Sci-Fi Group Book Club discussion

This is the discussion thread for the first book of the month, or group read, for June. Please remember to use the spoiler tags where necessary. The other group read topic for this month (Leviathan Wakes) can be found here.

So any initial thoughts on the book? Did everyone who voted for it manage to get a copy?

I started it but am also still trying to finish seveneves. Nothing much has happened yet only on chapter 3.

That's funny Damon since I started with your nomination, "Leviathan Wakes". :-) I'll probably read "The Gods Themselves" in my kindle.

I am reading The gods themselves on my (new) kindle. I should say that I am not actually on chapter 3. It is either chapter 6 or chapter 2 :). I anticipate Leviathan Wakes will be a very easy read (its a page turner) so I will wait till I get to the end Seveneves before I start it.

I'll have to see if I can get my library to obtain an audio copy of it. It's not currently available to d/l online.

The gods themselves. I remember struggling with the structure at first but so worth the effort
One of his best and most original!
Thore

"Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain." -Friedrich Schiller

Being a joint Hugo and Nebula winner, I had very high hopes for this novel. Thankfully, it delivered! =) The ideas presented in this novel are mind-blowing!!! Free energy via accessing a para-Universe with a different strong force through an electron pump? Check! Three-way sex plus some masturbating aliens? Double check! An original attempt to explain the Big Bang via the cosmeg pump? Triple check!!!

I don't even know where to begin with my love for this novel! Let's talk about the first chapter called "Against stupidity" which is the first third of Schiller's quote. This is actually a critique if not parody of the politics within the academe as well as a look at the dichotomy of specific scientific issues (like today's global warming). At first, it was very un-Asimov in a way he goes in-depth with the ideas behind the "Great Insight". Seriously, I thought only Stephenson can explain something as deep as Asimov did here. Sometimes, it felt like reading a science textbook, especially with the physics behind the electron pump but for me this is not a bad thing! I love science and I don't care whether I read it from a sci-fi novel or a textbook! =P Another major theme of the book that Asimov may have been going for is the dilemma of the power of the majority, no matter how "stupid" they are. Some parts of it even reminds me of Henrik Ibsen's play, "An Enemy of the People". My only gripe is that labeling the first chapter as "6" (and Asimov even pointing it out to the reader) didn't really serve its purpose and felt like a gimmick!

The second part, aptly titled "The gods themselves" deal with these alien creatures that do three-way sex (in the book it was called "melting"! lolz). They are Odeen, Dua and Tritt. I would have preferred that Asimov used a third (invented) pronoun for Tritt the Parental but what can you do. I like how he stereotyped Odeen the Rational to be the "he" (that is, males are rationals) and Dua the Emotional to be the "she" (i.e., females are emotionals) only to deconstruct them later in the chapter! These three are actually deviant aliens in their society specifically Odeen turning out to be an "Emotional" Rational while Dua being a "Rational" Emotional. The outstanding character development could not have worked without the superb world-building that went with it! This chapter ties in very well with the mysterious messages in the first part. Here, we find that the gods themselves (the aliens, since although Hallam claimed invention of the Electron Pump, it is actually the aliens that control it and we humans are just passive receivers) are having a struggle if whether they should continue with their process of continued free energy at the expense of the eradication of another intelligent species (us). The final twist concerning Estwald was also something that I did not see coming. =)

The last part called "...contend in vain?" deal with Denison (from the first chapter) and Selene. I thought the budding relationship between the two was well done and I also thought that Selene was a strong female character. However, her profession as an "Intuitionist" felt something that came out of the pages of pseudo-science. Haha. Here we are given with a satisfying solution to the problem of our inevitable sun going supernova by doing to a primordial universe what the aliens are doing to us. Here, I think "the gods themselves" become a deeper metaphor for the scientists (not only alien scientists but humans too) that solve the problem that they caused in the first place. Hence, a problem brought by science is also solved through science! In other words, we struggle to solve these problems and not all the time do they end without success. That explains (at least in opinion anyway) why Asimov, in his chapter titles, turned Schiller's original quote (which was a statement) into a query.

"Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain?" -Isaac Asimov

I've just re-read The Gods Themselves. I agree the ideas are really thought provoking. They definitely take precedence over characterisation. Except for the para universe inhabitants. That middle section could have been a novel on in its own right.