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adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I like a lot of Asimov's work, but this book does not hold up, both in terms of the sexist tone of it, and in that the execution of its narrative reveals lacks a lot of the cleverness that usually draws me to his writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence
Minor: War
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Like watching a car crash. The plot holds together but I’m not giving stars for driving straight at the wall.
A political thriller. Thousands of years hence, humanity has settled hundreds of worlds ruled by a hodgepodge of monarchies. A new Empire is on a conquering spree. Luckily they’re called the Tyranni so everyone knows where they stand. Biron Farill (played by Luke Skywalker) has grown up on an out-of-the-way planet, and when his father is murdered and he narrowly escapes death himself. He heads out across the galaxy and into danger, teaming up with Gillbret (Obi Wan Kenobi) and Artemisia (Princess Leia). Together they head off towards the Rebel Alliance’s base, but the Empire and Aratap (Darth Vader) are in hot pursuit.
These are just a few of the many, many similarities to Star Wars. It’s almost like Lucas has taken things like the Force and the Death Star from the Lensman series (abandoning the racist plot) and welded them to this novel. Not that anything in this novel is original, but there are just so many similarities I can’t help wondering.
However, the characters here are so one dimensional they’re more types than characters. Artemisia is particularly badly handled and seems to be two characters with the same name. Unfortunately the types Asimov has chosen are all boring. They’re drab. The planets are drab. The spaceships are drab. The whole galaxy is drab. He could have imagined anything and this is what he came up with.
I can forgive flat characterisation if there are other things to make up for it, and the first half of the novel is fast paced. But then the car hits the wall and the camera switches to slow motion. Grindingly painful to read.
The Empire could be analogous to a number of real world empires, but it fits particularly well with the Roman Empire. If the novel were to have meaning I think it would have been found here. Unfortunately this idea is not explored.
Now, I want to talk about the very end of the novel. I’m not sure if this is a warning or a spoiler. I favour warning, because at this point the car has come to a stop, the cameraman is executing a dolly shot, and we’re going to get a view of the battered corpse of the driver.
Throughout the novel there has been a search for a mysterious document (cf Death Star, plans of) that will help the Rebel Alliance. It turns out that the document – I kid you not – is the US Constitution. Apparently these magic words will help everyone overcome tyranny. It’s like supposing that the discovery of Hammurabi’s law code would set off a worldwide revolution. Totally ridiculous. These things are very culture and time specific. They had to amend the bloody thing twenty seven times and even now, for all its many fine points, its still not fit for purpose. How on earth can this be relevant to hundreds of planets across hundreds of light years of space? Not only that, but the Constitution was a response to colonies becoming independent from the state that seeded them. The Tyranni have not settled these worlds but conquered them. This completely disregards the analogy to the Roman Empire. You might make a comparison between the Tyranni and the British Empire’s behaviour in India, but America? Far from it.
I am choosing to believe that this Asimov novel was written by another man of the same name.
A political thriller. Thousands of years hence, humanity has settled hundreds of worlds ruled by a hodgepodge of monarchies. A new Empire is on a conquering spree. Luckily they’re called the Tyranni so everyone knows where they stand. Biron Farill (played by Luke Skywalker) has grown up on an out-of-the-way planet, and when his father is murdered and he narrowly escapes death himself. He heads out across the galaxy and into danger, teaming up with Gillbret (Obi Wan Kenobi) and Artemisia (Princess Leia). Together they head off towards the Rebel Alliance’s base, but the Empire and Aratap (Darth Vader) are in hot pursuit.
These are just a few of the many, many similarities to Star Wars. It’s almost like Lucas has taken things like the Force and the Death Star from the Lensman series (abandoning the racist plot) and welded them to this novel. Not that anything in this novel is original, but there are just so many similarities I can’t help wondering.
However, the characters here are so one dimensional they’re more types than characters. Artemisia is particularly badly handled and seems to be two characters with the same name. Unfortunately the types Asimov has chosen are all boring. They’re drab. The planets are drab. The spaceships are drab. The whole galaxy is drab. He could have imagined anything and this is what he came up with.
I can forgive flat characterisation if there are other things to make up for it, and the first half of the novel is fast paced. But then the car hits the wall and the camera switches to slow motion. Grindingly painful to read.
The Empire could be analogous to a number of real world empires, but it fits particularly well with the Roman Empire. If the novel were to have meaning I think it would have been found here. Unfortunately this idea is not explored.
Now, I want to talk about the very end of the novel. I’m not sure if this is a warning or a spoiler. I favour warning, because at this point the car has come to a stop, the cameraman is executing a dolly shot, and we’re going to get a view of the battered corpse of the driver.
Throughout the novel there has been a search for a mysterious document (cf Death Star, plans of) that will help the Rebel Alliance. It turns out that the document – I kid you not – is the US Constitution. Apparently these magic words will help everyone overcome tyranny. It’s like supposing that the discovery of Hammurabi’s law code would set off a worldwide revolution. Totally ridiculous. These things are very culture and time specific. They had to amend the bloody thing twenty seven times and even now, for all its many fine points, its still not fit for purpose. How on earth can this be relevant to hundreds of planets across hundreds of light years of space? Not only that, but the Constitution was a response to colonies becoming independent from the state that seeded them. The Tyranni have not settled these worlds but conquered them. This completely disregards the analogy to the Roman Empire. You might make a comparison between the Tyranni and the British Empire’s behaviour in India, but America? Far from it.
I am choosing to believe that this Asimov novel was written by another man of the same name.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I definitely liked this one better than a Pebble in the Sky, and it was more well constructed. Even if the characters may not develop much, they do have a humanness to them that makes up for it - Asimov resists the instincts that many writers have to give their characters the "correct" reaction, and he allows them to be irrational, even if they acknowledge it to themselves. Artemisia is...well, honestly the fact that she was unnecessary to the plot outside hiding him the one time is what bothered me, though of course some weird ideas abotu the way women think are folded in there as well. I will say the reveal as to what the document was made me roll my eyes even if I saw it coming,but I suppose he can be forgiven that flaw.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War