From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

The Gods Themselves

Isaac Asimov

Start date: May 1, 2019

Finish date: May 30, 2019

Discussion: Book Discussions

Why we're reading this: Group classic discussion topic May 2019
Hugo Award 1973
Nebua Award 1972
[close] Group classic discussion topic May 2019
Hugo Award 1973
Nebua Award 1972

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 250 topics — 8,801 comments total

Book Discussions

"Cyteen" by C.J. Cherryh
By deleted member · 48 posts · 102 views

last updated May 24, 2025 11:25PM

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
By deleted member · 46 posts · 150 views

last updated Mar 28, 2025 02:28PM

showing 10 of 11 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jan 22, 2014 seak rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, arc-review, audio, 2015

Though a science fiction novel, The Gods Themselves is also primarily about magic.

Throughout the courses I took for my my undergraduate degree in Economics, we talked a lot about the driving forces behind the choices people make. One of the greatest is magic. We all want to find that magical thing that makes us not have to work as hard; magic makes life easier.

This quest for magic has helped us innovate on a grand scale and use the resources around us for our own benefit. Whether it's been good ...more

54 likes · Like · see review

Oct 08, 2016 Jim rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 1audio, 2fiction, scifi, did-not-finish

A good foreword by Asimov. It's can be fun to find out the inspiration for a story & since this one involved Silverberg, another giant in the SF genre, that was even better.

The basic premise is good, too. Actually, it might be great, especially the way he leverages it to show the realities & politics behind science & society. It's easy to see where a catch 22 can & would develop. Unfortunately, the narrative & characters are so flat that I kept zoning out. I didn't like any of the characters & t ...more

20 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2008 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: re-read, science-fiction, tower-team-challenge-b, pbrc-tower-challenge, read-in-2014

One thing I always have to remind myself when it comes to reading Asimov is that even though I've seen some of his ideas and concepts before in other author's works, that Asimov was in many ways a pioneer in the field at the time he wrote. The Gods Themselves is no exception to that rule. Yes, there are elements in this novel that others have done but none of them really as well as Asimov. There are others here who have explained the premise of this novel far better than I could and without givi ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Dec 11, 2019 Timothy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

I really like the first two sections of this book, the third was less thrilling. Enjoyable? Yes. One of his greatest? Probably not, but to be fair, I've read a limited selection of his works. ...more

Like · see review