The Gods Themselves in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Aug 02, 2018 Rindis rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, science-fiction

Effectively, the full title of this is "Against Stupidity, the Gods Themselves Contend in Vain", a quote that is spread out across the three sections of the novel. I was a bit worried at first, as the book starts with (a fragment of) chapter 6), and given the occasional screwups of ebook translations, I was initially worried that something truly horrible had happened, but after the first page Asimov inserts a note that he has his own reasons for the numbering, which is part of a narrative device Effectively, the full title of this is "Against Stupidity, the Gods Themselves Contend in Vain", a quote that is spread out across the three sections of the novel. I was a bit worried at first, as the book starts with (a fragment of) chapter 6), and given the occasional screwups of ebook translations, I was initially worried that something truly horrible had happened, but after the first page Asimov inserts a note that he has his own reasons for the numbering, which is part of a narrative device that works out fairly well (including the chapter numbers helping by informing you what is flashback and what isn't).

Each of the three sections is pretty much its own novella, and were apparently initially published as such, all tied into one overall problem. The first section ultimately deals with academia and the politics that can surround it. The second is unusual for Asimov as it's purely from the viewpoint of aliens in a different universe (Asimov generally avoided writing about aliens as he was poor at it). And the third is back in our universe, an uncertain but short time after the first section, with a completely new cast on the Moon.

All three are tied together by the interaction between two universes, our own, and one where the strong nuclear force is about one hundred times as strong as it is here. This is explained quite well in the opening parts of the book, and transferring matter between the two allows what seems to be free unlimited energy; the process of adjusting to the laws of the other universe liberates a lot of energy, with no apparent downsides. Much of the premise and action of the book revolves around what it would take to give up nearly free energy if there is an unapparent (and fatal) downside.

As ever, Asimov is a bit of a 'flat' writer, but he actually does fairly well on his characters here, though there's still some 'telling' instead of 'showing' to establish the scene, and overall I zipped through the book enjoying it the entire way, though both the physics and 'liberated' attitudes are a bit out of date now. Certainly, his character drama of the middle section is worth the price of admission. ...more

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Jan 30, 2008 Maurean rated it it was ok · review of another edition

The book tells of scientists in the distant future who try to solve the world's energy problems by tapping energy from a parallel universe, and tells the tale of human hubris as it tries to take advantage of a science that it doesn't understand. The story is divided into three parts; The first part is the story of physicist Dr. Peter Lamont, and describes to the reader how the "Electron Pump", a device which enables receiving a near-infinite amount of energy as a result of matter transference be The book tells of scientists in the distant future who try to solve the world's energy problems by tapping energy from a parallel universe, and tells the tale of human hubris as it tries to take advantage of a science that it doesn't understand. The story is divided into three parts; The first part is the story of physicist Dr. Peter Lamont, and describes to the reader how the "Electron Pump", a device which enables receiving a near-infinite amount of energy as a result of matter transference between our universe and another, might destroy our solar system, and this section depicts Lamonts attempt to stop the pump; The second section is the tale of the aliens in the other universe, a ‘triad’ (family) of beings (interestingly, Asimov took the names of the immature aliens — Odeen, Dua, and Tritt — from the words One, Two, and Three in the language of his native Russia), and how “the pump” is being utilized on their side of the transference; The third and final part, tells the story of Dr. Benjamin Denison, a scientist who, as a result of events which occur in the first section, moved to the moon to reestablish himself and his credentials.

I did enjoy the reading of this tale; the first part engaged me completely, as I found the writing to be witty, intelligent and entertaining; the second section put me off a bit, as I found the sexual innuendoes to be frequent and repetitive, however this is the section where Asimov’s brilliance shine through most brightly, in his ability to create such a totally alien collection of beings (a triple-gender species that develops in terms of archetypes) yet keeps the reader interested and sympathetic; the third and final section concludes the story and posits hope for the future.

While I completely enjoyed the storyline, and even satisfied with the three-stories-in-one format, I felt the characters and the presentation somewhat lacking. Overall, I would say I’m glad to have given it a read, but it’s not going to make my list of favorites for the year.
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