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Galactic Empire #2
The Currents of Space
High above the planet Florinia, the Squires of Sark live in unimaginable wealth and comfort. Down in the eternal spring of the planet, however, the native Florinians labor ceaselessly to produce the precious kyrt that brings prosperity to their Sarkite masters.
Rebellion is unthinkable and impossible. Not only do the Florinians no longer have a concept of freedom, any disruption of the vital kyrt trade would cause other planets to rise in protest, ultimately destabilizing trade and resulting in a galactic war. So the Trantorian Empire, whose grand plan is to unite all humanity in peace, prosperity, and freedom, has stood aside and allowed the oppression to continue. Living among the workers of Florinia, Rik is a man without a memory or a past. He has been abducted and brainwashed. Barely able to speak or care for himself when he was found, Rik is widely regarded as a simpleton by the worker community where he lives. But as his memories begin to return, Rik finds himself driven by a cryptic message he is determined to Everyone on Florinia is doomed . . . the Currents of Space are bringing destruction. But if the planet is evacuated, the power of Sark will end--so some would finish the job and would kill the messenger. The fate of the Galaxy hangs in the balance.
Rebellion is unthinkable and impossible. Not only do the Florinians no longer have a concept of freedom, any disruption of the vital kyrt trade would cause other planets to rise in protest, ultimately destabilizing trade and resulting in a galactic war. So the Trantorian Empire, whose grand plan is to unite all humanity in peace, prosperity, and freedom, has stood aside and allowed the oppression to continue. Living among the workers of Florinia, Rik is a man without a memory or a past. He has been abducted and brainwashed. Barely able to speak or care for himself when he was found, Rik is widely regarded as a simpleton by the worker community where he lives. But as his memories begin to return, Rik finds himself driven by a cryptic message he is determined to Everyone on Florinia is doomed . . . the Currents of Space are bringing destruction. But if the planet is evacuated, the power of Sark will end--so some would finish the job and would kill the messenger. The fate of the Galaxy hangs in the balance.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1952
792 people are currently reading
9652 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,488 books27.5k 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 1,021 reviews
March 11, 2022
Robot/Empire/Foundation. Book #6 and the second book (but last written) in the Galactic Empire era of the Foundation/Robots universe, published back in Asimov's early career (1952). In the Galactic Empire is growing, but the second most powerful force in the cosmos is Sark, because of the wealth it gets from the pretty horrific subjugation of a planet, which is the sole source of a very valuable raw material. An amnesiac Earthman on the planet starts to get his memory back, which sets up race against time to get the information he has forgotten (or to stop him from sharing) between the Empire, Sark, the natives of the planet and possibly other forces. The information he has lost, is linked to a 'currents of space' theory.
Not so much a sci-fi read, but a very good global mystery thriller set in the far future. Despite the 21st century criticisms of Asimov, there are strong positive roles for the main female protagonists despite 2 of the 3 forces have male dominated cultures; the 'dark skinned' people are the good guys; and the 'baddies' are very multi-faceted. I seriously can't get enough of the books in this series, Asimov has very quickly become my fave 20th century sci-fi writer. 8 out of 12.
2021 read
Not so much a sci-fi read, but a very good global mystery thriller set in the far future. Despite the 21st century criticisms of Asimov, there are strong positive roles for the main female protagonists despite 2 of the 3 forces have male dominated cultures; the 'dark skinned' people are the good guys; and the 'baddies' are very multi-faceted. I seriously can't get enough of the books in this series, Asimov has very quickly become my fave 20th century sci-fi writer. 8 out of 12.
2021 read
August 14, 2023
Once upon a time, one of my classmates had enthusiastically shoved a rather drab copy of Prelude to the Foundation in my hand. Not sporting a particularly handsome cover, it didn't exactly excite me, but I read it nonetheless. And for the next few years, Isaac Asimov's reputation remained firmly parked on the absolute best author pedestal.
So when I picked up his books again, I was naturally expecting to be just as bowled over, excited, engrossed in the story... you name it. Is it any wonder that I just couldn't quite reconcile the idea, that his writing is mostly boring, and that his characters' dramatic antics would be at home in an Indian soap?
The squires of Sark have been ruling over the planet Florinia and its people for quite some time. Preventing the planet's citizens access to decent education, the sarkites have ensured lasting supplies of Florinia's precious kyrt, the only resource for the known world's most pricey fabric... and the key to Sarkite wealth, heh.
But then a space scientist shows up claiming that Florinia and its inhabitants are in grave, and irreversible, danger. The man gets swiftly rewarded with a hefty dose of brain-washing and abduction. Unfortunately for his attackers, the simpleton Rik starts mumbling about similar evil omens a year later, so a mad chase ensues. And amidst all this chaos no one knows what Florinia's doom actually consists of, nor who Rik's attackers actually are.
I admit that I absolutely LOVED the resolution of things. The reason for the doom was sufficiently dramatic, the identity of the bad guy was not very obvious, not to mention the very obvious link between Rik and the scientist.
However all the above makes up about 10% of the book, and that's found in the conclusion of the story. So basically, until you get to the interesting stuff, you find yourself wading through a bunch of tedious dialogue, whiny politicians, evil cackling and a hefty dose of all around frustration.
Score: 2.7 / 5 stars
Asimov's plot lines are just genius. His books' endings contain just the right amount of drama, and the reader can't help but feel satisfied. His characters however, and their journey to said resolution, seem to be left up to chance: they're either utterly awesome (eg: R. Daneel Olivaw), or seemingly endless resources of drama (every single Sarkite from this book).
=======================================
Review of the 1st book: The Stars Like Dust
So when I picked up his books again, I was naturally expecting to be just as bowled over, excited, engrossed in the story... you name it. Is it any wonder that I just couldn't quite reconcile the idea, that his writing is mostly boring, and that his characters' dramatic antics would be at home in an Indian soap?
The squires of Sark have been ruling over the planet Florinia and its people for quite some time. Preventing the planet's citizens access to decent education, the sarkites have ensured lasting supplies of Florinia's precious kyrt, the only resource for the known world's most pricey fabric... and the key to Sarkite wealth, heh.
But then a space scientist shows up claiming that Florinia and its inhabitants are in grave, and irreversible, danger. The man gets swiftly rewarded with a hefty dose of brain-washing and abduction. Unfortunately for his attackers, the simpleton Rik starts mumbling about similar evil omens a year later, so a mad chase ensues. And amidst all this chaos no one knows what Florinia's doom actually consists of, nor who Rik's attackers actually are.
I admit that I absolutely LOVED the resolution of things. The reason for the doom was sufficiently dramatic, the identity of the bad guy was not very obvious, not to mention the very obvious link between Rik and the scientist.
However all the above makes up about 10% of the book, and that's found in the conclusion of the story. So basically, until you get to the interesting stuff, you find yourself wading through a bunch of tedious dialogue, whiny politicians, evil cackling and a hefty dose of all around frustration.
Score: 2.7 / 5 stars
Asimov's plot lines are just genius. His books' endings contain just the right amount of drama, and the reader can't help but feel satisfied. His characters however, and their journey to said resolution, seem to be left up to chance: they're either utterly awesome (eg: R. Daneel Olivaw), or seemingly endless resources of drama (every single Sarkite from this book).
=======================================
Review of the 1st book: The Stars Like Dust
February 21, 2014
The Currents of Space is technically in the middle of the Galactic Empire series, which is technically connected to Asimov's Foundation series. I say technically because The Currents of Space has virtually nothing to do with the previous Galactic Empire book, The Stars, Like Dust, and doesn't seem to have much, if anything, to do with the robot books that were set even earlier. It's more like these Galactic Empire books are serving as snapshots, showing the reader how Trantor grew as an empire without walking us through history step by step. Ok, so maybe it isn't essential, and you probably don't have to read it before you hit the Foundation books. But it's a great little book anyways.
I like Asimov's brand of science fiction mysteries, even if this one seemed rather less of a challenge to solve than the ones in the robot books. But that's fine, because the mystery isn't the star here. It's the setting, and how Asimov shows a colonial, inherently racist society in a way that would have been uncomfortably familiar to the readers of 1952 (and, sadly, later) while still ringing true as a far-future society. I think that's why this book doesn't feel like it's 60+ years old, except in a very few, small ways. It's one of those books that holds a mirror up to society, and it does it with a minimum of preaching.
There's a very good chance that if I weren't sadly completionist, I would have skipped the Galactic Empire series altogether. That might not have been a bad thing with The Stars, Like Dust. But I'm glad I didn't miss this one.
I like Asimov's brand of science fiction mysteries, even if this one seemed rather less of a challenge to solve than the ones in the robot books. But that's fine, because the mystery isn't the star here. It's the setting, and how Asimov shows a colonial, inherently racist society in a way that would have been uncomfortably familiar to the readers of 1952 (and, sadly, later) while still ringing true as a far-future society. I think that's why this book doesn't feel like it's 60+ years old, except in a very few, small ways. It's one of those books that holds a mirror up to society, and it does it with a minimum of preaching.
There's a very good chance that if I weren't sadly completionist, I would have skipped the Galactic Empire series altogether. That might not have been a bad thing with The Stars, Like Dust. But I'm glad I didn't miss this one.
December 10, 2011
*No real spoilers, so please do read.*
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Asimov, an absolute science fiction great, is genius in his ability to remain timely with The Currents of Space, nearly 60 years after it was published. He has successfully woven a comprehensive and complex tale that weaves a valid story that features so many aspects such as politics, race and class, economics, love and loyalty, psychology, and good 'ole basic human weakness. You'd think that with all of that, The Currents of Space would be a heavy read. Surprising it isn't, another testament to Asimov's writing prowess.
I recommend it to anyone to read, including teens and adults. If my ten year old could handle the political stuff, I'd give it to her to read too.
The Currents of Space was published in 1952. This is the most astonishing point to me, as some of the insights into racial/cultural/class issues are ahead of their time, written with an understanding that comes from someone who might never have had to suffer the injustices he writes about with such fluency and sympathetic understanding.
Florina is a planet renown for growing kryt, a product used to make clothing that only the most privileged can afford to wear. The native Florinians, fair-skinned and typically blond and blue-eyed are the "slave" labor used to produce kyrt. The Florinians are considered stupid and child-like. The Sarks, a ruling class that originates from the planet of Sark and has colonized Florina, benefits most from the production of kyrt. Kryt cannot be successfully grown on any other planet, for reasons we don't learn until the end of the novel, hence making it an even more valuable commodity.
The distinct parallels between our regrettable history of slavery, racism, and classism and the lives of those in this book is significant. Kyrt=cotton. Florinians=Africans. Sarks=the wealthy. None of this however, is astonishing. The elements which captured and surprised me were Asimov's insights into real human motivations, and how he was able to use this insight to create believable sympathetic characters...on both side of the divide. Actually, I should say on all sides of every division. As in real life, there really is no black and white, but instead multiple shades of gray.
The Currents of Space ends in that ever gray area, which is much more akin to real life. In other words, while there may be some elements of redemption, there are no true winners and everyone loses something. Nevertheless, the conclusion was a satisfying one.
When I took a political science course in college many years ago, I had to read Orwell's Animal Farm. While an interesting read, I think that this book would have been even better as a unique fictional entre into the world of politics and issues of class and race. It would have been a tad more relatable in any case as here, we are dealing with actual human beings.
I didn't know, until I started writing this review that The Currents of Space is actually the second book in a trilogy called The Galactic Empire series. The preceding book is called The Stars, Like Dust, and the succeeding book is called Pebble in the Sky. I'll have to dig up the other two and get to reading those as well.
There is only one other science fiction book that I have read, with similar elements, that I liked as much, actually better, and that would be Robert Heinlein's, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
I give this one 5 stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Asimov, an absolute science fiction great, is genius in his ability to remain timely with The Currents of Space, nearly 60 years after it was published. He has successfully woven a comprehensive and complex tale that weaves a valid story that features so many aspects such as politics, race and class, economics, love and loyalty, psychology, and good 'ole basic human weakness. You'd think that with all of that, The Currents of Space would be a heavy read. Surprising it isn't, another testament to Asimov's writing prowess.
I recommend it to anyone to read, including teens and adults. If my ten year old could handle the political stuff, I'd give it to her to read too.
The Currents of Space was published in 1952. This is the most astonishing point to me, as some of the insights into racial/cultural/class issues are ahead of their time, written with an understanding that comes from someone who might never have had to suffer the injustices he writes about with such fluency and sympathetic understanding.
Florina is a planet renown for growing kryt, a product used to make clothing that only the most privileged can afford to wear. The native Florinians, fair-skinned and typically blond and blue-eyed are the "slave" labor used to produce kyrt. The Florinians are considered stupid and child-like. The Sarks, a ruling class that originates from the planet of Sark and has colonized Florina, benefits most from the production of kyrt. Kryt cannot be successfully grown on any other planet, for reasons we don't learn until the end of the novel, hence making it an even more valuable commodity.
The distinct parallels between our regrettable history of slavery, racism, and classism and the lives of those in this book is significant. Kyrt=cotton. Florinians=Africans. Sarks=the wealthy. None of this however, is astonishing. The elements which captured and surprised me were Asimov's insights into real human motivations, and how he was able to use this insight to create believable sympathetic characters...on both side of the divide. Actually, I should say on all sides of every division. As in real life, there really is no black and white, but instead multiple shades of gray.
The Currents of Space ends in that ever gray area, which is much more akin to real life. In other words, while there may be some elements of redemption, there are no true winners and everyone loses something. Nevertheless, the conclusion was a satisfying one.
When I took a political science course in college many years ago, I had to read Orwell's Animal Farm. While an interesting read, I think that this book would have been even better as a unique fictional entre into the world of politics and issues of class and race. It would have been a tad more relatable in any case as here, we are dealing with actual human beings.
I didn't know, until I started writing this review that The Currents of Space is actually the second book in a trilogy called The Galactic Empire series. The preceding book is called The Stars, Like Dust, and the succeeding book is called Pebble in the Sky. I'll have to dig up the other two and get to reading those as well.
There is only one other science fiction book that I have read, with similar elements, that I liked as much, actually better, and that would be Robert Heinlein's, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
I give this one 5 stars.
May 28, 2023
Primo romanzo, in linea temporale, del ciclo dell'Impero (tre romanzi), che va a posizionarsi prima del corposo ciclo della Fondazione (sei romanzi) e dopo il ciclo dei robot (quattro romanzi).
Asimov propone un giallo fantapolitico distopico con grande abilità, delineando numerosi punti di vista alternati per mostrare le tante pedine in gioco. Un racconto che va ad inserirsi nel più grande ciclo galattico della Fondazione in cui è l'intreccio narrativo a guidare la lettura e i colpi di scena si susseguono di continuo.
Non è lo stesso per quanto riguarda lo sviluppo dei personaggi, spettatori non troppo approfonditi ma utili allo svolgimento della trama, caratteristica ricorrente nei suoi romanzi in cui solitamente si dà più importanza alla storia da raccontare che agli effettivi protagonisti. Il suo ciclo della Fondazione è un quadro di portata enorme che copre migliaia di anni e come per Herbert in "Dune", ogni romanzo ne è solo una piccola parte.
Da notare che il romanzo è stato scritto nel 1952 e l'idea di una sostanza unica e dal valore elevatissimo per l'umanità è precedente alla più famosa "spezia/melange" di Dune.
Buoni i temi proposti: dispotismo, sfruttamento, razzismo, potere economico e potere politico.
Lettura piacevolissima e veloce.
Asimov propone un giallo fantapolitico distopico con grande abilità, delineando numerosi punti di vista alternati per mostrare le tante pedine in gioco. Un racconto che va ad inserirsi nel più grande ciclo galattico della Fondazione in cui è l'intreccio narrativo a guidare la lettura e i colpi di scena si susseguono di continuo.
Non è lo stesso per quanto riguarda lo sviluppo dei personaggi, spettatori non troppo approfonditi ma utili allo svolgimento della trama, caratteristica ricorrente nei suoi romanzi in cui solitamente si dà più importanza alla storia da raccontare che agli effettivi protagonisti. Il suo ciclo della Fondazione è un quadro di portata enorme che copre migliaia di anni e come per Herbert in "Dune", ogni romanzo ne è solo una piccola parte.
Da notare che il romanzo è stato scritto nel 1952 e l'idea di una sostanza unica e dal valore elevatissimo per l'umanità è precedente alla più famosa "spezia/melange" di Dune.
Buoni i temi proposti: dispotismo, sfruttamento, razzismo, potere economico e potere politico.
Lettura piacevolissima e veloce.
May 18, 2011
So he's lost his memory, but he's sure there's some terribly important thing he knew that he just has to tell people. And as his mind starts coming back, he finds that the black hats are chasing him and want to make sure they can shut his mouth permanently before he...
I know. It's been done so many times that I'm sure you lost count years ago. I certainly have. But here's one detail I really liked. The aforementioned black hats are close behind him, he's in this deserted park, and he runs into this guy. He whips out his blaster, kills him, swaps clothes, then quickly vaporises the remains.
So he escapes, fully recovers his memories, gets the message to the right place and saves the world. And then someone says, remember the guy you killed in the park when you were on the run?
Um, yes, he says uneasily.
Well, they continue, he was on his way to meet his wife. They first met at that exact spot, and every year they met there again on their anniversary. But now he won't be meeting her any more.
Even though the end justifies the means a million times over, he's absolutely stricken by the realisation of what he's done and spends the rest of his life trying to make amends. Austin Powers did this idea too in a comic version, but Asimov was first and I thought his treatment was at least as good.
I know. It's been done so many times that I'm sure you lost count years ago. I certainly have. But here's one detail I really liked. The aforementioned black hats are close behind him, he's in this deserted park, and he runs into this guy. He whips out his blaster, kills him, swaps clothes, then quickly vaporises the remains.
So he escapes, fully recovers his memories, gets the message to the right place and saves the world. And then someone says, remember the guy you killed in the park when you were on the run?
Um, yes, he says uneasily.
Well, they continue, he was on his way to meet his wife. They first met at that exact spot, and every year they met there again on their anniversary. But now he won't be meeting her any more.
Even though the end justifies the means a million times over, he's absolutely stricken by the realisation of what he's done and spends the rest of his life trying to make amends. Austin Powers did this idea too in a comic version, but Asimov was first and I thought his treatment was at least as good.
July 4, 2023
The Currents of Space is an early novel by Asimov and one of the best from that time that didn't hinge up robots or Foundation. (Though it was later shoehorned/retconned into his universal chronology.) It involves a man known as Crazy Rik, who must recover his memory in order to stave off disaster. It's a tense and well-plotted story of subterfuge and espionage with a well-developed planetary society that's surprisingly diverse for its time. It's not one of Asimov's best-known works, but it's a good, worthwhile one.
October 15, 2025
„Истината е твърде компрометирана ценност сред дипломатите...“
„Космически течения“ е чудесен научнофантастичен трилър... Загадъчната и напрегната криминална история, свързана с разриването на истината за изчезнал космоаналитик с изтрити спомени, се оказа същевременно грандиозен и заплетен политически роман, изпълнен с междупланетни интриги и вълнуващи обрати. Книгата изключително силно ме впечатли и мисля, че по нищо не отстъпва на тези от великата поредица „Фондация“!
„Космически течения“ е чудесен научнофантастичен трилър... Загадъчната и напрегната криминална история, свързана с разриването на истината за изчезнал космоаналитик с изтрити спомени, се оказа същевременно грандиозен и заплетен политически роман, изпълнен с междупланетни интриги и вълнуващи обрати. Книгата изключително силно ме впечатли и мисля, че по нищо не отстъпва на тези от великата поредица „Фондация“!
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January 13, 2019Nihayet çevirisi bitti.
Hem çevirirken hem de okurken Toz Gibi Yıldızlar'dan çok daha fazla keyif aldım. Bu kez Vakıf'ta adını sık sık duyduğumuz Trantor İmparatorluğu'nun ilk yıllarına gidiyoruz. Böylece Galaktik İmparatorluk Üçlemesi ile Vakıf arasındaki bağlantıyı da daha açık bir şekilde görüyoruz.
Kitap bir bilimkurgudan ziyade başarılı bir dedektiflik romanı havasında gelişiyor. Ama içerisinde kirt, Yukarı Kent, Aşağı Kent, ileti-tüpü, trimensik personifikasyon ekranı gibi bir sürü ilginç Asimov icadı var. Aynı şekilde nöronik kamçı, kitap-film, viziekran gibi Vakıf serisinden aşina olduğumuz şeyleri burada da görüyoruz. Asimov'un görüntülü konferansları taa o zamandan ön görmesi de dikkatlerden kaçmıyor elbette.
Gizem unsurunu sonuna kadar koruması ve olayları üç-dört farklı karakterin gözünden anlatması aldığınız keyfi bir güzel arttırıyor.
Şimdi sıra üçüncü ve son kitapta.
Hem çevirirken hem de okurken Toz Gibi Yıldızlar'dan çok daha fazla keyif aldım. Bu kez Vakıf'ta adını sık sık duyduğumuz Trantor İmparatorluğu'nun ilk yıllarına gidiyoruz. Böylece Galaktik İmparatorluk Üçlemesi ile Vakıf arasındaki bağlantıyı da daha açık bir şekilde görüyoruz.
Kitap bir bilimkurgudan ziyade başarılı bir dedektiflik romanı havasında gelişiyor. Ama içerisinde kirt, Yukarı Kent, Aşağı Kent, ileti-tüpü, trimensik personifikasyon ekranı gibi bir sürü ilginç Asimov icadı var. Aynı şekilde nöronik kamçı, kitap-film, viziekran gibi Vakıf serisinden aşina olduğumuz şeyleri burada da görüyoruz. Asimov'un görüntülü konferansları taa o zamandan ön görmesi de dikkatlerden kaçmıyor elbette.
Gizem unsurunu sonuna kadar koruması ve olayları üç-dört farklı karakterin gözünden anlatması aldığınız keyfi bir güzel arttırıyor.
Şimdi sıra üçüncü ve son kitapta.
October 19, 2019
"Radyoaktif bir dünyada yaşayan herkes korku ve güvensizlik içinde büyümeye mahkumdur. Gezegenimizin yüzeyi en büyük düşmanımızdı, atacağımız tek bir yanlış adım bile ölümümüze sebebiyet verebilirdi."
Asimov konusunda objektif olamıyorum artık. Seriyi bitirip Vakıf'a geçmeye az kaldı...
🖤
Asimov konusunda objektif olamıyorum artık. Seriyi bitirip Vakıf'a geçmeye az kaldı...
🖤
January 2, 2023
چیزی از از سبک داستان نویسی آسیموف در خاطرم بود این بود که تخیل او تا حد زیادی مبناهای علمی دارد چون به هر حال خودش دانشمند بوده بر خلاف امثال "Ray Bradbury". اما در این رمان تا آخرین لحظات ردپایی از مامبو جامبوهای علمی دیده نمیشد
با این حال فضای کلی اثر بسیار جذاب بود: یک سیاره در حال استعمار که خیلی ثروتمند است اما خودش نمیتواند از منابع ارزشمند خودش استفاده کند و حتی افراد مستعدش به یغما برده میشوند و یک مشت احمق حرف گوش کن برای کارگری باقی میمانند و ... اینها شما را یاد اوضاع جهان خودمان نمی اندازد؟ بله! زیر لایه داستان نقد قدرت و ثروت ابرقدرتهاست که اینجا با نام "سارک" و "ترانتور" معرفی میشوند. تقریبا یکی نماینده سرمایه داری و یکی نماینده کمونیسم است ولی گاهی قراین کمی جابجا شده تا تطابق صددرصد نباشد.
بالاخره هم نویسنده در آخرین فراز نشان داد که هیچ کدام برای نجات بشریت ارزشی قائل نیستند و فقط به سود بیشتر می اندیشند. اما اتفاق جالبی که افتاد این بود که دانشمندان مستقل از ابرقدرتها، توانستند بر این حرص و طمع پیروز شوند. فکر میکنم این خصیصه ساینس فیکشن امریکایی باشد که بالاخره دانشمندان نجات بخش از کار در می آیند نه مجنون و ویرانگر.
در فضای علمی تخیلی روسی دانشمند بدون اخلاق بیشتر است. ارجاع میدهم به دو فیلم "Solaris" و استاکر هر دو از تارکوفسکی که اولی از رمان استانیسلاو لم اقتباس شده. برای نمونه ی دانشمند پیامبرگونه هم ارجاع میدهم به فیلم "کوچک سازی" الکساندر پین" که صحنه آخر یک سکانس شبیه تابلوی "شام آخر" حضرت مسیح دارد و آقای دانشمند قوم برگزیده را با خودش به مخفی گاهی ابدی میبرد. الآن حضور ذهن ندارم. فکر میکنم نمونه خوشبینی به جایگزین شدن دانشمند به جای منجی در سینمای امریکا زیاد است
به هر حال شبهای بهمن ماه 1400 من با خواندن این رمان قشنگ بود. با آلبوم "جونو تو جوپیتر" ونجلیس ( موسیقی به سفارش ناسا ) میخواندم وقتی همه خواب بودند. موسیقی فضایی شاهکار ونجلیس صحنه های این رمان علمی تخیلی را به طرز عجیبی زنده میکرد.
با این حال فضای کلی اثر بسیار جذاب بود: یک سیاره در حال استعمار که خیلی ثروتمند است اما خودش نمیتواند از منابع ارزشمند خودش استفاده کند و حتی افراد مستعدش به یغما برده میشوند و یک مشت احمق حرف گوش کن برای کارگری باقی میمانند و ... اینها شما را یاد اوضاع جهان خودمان نمی اندازد؟ بله! زیر لایه داستان نقد قدرت و ثروت ابرقدرتهاست که اینجا با نام "سارک" و "ترانتور" معرفی میشوند. تقریبا یکی نماینده سرمایه داری و یکی نماینده کمونیسم است ولی گاهی قراین کمی جابجا شده تا تطابق صددرصد نباشد.
بالاخره هم نویسنده در آخرین فراز نشان داد که هیچ کدام برای نجات بشریت ارزشی قائل نیستند و فقط به سود بیشتر می اندیشند. اما اتفاق جالبی که افتاد این بود که دانشمندان مستقل از ابرقدرتها، توانستند بر این حرص و طمع پیروز شوند. فکر میکنم این خصیصه ساینس فیکشن امریکایی باشد که بالاخره دانشمندان نجات بخش از کار در می آیند نه مجنون و ویرانگر.
در فضای علمی تخیلی روسی دانشمند بدون اخلاق بیشتر است. ارجاع میدهم به دو فیلم "Solaris" و استاکر هر دو از تارکوفسکی که اولی از رمان استانیسلاو لم اقتباس شده. برای نمونه ی دانشمند پیامبرگونه هم ارجاع میدهم به فیلم "کوچک سازی" الکساندر پین" که صحنه آخر یک سکانس شبیه تابلوی "شام آخر" حضرت مسیح دارد و آقای دانشمند قوم برگزیده را با خودش به مخفی گاهی ابدی میبرد. الآن حضور ذهن ندارم. فکر میکنم نمونه خوشبینی به جایگزین شدن دانشمند به جای منجی در سینمای امریکا زیاد است
به هر حال شبهای بهمن ماه 1400 من با خواندن این رمان قشنگ بود. با آلبوم "جونو تو جوپیتر" ونجلیس ( موسیقی به سفارش ناسا ) میخواندم وقتی همه خواب بودند. موسیقی فضایی شاهکار ونجلیس صحنه های این رمان علمی تخیلی را به طرز عجیبی زنده میکرد.
January 12, 2020
Yazıldığı dönem için 5 yıldız az, aslında 10 yıl önce okumuş olsaydım enlerimin ilk sıralarında olur 5+++yıldız alırdı...bu günkü birikimimle 4 yıldız verdim, bir ara herşey çok karıştı bazı şeyleri üstün körü hızlı geçiştirdi bence...keşke 5-10 yıl önce bu yazarla tanışsaydım...
July 29, 2025
Since the 80s, The Currents of Space has been marketed as book 2 of a Galactic Empire trilogy. As I discuss at length in my review of the first novel, The Stars, Like Dust, there was no such trilogy when the books were written. And since The Currents of Space is light years beyond The Stars, Like Dust in every way, I would personally recommend skipping that novel entirely (unless you’re a true Asimov completist) and starting here. As a gripping stand-alone mystery set during the consolidation of Trantor’s galactic empire, I think anyone who enjoyed Foundation would enjoy this as well.
The novel is thoughtful and engaging from page one. The world it sets up—a kind of space opera inversion of the antebellum American South, with pale, red-haired slaves growing the raw material for a luxurious fabric called Kyrt—is simplistic but effective. The racial politics feel surprisingly contemporary. Asimov is on the side of the downtrodden, but more than that, he shows real insight into the complex power dynamics that form within slave societies. The ways, for example, enslaved people can end up monopolizing crucial knowledge, playing key administrative roles that give them real power over their masters, even as they remain utterly dispossessed. The ways intelligence, human agency, and political action can be limited and perverted, but still find outlets—often enough catching the ruling class off guard.
Surprisingly, given Asimov’s reputation for writing women poorly, the female leads in The Currents of Space are quite subtly written. Minor spoilers, but
All in all, an intriguing novel that has aged quite well for a space opera from 1952.
The novel is thoughtful and engaging from page one. The world it sets up—a kind of space opera inversion of the antebellum American South, with pale, red-haired slaves growing the raw material for a luxurious fabric called Kyrt—is simplistic but effective. The racial politics feel surprisingly contemporary. Asimov is on the side of the downtrodden, but more than that, he shows real insight into the complex power dynamics that form within slave societies. The ways, for example, enslaved people can end up monopolizing crucial knowledge, playing key administrative roles that give them real power over their masters, even as they remain utterly dispossessed. The ways intelligence, human agency, and political action can be limited and perverted, but still find outlets—often enough catching the ruling class off guard.
Surprisingly, given Asimov’s reputation for writing women poorly, the female leads in The Currents of Space are quite subtly written. Minor spoilers, but
All in all, an intriguing novel that has aged quite well for a space opera from 1952.
August 29, 2015
The Currents of Space is a fast paced "lesser novel" by Isaac Asimov I found engaging and hard to put down.
Part 2 of 3 of his Galactic Empire Series, it does not have to be read with the others, as I understood each and every facet of the book and did not feel at anytime that I was missing something from the storyline, characters, or worlds involved.
Our main character, a man we know only as Rik, a Spatio Analyst - one who measures the matter of space, suns/stars and planets, and the outcome all chemical compounds have on eachother - is zapped by a psycho-probe that takes away nearly all of his memory right after he imparts knowledge of planetary, and thus galaxial, disastrous portent, to who he believes is the highest authority of the world in question, Florina.
Soon after, Rik, robbed of his memory to the point of lunacy, is cared for by Valona, a local, Florinian native, who is BIG of ❤, small on brains. She becomes obsessively attached to Rik and will go beyond any fears she has about the world beyond her own, to protect him from anyone and everyone. I really liked that!
This leads Rik and Valona, along with Terens, a Townman - the highest position any Florinian is allowed to elevate to - from the lesser Lower City to the richer Upper City - inhabited by Sarkites not born of the world of Florina - offworld to Sark, to confront the Sarkites - the race that owns the planet - encountering Trantorians - beings whose Galactic race hold the largest monopoly on the planets of the universe - who wish to covet and control Florina for an endemic substance grown and mined ONLY on Florina, Kyrt.
Kyrt is basically cotton, only with miraculous properties, used all across the universe in a vast number of ways, and probably the most expensive material in the galaxy.
The Currents of Space is a Science Fiction Mystery.
Asimov's style is always more at the forefront than I initially expect in everything I've read by him, as it is sometimes hard for me to fathom that the Grandfather of SF, while widely known as being one of the most intellectual of the scientific Sci-fi writers, is also the same author who has so much style, and is so fun to read.
I love the cover of my edition bUT, I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THAT GUY ON THE COVER IS!
There is nobody with green skin. Nobody with glowing eyes. Nobody with Saturn in the background. And does not guest star either Frankenstein or J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter from DC's Justice League (*my shout out to GR friend, Michael ;)
**Recommended to Golden Age SF fans and Highly recommended to fans of Isaac Asimov.
January 9, 2022
Lo más reseñable de la obra es que desde sus inicios, Asimov ya estaba sentando las bases de lo que sería su Universo literario. En esta segunda parte de la trilogía del Imperio Galáctico empezamos ya a ver cómo Trantor se está haciendo con el control de la Galaxia y hace referencia a una lejana y casi mitológica Tierra.
Pero también se nota que es uno de sus primeros libros y la calidad general de la obra deja mucho que desear. Es verdad que a pesar de haber pasado 70 años la historia se puede leer perfectamente y entretiene. Tiene esos elementos de misterio asimoviano tan presentes en toda su obra que aunque pasen los años siguen siendo muy disfrutables.
El problema que veo aquí es cómo lo cuenta: los personajes son muy planos, los hechos suceden fuera de plano (es decir, los protagonistas se enteran de las cosas porque alguien se las dice, no porque lo veamos nosotros), y cuando quiere dar información empieza a aparecer ya la marca de la casa de Asimov y utiliza un personaje para contar del tirón toda la información necesaria.
En novelas posteriores suyas algunos de estos elementos siguen apareciendo pero lo hace con mucha más maestría, aquí se ven las costuras de la historia desde el primer momento.
En resumen, para los completistas que quieran leer todo de Asimov será una obra entretenida pero poco más, pero si buscas un referente de lo mejor de Asimov mejor no entres aquí.
Pero también se nota que es uno de sus primeros libros y la calidad general de la obra deja mucho que desear. Es verdad que a pesar de haber pasado 70 años la historia se puede leer perfectamente y entretiene. Tiene esos elementos de misterio asimoviano tan presentes en toda su obra que aunque pasen los años siguen siendo muy disfrutables.
El problema que veo aquí es cómo lo cuenta: los personajes son muy planos, los hechos suceden fuera de plano (es decir, los protagonistas se enteran de las cosas porque alguien se las dice, no porque lo veamos nosotros), y cuando quiere dar información empieza a aparecer ya la marca de la casa de Asimov y utiliza un personaje para contar del tirón toda la información necesaria.
En novelas posteriores suyas algunos de estos elementos siguen apareciendo pero lo hace con mucha más maestría, aquí se ven las costuras de la historia desde el primer momento.
En resumen, para los completistas que quieran leer todo de Asimov será una obra entretenida pero poco más, pero si buscas un referente de lo mejor de Asimov mejor no entres aquí.
January 15, 2016
Written in 1951, it is a great example of fifties classic Scifi. Better than most of its day. Asimov, at this time, is not quite as natural with characterization as is Heinlein, Sturgeon, de Camp or Pohl, but he cobbles up a good tightly written yarn here. I believe Asimov, based on works I've read so far, really wished to be a mystery author but loves science so much that he can't help but write in this genre.
The device of a planet having a unique production of a universally desired substance, in this case a substance known as "kyrt" which is a precious cellulose based textile fabric that has a gold-like status, is a great vehicle for the basis of a novel. (I recently read an interesting novel "Element 42" by Alan Zendell, that suggests that the Earth is unique in that it has an abundance of "molybdenum" - which is element 42 on the periodic table.) What I am less in favour of (and I was guilty of this with my own amatur attempt at writting) is a novel that has an amnesiac protagonist but Asimov pulled it off just fine and is thus forgiven. I enjoyed this novel very much. The elements of an India-like "caste system" class structure was well utilized. I must read more novels by "the Good Doctor" especially those of the "Galactic Empire series" rather than concentrating on his short story work, of which I consider him a master.
The device of a planet having a unique production of a universally desired substance, in this case a substance known as "kyrt" which is a precious cellulose based textile fabric that has a gold-like status, is a great vehicle for the basis of a novel. (I recently read an interesting novel "Element 42" by Alan Zendell, that suggests that the Earth is unique in that it has an abundance of "molybdenum" - which is element 42 on the periodic table.) What I am less in favour of (and I was guilty of this with my own amatur attempt at writting) is a novel that has an amnesiac protagonist but Asimov pulled it off just fine and is thus forgiven. I enjoyed this novel very much. The elements of an India-like "caste system" class structure was well utilized. I must read more novels by "the Good Doctor" especially those of the "Galactic Empire series" rather than concentrating on his short story work, of which I consider him a master.
September 24, 2018
Fenomenalna knjiga, prepuna snaznih i dobro osmisljenih karaktera. Radnja je izuzetno zanimljiva, a ambijent u kome se sve desava je perfektna mesavina fantastike i realno zamislivog sveta. Definitivno knjiga u kojoj sam najvise uzivao u ovom serijalu (Roboti, Carstvo, Zaduzbina) do sada. Ali tek sam na polovini ovog grandioznog Asimovljevog opusa i jedva cekam ostale nastavke!
November 10, 2021
آسیموف از یازده سالگی با من بوده. چندبار این کتابو خوندم؟ پنج بار؟ ده بار؟ حتی تعدادشم دستم نیست ولی میدونم همین کتتب بود که منو عاشق علمی تخیلی کرد.
September 20, 2023
The Currents of Space (1952) is the middle book on f Asimov’s Galactic Empire trilogy, which includes the Stars, Like Dust (1951), and Pebble in the Sky (1950). They are not really a classic trilogy being rather loosely connected by the universe they exist in and recurring themes, but they take place at different times and each is a fully independent novel onto itself.
The Currents of Space takes place primarily on Florina, home to a crop called Kyrt, which is used across the galaxy and can’t be grown elsewhere sort of like the spice on Herbert’s Arrakis in Dune (1965), which blasted across our consciousness thirteen years later. Florina is a vassal planet to nearby Sark and the inhabitants treated poorly like all conquered people. Sark is itself a minor power under constant threat from Trantor, which has more planets than you can count. Sark itself is ruled by five overlords who control the Kyrt trade much as the Five families controlled the mob at one time.
The lead character in the novel has had his mind wiped out and he is like the familiar amnesia characters that abounded in Fifties fiction. Rik as he was called was found and looked over by big Valona who always wanted a child of her own and dotes over him. They are two ordinary people caught up in great power struggles, not necessarily possessed of loyalty to any factions, but just trying to survive.
Rik slowly remembers something about his past where he analyzed Nothing, but he knows he found a great danger to the entire planet. As he searches for clues in a library, the plotters are alerted and suddenly the entire planet is on a manhunt for him.
It’s primarily a space opera with ordinary folks caught up in the machinations of others who want world domination. But it’s also a mystery story about who took Rik’s memory away and why and you almost get all the suspects gathered in the throne room for the great unveiling.
The Currents of Space takes place primarily on Florina, home to a crop called Kyrt, which is used across the galaxy and can’t be grown elsewhere sort of like the spice on Herbert’s Arrakis in Dune (1965), which blasted across our consciousness thirteen years later. Florina is a vassal planet to nearby Sark and the inhabitants treated poorly like all conquered people. Sark is itself a minor power under constant threat from Trantor, which has more planets than you can count. Sark itself is ruled by five overlords who control the Kyrt trade much as the Five families controlled the mob at one time.
The lead character in the novel has had his mind wiped out and he is like the familiar amnesia characters that abounded in Fifties fiction. Rik as he was called was found and looked over by big Valona who always wanted a child of her own and dotes over him. They are two ordinary people caught up in great power struggles, not necessarily possessed of loyalty to any factions, but just trying to survive.
Rik slowly remembers something about his past where he analyzed Nothing, but he knows he found a great danger to the entire planet. As he searches for clues in a library, the plotters are alerted and suddenly the entire planet is on a manhunt for him.
It’s primarily a space opera with ordinary folks caught up in the machinations of others who want world domination. But it’s also a mystery story about who took Rik’s memory away and why and you almost get all the suspects gathered in the throne room for the great unveiling.
September 25, 2021
Este libro me gustó más que el anterior. Aquí ya vemos como los tentáculos de Trantor se empiezan a extender por toda la galaxia, lo que daría paso al Imperio Galáctico.
Tiene ese tono detectivesco que tanto me gusta de Asimov, aunque está mucho mejor logrado en Bóvedas de acero.
También me encantó el guiño a Sherlock Holmes: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".
Tiene ese tono detectivesco que tanto me gusta de Asimov, aunque está mucho mejor logrado en Bóvedas de acero.
También me encantó el guiño a Sherlock Holmes: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".
April 5, 2017
This is one of the early Asimov novels, when his Galactic Empire was just beginning. A man has lost his memory because of psychoprobing (some kind extremely invasive and destructive futuristic procedure done on the human brain) by the powers that be. Why? is the question that he, and a lot of other people, try to answer. The answer leads to an unwelcome scientific fact that the authorities want to conceal so that they can continue their money-making activities, even while the planet goes to hell (ring a bell?).
A very fast-moving story with a truly workable scientific premise and believable and sympathetic characters (usually a rarity in an Asimov novel).
A very fast-moving story with a truly workable scientific premise and believable and sympathetic characters (usually a rarity in an Asimov novel).
September 17, 2021
Un libro ben scritto e facile da leggere. La trama non è molto complessa, ma mostra alcuni colpi di scena e un bel finale. Interessanti i temi trattati, soprattutto l'importanza degli interessi economici, che ne fanno ancora un libro attuale. Forse sono un pò semplici i personaggi, ognuno con la propria visione ed i propri interessi, ma è piacevole vedere come interagiscono fra loro.
August 2, 2017
"The Currents of Space," the third entry in Isaac Asimov's loosely linked Galactic Empire trilogy, is a prequel of sorts to book 1, 1950's "Pebble in the Sky," and a sequel of sorts to book 2, 1951's "The Stars, Like Dust," and if you by any chance find that statement a tad confusing, trust me, that is the very least of the complexities that this book dishes out! "The Currents of Space" originally appeared serially in the October – December 1952 issues of John W. Campbell's "Astounding Science-Fiction" (it did cop the cover illustration for the 35-cent October issue) and then as a $2.75 Doubleday hardcover later that same year. The book is set in an indeterminate time period in the galaxy's future, but internal evidence clues us in that this book 3 is actually book 2 of the series; at least, as far as internal chronology is concerned. Book 1 had been definitively set some 50,000 years in the future, when the Trantorian Empire included roughly 200 million worlds, while book 2 had been set the furthest back in time, a mere 10,000 years in the future, when only some 1,100 worlds had been colonized by Man. And "The Currents of Space"? Well, the author never mentions anything about years here per se, but we do learn that the Trantorian Empire has not been fully established yet, with a mere 500,000 settled worlds under its cosmic belt, out of 1 million settled overall.
As for the story itself, it centers on two of those 1 million worlds, Sark and its neighbor (so close that it can be reached via hyperspace jump in a mere nine hours), Florina. Sark and its nobility of Squires had conquered Florina many decades earlier, and for good reason: Florina is the only world in the galaxy on which kyrt--a highly prized plant capable of being turned into lustrous fabrics, and with dozens of other uses besides--can be grown. Asimov's complexly plotted book details the labyrinthine scheme hatched by parties unknown to control the kyrt trade, a scheme with great galactic import, to say the least, with Sark, Florina, and the budding Trantorian Empire moving their human pieces in the game. The reader meets "Rik" (Florinian for "moron"), a Spatio-analyst from the radioactive pesthole known as Earth, who is "psycho-probed" in the book's opening pages, with the result that his memories are completely erased, for reasons unknown; Valona March, the Florinian farm girl who takes care of Rik; Myrlyn Terens, the Townman (read: Mayor) of Rik's village, who attempts to help those other two when Rik's memories begin to return; the Squire of Fife, leader of Sark's largest continent, the greatest of the five Great Squires, and the holder of the most extensive kyrt fields on Florina; his daughter, Samia of Fife, an aspiring author who gets involved in the various intrigues; Ludigan Abel, the aged Trantorian ambassador to Sark; and Dr. Selim Junz, another Spatio-analyst, who has been searching for Rik for over a year, after first hearing the young Earthman's broadcast from space, warning of an imminent catastrophe about to strike Florina and the galaxy as a whole. And believe me, this capsule description does in no way convey the plot complexities that ensue here, in what Junz is forced to later call "a very dirty game"....
Writing in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," Scottish critic David Pringle calls "The Currents of Space" "a complex adventure with an anti-racist theme," and wow, is he ever right about that! As a matter of fact, this book is so very complexly plotted, with three or four parties vying against one another (the Doubleday edition features cover artwork by George Guisti depicting four hands grasping toward a planet), numerous characters with erroneous suspicions and secret agendas, spies, double agents (Trantorians posing as Sarkites, for example), chesslike political intrigue and so on, that this reader finally reached a point where he didn't even try to guess who was plotting what against whom, and just trusted that Asimov would explain everything in the end, and tie it all together. And fortunately, "The Great Explainer" (the nickname he earned following the writing of some 400+ nonfiction books) does indeed. Still, I found it necessary to give this book a thorough perusal after I was finished reading it, just to completely satisfy myself that it all makes perfect sense, and to analyze the characters' actions with full knowledge of those hidden agendas. "It's a rather complicated story," Abel truthfully declares at one point; "It sounds too complicated," says one of the Great Squires in another; "This is a detective thriller," opines still another Great Squire somewhere else. And the reader, just barely keeping up, most likely, will surely be compelled to agree with those three sentiments!
As for the "anti-racist theme" that Pringle mentions, it is surely there, with kyrt standing in for cotton, and the Florinians the slaves to their Sarkite masters. Junz, a black man from the predominantly black planet of Libair (read: Liberia), denounces the Sark/Florina political and cultural situation at several opportunities and, at one point, ponders over this most interesting tidbit:
"Now why should there be a special word for a man with dark skin? There was no special word for a man with blue eyes, or large ears, or curly hair...."
A pretty right-on attitude from Doc Ike, wouldn't you say, in those intolerant and benighted days of the early '50s? Then too there is the matter of the Lower City and the Upper City in Rik's town. While the Lower City houses the poor indigenous populace, the Upper City, 30 feet overhead, features a luxurious wonderland of sorts for the Sark Squires. In other words, complete segregation, which the author castigates time and again.
As usual, Asimov adds pleasing grace notes and futuristic details to lend color to his story. Thus, we have here the "narco-field" skullcaps that can instantaneously carry the wearer off to sleep; locks and keys that are attuned to one's fingerprints; violet-colored cigarettes that emit green smoke and flash out of existence when they are flicked away; the curious sport known as stratospheric polo; "trimensic personification," which allows the five Great Squires to appear to be in the same room at once (holographically, I would imagine), though they are all back on their respective continents; that nasty psycho-prober, the use of which, on Rik, sets the book's events in motion; and, of course, the galactic menace that Rik hinted at, the nature of which no reader will ever suspect.
Asimov's book is a fast-moving one, perhaps a bit too complexly plotted for its own good, but yet, fascinatingly so, overall. Don’t believe the Squire of Rune, who at one point calls it "a moderately dull story." "The Currents of Space" may be difficult to follow at times, but it is never dull. It is a challenging read, and a somewhat flawed one (for example, the Samia character just disappears from the action, and the denouement concerning Rik and Valona comes completely out of left field), but "dull" is one thing that it certainly isn't....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a perfect destination for all fans of Isaac Asimov....)
As for the story itself, it centers on two of those 1 million worlds, Sark and its neighbor (so close that it can be reached via hyperspace jump in a mere nine hours), Florina. Sark and its nobility of Squires had conquered Florina many decades earlier, and for good reason: Florina is the only world in the galaxy on which kyrt--a highly prized plant capable of being turned into lustrous fabrics, and with dozens of other uses besides--can be grown. Asimov's complexly plotted book details the labyrinthine scheme hatched by parties unknown to control the kyrt trade, a scheme with great galactic import, to say the least, with Sark, Florina, and the budding Trantorian Empire moving their human pieces in the game. The reader meets "Rik" (Florinian for "moron"), a Spatio-analyst from the radioactive pesthole known as Earth, who is "psycho-probed" in the book's opening pages, with the result that his memories are completely erased, for reasons unknown; Valona March, the Florinian farm girl who takes care of Rik; Myrlyn Terens, the Townman (read: Mayor) of Rik's village, who attempts to help those other two when Rik's memories begin to return; the Squire of Fife, leader of Sark's largest continent, the greatest of the five Great Squires, and the holder of the most extensive kyrt fields on Florina; his daughter, Samia of Fife, an aspiring author who gets involved in the various intrigues; Ludigan Abel, the aged Trantorian ambassador to Sark; and Dr. Selim Junz, another Spatio-analyst, who has been searching for Rik for over a year, after first hearing the young Earthman's broadcast from space, warning of an imminent catastrophe about to strike Florina and the galaxy as a whole. And believe me, this capsule description does in no way convey the plot complexities that ensue here, in what Junz is forced to later call "a very dirty game"....
Writing in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," Scottish critic David Pringle calls "The Currents of Space" "a complex adventure with an anti-racist theme," and wow, is he ever right about that! As a matter of fact, this book is so very complexly plotted, with three or four parties vying against one another (the Doubleday edition features cover artwork by George Guisti depicting four hands grasping toward a planet), numerous characters with erroneous suspicions and secret agendas, spies, double agents (Trantorians posing as Sarkites, for example), chesslike political intrigue and so on, that this reader finally reached a point where he didn't even try to guess who was plotting what against whom, and just trusted that Asimov would explain everything in the end, and tie it all together. And fortunately, "The Great Explainer" (the nickname he earned following the writing of some 400+ nonfiction books) does indeed. Still, I found it necessary to give this book a thorough perusal after I was finished reading it, just to completely satisfy myself that it all makes perfect sense, and to analyze the characters' actions with full knowledge of those hidden agendas. "It's a rather complicated story," Abel truthfully declares at one point; "It sounds too complicated," says one of the Great Squires in another; "This is a detective thriller," opines still another Great Squire somewhere else. And the reader, just barely keeping up, most likely, will surely be compelled to agree with those three sentiments!
As for the "anti-racist theme" that Pringle mentions, it is surely there, with kyrt standing in for cotton, and the Florinians the slaves to their Sarkite masters. Junz, a black man from the predominantly black planet of Libair (read: Liberia), denounces the Sark/Florina political and cultural situation at several opportunities and, at one point, ponders over this most interesting tidbit:
"Now why should there be a special word for a man with dark skin? There was no special word for a man with blue eyes, or large ears, or curly hair...."
A pretty right-on attitude from Doc Ike, wouldn't you say, in those intolerant and benighted days of the early '50s? Then too there is the matter of the Lower City and the Upper City in Rik's town. While the Lower City houses the poor indigenous populace, the Upper City, 30 feet overhead, features a luxurious wonderland of sorts for the Sark Squires. In other words, complete segregation, which the author castigates time and again.
As usual, Asimov adds pleasing grace notes and futuristic details to lend color to his story. Thus, we have here the "narco-field" skullcaps that can instantaneously carry the wearer off to sleep; locks and keys that are attuned to one's fingerprints; violet-colored cigarettes that emit green smoke and flash out of existence when they are flicked away; the curious sport known as stratospheric polo; "trimensic personification," which allows the five Great Squires to appear to be in the same room at once (holographically, I would imagine), though they are all back on their respective continents; that nasty psycho-prober, the use of which, on Rik, sets the book's events in motion; and, of course, the galactic menace that Rik hinted at, the nature of which no reader will ever suspect.
Asimov's book is a fast-moving one, perhaps a bit too complexly plotted for its own good, but yet, fascinatingly so, overall. Don’t believe the Squire of Rune, who at one point calls it "a moderately dull story." "The Currents of Space" may be difficult to follow at times, but it is never dull. It is a challenging read, and a somewhat flawed one (for example, the Samia character just disappears from the action, and the denouement concerning Rik and Valona comes completely out of left field), but "dull" is one thing that it certainly isn't....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a perfect destination for all fans of Isaac Asimov....)
July 24, 2025
This is the second book of the Galactic Empire Trilogy SF series. I read it as a part of the Buddy reads for July 2025 at Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group. It can be read as a standalone, and even in some chronologies, it is viewed as the first, not the second volume.
The book starts with an unnamed “man from Earth” trying to warn another person that the planet Florina will be destroyed. That other person immobilizes the Earthman and uses a psychic probe on him to destroy his anxiety and recent memories. But something went wrong.
Florina is the planet that produces a unique resource - kyrt, a natural plant fiber which is extraordinarily useful and versatile, but which cannot be grown on any planet other than Florina. Florina, in turn, is controlled by planet Sark, where just a few wealthy Squires monopolized the trade with the rest of the galaxy. This wealth makes Sark the strongest mankind power outside of the Trantorian Empire, which at the moment encompasses roughly half of the galaxy.
The production of kyrt is strangely anachronistic – locals, who are considered inferior, are working in fields, the brightest of them are taken away and educated to be returned as managers, called Townmen. The police consists of mercenaries who protect Sarkites from Florinians.
A man with no memory is found and put to work on Florina, the care of him is designated to a local woman. As the man starts to have some vague recollections of his past, they are on the run. Meanwhile, someone tries to blackmail the highest nobility of Sark with an expected destruction of Florina.
This book is head and shoulders above The Stars, Like Dust, in terms of characters, plot and messages. It is 11 years before the Great March on Washington in 1963, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech, but the points are the same – racism and inequality. There are clear allusions to the South’s slave cotton economy, up to phrases like ‘King Kyrt’, even if Florinians are said to be paler than average and the only Black person is Dr Junz, an outsider.
The book starts with an unnamed “man from Earth” trying to warn another person that the planet Florina will be destroyed. That other person immobilizes the Earthman and uses a psychic probe on him to destroy his anxiety and recent memories. But something went wrong.
Florina is the planet that produces a unique resource - kyrt, a natural plant fiber which is extraordinarily useful and versatile, but which cannot be grown on any planet other than Florina. Florina, in turn, is controlled by planet Sark, where just a few wealthy Squires monopolized the trade with the rest of the galaxy. This wealth makes Sark the strongest mankind power outside of the Trantorian Empire, which at the moment encompasses roughly half of the galaxy.
The production of kyrt is strangely anachronistic – locals, who are considered inferior, are working in fields, the brightest of them are taken away and educated to be returned as managers, called Townmen. The police consists of mercenaries who protect Sarkites from Florinians.
A man with no memory is found and put to work on Florina, the care of him is designated to a local woman. As the man starts to have some vague recollections of his past, they are on the run. Meanwhile, someone tries to blackmail the highest nobility of Sark with an expected destruction of Florina.
This book is head and shoulders above The Stars, Like Dust, in terms of characters, plot and messages. It is 11 years before the Great March on Washington in 1963, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech, but the points are the same – racism and inequality. There are clear allusions to the South’s slave cotton economy, up to phrases like ‘King Kyrt’, even if Florinians are said to be paler than average and the only Black person is Dr Junz, an outsider.
September 21, 2021
SERIE CICLO DELL'IMPERO n. 2
Lettura di gruppo E&L
Anche se fa parte dello stesso ciclo, la trama è slegata dal precedente, quindi i personaggi e i pianeti sono diversi, anche se idealmente è un continuo temporale.
Libro semplice che si legge facilmente, ma che allo stesso tempo tratta argomenti non così leggeri.
Piacevole da leggere. Tiene compagnia, diverte e incuriosisce, e si iniziano a vedere le fondamenta del ciclo delle Fondazioni.
Ormai come sapete questi libri per me sono una rilettura dopo ben oltre 20 anni.
Sono sempre più contenta di aver deciso di rileggerli.
Da "adulta" noto cose diverse. E' come se li stessi leggendo per la prima volta.
Confermo le quattro stelle.
Non vedo l'ora di andare avanti. ^^
Lettura di gruppo E&L
Anche se fa parte dello stesso ciclo, la trama è slegata dal precedente, quindi i personaggi e i pianeti sono diversi, anche se idealmente è un continuo temporale.
Libro semplice che si legge facilmente, ma che allo stesso tempo tratta argomenti non così leggeri.
Piacevole da leggere. Tiene compagnia, diverte e incuriosisce, e si iniziano a vedere le fondamenta del ciclo delle Fondazioni.
Ormai come sapete questi libri per me sono una rilettura dopo ben oltre 20 anni.
Sono sempre più contenta di aver deciso di rileggerli.
Da "adulta" noto cose diverse. E' come se li stessi leggendo per la prima volta.
Confermo le quattro stelle.
Non vedo l'ora di andare avanti. ^^
February 5, 2019
Asimov sadece hard sci fi yapmıyor, sosyal politik toplumsal konuları yarattığı evreninde ince ince işliyor.
Olayları kurgulayış biçimi, hikayenin akışı...
Ayrıca yazarın her yeri kitabını okuduğunuz da “yok artık, hadi canım, daha neler vb. “ cümleleri kendi kendinize söylediğinizi farkediceksiniz.
Kitabı bitirmem 48 saat bile sürmedi.
Olayları kurgulayış biçimi, hikayenin akışı...
Ayrıca yazarın her yeri kitabını okuduğunuz da “yok artık, hadi canım, daha neler vb. “ cümleleri kendi kendinize söylediğinizi farkediceksiniz.
Kitabı bitirmem 48 saat bile sürmedi.
June 9, 2020
Es inmenso.
June 4, 2022
Mi aspettavo di più. Il tema di un pianeta sottomesso in cui c'è una sostanza indispensabile per l'intero universo era già presente in Dune, ma in maniera più approfondita e complessa. Tiepido anche il mio giudizio nei confronti dei personaggi: dimenticabili
June 15, 2022
Бих се изненадал от факта, че излязла през 1952-а научна фантастика не изглежда остаряла, ако авторът не беше един от най-великтие писатели (и изобщо - хора), раждали се някога!
Втората книга от трилогията за галактическата империя е един първокласен сай-фай кполитически трилър със сериозен криминален елемент, в който обратите са достатъчно, а главният герой не е този, който изглежда. През повечето време изглежда, че това е Рик, но всъщност е Джунц :).
Романът е повече от актуален с описанието на кредото "Печалба на всяка цена!" в един по-голям мащаб от този, с който си имаме работа в днешно време.
Няма нужда да се споменава повече, Азимов е Азимов и няма друг като него!
П.П. Може да съм пристрастен, защото ми е любимият фантаст, но мисля, че съм прав.
Втората книга от трилогията за галактическата империя е един първокласен сай-фай кполитически трилър със сериозен криминален елемент, в който обратите са достатъчно, а главният герой не е този, който изглежда. През повечето време изглежда, че това е Рик, но всъщност е Джунц :).
Романът е повече от актуален с описанието на кредото "Печалба на всяка цена!" в един по-голям мащаб от този, с който си имаме работа в днешно време.
Няма нужда да се споменава повече, Азимов е Азимов и няма друг като него!
П.П. Може да съм пристрастен, защото ми е любимият фантаст, но мисля, че съм прав.
January 10, 2020
About 20 pages into the book, I was prepared for disappointment. An amnesiac protagonist who slowly recalls his past memories to help the plot progress, huh? Most of these kinds of stories are unconvincing because it would make more sense for the antagonist to have killed the protagonist from the start instead of merely wiping his memory. Galaxy, and here I was thinking Asimov usually stuck to hard science instead of narrative convenience. Of course, this book is an early example of an amnesiac protagonist, so I couldn't fault Asimov for doing something that was much more original at the time the book was written. Nonetheless, I was expecting it to be a bit of a bore.
In the end, the book ends up telling a riveting story of interplanetary power politics where each character and each group have convincing motives for acting as they do. There are also multiple convincing explanations for why the main character merely had his memory wiped, and wasn't just killed outright. The final explanation is indeed completely convincing.
The hard science fiction aspect of this novel is revealed at the very end in about two pages of expositional dialogue - normally Asimov's plots revolve around the science, but not so here. This book reads much more like a political thriller.
Something that strikes me about this novel is its astute social awareness, particularly given it was written in the early 1950s. The "early," pre-Foundation colonial days of Asimov's expanding human space explorers: Trantor, Sark, and Florina, with the Sarkites exploiting Florina for resources (known as "kyrt" in the novel) only available there, play out similar to how historically, various Earth nations have exploited other people for resources and how deeply it ingrained racism in the culture.
In the end, the book ends up telling a riveting story of interplanetary power politics where each character and each group have convincing motives for acting as they do. There are also multiple convincing explanations for why the main character merely had his memory wiped, and wasn't just killed outright. The final explanation is indeed completely convincing.
The hard science fiction aspect of this novel is revealed at the very end in about two pages of expositional dialogue - normally Asimov's plots revolve around the science, but not so here. This book reads much more like a political thriller.
Something that strikes me about this novel is its astute social awareness, particularly given it was written in the early 1950s. The "early," pre-Foundation colonial days of Asimov's expanding human space explorers: Trantor, Sark, and Florina, with the Sarkites exploiting Florina for resources (known as "kyrt" in the novel) only available there, play out similar to how historically, various Earth nations have exploited other people for resources and how deeply it ingrained racism in the culture.
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