#120. THE GODS THEMSELVES By Isaac Asimov

Published : 1972
Pages : 269
Overall Mark : 6/10

In the year 2100, the invention of the Electron Pump – an apparently inexhaustible supply of free energy – has enabled humanity to break free of the Earth and establish a foothold in the wider solar system. But the Electron Pump works by exchanging materials with a parallel universe, and such unbalancing of the cosmos has consequences. Now the race is on to prevent a vast nuclear explosion in the heart of the Sun – and the vaporisation of the Earth exactly eight minutes later...

ISAAC ASIMOV (1920-92)
Isaac Asimov was one of the most famous, honoured and widely read science fiction authors of all time. Born in Russia but raised in the USA, his career as an SF writer began in 1939 with ‘Marooned Off Vesta’, in Amazing Stories. His output was prolific by any standards – an a career spanning five decades, he wrote more than four hundred books, won six Hugos, two Nebulas and the SFWA Grand Master Award, among many others, and provided pleasure and insight to millions of readers. He died in 1992 at the age of 72.

VERDICT
Although this is an interesting idea – taking three different views on the use of a single product and how it could affect those that use it – it’s a little laboured in its execution. Asimov may be a man of many ideas, but this one gets a bit boring in places. If you take the idea at face value, however, this is a very clever one that creates three groups, all of whom believe that their invention will destroy one or more universes, all of which have the solution to the problem but are unwilling to use it. Worth a read, but it is a little long winded.