The Gods Themselves
 

Possibly one of my favourite SF books of all time is Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves. I just wanted to first of all plug it fiercely, and secondly, ask who around here has read it and what they think of it.

Yup - a goodie, and quite different for Asimov at the time of publication (1972?). It hinted at more adult themes (s*x!) and won the Hugo & Nebula. Though good, I'm not sure whether the awards were a real reflection of how good the book is (though it is good!) or was more to do with Asimov's first major fiction release for years (a bit like Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama).

Hobbit

Another theme that Asimov used for the first time in this book is aliens. Not just any type of alines, but an alien society which is vivid, different entirely from human society and yet entirely believable.

First major release aside, the themes explored in this book in such short space make this a truly great piece of writing.

Interestingly, the middle portion of the book was considered by Asimov as well as a large number of his fans to be his finest piece of writing, up there with some of his best short stories.

Yeah, i think this is my favorite Asimov novel. Has anyone read Gold? (A short story involving the author of TGT trying to have it made into a tri-dimensional film. Weird but very fun.)

I read it 20+ years ago, I loved it, and I don't remember any of it. I need to find a copy and read it again.

Susan

It definitely has to be split into three reviews:

- The first part of the novel is your typical science fiction story. A scientist discovers the Earth is going to be destroyed but no-one believes him.

- The second part is clearly the reason this book won so many wards. A beautiful and original description of an alien race.

- The third part, however, lets the entire book down. It bascially makes the (very ejoyable) second third of the novel irrelevant. And the "solution" found at the end is a little too convenient, eliminating any real climax.

I have not read it yet. It was impossible to get it in german, and I have only now started to read books in english. I shall give it a try soon.. a lot of Asimovs work is not available (any more) in german. :-/


-- Elessar

Got it for christmas. It's on the 'to read' pile (Which, btw, i am having trouble prioritising!)

actually, I got confused.. the one I meant was not "the gods themselves" but rather "the end of eternity", which I own in german now.
I've yet to read "the gods themselves" ...


-- Elessar

Then what are you waiting for, Elessar? go get it... NOW!

And Sammie--have you read it by now?

[This message has been edited by Shehzad (edited January 22, 2002).]

Still in pile. Not even picked up yet. Competing for prioity with 'Chasm City', 'Speaker for the Dead', 'Otherland bk 1', 'The Reality Dysfunction' and 'The Kraken Wakes', among others. (And that's just the SciFi)

Can't prioritise......!