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Galactic Empire #1
The Stars, Like Dust
WRITTEN BY TALBOT MUNDY-TROS THE MARAUDER CHALLENGES THE MYSTERIOUS MAXIMA.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
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12561 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,337 books27.8k followersWorks 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,428 reviews
November 3, 2021
Robot/Empire/Foundation. Book #5. and the first in the Empire series, pubilshed back in Asimov's early career (1951), and tellingly so judging on most of the way the main female character is portrayed in this very 1950's space-mystery drama that sees the young and naive protagonist and male university student, Biron Farrill get caught up in a far reaching mystery involving the dominant Tyraan empire and the arrest and sentencing of his powerful father. Very old school and dated mystery that doesn't really show the Asimov spark, bar the pre-empire world building. 6 out of 12.
February 26, 2019
Very enjoyable but “ Asimov light”. More tomorrow
Now Isaac Asimov is one of my all time favourite authors, his Foundation novels are to me the epitome of SF space Opera, and he is my "go to" author when I want a great book, so when I felt a bit down/lost/in need of a lift, I decided to read this book as I hadn't touched it in probably 20 + years.
It was an enjoyable book, without a doubt an Asimov book, but a little light, as in not as detailed and structured as some of his more famous books.
For those unaware of Asimov's books, he wrote a series of Robot novels and what he called Empire novels that culminated in his excellent Foundation Trilogy. The Robot novels involve such people as Susan Calvin and other excellent characters through to R Daneel Olivaw who surfaces again in the final Empire novels, whilst in the Empire novels one can experience the wisdom of Elijah Bailey the Earth detective who inadvertently helps found the Galactic Empire.
All in all this was a good book that can be read alone or as part of reading the Asimov Empire novels or indeed the whole Robot and Empire novels. Whatever you choose, enjoy.
Oh and if you have an old copy, like me, you get the wonderful Chris Foss cover.
Now Isaac Asimov is one of my all time favourite authors, his Foundation novels are to me the epitome of SF space Opera, and he is my "go to" author when I want a great book, so when I felt a bit down/lost/in need of a lift, I decided to read this book as I hadn't touched it in probably 20 + years.
It was an enjoyable book, without a doubt an Asimov book, but a little light, as in not as detailed and structured as some of his more famous books.
For those unaware of Asimov's books, he wrote a series of Robot novels and what he called Empire novels that culminated in his excellent Foundation Trilogy. The Robot novels involve such people as Susan Calvin and other excellent characters through to R Daneel Olivaw who surfaces again in the final Empire novels, whilst in the Empire novels one can experience the wisdom of Elijah Bailey the Earth detective who inadvertently helps found the Galactic Empire.
All in all this was a good book that can be read alone or as part of reading the Asimov Empire novels or indeed the whole Robot and Empire novels. Whatever you choose, enjoy.
Oh and if you have an old copy, like me, you get the wonderful Chris Foss cover.
December 4, 2013
I'm trying to read all of the books that eventually fell under the umbrella of the Foundation series, in internal chronological order. Which brings me to this, one of the first novels Asimov ever published. In some ways, it shows. The pacing is far from smooth, and the characters tend towards the wooden. The romance, between Biron and Artemisia, is rushed and unconvincing. And yet, it's still a quick and entertaining read. So far, I've yet to be truly disappointed in any of these books. That's good, as I still have a long ways to go.
It's important to note that this was originally published in 1951. I doubt Asimov would have made some of the choices that he did if he'd written this book in 1991. An Earth devastated by nuclear war was a frighteningly viable future in 1951, for example, and I have a feeling that the ending would have a different reveal if written today. Or, as the Wikipedia article implies, not be there at all. It's good to know that Asimov didn't like that plotline any better than I did.
Although it's flawed, more so than the other novels I've read by Asimov, I still thought it was well worth reading. Maybe if I weren't planning on reading the entire Robots/Empire/Foundation series, I'd feel differently.
It's important to note that this was originally published in 1951. I doubt Asimov would have made some of the choices that he did if he'd written this book in 1991. An Earth devastated by nuclear war was a frighteningly viable future in 1951, for example, and I have a feeling that the ending would have a different reveal if written today. Or, as the Wikipedia article implies, not be there at all. It's good to know that Asimov didn't like that plotline any better than I did.
Although it's flawed, more so than the other novels I've read by Asimov, I still thought it was well worth reading. Maybe if I weren't planning on reading the entire Robots/Empire/Foundation series, I'd feel differently.
July 21, 2025
There is no “Galactic Empire” trilogy. There is in a sense, of course (you’re reading a review of book 1 now, after all!). But when The Stars, Like Dust was written, in 1951, it was intended neither as a prequel to The Pebble in the Sky, published the year before, nor as part of any kind of series whatsoever—let alone a “Galactic Empire” series. Nor, it is perhaps worth noting, does the novel make any mention of a “galactic empire.”
In 1961, Asimov’s first three adult science fiction novels—the novels now known as the Galactic Empire trilogy—were collected in a single omnibus volume, called Triangle. The Stars, Like Dust was placed last, though it is now considered first in the series, and was middle in publication order. The volume gives no indication that the novels it contains are a series, or about a galactic empire.
In the early 80s, Asimov returned to his Foundation and Robot series, writing sequels and prequels that integrated most of his science fiction novels into a single future history. Only then, so far as I can tell, did The Stars, Like Dust become a novel set in the early days of a Galactic Empire of which it makes no mention. When The Stars, Like Dust was reprinted in 1972, it was as a standalone novel; in 1983, shortly after Foundation’s Edge appeared, it had become—so the cover proudly declared—“a Galactic Empire novel.” Commercially speaking, it was a smart gambit. Would anyone still read this underwhelming early Asimov if it were sold as the stand-alone it is? I doubt it.
The Stars, Like Dust was Asimov’s second novel. It was also written after the Foundation trilogy. How is that possible? Foundation was written as a series of 8 short stories and novellas, published between 1942 and 1950. In the ‘50s, those stories, plus one final addition, were compiled into a trilogy of “novels.” All of which is to say, Asimov’s second novel was, in fact, written after his three most famous novels.
So where does all this leave us? Far be it from me to deny Isaac Asimov his fun; obviously, building out his early work into a single vast future history gave the man great pleasure as an old man. But I’m not sure coming at The Stars, Like Dust as part of an elaborate future history shared with legendary stories like Foundation does it any favors.
In tone and characterization, the novel is what we would now call “Young Adult” to the core. The main character just graduated from college and acts like a teenager from the first page to the last—except, of course, when he is being unrealistically clever, solving mysteries no adult could possibly unravel. The female lead is a 50s parody of a teenage girl, not without courage or intelligence or independence, but so obviously written by a man to be admired by boys that it makes her scenes hard to enjoy—especially knowing what a sexist asshole Asimov was in real life. Though, taken on its own terms, the novel is so dated it’s hard to feel bothered by the sexism in any serious way.
The truth is, in the last few years, I’ve started to develop something of a fascination for the masculinity of golden-age Science Fiction. The men who wrote these books had spent their formative years in sex-segregated institutions. Asimov attended Brooklyn Boys High School (coed 1975), Seth Low Junior College (closed 1936, never coed), Columbia University (coed 1983), and served in the Army (opened to women in 1948, albeit with a 2% cap at that time). Like other writers of his time, he wrote about gender as he’d experienced it; wrote so often about men living and working without women because those were worlds intimately known. That said, The Stars, Like Dust isn’t particularly interesting on that front. It’s not good enough, to be frank. Or honest enough.
Still, I don't regret reading it. The novel is great fun on its own terms. Stupid in some ways, silly in others, it’s also a real yarn, full of twists and turns. I would have loved it as a 12 year old.
In 1961, Asimov’s first three adult science fiction novels—the novels now known as the Galactic Empire trilogy—were collected in a single omnibus volume, called Triangle. The Stars, Like Dust was placed last, though it is now considered first in the series, and was middle in publication order. The volume gives no indication that the novels it contains are a series, or about a galactic empire.
In the early 80s, Asimov returned to his Foundation and Robot series, writing sequels and prequels that integrated most of his science fiction novels into a single future history. Only then, so far as I can tell, did The Stars, Like Dust become a novel set in the early days of a Galactic Empire of which it makes no mention. When The Stars, Like Dust was reprinted in 1972, it was as a standalone novel; in 1983, shortly after Foundation’s Edge appeared, it had become—so the cover proudly declared—“a Galactic Empire novel.” Commercially speaking, it was a smart gambit. Would anyone still read this underwhelming early Asimov if it were sold as the stand-alone it is? I doubt it.
The Stars, Like Dust was Asimov’s second novel. It was also written after the Foundation trilogy. How is that possible? Foundation was written as a series of 8 short stories and novellas, published between 1942 and 1950. In the ‘50s, those stories, plus one final addition, were compiled into a trilogy of “novels.” All of which is to say, Asimov’s second novel was, in fact, written after his three most famous novels.
So where does all this leave us? Far be it from me to deny Isaac Asimov his fun; obviously, building out his early work into a single vast future history gave the man great pleasure as an old man. But I’m not sure coming at The Stars, Like Dust as part of an elaborate future history shared with legendary stories like Foundation does it any favors.
In tone and characterization, the novel is what we would now call “Young Adult” to the core. The main character just graduated from college and acts like a teenager from the first page to the last—except, of course, when he is being unrealistically clever, solving mysteries no adult could possibly unravel. The female lead is a 50s parody of a teenage girl, not without courage or intelligence or independence, but so obviously written by a man to be admired by boys that it makes her scenes hard to enjoy—especially knowing what a sexist asshole Asimov was in real life. Though, taken on its own terms, the novel is so dated it’s hard to feel bothered by the sexism in any serious way.
The truth is, in the last few years, I’ve started to develop something of a fascination for the masculinity of golden-age Science Fiction. The men who wrote these books had spent their formative years in sex-segregated institutions. Asimov attended Brooklyn Boys High School (coed 1975), Seth Low Junior College (closed 1936, never coed), Columbia University (coed 1983), and served in the Army (opened to women in 1948, albeit with a 2% cap at that time). Like other writers of his time, he wrote about gender as he’d experienced it; wrote so often about men living and working without women because those were worlds intimately known. That said, The Stars, Like Dust isn’t particularly interesting on that front. It’s not good enough, to be frank. Or honest enough.
Still, I don't regret reading it. The novel is great fun on its own terms. Stupid in some ways, silly in others, it’s also a real yarn, full of twists and turns. I would have loved it as a 12 year old.
October 15, 2010
Ah boy. Man, Asimov disappointed me a bit with this book; fortunately it was short enough to where I could make it through without throwing in the towel.
The Stars, Like Dust is often regarded as the first book in the Empire series, though as far as I know it really doesn't have much to do with the other books in the series, or really much to do with the Robot, Empire, and Foundation series as a whole. This story surrounds Biron Farrill whom at the beginning of the book is studying at a University on Earth when thanks to a man named Jonti he is made aware of a bomb that has been planted in his room. He is then made aware of his father’s death. His father holds a high position as the Rancher of Widemos. Jonti convinces Biron to travel to the strongest Tyranni controlled planet, Rhodia. This is where he hears rumors about a rebellion against the Tyranni and it becomes his goal to find the rebel planet. Oh, the Tyranni is an empire of few that have found a way to rule 50 planets, despite being well underpopulated.
On the surface this seems like decent Asimov fare, but there are some real glaring flaws with this book. First, I almost couldn't believe this was Asimovs writing, it just felt so - uninspired. I've only read the Robot series before this, but some of my favorite aspects of those books were the characters (namely R. Daneel and Elijah) and the commanding dialog. Here in Stars the characters are incredibly boring to me and the dialog is very flat.
Also, the plot here starts to feel really clunky. We have a lame contrived love story and more lame twists, double-crosses, double-double-crosses, double-double-double-crosses (you get the point) than I care to read about. For the first time Asimov’s prose feels very amateurish. I actually had to re-read pages because I often found myself so bored that I would just glance words rather than really read them, it was just that bad for me.
The book does start to pick up a little bit towards the middle, middle-end and when I finally started to see some redeeming value he throws in one doozy of a hokey ending.
So, there's a few interesting moments but as a whole this book didn't work for me at all. I wasn't too surprised when after reading this book I did a little research and found that this is Asimov’s least favorite book, so far this is my least favorite Asimov book. All is well though, I'm certainly not going to give up on Asimov and I look forward to forgetting this one and moving on.
The Stars, Like Dust is often regarded as the first book in the Empire series, though as far as I know it really doesn't have much to do with the other books in the series, or really much to do with the Robot, Empire, and Foundation series as a whole. This story surrounds Biron Farrill whom at the beginning of the book is studying at a University on Earth when thanks to a man named Jonti he is made aware of a bomb that has been planted in his room. He is then made aware of his father’s death. His father holds a high position as the Rancher of Widemos. Jonti convinces Biron to travel to the strongest Tyranni controlled planet, Rhodia. This is where he hears rumors about a rebellion against the Tyranni and it becomes his goal to find the rebel planet. Oh, the Tyranni is an empire of few that have found a way to rule 50 planets, despite being well underpopulated.
On the surface this seems like decent Asimov fare, but there are some real glaring flaws with this book. First, I almost couldn't believe this was Asimovs writing, it just felt so - uninspired. I've only read the Robot series before this, but some of my favorite aspects of those books were the characters (namely R. Daneel and Elijah) and the commanding dialog. Here in Stars the characters are incredibly boring to me and the dialog is very flat.
Also, the plot here starts to feel really clunky. We have a lame contrived love story and more lame twists, double-crosses, double-double-crosses, double-double-double-crosses (you get the point) than I care to read about. For the first time Asimov’s prose feels very amateurish. I actually had to re-read pages because I often found myself so bored that I would just glance words rather than really read them, it was just that bad for me.
The book does start to pick up a little bit towards the middle, middle-end and when I finally started to see some redeeming value he throws in one doozy of a hokey ending.
So, there's a few interesting moments but as a whole this book didn't work for me at all. I wasn't too surprised when after reading this book I did a little research and found that this is Asimov’s least favorite book, so far this is my least favorite Asimov book. All is well though, I'm certainly not going to give up on Asimov and I look forward to forgetting this one and moving on.
October 15, 2025
4.5 ⭐
„Звезди като прах“ е много готина и вълнуваща приключенска фантастика! Историята проследява космическите перипетии на студента Байрън, който се оказва забъркан в тайнствени опасности...
„Малкото литературни произведения, с които се сдобих, буквално ме омагьосаха. Те притежават неповторим вътрешнопознавателен привкус, толкова различен от традициите на нашата екстравертна галактическа цивилизация.“
„Звезди като прах“ е много готина и вълнуваща приключенска фантастика! Историята проследява космическите перипетии на студента Байрън, който се оказва забъркан в тайнствени опасности...
„Малкото литературни произведения, с които се сдобих, буквално ме омагьосаха. Те притежават неповторим вътрешнопознавателен привкус, толкова различен от традициите на нашата екстравертна галактическа цивилизация.“
March 5, 2015
Spoilers follow, but honestly...who cares with a book like this.
Honestly not really worth the trouble of reviewing, but I'll say a few things anyway...Asimov himself described The Stars, Like Dust as his "least favorite novel" and even that was pretty generous on his part given its tortured publishing history. Forced to include a hokey subplot that involved the Constitution of the United States by his editor and publisher that he detested after being forced to complete an outline and two complete revisions, Asimov was done with the book and found himself going through the motions to just get it over with. Ahhh the things I wish I knew before I started reading.
Ultimately The Stars suffers from stiff dialogue, insanely conspicuous deus ex machina intrusions, and for a modern audience, some rather antiquated (to the point of absurdity) gender roles. The story follows the convoluted unravelling of the assassination of the Rancher of Widemos, whose son, Biron is left chasing after his father's murderers from planet to planet throughout the dreaded Tyranni Empire. Asimov borrowed heavily from history for his setting and society, with the dreaded Tyranni, led by the Khan, strongly resembling the Golden Horde. The last Asimov I read was The Foundation Series a number of years ago, and I found the jump to this series pretty disappointing. There are no clever ideas, new angles or speculated technology that make for interesting asides and the plot is boilerplate for its era.
The sexism is astoundingly bad for a modern audience.
Example 1:
Example 2:
Example 3:
Example 4:
Forgive my digression. If this sort of thing bothers you, it only gets worse. In the course of a couple of days, strong, willful Artemisia faints, coquettishly tries to play males off against each other, faints, is rescued, and marries our rather unlikeable hero. And don't give me that cultural relativity, "but he was writing in the 40s and 50s" nonsense. It doesn't make it any easier to read through in the 21st century.
Boring. Pass. Go start with Foundation.
Honestly not really worth the trouble of reviewing, but I'll say a few things anyway...Asimov himself described The Stars, Like Dust as his "least favorite novel" and even that was pretty generous on his part given its tortured publishing history. Forced to include a hokey subplot that involved the Constitution of the United States by his editor and publisher that he detested after being forced to complete an outline and two complete revisions, Asimov was done with the book and found himself going through the motions to just get it over with. Ahhh the things I wish I knew before I started reading.
Ultimately The Stars suffers from stiff dialogue, insanely conspicuous deus ex machina intrusions, and for a modern audience, some rather antiquated (to the point of absurdity) gender roles. The story follows the convoluted unravelling of the assassination of the Rancher of Widemos, whose son, Biron is left chasing after his father's murderers from planet to planet throughout the dreaded Tyranni Empire. Asimov borrowed heavily from history for his setting and society, with the dreaded Tyranni, led by the Khan, strongly resembling the Golden Horde. The last Asimov I read was The Foundation Series a number of years ago, and I found the jump to this series pretty disappointing. There are no clever ideas, new angles or speculated technology that make for interesting asides and the plot is boilerplate for its era.
The sexism is astoundingly bad for a modern audience.
Example 1:
It meant crowding; it meant a complete absence of privacy; and it meant that Artemisia would have to adjust herself to the fact that there were no women's clothes aboard, no mirrors, no washing facilities.
Well, she would have to get used to it. Byron let that he had done enough for her, gone sufficiently out of his way. Why couldn't she be pleasant about it and smile once in a while? She had a nice smile, and he had to admit that she wasn't bad, except for her temper. But oh, that temper!
Example 2:
"I agree with you there, Gil," said Biron. "just let's go somewhere where I don't have to listen to her clacking. Talk about women on space ships!"
Example 3:
The trip, he decided, could be quite wonderful if she would only learn to behave herself. The trouble was that no one had ever controlled her properly, that was all. Certainly not her father. She'd become too used to having her own way. If she'd been born a commoner she would be a very lovely creature.
Example 4:
"A supply of clothes for the lady," said Biron.
Rizzett wrinkled his forehead. "Yes, of course. Well, that will be her job."
"No, sir, it won't. We'll supply you with all the necessary measurements and you can supply us with whatever we ask for in whatever the current styles happen to be."
Rizzett laughed shortly and shook his head. "Rancher, she won't like that. She wouldn't be satisfied with any clothes she didn't pick. Not even if they were the identical items she would have picked if she had been given the chance. This isn't a guess, now. I've had experience with the creatures."
Forgive my digression. If this sort of thing bothers you, it only gets worse. In the course of a couple of days, strong, willful Artemisia faints, coquettishly tries to play males off against each other, faints, is rescued, and marries our rather unlikeable hero. And don't give me that cultural relativity, "but he was writing in the 40s and 50s" nonsense. It doesn't make it any easier to read through in the 21st century.
Boring. Pass. Go start with Foundation.
June 4, 2023
Tra i romanzi di Asimov che ho letto questo è il meno brillante.
Ho trovato una storia poco ispirata e messa in scena da personaggi stereotipati e anonimi, una visione tecnologica futuristica priva di idee affascinanti. Asimov si sofferma troppo su spiegazioni nozionistiche e tralascia altro. Questa volta è mancata l'immaginazione, la profondità e i temi caratteristici presenti negli altri romanzi, provate a leggere "Neanche gli dei" per avere un'idea del suo estro creativo oppure i racconti brevi per le riflessioni che suggerisce.
Asimov è ben altro.
Tutta la psicologia morale presente nei meravigliosi racconti sui robot o la stupefacente visione antropologica-sociale immaginata nel ciclo primario della Fondazione, lasciano tristemente il posto ad un romanzo deludente in temi, trama e personaggi.
Nettamente inferiore alle "Correnti dello spazio" si porta a casa due soporifere e tristi stelle.
Ho trovato una storia poco ispirata e messa in scena da personaggi stereotipati e anonimi, una visione tecnologica futuristica priva di idee affascinanti. Asimov si sofferma troppo su spiegazioni nozionistiche e tralascia altro. Questa volta è mancata l'immaginazione, la profondità e i temi caratteristici presenti negli altri romanzi, provate a leggere "Neanche gli dei" per avere un'idea del suo estro creativo oppure i racconti brevi per le riflessioni che suggerisce.
Asimov è ben altro.
Tutta la psicologia morale presente nei meravigliosi racconti sui robot o la stupefacente visione antropologica-sociale immaginata nel ciclo primario della Fondazione, lasciano tristemente il posto ad un romanzo deludente in temi, trama e personaggi.
Nettamente inferiore alle "Correnti dello spazio" si porta a casa due soporifere e tristi stelle.
July 24, 2017
Well, you can see from his writing that his 'scientist' side was stronger than the 'writer' one: he clearly writes better robots than humans :)
April 5, 2023
The Stars, Like Dust was serialized in the first three 1951 issues of Galaxy magazine, where H.L. Gold published it with the unfortunate title Tyrann. Doubleday brought it out in hardcover later that year with Asimov's original title, but the first paperback edition bore the title The Rebellious Stars, which was a heavily edited version that appeared as half of an Ace Double. (Subsequent printings have kept Asimov's preferred title, but some of them have omitted the comma.) It was intended as a stand-alone story but has been subsequently shoe-horned or ret-conned into the Foundation/Robot chronology. It's a political space opera murder mystery and would probably have been published as a YA book today. Gold insisted on inserting an unlikely little gimmick involving the U.S. Constitution with which Asimov disagreed, but he acquiesced to it. In Asimov's autobiography, he called it his least favorite of his novels, but I still think it's a pretty good one; it's a true and classic science fiction story with an engaging plot and a well-realized vision of the future and the vastness of space.
September 27, 2021
CICLO DELL’IMPERO n.1
Seconda lettura 2021 :
4⭐️
Lettura di gruppo E&L
Sono contenta di rileggere Asimov dopo circa 25 anni. La mia prima recensione era molto positiva, (avevo messo 5 stelle, adesso abbassato di una) ma con l’età posso dire che rispetto agli altri volumi, questo risulta un po’ più sempliciotto e si sente la mancanza della penna più esperta di Asimov.
Intendiamoci, a me è piaciuto lo stesso, ma manca quell’acume a cui ci aveva abituato nei precedenti volumi.
Vero è che questo, se non ricordo male, è uno dei primi libri scritti. E si vede.
Resta cque un libro simpatico che collega anche se velatamente, il precedente ciclo agli eventi futuri che porteranno al ciclo delle Fondazioni.
Non resta quindi che continuare a lettura.
Prima lettura 2000:
5 ⭐️
“PER CHI PENSA CHE UN MONDO NELLO SPAZIO CI SARà"
E' una frase della sigla di Baldios ( si avete capito bene il cartone che davano negli anni 80 ) e leggendo il libro mi è venuta da canticchiarla.
Credo davvero che prima o poi andremo lassù, nello Spazio. Ci stabilizzeremo su altri mondi, anche se ovviamente prima dovremo risolvere qualche problemino qui sulla Terra. Per questo so che non vedrò coi miei occhi le nostre spedizioni tipo Star Trek, e mi consolo leggendo.
E lui, Asimov intendo, è l'unico che mi fa davvero sognare e sperare che sarà davvero così.
Questo "episodio" della saga mi è piaciuto, anche se si sente che è il primo Asimov, infatti è un pò macchinoso perchè spiega molto le cose anche dal punto di vista scientifico, ma io me lo sono goduto lo stesso.
Per gli appassionati del genere e per chi vuole provare a catapultarsi in mondo completamente diverso, ma non troppo: gli umani sono sempre umani anche nello Spazio.
Seconda lettura 2021 :
4⭐️
Lettura di gruppo E&L
Sono contenta di rileggere Asimov dopo circa 25 anni. La mia prima recensione era molto positiva, (avevo messo 5 stelle, adesso abbassato di una) ma con l’età posso dire che rispetto agli altri volumi, questo risulta un po’ più sempliciotto e si sente la mancanza della penna più esperta di Asimov.
Intendiamoci, a me è piaciuto lo stesso, ma manca quell’acume a cui ci aveva abituato nei precedenti volumi.
Vero è che questo, se non ricordo male, è uno dei primi libri scritti. E si vede.
Resta cque un libro simpatico che collega anche se velatamente, il precedente ciclo agli eventi futuri che porteranno al ciclo delle Fondazioni.
Non resta quindi che continuare a lettura.
Prima lettura 2000:
5 ⭐️
“PER CHI PENSA CHE UN MONDO NELLO SPAZIO CI SARà"
E' una frase della sigla di Baldios ( si avete capito bene il cartone che davano negli anni 80 ) e leggendo il libro mi è venuta da canticchiarla.
Credo davvero che prima o poi andremo lassù, nello Spazio. Ci stabilizzeremo su altri mondi, anche se ovviamente prima dovremo risolvere qualche problemino qui sulla Terra. Per questo so che non vedrò coi miei occhi le nostre spedizioni tipo Star Trek, e mi consolo leggendo.
E lui, Asimov intendo, è l'unico che mi fa davvero sognare e sperare che sarà davvero così.
Questo "episodio" della saga mi è piaciuto, anche se si sente che è il primo Asimov, infatti è un pò macchinoso perchè spiega molto le cose anche dal punto di vista scientifico, ma io me lo sono goduto lo stesso.
Per gli appassionati del genere e per chi vuole provare a catapultarsi in mondo completamente diverso, ma non troppo: gli umani sono sempre umani anche nello Spazio.
November 5, 2021
Primer libro de la trilogía del Imperio Galáctico y segundo libro escrito por Asimov. Y se nota.
La historia está situada en los inicios de la expansión de la Humanidad por la Galaxia, muchos años después del final de la Saga de los Robots.
Y aunque ya podemos ver el estilo del autor en sus primeras novelas, todavía no está depurado y se apoya demasiado en que los personajes expliquen lo que pasa sin venir a cuento en la conversación. Es verdad que explicar las cosas de mil maneras es una marca de la casa de Asimov, pero en sus novelas de los años 80 estaban mucho mejor integradas la acción, los personajes y la información. Aquí el protagonista parece que lo sabe todo de antemano y no pierde la ocasión en contárselo a todo el que pasa, y me ha terminado cayendo mal por pesado.
También se nota que está escrito a finales de los años 40 con la Guerra Fría muy candente y hay referencias a la energía nuclear o a distintas formas de gobierno muy presentes en aquella época que luego desaparecen en las novelas posteriores.
Si tienes afán completista y quieres leer todo lo del Universo Fundación, es una novela rápida de leer que no te quitará mucho tiempo. Si no, puedes saltártelo sin problemas.
La historia está situada en los inicios de la expansión de la Humanidad por la Galaxia, muchos años después del final de la Saga de los Robots.
Y aunque ya podemos ver el estilo del autor en sus primeras novelas, todavía no está depurado y se apoya demasiado en que los personajes expliquen lo que pasa sin venir a cuento en la conversación. Es verdad que explicar las cosas de mil maneras es una marca de la casa de Asimov, pero en sus novelas de los años 80 estaban mucho mejor integradas la acción, los personajes y la información. Aquí el protagonista parece que lo sabe todo de antemano y no pierde la ocasión en contárselo a todo el que pasa, y me ha terminado cayendo mal por pesado.
También se nota que está escrito a finales de los años 40 con la Guerra Fría muy candente y hay referencias a la energía nuclear o a distintas formas de gobierno muy presentes en aquella época que luego desaparecen en las novelas posteriores.
Si tienes afán completista y quieres leer todo lo del Universo Fundación, es una novela rápida de leer que no te quitará mucho tiempo. Si no, puedes saltártelo sin problemas.
August 29, 2023
The Stars, Like Dust (1951) was an early novel by Asimov, one of the great classic science fiction writers, who was a biochemist professor before writing full time. The story, as many of the genre at the time, is heavy with scientific explanations. This novel is one of three in Asimov’s Galactic Empire series, consisting of Pebble in the Sky (1950), The Stars, Like Dust (1951), and The Currents of Space (1952). These novels are part of the same universe as Asimov’s Foundation series, but taking place thousands of years earlier.
The basic premise of this novel is a universe controlled by the Tyranni, who lorded over fifty planets. The lead character, Biron Farrill, is a college student on old Earth, a planet that has been devastated by atomic wars. With his father, a nobleman known as a Rancher, suddenly villified as a traitor and killed and an attempt on Biron’s life, Biron flees Earth to Rhodia. There, Biron flees again, but with the Director’s daughter, Artemisia, in tow as well as the Director’s brother. They, together with the Autarch, search for a rebellion planet with the Tyranni forces on their trail.
Although one might think this is a Star Trek set-up, the story really is about a chess match and matching wits rather than interstellar phasers and photon torpedoes. Biron is the surprise character, who at first appears young, naive, and gullible, but later either grows into his role or has been playing under for awhile. Aside from the chess match and the out-thinking one’s opponents, he has a schoolboy type romance with Artemisia where they avoid each other for awhile, but still yearn for each other.
The roots of Star Wars and so many other movies and books can be found here decades earlier, particularly with the rebellion planet, the tyrannical empire, the young warrior, and the princess he favors.
This classic science fiction is a bit clunky at the beginning, but stick around because it gets more interesting as it goes on.
The basic premise of this novel is a universe controlled by the Tyranni, who lorded over fifty planets. The lead character, Biron Farrill, is a college student on old Earth, a planet that has been devastated by atomic wars. With his father, a nobleman known as a Rancher, suddenly villified as a traitor and killed and an attempt on Biron’s life, Biron flees Earth to Rhodia. There, Biron flees again, but with the Director’s daughter, Artemisia, in tow as well as the Director’s brother. They, together with the Autarch, search for a rebellion planet with the Tyranni forces on their trail.
Although one might think this is a Star Trek set-up, the story really is about a chess match and matching wits rather than interstellar phasers and photon torpedoes. Biron is the surprise character, who at first appears young, naive, and gullible, but later either grows into his role or has been playing under for awhile. Aside from the chess match and the out-thinking one’s opponents, he has a schoolboy type romance with Artemisia where they avoid each other for awhile, but still yearn for each other.
The roots of Star Wars and so many other movies and books can be found here decades earlier, particularly with the rebellion planet, the tyrannical empire, the young warrior, and the princess he favors.
This classic science fiction is a bit clunky at the beginning, but stick around because it gets more interesting as it goes on.
December 13, 2025
I thought I'd read this one and, years ago, I rated this one from memory.
Having just read it, I feel certain I've never read it before. However, sometimes I watch an older film, then go to IMDB to rate it ... and discover I watched it 10 or 15 years ago and recall zero of it... And if I did read the book, it would have been 40+ years ago, raided off my dad's sci-fi shelves along with other Asimovs, Arthur C Clarkes, and E.E Doc Smiths.
So ... maybe...
Anyway, I've read it at last/again and it's pretty dated in style, content, and attitudes.
From a sci-fi point of view, the galaxy is conquered and we're so far in the future that Earth is all but forgotten. However, hyperdrive and "neuronic whips" seem to be the sum total of technological advance. The only mention of computers is as devices for (slowly) doing the sums typed into them to make the hyperspace jumps.
Their communication devices are less effective than iphones...
The galaxy is a big collection of feudal planets, everyone smokes, and women are there to simper, cry, and alternately hug then petulantly ignore the hero.
The plot concerns a rebellion in a smallish patch of the galaxy against human empire-makers from a planet helpfully called Tyran so the empire can be the Tyranii. There's never any strong reason to root for the rebels except that the Tyanii are short and sometimes smell.
A very clunky romance threads through the story wherein our protagonist (23 years old) and the object of his affections (also in her early 2os) behave as if they're 13 and in the playground.
In addition to a hunt for the "rebel planet" so they can join up, there is also a side quest referenced a few times to find a missing Earth document that is / will deliver the most powerful weapon in the galaxy and ensure victory.
This superweapon turns out to be . Which feels a rather comic twist right now...
I'd give it 2* but I'm throwing in an extra star for nostalgia and for the fact that Asimov and others were breaking new ground back when this was published not long after WW2.
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Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
.
Having just read it, I feel certain I've never read it before. However, sometimes I watch an older film, then go to IMDB to rate it ... and discover I watched it 10 or 15 years ago and recall zero of it... And if I did read the book, it would have been 40+ years ago, raided off my dad's sci-fi shelves along with other Asimovs, Arthur C Clarkes, and E.E Doc Smiths.
So ... maybe...
Anyway, I've read it at last/again and it's pretty dated in style, content, and attitudes.
From a sci-fi point of view, the galaxy is conquered and we're so far in the future that Earth is all but forgotten. However, hyperdrive and "neuronic whips" seem to be the sum total of technological advance. The only mention of computers is as devices for (slowly) doing the sums typed into them to make the hyperspace jumps.
Their communication devices are less effective than iphones...
The galaxy is a big collection of feudal planets, everyone smokes, and women are there to simper, cry, and alternately hug then petulantly ignore the hero.
The plot concerns a rebellion in a smallish patch of the galaxy against human empire-makers from a planet helpfully called Tyran so the empire can be the Tyranii. There's never any strong reason to root for the rebels except that the Tyanii are short and sometimes smell.
A very clunky romance threads through the story wherein our protagonist (23 years old) and the object of his affections (also in her early 2os) behave as if they're 13 and in the playground.
In addition to a hunt for the "rebel planet" so they can join up, there is also a side quest referenced a few times to find a missing Earth document that is / will deliver the most powerful weapon in the galaxy and ensure victory.
This superweapon turns out to be . Which feels a rather comic twist right now...
I'd give it 2* but I'm throwing in an extra star for nostalgia and for the fact that Asimov and others were breaking new ground back when this was published not long after WW2.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
.
September 16, 2019
"Toz gibi yıldızlar kuşatır beni,
Yaşayan bir ışık pusu içerisinde;
Ve tüm uzay görünür gözüme,
Devasa bir ışık patlaması gibi."
⭐
Asimov hayranlığım artık gizli saklı bir şey değil.
Serinin ilk kitabı sürprizli bitti. Bakalım neler olacak. :)
💚
Yaşayan bir ışık pusu içerisinde;
Ve tüm uzay görünür gözüme,
Devasa bir ışık patlaması gibi."
⭐
Asimov hayranlığım artık gizli saklı bir şey değil.
Serinin ilk kitabı sürprizli bitti. Bakalım neler olacak. :)
💚
July 18, 2017
Isaac Asimov's very first novel, "Pebble in the Sky" (1950), was the opening salvo in what would later be known as his Galactic Empire trilogy, and was set some 50,000 years in Earth's future. It may surprise some potential readers to learn, then, that book 2 in the series, "The Stars, Like Dust" (the use of a comma after the word "Stars" is not present anywhere in my 1963 Lancer paperback, but Asimov's later autobiography, "I. Asimov," does present the book title with the comma, so don't ask me!), takes place a mere 10,000 years in the future, or a good 40,000 years prior to the events in book 1! Thus, the book can be viewed as a very loose prequel of sorts, although the galactic backdrop is the only story element that the two books share. This second novel of Asimov's originally appeared in the January – March '51 issues of Horace L. Gold's "Galaxy Science Fiction" (a 25-cent, digest-sized periodical) with a different title, "Tyrann," and was then released in book form later that same year. It is another highly readable, fast-moving space adventure from this beloved and, ultimately, superhumanly prodigious author, but one with a number of problems, as will be seen.
In the book, the Galactic Empire consists of only some 1,100 settled planets, as opposed to the 200 million colonized worlds of book 1. Some 50 years prior to book 2's commencement, the short and stocky human colonists of the planet Tyrann had conquered 50 other worlds in the neighborhood of the Horsehead Nebula, and if there were ever any doubt as to how the author felt about those space conquerors, let's just say that he calls their race the Tyranni. At the beginning of "The Stars, Like Dust," a 23-year-old resident of the Nebula world Nephelos, Biron Farrill, who is about to graduate from an Earth university, awakens in his dorm only to find that a radiation bomb has been planted near his bed. He survives this murder attempt and later learns that his nobleman father, the so-called Rancher of Widemos, has just been put to death for his participation in an insurrection plot against the Tyranni. Urged by a mysterious benefactor, Sander Jonti, to go to the subject world of Rhodia and speak to that planet's Director, Hinrik V, Biron travels by starship to seek an audience there. Hinrik, as it turns out, is something of a mentally deficient imbecile, but Farrill is soon aided by the Director's brother, Gillbret oth Hinriad, and by Rhodia's princess herself, the beautiful Artemisia. The three steal a Tyranni armored cruiser and set off in search of the "rebellion world" that Gillbret claims to have once visited, all the time playing cat and mouse with the Tyranni commissioner of Rhodia, the dangerously perceptive Simok Aratap. But the discovery of that legendary rebellion world is not the only thing on Biron's and Aratap's minds. A mysterious ancient document containing the details of a highly powerful weapon of some sort has vanished from Earth, and the discovery of that relic is of vital concern to them both, as well....
Writing in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," Scottish critic David Pringle calls "The Stars, Like Dust" "a minor Asimov space yarn," and that does indeed seem to be the general consensus. As a matter of fact, Asimov himself would later call it the least favorite of all his 40 novels, 38 of which had been in the sci-fi realm. This, it seems, was largely due to the number of rewrites the publisher demanded of him (Doc Ike hated doing rewrites, apparently), as well as the fact that Asimov loathed the subplot revolving around the ancient document that editor Gold compelled him to put in. To be fair, that subplot is a relatively minor thread in the story's weave, and the revelation of its exact nature is one that very few readers will predict. That big reveal does come as something of a surprise ending, akin to the one revealing the First Speaker's identity in the author's classic 1953 novel "Second Foundation." In both books, that surprise is reserved for the very last paragraph; do NOT peek ahead!
As for the rest of it, I will confess that this reader was a tad confused during the book's first half, and that was undoubtedly deliberate on the author's part. This is the sort of book in which most of the characters have hidden agendas ("Am I too complicated for you?" Aratap asks at one point), and few are what he/she seems at first blush. Thus, it is difficult to discern many of our main characters' motivations. Fortunately, things begin to clarify around the book’s midpoint--"It all hangs together," as Jonti declares around that halfway section--but Asimov still reserves many surprises for his final chapters. In hindsight, the book is very clearly written (not for nothing was Asimov later dubbed "The Great Explainer," after penning over 400 books of nonfiction), but purposefully ambiguous in spots. You may feel the need to read the book over again once you're through with it, to admire how deftly the author has written both honestly and misleadingly at the same time. Asimov, of course, was also known for his books that combined both sci-fi and mystery (I am thinking most especially of 1954's "The Caves of Steel" and 1957's "The Naked Sun," as well as his two unalloyed mystery novels, 1958's "The Death Dealers" and 1976's "Murder at the ABA"), and "The Stars, Like Dust" can almost be seen as a warm-up of sorts to those. It is not just a whodunit, but also a whydunit, and the complexity of the plot here is perhaps the novel's single greatest selling point.
Asimov also throws in many little grace-note touches to please his readers, including a long-distance communication beam attuned only to the intended receiver's mind; the haunting image of how the radioactive Earth appears from far off in space; the monorail elevators that cover the surface of Hinrik's palace; Gillbret's uncanny invention, the visisonor, which creates both images and music in the wearer's brain; and those nasty neuronic whips, which would still be in use 40,000 years later, in book 1. Another interesting touch for this reader: the fact that the Tyranni nemesis Aratap (actually, he might be the most likeable character, strangely enough, in the entire book!) wears contact lenses. Now ubiquitous, contacts, as we know them today, only became generally available to the public in 1949, and thus were still fairly cutting edge when Asimov wrote his story.
The book, naturally, is hardly a perfect affair, with characters who are somewhat unfleshed out and a princess who is kinda lame/wishy-washy/namby-pamby. Asimov even seems to make some slight goofs in this, his second novel. For example, at one point, he tells us that the Tyranni have conquered two dozen planets in the Horsehead Nebula; later, that figure is given as 50. He tells us that our Milky Way galaxy has a diameter of some 30,000 light-years, whereas today, we know that it is more like 100,000 to 180,000 light-years. And in one section, Artemisia quotes from an old poem that turns out to be from English poet Richard Lovelace, circa 1649. But once the reader learns the nature of that secret document at the book's end, the likelihood of anyone being able to quote by heart a 17th century Earth poet becomes highly minute. But these are quibbles. "The Stars, Like Dust" remains a hugely pleasing page-turner, despite everything. For this reader, it would appear, even minor Asimov is preferable to so much of the dross being churned out today. And now, I think it's high time for me to be heading on to book 3, 1952's "The Currents of Space." Stay tuned....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit site at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Isaac Asimov....)
In the book, the Galactic Empire consists of only some 1,100 settled planets, as opposed to the 200 million colonized worlds of book 1. Some 50 years prior to book 2's commencement, the short and stocky human colonists of the planet Tyrann had conquered 50 other worlds in the neighborhood of the Horsehead Nebula, and if there were ever any doubt as to how the author felt about those space conquerors, let's just say that he calls their race the Tyranni. At the beginning of "The Stars, Like Dust," a 23-year-old resident of the Nebula world Nephelos, Biron Farrill, who is about to graduate from an Earth university, awakens in his dorm only to find that a radiation bomb has been planted near his bed. He survives this murder attempt and later learns that his nobleman father, the so-called Rancher of Widemos, has just been put to death for his participation in an insurrection plot against the Tyranni. Urged by a mysterious benefactor, Sander Jonti, to go to the subject world of Rhodia and speak to that planet's Director, Hinrik V, Biron travels by starship to seek an audience there. Hinrik, as it turns out, is something of a mentally deficient imbecile, but Farrill is soon aided by the Director's brother, Gillbret oth Hinriad, and by Rhodia's princess herself, the beautiful Artemisia. The three steal a Tyranni armored cruiser and set off in search of the "rebellion world" that Gillbret claims to have once visited, all the time playing cat and mouse with the Tyranni commissioner of Rhodia, the dangerously perceptive Simok Aratap. But the discovery of that legendary rebellion world is not the only thing on Biron's and Aratap's minds. A mysterious ancient document containing the details of a highly powerful weapon of some sort has vanished from Earth, and the discovery of that relic is of vital concern to them both, as well....
Writing in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," Scottish critic David Pringle calls "The Stars, Like Dust" "a minor Asimov space yarn," and that does indeed seem to be the general consensus. As a matter of fact, Asimov himself would later call it the least favorite of all his 40 novels, 38 of which had been in the sci-fi realm. This, it seems, was largely due to the number of rewrites the publisher demanded of him (Doc Ike hated doing rewrites, apparently), as well as the fact that Asimov loathed the subplot revolving around the ancient document that editor Gold compelled him to put in. To be fair, that subplot is a relatively minor thread in the story's weave, and the revelation of its exact nature is one that very few readers will predict. That big reveal does come as something of a surprise ending, akin to the one revealing the First Speaker's identity in the author's classic 1953 novel "Second Foundation." In both books, that surprise is reserved for the very last paragraph; do NOT peek ahead!
As for the rest of it, I will confess that this reader was a tad confused during the book's first half, and that was undoubtedly deliberate on the author's part. This is the sort of book in which most of the characters have hidden agendas ("Am I too complicated for you?" Aratap asks at one point), and few are what he/she seems at first blush. Thus, it is difficult to discern many of our main characters' motivations. Fortunately, things begin to clarify around the book’s midpoint--"It all hangs together," as Jonti declares around that halfway section--but Asimov still reserves many surprises for his final chapters. In hindsight, the book is very clearly written (not for nothing was Asimov later dubbed "The Great Explainer," after penning over 400 books of nonfiction), but purposefully ambiguous in spots. You may feel the need to read the book over again once you're through with it, to admire how deftly the author has written both honestly and misleadingly at the same time. Asimov, of course, was also known for his books that combined both sci-fi and mystery (I am thinking most especially of 1954's "The Caves of Steel" and 1957's "The Naked Sun," as well as his two unalloyed mystery novels, 1958's "The Death Dealers" and 1976's "Murder at the ABA"), and "The Stars, Like Dust" can almost be seen as a warm-up of sorts to those. It is not just a whodunit, but also a whydunit, and the complexity of the plot here is perhaps the novel's single greatest selling point.
Asimov also throws in many little grace-note touches to please his readers, including a long-distance communication beam attuned only to the intended receiver's mind; the haunting image of how the radioactive Earth appears from far off in space; the monorail elevators that cover the surface of Hinrik's palace; Gillbret's uncanny invention, the visisonor, which creates both images and music in the wearer's brain; and those nasty neuronic whips, which would still be in use 40,000 years later, in book 1. Another interesting touch for this reader: the fact that the Tyranni nemesis Aratap (actually, he might be the most likeable character, strangely enough, in the entire book!) wears contact lenses. Now ubiquitous, contacts, as we know them today, only became generally available to the public in 1949, and thus were still fairly cutting edge when Asimov wrote his story.
The book, naturally, is hardly a perfect affair, with characters who are somewhat unfleshed out and a princess who is kinda lame/wishy-washy/namby-pamby. Asimov even seems to make some slight goofs in this, his second novel. For example, at one point, he tells us that the Tyranni have conquered two dozen planets in the Horsehead Nebula; later, that figure is given as 50. He tells us that our Milky Way galaxy has a diameter of some 30,000 light-years, whereas today, we know that it is more like 100,000 to 180,000 light-years. And in one section, Artemisia quotes from an old poem that turns out to be from English poet Richard Lovelace, circa 1649. But once the reader learns the nature of that secret document at the book's end, the likelihood of anyone being able to quote by heart a 17th century Earth poet becomes highly minute. But these are quibbles. "The Stars, Like Dust" remains a hugely pleasing page-turner, despite everything. For this reader, it would appear, even minor Asimov is preferable to so much of the dross being churned out today. And now, I think it's high time for me to be heading on to book 3, 1952's "The Currents of Space." Stay tuned....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit site at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Isaac Asimov....)
February 26, 2024
Amusing but far from Asimov’s best work.
This one is a political thriller in space, the plot could really be set almost anywhere, fantasy, modern, it’s more about political intrigue than science. There are quite a few descriptions of how spaceships work, how space is navigated and descriptions of nebulas and other space phenomena based on actual science.
Asimov’s strength was never in character development but in big ideas and logical problem solving. This one doesn’t really have a big idea to put forward and it suffers from it, Asimov himself has said this is his least favourite of his own books.
The main character is 6’2”, very muscular and rocking a sweet flat top haircut, he lets you know all this repeatedly. He’s also an emotional cripple who constantly alternates between lashing out at people and then giving them the silent treatment.
The only woman in the book instantly loves him because he’s 6’2”, muscular and a total cock.
The bad guys are from a planet of bad guys that are all short(gross) and also ugly, sneaky and stinky because of course any dude under 6’ for sure is (not me though, cause I’m tall, real tall, irresistibly tall) anyway, almost everyone in the book is pretending to be an idiot but actually isn’t, they all had a secret plan but our hero knew it all, all along, over and over again, he was one step ahead of the good guys, the bad guys, himself and even me because I read it right to the end sometimes chuckling about the cringy dialogue and the extremely cringy ending.
This one is a political thriller in space, the plot could really be set almost anywhere, fantasy, modern, it’s more about political intrigue than science. There are quite a few descriptions of how spaceships work, how space is navigated and descriptions of nebulas and other space phenomena based on actual science.
Asimov’s strength was never in character development but in big ideas and logical problem solving. This one doesn’t really have a big idea to put forward and it suffers from it, Asimov himself has said this is his least favourite of his own books.
The main character is 6’2”, very muscular and rocking a sweet flat top haircut, he lets you know all this repeatedly. He’s also an emotional cripple who constantly alternates between lashing out at people and then giving them the silent treatment.
The only woman in the book instantly loves him because he’s 6’2”, muscular and a total cock.
The bad guys are from a planet of bad guys that are all short(gross) and also ugly, sneaky and stinky because of course any dude under 6’ for sure is (not me though, cause I’m tall, real tall, irresistibly tall) anyway, almost everyone in the book is pretending to be an idiot but actually isn’t, they all had a secret plan but our hero knew it all, all along, over and over again, he was one step ahead of the good guys, the bad guys, himself and even me because I read it right to the end sometimes chuckling about the cringy dialogue and the extremely cringy ending.
November 1, 2018
Very enjoyable…
This is one of Asimov’s very early science fiction novels and is quite a reflection of his times. Having been written in 1951, it reflects the societal fear at the time regarding a possibly upcoming World War III and destruction of the planet by nuclear weapons.
In this book, the planet Earth is only one of many that has been settled by humankind, but – unfortunately – large portions of its surface are highly radioactive and everyone wears (or carries) radiation detectors (in the form of watches, jewelry, clothing, etc.) in case they inadvertently wander into a high-radiation zone. There is a hint that this is because of some long-past war.
Interestingly, though the story begins on Earth, most of the story actually takes place off planet. The Tyranni are the despotic rulers of a group of planets near the Horsehead Nebula, and naturally, a rebellion is in the works. Our young hero, Biron (who is on Earth), is flung into the rebellion when his father is killed on their home planet of Nephelos. Another (and possibly high-ranking) member of the rebellion, Jonti, hustles Biron off Earth and sets in motion a chain of events that seems at every turn to be endangering Biron’s life rather than protecting it – making Biron suspect that his benefactor is not the man he pretends to be. Somehow, Biron manages to evade the traps and dangers that surround him. He embarks on a search for the mysterious “rebellion world” that is theoretically located in the Horsehead Nebula and allows Jonti to accompany him on the search, with much reservation, but in the hopes of learning who Jonti really is and what his motivations truly are. Events at the end of the book wrap back to Earth – at least tangentially – an in (to me) a surprising way.
It is an action-adventure novel typical of the 1950s science fiction, full of blasters, space ships, planets, and, as is also typical of the times, some great science and scientific explanations that do not bog down the narrative.
I also enjoyed the “About the Author” section at the back of my edition. Asimov’s sense of humor is displayed throughout. For example:
“He [Asimov] remains as youthful, as lively, and as lovable as ever, and grows more handsome with each year. You can be sure that this is so since he has written this little essay himself and his devotion to absolute objectivity is notorious.”
This is now considered Book 1 in the Galactic Empire series, although at the time it was written, it was simply a standalone novel. Highly recommended to those who enjoy books from the Golden Age of science fiction.
This is one of Asimov’s very early science fiction novels and is quite a reflection of his times. Having been written in 1951, it reflects the societal fear at the time regarding a possibly upcoming World War III and destruction of the planet by nuclear weapons.
In this book, the planet Earth is only one of many that has been settled by humankind, but – unfortunately – large portions of its surface are highly radioactive and everyone wears (or carries) radiation detectors (in the form of watches, jewelry, clothing, etc.) in case they inadvertently wander into a high-radiation zone. There is a hint that this is because of some long-past war.
Interestingly, though the story begins on Earth, most of the story actually takes place off planet. The Tyranni are the despotic rulers of a group of planets near the Horsehead Nebula, and naturally, a rebellion is in the works. Our young hero, Biron (who is on Earth), is flung into the rebellion when his father is killed on their home planet of Nephelos. Another (and possibly high-ranking) member of the rebellion, Jonti, hustles Biron off Earth and sets in motion a chain of events that seems at every turn to be endangering Biron’s life rather than protecting it – making Biron suspect that his benefactor is not the man he pretends to be. Somehow, Biron manages to evade the traps and dangers that surround him. He embarks on a search for the mysterious “rebellion world” that is theoretically located in the Horsehead Nebula and allows Jonti to accompany him on the search, with much reservation, but in the hopes of learning who Jonti really is and what his motivations truly are. Events at the end of the book wrap back to Earth – at least tangentially – an in (to me) a surprising way.
It is an action-adventure novel typical of the 1950s science fiction, full of blasters, space ships, planets, and, as is also typical of the times, some great science and scientific explanations that do not bog down the narrative.
I also enjoyed the “About the Author” section at the back of my edition. Asimov’s sense of humor is displayed throughout. For example:
“He [Asimov] remains as youthful, as lively, and as lovable as ever, and grows more handsome with each year. You can be sure that this is so since he has written this little essay himself and his devotion to absolute objectivity is notorious.”
This is now considered Book 1 in the Galactic Empire series, although at the time it was written, it was simply a standalone novel. Highly recommended to those who enjoy books from the Golden Age of science fiction.
February 7, 2017
So, my plan to re-read the all the Asimov books that make up our future history in the Foundation Universe continues with this, the first of the Galactic Empire novels. Although, it has to be said, this is the only one of his books in this universe that I hadn't read before.
The galactic empire novels, like the "I, Robot" stories, the first two Elijah Baley novels and the original "Foundation" trilogy were originally published in the 50's. When Asimov began, many years later, to attempt to weave the robot stories into the same fabric as the Foundation stories by constructing a unified vision of a future history, these were retrospectively deemed to have occurred some time in between the robot and foundation stories, at some point during the reign of the galactic empire. Besides that there is really nothing that ties this in with anything else and it completely stands alone.
The book started weakly for me, presenting a seemingly dumb and uninteresting protagonist getting entangled in a galactic conspiracy after finding out his father has been executed. It starts out in the territory of hum-drum action thriller (which, let's face it, isn't Asimov's forte) but does improve later on as the plot thickens and begins to develop in more interesting ways. I really didn't like the conclusion though when we find out exactly what this secret weapon was that was hidden on Earth for so long. Very Twee and again re-enforces how this just doesn't really fit in as part of the "Foundation Universe".
I can't help wondering what Asimov might have written had he written any new Galactic Empire novels when he returned intent on unifying the books. That never happened though and we'll just have to be content with what we have.
The galactic empire novels, like the "I, Robot" stories, the first two Elijah Baley novels and the original "Foundation" trilogy were originally published in the 50's. When Asimov began, many years later, to attempt to weave the robot stories into the same fabric as the Foundation stories by constructing a unified vision of a future history, these were retrospectively deemed to have occurred some time in between the robot and foundation stories, at some point during the reign of the galactic empire. Besides that there is really nothing that ties this in with anything else and it completely stands alone.
The book started weakly for me, presenting a seemingly dumb and uninteresting protagonist getting entangled in a galactic conspiracy after finding out his father has been executed. It starts out in the territory of hum-drum action thriller (which, let's face it, isn't Asimov's forte) but does improve later on as the plot thickens and begins to develop in more interesting ways. I really didn't like the conclusion though when we find out exactly what this secret weapon was that was hidden on Earth for so long. Very Twee and again re-enforces how this just doesn't really fit in as part of the "Foundation Universe".
I can't help wondering what Asimov might have written had he written any new Galactic Empire novels when he returned intent on unifying the books. That never happened though and we'll just have to be content with what we have.
October 16, 2021
Il tiranno dei mondi
Ho scritto alcuni romanzi che, anche se non trattano direttamente della Fondazione, sono però ambientati in quello che potremmo chiamare "l'universo della Fondazione". Così gli avvenimenti di cui si parla ne il tiranno dei mondi hanno luogo in cui Trantor si stava espandendo e avviando a diventare un impero...
Queste le parole di Asimov trovate all'interno della prefazione del libro, che dovrebbero essere state prese da Io, Asimov. Primo volume: 1920-1954.
A differenza del Ciclo dei Robot questo primo capitolo del Ciclo dell'Impero ha un taglio di carattere avventuroso. Non so perché ma mentre lo leggevo continuavo a pensare a Flash Gordon e i cartoni che guardavo da bambina.
Unica pecca, che mi ha fatto scendere di ben una stella, è stata il finale.
Ma tutto sommato è godibile.
Ho scritto alcuni romanzi che, anche se non trattano direttamente della Fondazione, sono però ambientati in quello che potremmo chiamare "l'universo della Fondazione". Così gli avvenimenti di cui si parla ne il tiranno dei mondi hanno luogo in cui Trantor si stava espandendo e avviando a diventare un impero...
Queste le parole di Asimov trovate all'interno della prefazione del libro, che dovrebbero essere state prese da Io, Asimov. Primo volume: 1920-1954.
A differenza del Ciclo dei Robot questo primo capitolo del Ciclo dell'Impero ha un taglio di carattere avventuroso. Non so perché ma mentre lo leggevo continuavo a pensare a Flash Gordon e i cartoni che guardavo da bambina.
Unica pecca, che mi ha fatto scendere di ben una stella, è stata il finale.
Ma tutto sommato è godibile.
February 8, 2013
Those who have often accused Asimov of being historically, shall we say, lax on anything resembling action may have felt a faint flicker of hope when reading the opening passages to this novel, where mild-mannered student Biron Farrill discovers late at night that someone has broken into his room and planted a radiation bomb. There's a few tense pages that make you believe that this is a lost thriller from the master of cerebral SF, a novel of far future espionage where no one is safe and danger lurks around every corner.
Then everyone starts talking about what just happened and that goes right out the window. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, part of the reason that Asimov is so highly regarded and beloved among SF fans is because he was able to make these talky novels work, that he could wring some semblance of excitement from everyone talking about action but not actually engage in anything that you or I might accidentally misconstrue as this elusive beast sometimes called "action". And the thing was, he was capable of it . . . I remember reading "The Caves of Steel" in the scenes where the cop is trying to elude someone on the moving sidewalks and being actively riveted.
In this case though, not so much. Granted, we're still very early in his career and while this one feels more like one of his novels than "Pebble in the Sky" did, all the kinks still haven't been fully worked out. People count this one as an "Empire" novel, even though there's kind of a reference to an Empire and Earth and whatnot, but it has precious little connection to anything that went before or after it.
Indeed, we mostly focus on a few random worlds held by the Tyranni (nice name). Biron's father is a Rancher on one of those worlds and without warning is captured and presumably executed. Biron is told that his father was planning a rebellion and he's got to get the heck out of Galactic Dodge before the people who got his father come after him. And therein lies the seeds for what could have been a breakneck chase across the galaxy as Biron attempts to uncover the conspiracy and figure out who is on whose side. Before too long he's hunting for a mysterious document and searching for rumored "Rebellion World" that could blow this whole plot wide open and give us a ground level view of galactic governments falling, finally being taken back by the people they've oppressed for so long.
We don't quite get that. Instead we get some typical tropes of both Asimov and SF of that era. We have people with multiple identities, a plot coupon sort of structure where people bounce from one location to another because the plot requires them to and the requisite lone pretty girl who the hero falls in love with (although she does acknowledge that as the only girl he doesn't have much choice, which is remarkably self-aware) simply because they have to. This of course later turns into a minor love triangle with the guy they can maybe trust or maybe not to add some melodramatic tension. In between, everyone discusses every permutation of the plot in every facet they can manage, with a twist I didn't necessarily see coming even if the hero did (Biron starts out in a way that could have been interesting, the young man finding his footing but by the end of it turns into the typically capable SF hero of this period). A lot of it feels very standard at points, even the final twist, which is meant to be shocking, winds up being quite telegraphed by kind of overselling the point halfway through and making you think maybe something is up (it also didn't help that I've read a fantasy series recently which uses a similar twist).
What I find most fascinating about this novel, and I wish he had devoted more to this, were the scenes featuring Tyranni commander Aratap. Far different than most any other SF I had read from this time, there's a focus more on mundane day to day activities and how boring it is to be a conqueror, like reading a story about your accountant set in the future. Asimov seems to be going out of his way to prove that being an overlord can be a dull slog just like your crappy job, and there's some real nice details that I honestly didn't expect (Aratap fidgeting in a uniform he's used to wearing is a treasure). There's more focus on the bureaucracy and Aratap being a clever foil instead of simply overbearingly evil that raises this book above lazier stuff from this era. It's an almost British sensibility, akin to what Robert Holmes would be doing in his "Doctor Who" scripts almost twenty years later. If nothing else, it makes the book worth it and shows that even when Asimov was fully vested in the cliches of the day, he was still working to find interesting angles. Worth a peak.
Then everyone starts talking about what just happened and that goes right out the window. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, part of the reason that Asimov is so highly regarded and beloved among SF fans is because he was able to make these talky novels work, that he could wring some semblance of excitement from everyone talking about action but not actually engage in anything that you or I might accidentally misconstrue as this elusive beast sometimes called "action". And the thing was, he was capable of it . . . I remember reading "The Caves of Steel" in the scenes where the cop is trying to elude someone on the moving sidewalks and being actively riveted.
In this case though, not so much. Granted, we're still very early in his career and while this one feels more like one of his novels than "Pebble in the Sky" did, all the kinks still haven't been fully worked out. People count this one as an "Empire" novel, even though there's kind of a reference to an Empire and Earth and whatnot, but it has precious little connection to anything that went before or after it.
Indeed, we mostly focus on a few random worlds held by the Tyranni (nice name). Biron's father is a Rancher on one of those worlds and without warning is captured and presumably executed. Biron is told that his father was planning a rebellion and he's got to get the heck out of Galactic Dodge before the people who got his father come after him. And therein lies the seeds for what could have been a breakneck chase across the galaxy as Biron attempts to uncover the conspiracy and figure out who is on whose side. Before too long he's hunting for a mysterious document and searching for rumored "Rebellion World" that could blow this whole plot wide open and give us a ground level view of galactic governments falling, finally being taken back by the people they've oppressed for so long.
We don't quite get that. Instead we get some typical tropes of both Asimov and SF of that era. We have people with multiple identities, a plot coupon sort of structure where people bounce from one location to another because the plot requires them to and the requisite lone pretty girl who the hero falls in love with (although she does acknowledge that as the only girl he doesn't have much choice, which is remarkably self-aware) simply because they have to. This of course later turns into a minor love triangle with the guy they can maybe trust or maybe not to add some melodramatic tension. In between, everyone discusses every permutation of the plot in every facet they can manage, with a twist I didn't necessarily see coming even if the hero did (Biron starts out in a way that could have been interesting, the young man finding his footing but by the end of it turns into the typically capable SF hero of this period). A lot of it feels very standard at points, even the final twist, which is meant to be shocking, winds up being quite telegraphed by kind of overselling the point halfway through and making you think maybe something is up (it also didn't help that I've read a fantasy series recently which uses a similar twist).
What I find most fascinating about this novel, and I wish he had devoted more to this, were the scenes featuring Tyranni commander Aratap. Far different than most any other SF I had read from this time, there's a focus more on mundane day to day activities and how boring it is to be a conqueror, like reading a story about your accountant set in the future. Asimov seems to be going out of his way to prove that being an overlord can be a dull slog just like your crappy job, and there's some real nice details that I honestly didn't expect (Aratap fidgeting in a uniform he's used to wearing is a treasure). There's more focus on the bureaucracy and Aratap being a clever foil instead of simply overbearingly evil that raises this book above lazier stuff from this era. It's an almost British sensibility, akin to what Robert Holmes would be doing in his "Doctor Who" scripts almost twenty years later. If nothing else, it makes the book worth it and shows that even when Asimov was fully vested in the cliches of the day, he was still working to find interesting angles. Worth a peak.
January 8, 2022
“The stars, like dust, encircle me/ In living mists of light;/ And all of space I seem to see/ In one vast burst of sight.”
One of the first novels by an eventual master of modern science fiction. Written in 1950. Much better than many reviews would have you believe.
'All young fools who get their notions of interstellar intrigue from the video spy thrillers are easily handled.'
Reflects a time as foreign to contemporary readers as science fiction set centuries into the future. A cool MacGuffin.
“The room glared with dials, a hundred thousand eyes,” “The second hand moved,” “Gravity was high so near the ship’s hull.”
Asimov commits fewer science gaffs than many more modern writers. Read his after word. Written before the invention of integrated circuits (and all the technology requiring them), before the first artificial satellites, and before the social and cultural revolutions of the last seventy years.
“There’s more to life than a home planet, Tedor. It’s been our great shortcoming in the past centuries that we’ve been unable to recognize that fact. All planets are our home planets.”
One of the first novels by an eventual master of modern science fiction. Written in 1950. Much better than many reviews would have you believe.
'All young fools who get their notions of interstellar intrigue from the video spy thrillers are easily handled.'
Reflects a time as foreign to contemporary readers as science fiction set centuries into the future. A cool MacGuffin.
“The room glared with dials, a hundred thousand eyes,” “The second hand moved,” “Gravity was high so near the ship’s hull.”
Asimov commits fewer science gaffs than many more modern writers. Read his after word. Written before the invention of integrated circuits (and all the technology requiring them), before the first artificial satellites, and before the social and cultural revolutions of the last seventy years.
“There’s more to life than a home planet, Tedor. It’s been our great shortcoming in the past centuries that we’ve been unable to recognize that fact. All planets are our home planets.”
March 25, 2021
2.7⭐
Early Asimov. Read it 50 years ago.
What Baba said.
😜
Early Asimov. Read it 50 years ago.
What Baba said.
😜
July 17, 2025
This is the first volume of Galactic Empire trilogy. It was first serialized in then-new Galaxy magazine over Q1 1951 (the magazine first issue was Galaxy Science Fiction, Vol. 1, No. 1, October 1950). Chronologically, it is the first, but one book, Pebble in the Sky, was published in 1950. I read it as a part of the Buddy read of the trilogy in July 2025 at Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group.
The book starts with the protagonist, Biron Farrill, waking up in his room, discovering that electronic devices have halted their work and his hand watch has a Geiger counter, which is ticking. He manages to evade this assassination attempt with the help of one Sander Jonti. This Sander appears to be an undercover agent, and he informs Biron that his father, a planetary leader known as Lord Rancher of Widemos, has been arrested and killed by the Tyranni. The only way for him to save himself is to leave Earth immediately and travel to the planet Rhodia and ask its Director for protection.
Meanwhile, the said Director of Rhodia is arguing with his daughter Artemisia, who doesn’t want to marry a high-ranking Tyranni. When Biron comes to Rhodia, after some adventures, he has to leave it with Artemisia and her tech-savvy uncle Gillbret in a hijacked Tyranni spaceship. The uncle tells a story of a hidden rebel planet, which plans to overthrow Tyranni…
Overall, the plot is straightforward and weak, even the author declared it his "least favorite novel." There are usual space opera tropes, from each planet a fiefdom, stellar nobility and external threat. If the famous Foundation is based on ideas from Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, this book clearly alludes to the Mongol conquests. A redeeming factor for the story for me was an attempt to add hard science to the story, from escape velocity to the enormousness of space to the fact that everything in our galaxy moves, so there are no fixed coordinates for a specific planet. I found this book less interesting than Foundation.
An interesting note is that in this book Earth had a nuclear war: Its diseased, unliving soil hid its horror under a night-induced play of jewels. The radioactivity of the soil was a vast sea of iridescent blue, sparkling in strange festoons that spelled out the manner in which the nuclear bombs had once landed, a full generation before the force-field defense against nuclear explosions had been developed so that no other world could commit suicide in just that fashion again.
The book starts with the protagonist, Biron Farrill, waking up in his room, discovering that electronic devices have halted their work and his hand watch has a Geiger counter, which is ticking. He manages to evade this assassination attempt with the help of one Sander Jonti. This Sander appears to be an undercover agent, and he informs Biron that his father, a planetary leader known as Lord Rancher of Widemos, has been arrested and killed by the Tyranni. The only way for him to save himself is to leave Earth immediately and travel to the planet Rhodia and ask its Director for protection.
Meanwhile, the said Director of Rhodia is arguing with his daughter Artemisia, who doesn’t want to marry a high-ranking Tyranni. When Biron comes to Rhodia, after some adventures, he has to leave it with Artemisia and her tech-savvy uncle Gillbret in a hijacked Tyranni spaceship. The uncle tells a story of a hidden rebel planet, which plans to overthrow Tyranni…
Overall, the plot is straightforward and weak, even the author declared it his "least favorite novel." There are usual space opera tropes, from each planet a fiefdom, stellar nobility and external threat. If the famous Foundation is based on ideas from Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, this book clearly alludes to the Mongol conquests. A redeeming factor for the story for me was an attempt to add hard science to the story, from escape velocity to the enormousness of space to the fact that everything in our galaxy moves, so there are no fixed coordinates for a specific planet. I found this book less interesting than Foundation.
An interesting note is that in this book Earth had a nuclear war: Its diseased, unliving soil hid its horror under a night-induced play of jewels. The radioactivity of the soil was a vast sea of iridescent blue, sparkling in strange festoons that spelled out the manner in which the nuclear bombs had once landed, a full generation before the force-field defense against nuclear explosions had been developed so that no other world could commit suicide in just that fashion again.
November 28, 2021
THE GREAT COMPLETIST CHALLENGE: In which I revisit older authors and attempt to read every book they ever wrote
Currently in the challenge: Isaac Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation | Margaret Atwood | JG Ballard | Clive Barker | Christopher Buckley | Jim Butcher's Dresden Files | Lee Child's Jack Reacher | Philip K Dick | Ian Fleming | William Gibson | Michel Houellebecq | John Irving | Kazuo Ishiguro | Shirley Jackson | John Le Carre | Bernard Malamud | Cormac McCarthy | China Mieville | Toni Morrison | VS Naipaul | Chuck Palahniuk | Tim Powers | Terry Pratchett's Discworld | Philip Roth | Neal Stephenson | Jim Thompson | John Updike | Kurt Vonnegut | Jeanette Winterson | PG Wodehouse
2021 reads, #87. I recently published a book version of the very first completed chapter of this Great Completist Challenge (regarding the five-book 'George Miles Cycle' by noted Generation X "New Transgressive" '90s LGBTQ author Dennis Cooper), and have been thinking about which one I might have a decent chance of finishing next; and that got me to thinking for the first time in a while about what we now call Isaac Asimov's "Future History" megaseries, known in his lifetime as the three separate series "Robot," "Empire" and "Foundation." I'm already done with all five Robot novels, after all; and with Apple+ recently producing a brand-new high-profile adaptation of the Foundation books, that gives me a reason to hurry up and get to them myself, so that I can get the book version out in time to take advantage of the renewed interest by a whole new audience.
But that first is going to take me through a part of this megaseries I've never read before (versus the Robot and Foundation books, which I've been reading regularly since I was a teenager in the 1980s); and that's the Empire books that have generally been forgotten by history at large, which I don't think is exactly a coincidence since Asimov himself really de-emphasized these books once he got famous too. The second of the series, 1951's The Stars, Like Dust (which he famously declared in interviews as the worst book of his career), was in fact only the second book of Asimov's career, originally serialized in the pulpy Galaxy magazine like most of the authors of the Mid-Century Modernist era; and I gotta say, it really reflects what the mainstream genre publishers at the time wanted, which was simplistic and thrilling action-adventure stories. Before the 1950s, this is essentially what "science fiction" was, basically Tarzan in space (think Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" series, for a great example), although at least by the 1930s authors like E.E. "Doc" Smith had pulled the tropes into the radio/radium era, which is when we saw the development of other Early Modernist sci-fi action tales like Flash Gordon and Tom Swift.
This is the stuff the middle-aged gatekeepers like the magazine publishers still loved in the late 1940s, when people like Asimov were first getting published; so he and the other young writers were pushed in this direction if they wanted any chance of getting book deals, into territory that they themselves would call later in their careers with derision "space opera," just for the joke to eventually be on them when a California nerd in the '70s decided to make a big-budget homage to these hokey shoot-em-up tales, and forever changed the way we permanently think about the genre. And indeed, there's nothing particularly wrong with Asimov's take at it here either, but it's just not the kind of "books about ideas" that he and his compatriots were really striving for in those years, and whose efforts to overcome these Doc Smith space opera tropes directly led to the rise of the Silver Age of science-fiction.
There's a lot of spaceship chases in this book, and a lot of lasers being shot at each other, all in service of a storyline that's literally no more complicated than, "There's a giant empire, and the people being subjugated by it hate it, and they're trying to stop it but the empire won't let them;" and while that was good enough to allow Asimov to continue writing and publishing, it certainly wasn't anything like the heady, bizarre, really challenging intellectual concepts found in his "Foundation" stories he was publishing in the pulps at the same time, and which quickly became his much greater obsession as soon as the industry had expanded enough that it could be. That will eventually lead us to Asimov (and the Silver Age in general) reaching its greatest height in the late '50s and early '60s; but meanwhile, we have two more Empire books to (quickly) get through. Next up, 1950's The Currents in Space (chronologically next, although actually published one year previous), so keep your eye out for that soon.
Isaac Asimov books being reviewed for this series: I, Robot (1950) | The Caves of Steel (1954) | The Naked Sun (1957) | The Robots of Dawn (1983) | Robots and Empire (1985) | The Stars, Like Dust (1951) | The Currents of Space (1952) | Pebble in the Sky (1950) | Prelude to Foundation (1988) | Forward the Foundation (1993) | Foundation (1951) | Foundation and Empire (1952) | Second Foundation (1953) | Foundation's Edge (1982) | Foundation and Earth (1986)
Currently in the challenge: Isaac Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation | Margaret Atwood | JG Ballard | Clive Barker | Christopher Buckley | Jim Butcher's Dresden Files | Lee Child's Jack Reacher | Philip K Dick | Ian Fleming | William Gibson | Michel Houellebecq | John Irving | Kazuo Ishiguro | Shirley Jackson | John Le Carre | Bernard Malamud | Cormac McCarthy | China Mieville | Toni Morrison | VS Naipaul | Chuck Palahniuk | Tim Powers | Terry Pratchett's Discworld | Philip Roth | Neal Stephenson | Jim Thompson | John Updike | Kurt Vonnegut | Jeanette Winterson | PG Wodehouse
2021 reads, #87. I recently published a book version of the very first completed chapter of this Great Completist Challenge (regarding the five-book 'George Miles Cycle' by noted Generation X "New Transgressive" '90s LGBTQ author Dennis Cooper), and have been thinking about which one I might have a decent chance of finishing next; and that got me to thinking for the first time in a while about what we now call Isaac Asimov's "Future History" megaseries, known in his lifetime as the three separate series "Robot," "Empire" and "Foundation." I'm already done with all five Robot novels, after all; and with Apple+ recently producing a brand-new high-profile adaptation of the Foundation books, that gives me a reason to hurry up and get to them myself, so that I can get the book version out in time to take advantage of the renewed interest by a whole new audience.
But that first is going to take me through a part of this megaseries I've never read before (versus the Robot and Foundation books, which I've been reading regularly since I was a teenager in the 1980s); and that's the Empire books that have generally been forgotten by history at large, which I don't think is exactly a coincidence since Asimov himself really de-emphasized these books once he got famous too. The second of the series, 1951's The Stars, Like Dust (which he famously declared in interviews as the worst book of his career), was in fact only the second book of Asimov's career, originally serialized in the pulpy Galaxy magazine like most of the authors of the Mid-Century Modernist era; and I gotta say, it really reflects what the mainstream genre publishers at the time wanted, which was simplistic and thrilling action-adventure stories. Before the 1950s, this is essentially what "science fiction" was, basically Tarzan in space (think Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" series, for a great example), although at least by the 1930s authors like E.E. "Doc" Smith had pulled the tropes into the radio/radium era, which is when we saw the development of other Early Modernist sci-fi action tales like Flash Gordon and Tom Swift.
This is the stuff the middle-aged gatekeepers like the magazine publishers still loved in the late 1940s, when people like Asimov were first getting published; so he and the other young writers were pushed in this direction if they wanted any chance of getting book deals, into territory that they themselves would call later in their careers with derision "space opera," just for the joke to eventually be on them when a California nerd in the '70s decided to make a big-budget homage to these hokey shoot-em-up tales, and forever changed the way we permanently think about the genre. And indeed, there's nothing particularly wrong with Asimov's take at it here either, but it's just not the kind of "books about ideas" that he and his compatriots were really striving for in those years, and whose efforts to overcome these Doc Smith space opera tropes directly led to the rise of the Silver Age of science-fiction.
There's a lot of spaceship chases in this book, and a lot of lasers being shot at each other, all in service of a storyline that's literally no more complicated than, "There's a giant empire, and the people being subjugated by it hate it, and they're trying to stop it but the empire won't let them;" and while that was good enough to allow Asimov to continue writing and publishing, it certainly wasn't anything like the heady, bizarre, really challenging intellectual concepts found in his "Foundation" stories he was publishing in the pulps at the same time, and which quickly became his much greater obsession as soon as the industry had expanded enough that it could be. That will eventually lead us to Asimov (and the Silver Age in general) reaching its greatest height in the late '50s and early '60s; but meanwhile, we have two more Empire books to (quickly) get through. Next up, 1950's The Currents in Space (chronologically next, although actually published one year previous), so keep your eye out for that soon.
Isaac Asimov books being reviewed for this series: I, Robot (1950) | The Caves of Steel (1954) | The Naked Sun (1957) | The Robots of Dawn (1983) | Robots and Empire (1985) | The Stars, Like Dust (1951) | The Currents of Space (1952) | Pebble in the Sky (1950) | Prelude to Foundation (1988) | Forward the Foundation (1993) | Foundation (1951) | Foundation and Empire (1952) | Second Foundation (1953) | Foundation's Edge (1982) | Foundation and Earth (1986)
May 12, 2021
Este es el primer libro de Isaac Asimov que no termina de encantarme. Me gustó, sí, y tiene todo el toque del autor, pero siento que le falta algo, aunque todavía no puedo identificar el que.
De cualquier manera, sigo con el resto de los libros de la Fundación y espero ver cómo encaja este en el todo.
De cualquier manera, sigo con el resto de los libros de la Fundación y espero ver cómo encaja este en el todo.
February 6, 2013
Isaac Asimov is one of my favorite writers--truly. I used to joke he was my spiritual father, because his non-fiction pro-reason, pro-science essays had such a huge influence on me. And I love his fiction. Especially his short stories, which hold up well and I'd enthusiastically recommend a collection of them: "The Dead Past," "Nightfall," "The Ugly Little Boy," "The Last Question" are amazing science fiction. So is his Foundation series by and large and his Robot novels and stories, and I remember loving The End of Eternity and The Gods Themselves. But this novel even Isaac Asimov himself pointed to as his least favorite, and reading it I can understand why.
This is very early Asimov--only his second novel and book. Published in 1951, this was written before Sputnik, let alone a manned space program. Piloting a spacecraft is quaintly called "spacinautics" in this book. There are blasters and "neuronic whips" and "Nebula Kingdoms." In other words, this is the world of pulp and reads more like a Buck Rogers episode than classic Asimov. His hero, Biron Farrill, is more notable (and noted) for his muscles, not his brains, and his love interest, Artemsia, is described as "smoldering" and "spirited." And their romance is, well, proof that not just women can write treacly love stories and they don't all inhabit the Romance aisle. And did I mention this is very early in Asimov's writing career? Oh, the melodrama! The over-fondness for the exclamation point! He'd get much, much better over the years.
What saves this from one star, besides that I don't think I can bear rating something by Asimov so low? Well, there are glimmers at times of the Asimov to come, in how he injects the science into science fiction, and how the interplanetary intrigue foreshadows his Foundation series. The ending did make me smile. But if this novel had been by an unknown, I think I would have given up on the book a few chapters in. If this is your first Asimov, please, please don't hold this against him. He really is one of the greats of science fiction--you just wouldn't know it from this book.
This is very early Asimov--only his second novel and book. Published in 1951, this was written before Sputnik, let alone a manned space program. Piloting a spacecraft is quaintly called "spacinautics" in this book. There are blasters and "neuronic whips" and "Nebula Kingdoms." In other words, this is the world of pulp and reads more like a Buck Rogers episode than classic Asimov. His hero, Biron Farrill, is more notable (and noted) for his muscles, not his brains, and his love interest, Artemsia, is described as "smoldering" and "spirited." And their romance is, well, proof that not just women can write treacly love stories and they don't all inhabit the Romance aisle. And did I mention this is very early in Asimov's writing career? Oh, the melodrama! The over-fondness for the exclamation point! He'd get much, much better over the years.
What saves this from one star, besides that I don't think I can bear rating something by Asimov so low? Well, there are glimmers at times of the Asimov to come, in how he injects the science into science fiction, and how the interplanetary intrigue foreshadows his Foundation series. The ending did make me smile. But if this novel had been by an unknown, I think I would have given up on the book a few chapters in. If this is your first Asimov, please, please don't hold this against him. He really is one of the greats of science fiction--you just wouldn't know it from this book.
February 7, 2022
Maybe I should have delved into Asimov starting with “Foundation” series, or Robot stories. In full transparency I read many reviews advising against reading the “Empire” trilogy so I can say I’ve been forewarned, but as you see, I decided to forgo all the warning signs and charged right into the land of mediocrity. Feels weird even thinking that, as who am I to critique one of the most famous sci-fi authors of our time, I know. But if we’re honest, I never liked Tolkien either, so there: I’m a double blasphemer.
This story felt, underwhelming, I should say?
A person involved in a galactic plot is working his way around traps through superior intellect and unmatched wit. He’s also, of course, naturally physically appealing and sweeps a princess off her feet on first sight. And I mean an actual literal princess.
The whole sweeping off her feet parts will have you cringe non stop as those parts are as stereotypical as it gets, following all the tropes that even makes people like me go: “ Really man, did you really write that on the page for everyone to see?”
But I suppose 50’s-60’s were a different time and that context has to be acknowledged since the world was a very different place then.
There are some thrills thrown in here and there and overall the scope of the story is pretty grand. I still giggle at the concept of civilization that’s advanced enough for intergalactic travel but uses pens to write stuff down on paper. Hey, only so much you can predict.
I suppose my main gripe with the story boiled down to the fact that it was not as exciting to read as I had hoped it would be. I felt uninvolved pretty much the entire time throughout.
As many others warned me, I’ll do my due diligence and pass on the knowledge: make sure Asimov is your cup of tea by reading his more famous works before picking up the “Empire” series.
Roman
This story felt, underwhelming, I should say?
A person involved in a galactic plot is working his way around traps through superior intellect and unmatched wit. He’s also, of course, naturally physically appealing and sweeps a princess off her feet on first sight. And I mean an actual literal princess.
The whole sweeping off her feet parts will have you cringe non stop as those parts are as stereotypical as it gets, following all the tropes that even makes people like me go: “ Really man, did you really write that on the page for everyone to see?”
But I suppose 50’s-60’s were a different time and that context has to be acknowledged since the world was a very different place then.
There are some thrills thrown in here and there and overall the scope of the story is pretty grand. I still giggle at the concept of civilization that’s advanced enough for intergalactic travel but uses pens to write stuff down on paper. Hey, only so much you can predict.
I suppose my main gripe with the story boiled down to the fact that it was not as exciting to read as I had hoped it would be. I felt uninvolved pretty much the entire time throughout.
As many others warned me, I’ll do my due diligence and pass on the knowledge: make sure Asimov is your cup of tea by reading his more famous works before picking up the “Empire” series.
Roman
November 29, 2018
Последното, което Азимов може да бъде наречен, е романтичен. Не ги умее тия хватки, с науката и социалните нагласи, дори в дебрите на човешкия ум е във вихъра си.
Но тук направо му се е получило! Цяла една млада принцеса, преследвана от врагове и не знаеща на кого да се довери, освен на нашия герой, разбира се.
Приключения, загадки, отмъщение, дворцови междупланетни интриги, преследване, герои с неясна самоличност и мотиви, или такива, които се оказват съвсем не това, което изглеждат.
Направо се чудех Азимов да не е имал консултантка... Една от любимите ми късички книжки от златната епоха на фантастиката, където вярата в човека и неговото бъдеще надделява, и е двигател на действието.
Но тук направо му се е получило! Цяла една млада принцеса, преследвана от врагове и не знаеща на кого да се довери, освен на нашия герой, разбира се.
Приключения, загадки, отмъщение, дворцови междупланетни интриги, преследване, герои с неясна самоличност и мотиви, или такива, които се оказват съвсем не това, което изглеждат.
Направо се чудех Азимов да не е имал консултантка... Една от любимите ми късички книжки от златната епоха на фантастиката, където вярата в човека и неговото бъдеще надделява, и е двигател на действието.
September 30, 2018
Odlicna prica. Posto u Srpskom izdanju knjige ovaj deo ide nakon "The Currents of Space", ali to je za radnju skroz nebitno, mogu samo reci da mi je ovaj deo rame uz rame sa predhodno procitanim. I mada mi je "The Currents of Space" nekako draza prica ova kao sto rekoh niucemu ne zaostaje. Sam kraj ce vam mozda biti malo bljutav, ali imajte u vidu da ona Amerika, iz perioda kada je pisana knjiga, i ova sada u mnogome nisu ista zemlja.
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