've got a black Earthman's heart…" By the same token, it is clear that the relationship between the Jews here (Schwartz, the Shekts) and the Galactic Empire is meant to suggest a tip of the hat to the Jews and the Roman Empire back in Earth's ancient times, and if that analogy isn't apparent enough, Asimov tells us that the title of the Empire's resident chief representative in the radiation-free Himalayas is...Procurator!

Interestingly, in Asimov's first book, it is the rulers of Earth who are the bad guys (indeed, the Secretary of Earth's High Minister is a villain in the hissable classic mold), while a pudgy, 20th century tailor--two years over the limit for mandatory euthanasia--and a scholarly Galactic citizen are our heroes. The Ancients completely and repeatedly misconstrue Schwartz' presence and all subsequent actions, in a series of events that might be comic, if they were not so dire for the galaxy at large.

"Pebble In The Sky" enjoys a very solid reputation today, almost 70 years since its release. Writing in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," Scottish critic David Pringle calls it "good fun," although he has elsewhere admitted to having little enthusiasm for the author. Sci-fi writer L. Sprague de Camp, however, has said that the "suspense is almost unbearable" in "Pebble in the Sky," and indeed, the ticking-clock finale in the book really is kind of harrowing. Personally, I found the novel to be absolutely unputdownable, and tore through this one over the course of three very pleasant evenings.

All of which is not to say, of course, that "Pebble" is a perfect creation. Its story line is a little too dependent on multiple coincidences to move things along, and the reason why Schwartz is zapped into the future is never satisfactorily explained...at least, for this reader. Indeed, the lab accident in the 20th century physics lab--something to do with a flask of crude uranium--that seems to precipitate Schwartz (walking in the city many miles away) 50,000 years into the future is of so vague a nature that Asimov can only tell us "nuclear physics had queer and dangerous crannies left in it." Almost as unconvincing is this business of the Earthfolk of G.E. 827 being able to live in the radioactive pesthole that Earth has become with few ill effects by dint of a heightened immunity. As a matter of fact, in his introduction to "Pebble In The Sky"’s 1982 edition, Asimov would admit that he had indeed underestimated the potential lethal nature of radiation when he had written his novel 33 years earlier.

But these are quibbles. The bottom line is that "Pebble in the Sky" is a most impressive debut novel, both exciting and highly imaginative. As it turned out, the book was just Part 1 in what would eventually become Asimov's loosely linked "Galactic Empire" trilogy. Part 2, "The Stars Like Dust," was released the following year, and that book is where this reader will be heading next....

(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Isaac Asimov....)

[A. Raca · Rating 5 out of 5]

İmparatorluk serisinin en beğendiğim kitabı oldu. Artık sıra Vakıf serisine geldi! 🎉🎉

1949 yılında yaşayan emekli terzi karakterimiz bir anda kendini Galaktik Çağ'da buluyor ve 'Dünya' evrenin en nefret edilen gezegeni, dünyalılar küçümsenen insanlar...
🎉

"Galaksinin geri kalanı ya da en azından varlığımızın farkında olanlar için Dünya sadece gökteki bir çakıl taşından ibaret. Ama burası bizim evimiz, hatta bildiğimiz tek ev. Yine de siz dış dünyalılardan o kadar farklı değiliz, yalnızca daha talihsiziz."

💙

[Jeraviz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primer libro de Asimov pero el tercero cronológicamente de la trilogía del Imperio Galáctico. Y curiosamente me ha parecido el mejor de los tres.

El protagonista, un hombre corriente del siglo XXI, se ve envuelto en un experimento fallido que le teletransporta miles de años en el futuro cuando Trantor es el centro de la Galaxia y la Tierra es radioactiva.

Si lo lees según la cronología interna de la saga, ya sabrás por qué la Tierra es radioactiva, y también por qué existe esa animadversión entre los terrestres y los espaciales. Y esto me parece lo más interesante de la obra: cómo Asimov supo enlazar desde su primera obra hasta su última.

También es verdad que si lo lees de esta forma estarás viniendo de la Saga de los Robots, cuyos últimos libros fueron escritos en los 80, y te encontrarás con esta trilogía del Imperio escrita a principio de los 50 y seguramente el bache sea muy pronunciado.

Son historias simples, con personajes muy inocentes y cuyas relaciones están muy atadas a lo que ocurría en la sociedad americana de los años 40 o 50. No es necesario leerlos para entender la Saga de los Robots o la de Fundación pero si te gusta completar las sagas son libros rápidos de leer donde podemos ver cómo Asimov ya desde sus inicios plantó todo lo que luego se desarrolló a lo largo de los años.

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

He steps through a wormhole in space and ends up in a future world where he has exotic Super Powers -

Like what, I hear you ask? Right, listen to this. He can obtain a deadly attack as White from the variation of the Spanish which starts 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3. Impressive, huh?

I know. Alekhine showed it was possible a couple of times. And then there was the game Spassky won against Beliavsky in 1988. If you can play through that and not conclude that Boris had Super Powers, then all I can say is that you're a far more skeptical person than I am...

_________________________________

Another demonstration of how Google is steadily depriving us of our sacred right to bullshit. I figure I'd better post this correction before someone else does.

Well, it occurred to me this morning that some chess geek must have determined by now where the game in Pebble comes from. It only took a minute of searching to find out: it's Verlinsky - Levenfish, 1924, with a slightly altered conclusion. But here's the really annoying part. The game is indeed a Spanish with 5. Nc3 - I remembered that correctly. Unfortunately, the guy with the Super Powers is Black! I could have sworn on a stack of bibles that he was White.

Oh well. By the way, if you're curious, the same source revealed that the chess game in 2001: A Space Odyssey is Roesch - Schlage, 1910. So now you know too.

[Massimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo giudico il miglior libro del Ciclo dell'Impero. Ci sono tutti gli elementi di un classico della fantascienza, dai viaggi nel tempo alla tragedia post nucleare. Non ha una trama complicata e i vari personaggi sono abbastanza lineari nei loro comportamenti. Vengono però trattati temi importanti ancora oggi, come il razzismo e l'emigrazione di popoli, ed ha un buon sottofondo scientifico che risulta piacevole e nemmeno troppo antiquato! Forse l'unica pecca di questi romanzi è proprio la relativa semplicità e prevedibilità del racconto.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pebble in the Sky, published in 1950, was Asimov's first true novel. It was originally a stand-alone story, though was later retconned into the Foundation/Empire/Robot universe, but still can be read without any knowledge of any of Asimov's other books. It's the story of Jospeh Schwartz, a man from contemporary (1949) Chicago who finds himself thrown far forward in time where he becomes embroiled in some fascinating puzzles of a political, scientific, and philosophical nature. It's a well-written and influential classic, and still quite worthwhile.

[هادی امینی · Rating 4 out of 5]

مدتها بود که علمی تخیلی نخونده بودم و دلیلش رو هم نمیدونم.
حالا بعد از این همه مدت، خیلی برام شیرین بود. مخصوصاً با ترجمه درجه یک سعید سیمرغ عزیز.
نکته جالبش برام این بود که آسیموف حدود هفتاد سال پیش این کتاب علمی تخیلی رو نوشته، ولی با پیشرفت هولناک علم در این هفته دهه، هیچ خللی به اصول علمی کتاب وارد نیست.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pebble in the Sky (1950) was Asimov’s first published novel though he was already an accomplished short story writer. It posits an Earth thousands of years in the future which is a backwater to the Galactic Empire. It has become so unimportant that most galactic citizens have no idea human life began on Earth. Moreover, most are oddly prejudiced against Earthlings. Earth has rebelled unsuccessfully three times already and is gearing up for a fourth attempt.

Earth itself has barely survived atomic wars sone time in the distant past – a hot topic so to speak in 1950. There are scarce twenty million people left on Earth, all gathered in one thin strip. The rest of it too hot to support life. One of the unusual aspects of Earth life – later used in Logan’s Run to great effect – is that Sixty years is all one is allowed. After that point, you would find yourself in violation and euthanized.

The story itself moved along through the barely explainable advent of one Joseph Schwartz, who was crossing the street in Chicago when he was swept up and deposited thousands of years in the future. The precise mechanism of the journey is never satisfactorily explained.

A farmer, not knowing what to do with Schwartz and already drawing suspicion from the Government, volunteers Schwartz for a science experiment. The experiment though makes Schwartz a fast learner, but also gives him telepathic powers and the ability to stun anyone. The other thread is the advent of an off world archaeologist who has a strong interest in the science experiment. Clearly, their paths were all meant to cross.

Ultimately the plot centers about the rebellion and the inadvertent roles these people were to play.

[Michael Battaglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't you just hate those days when you're walking down the street just minding your own business and then suddenly poof! you're in another time completely? That's how Joseph Schwartz's day starts, and it more or less goes downhill from there. Before too long he's volunteered for a scientific experiment because everyone assumes he's mentally damaged (due to nobody being able to understand a word he's saying, and vice versa, thanks to a several thousand year language gap) and that, hey, it can't make him any worse. So what if all the animals we've tried it on so far have died? This time's the charm! Besides, it's not like he'll be able to complain to anyone. And that's all before the plot really begins to start.

The Empire novels are kind of the misbegotten children of the Asimov stable of SF novels. Not only were they early works (this is apparently his first real novel, unlike stuff like Foundation and I, Robot, which were collections of linked short stories) but they don't have the thematic weight that the other series have, basically winding up being those stories that were set between the Robot and Foundation years, and even that was kind of determined after the fact. There don't seem to be continuing characters and are essentially a trilogy in all but name.

But even here Asimov clearly has something going for him. His idea of the future is topsyturvy in parts, with Earth being radioactive and an extremely minor player in galactic affairs. Everyone is ruled by a massive empire now and no one believes that they all came from Earth, except for some archeologists. The plot of the novel sneaks up on you, where you think it's going to mostly be able Schwartz and his acclimation into future society, but he hardly even gets a chance to become used to his surroundings before people start chasing him in the name of science, until he gets the ability to fight back. His injection into sideways politics, a bystander who manages to upend the scene, isn't what you normally saw in Golden Age SF of the time, generally your protagonist was a go-getter space hero character, where nobody here falls into that category. It gives a weird everyman perspective to events, which only makes it seem stranger because everything is new for us, but with all the rapid changes even the characters don't seem to know which end is up.

It makes for fun reading when it gets going, which like most Asimov books it takes a bit to really kick into gear. Still, even at this point in time he had some of his old tricks, his allergy to anything resembling action is already apparent, with the ending coming along as people walking in from offscreen mopping their brows and going "Whew, that was tough. I almost didn't think we'd make it through!" It's the collision of ideas that sparks the mind here, as everyone tries to imagine the future in their own way, and coming to a type of happy medium doesn't seem to be an option. He makes you care, even though the stakes aren't anything we can really relate to and our one viewpoint character is absent for good chunks of a fairly short novel to begin with.

For amusement purposes, it's also interesting to see a future that doesn't seem to involve computers or the Internet (or famously, robots, which would get him into a pickle later when he tried to link the series) but there's a reason why SF never attempted to predict the future. But Asimov started out strong and while he's not in his prime here, he clearly has a taken on the genre that's groundbreaking in its own way, even if its more a quiet revolution than anything else.

[Yukino · Rating 5 out of 5]

CICLO DELL'IMPERO vol 3

Lettura di gruppo E&L.

E così è finito anche questo ciclo. Sono contenta di averlo riletto, anche perchè ammetto che non mi ricordavo la fine :P.
Rispetto agli altri libri di questo ciclo è un gradino sopra, anche se rimane semplice come trama e personaggi, ma i temi trattati non sono poi così semplici.
Non dico altro perchè credo di aver detto tutto nella mia precedente recensione.
Adesso sono pronta per le Fondazioni *_*

CHE LIBRO!

E già, che libro!
letto in un batter d'occhio..ma cosa ci posso fare? lo ripeterò fino alla nausea..Asimov lo adoro!

Mi ha catturato da subito...lette solo due pagine e già non volevo separarmi più da libro!
Insomma non capita tutti i giorni di camminare e ritrovarsi in un'altra era!

Letto ovunque...lavoro (in pausa) treno, metro, mentre cucino, prima di andare a dormire...insomma era sempre con me!

Il libro ci introduce nella galassia precedente al ciclo delle fondazioni.
Shwarz sarto di sessant'anni cammina per la strada e zac! marciapiede palazzi e gente di Chicago sparita nel nulla! per far posto ad un prato...così il nostro protagonista...cammina e non capisce dove si trova fino a che trova una casetta (un pò strana a dir la verità) e bussa...
Capirà di trovarsi un'altra era..dove la Terra è bisfrattata da tutti, è un pianeta pieno di radiazioni e gli abitanti non vengono nemmeno considerati..infatti per evitare che ci sia un sovrapopolamento della terra con conseguente trasferimento degli abitanti sugli altri pianeti, è stato istituito il sessagesimo..ovvero a 60 anni viene applicata l'eutanasia..

Ma un archeologo crede che la Terra sia Il Pianeta. Ovvero il pianeta dal quale è partita la vita e la successiva colonizzazione degli altri mondi e così sbarca sulla Terra alla ricerca di prove.
Qui insieme a Shwarz l'uomo trasportato in quest'era si troverrà coinvolto involontariamente in un complotto degli Anziani e dei Sacerdoti (ovvero il governo terrestre)contro l'Impero per riacquistare l'antico potere di supremazia sugli altri pianeti.

Bè non si può descrivere questo libro infatti credo che la mia spiegazione sia leggermente confusionaria, bisogna leggerlo per capire!
Si sono monotona, e il mio giudizio sicuramente è offuscato...ma Asimov...è Asimov!

Per cui buona lettura!
Voto: 5 stelle piene e di più!

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asimov's first novel, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_...
And this double-novel cover is a doozy: http://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/f/f1...
-- paired with a forgotten Elron potboiler.
Cool that his plot is #1 (ims) of Heinlein's story-types: "the brave little tailor"!

I thought I had read this one, but I missed it back in the day. It starts out pretty clunky, and it's basically a late-40s pulp-SF novel. I almost put it aside after the first couple of chapters. But I pressed on, a day or two later, and it's, well, OK. For a late 40s pulp-SF novel.

The review to read is Tadiana's: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
As she says, "It's kind of corny but it has its charms." For me, a 2.5 star read, rounded up. Really, if you aren't an old fart like me, there's no real reason to read it. Interesting period-piece. Has moments.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting look into Asimov's Empire. This was the first published in the Empire series, but the 3d overall. I wound up reading it first, but it fits in well with his Foundation trilogy. The same themes, overarching history, & such.

This one deals with a man of today suddenly transplanted into a far flung future where Earth is a pariah among worlds. He has to deal with a little wild tech, but mostly this concentrates on prejudice & fanatics. Well done, especially for the times.

[سعید سیمرغ]

ترجمۀ فارسی این کتاب رو بارها خوندم. یه داستان فوق العاده البته با یه ترجمۀ افتضاح! ببخشید جناب غیاثی نژاد ولی ترجمۀ شما یه سمبل کاری بی نظیر بود.
الآن خودم دارم ترجمه‌ش می کنم. نصفش هم به پایان رسیده. امیدوارم کار خوبی از آب در بیاد.

[Paolo Marchini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gran bel romanzo! All'inizio non parte fortissimo, poi la storia si accende. Mano a mano che la trama prende forma, la lettura diventa molto intrigante.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pebble in the Sky" was a book that I had not read. So I snagged it at my used bookshop. Now I find that it is part of the Galactic Empire series. Ok then. Having read, and loved, Asimov's "Foundation" series, I was rather interested once I realized that this is the same "universe".

Joseph Schwartz, a retired tailor from Chicago, is the unwitting victim of a nearby nuclear laboratory accident, by means of which he is instantaneously transported tens of thousands of years into the future. He is still on Earth but it is not anything he recognizes. This is where you find that he is in the 827th year of the Galactic Empire. Earth is a radioactive backwater and no one believes that it is the birthplace of humanity.

He stumbles across a nefarious plan to release a supervirus. But can he work against the prejudices of the Imperials, even as he struggles to understand his newfound powers. No more spoilers. A very fun story. The ending seemed rather abrupt, but it works well as a self-contained story.

We see the Empire at an early stage and his description of an irradiated Earth that is considered a superstitious backwater is very interesting and suffice to say the ending of the story has repercussions for the Foundation storyline later.

A wonderful sci-fi story from a master storyteller. Highly recommended for sci-fi fans.

[Daniel T · Rating 2 out of 5]

شروع داستان با سپری شدن یک روز عادی برای یک پیرمرد عادی شروع میشه که در حال قدم زنی است، در همین حین در آزمایشگاهی آزمایشاتی روی ذرات اتمی درحال انجام هست و اتفاقی غیر منتظره رخ میده.
پیرمرد درحال برداشتن گام ناگهان به زمین خورده و خود را در فضایی کاملا غریب میبیند، شوراتز ۶۲ ساله پا به دنیایی نهاده که هیچ چیز آن شبیه به دنیای خود نیست(البته هنوز اسم اینجا، زمین است) سردرگم و هراسناک به این سو و آن سو دویده تا شخصی را بیابد، چنانکه خانه ای را دیده خوشحال شده و به سمت آن میدود، در را میکوبد و وقتی در باز میشود افراد با زبانی عجیب و غریب با این شخص گفتگو میکنند ….

بقیه ماجرا رو بهتره خودتون بخونید

ایده کلی داستان در زمانی بسیار دور اتفاق میوفته، دورانی که انسان سیارات بسیاری رو قابل سکونت کرده و یک امپراطوری عظیم در حال حکمرانی بر آن است.
زمین از بین رفته و تمامی سکنه آن به ۲۰ میلیون نفر میرسد

و شوارتز یک فسیل باستانی است که ماجراهای جالبی رو پیش و رو داره

بخوام نظر کلی خودم رو درباره کتاب بگم، ایده واقعا قشنگی داشت(البته تا نیمه اول کتاب) که کم کم این ایده شاخ و برگ میگیره و وارد فاز دیگه ای میشه

شخصیت پردازی اصلا نداره و دیالوگ نویسی ها در حد رقیه ۳ ساله از قم هست😅

پایان بندی کشکی هم داشت

اولین تجربه آسیموف خوانیم بود و فقط میتونم بگم جز ایده چیزی نداشت

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peple said the early books Asimov wrote on his galactic empire were a little raw and ultimately quite skippable. I didn't want to believe it, mostly because I had yet to not love one of Asimov's works.

This trilogy of books however haven't had the greatness I expect of Asimov. They seem to lack the ambition of the Foundation and Robot series. Concentrating on smaller stoires when a subject as big as a whole galactic empire beckoned to be explored.

I found myself enjoying this one quite a bit in places but also being completely disengaged with it at times. And so 3 stars is probably a fair rating. Not terrible Sci-Fi just not Asimov good.

Hopefully I will return to Asimov a little later and his more refined work won't let me down

[Ebru Çökmez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 kitaplik Galaktik İmparatorluk Serisinin kanımca en iyisi buydu.

[Krissi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lettura n. 56 - 2021 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finito anche quest'ultimo volume.
Ahimè, confesso di averlo letto inizialmente con grande distrazione. È sicuramente il migliore della serie. Molto più maturo, più complesso... insomma, è molto più emozionante... ma non sono riuscita ad apprezzarlo quanto merita. Sono riuscita a finirlo oggi, infatti, solo perché avevo un po' di tempo libero. Non sto dicendo che è stata una lettura noiosa o difficile ma la storia non è riuscita a coinvolgermi a tal punto da farmi dimenticare lo stress quotidiano o la stanchezza.
Ovviamente, non raggiunge i livelli dei primi libri o delle raccolte di racconti ma siamo vicini e, doppio ovviamente, continuano a mancarmi robot!

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greatly entertaining, though that's no surprise. After a somewhat slow start, it turns wonderfully tense. Although this is the most cartoonish villain I've encountered in an Asimov book, the rest of the characters have the same "realness" that I've come to expect from his casts. Even though the Galactic Empire books don't really relate to each other on a plot or character level, it's been interesting to watch the Empire develop from one book to the next. I don't know yet how it will relate to the later Foundation books, but I'm still interested in going forward chronologically.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Имперската римска надменност в космически мащаб, с щипка романтика. Чудесен Азимов!

[Malice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Con esta novela se cierra la Trilogía del Imperio y ahora sí puedo decir que, de toda la serie de Fundación, estos tres son los que me han gustado menos. Aunque hay que tener en cuenta que el resto me parecen una maravilla.

Entiendo que esta fue la primera novela de Asimov y tal vez por eso no termina de tomar forma. La historia iba bien, me gustan los elementos que se van entretejiendo para ver al Imperio Galáctico en su máximo esplendor, pero el final es demasiado abrupto y de cierta manera parece que no termina de encajar con el resto de los libros.

Yo no los dejaría de lado si estás leyendo la serie completa, pero sí podría dejarlos para el final, en todo caso.