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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
3.5 Stars
I don’t have too much to say here. This book was better that the last one in the Galactic Empire series. I think this was Asimov’s second novel and it still shows. Although he has started using his typical mystery format there are still some parts of the book that were a drag or felt unnecessary. Overall, this was a solid book and a definite improvement over the last one.
I don’t have too much to say here. This book was better that the last one in the Galactic Empire series. I think this was Asimov’s second novel and it still shows. Although he has started using his typical mystery format there are still some parts of the book that were a drag or felt unnecessary. Overall, this was a solid book and a definite improvement over the last one.
mysterious
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
Meh.
The first of the Galactic Empire Series, and I remember falling in love with it when I first read it, lo those many, many years ago. There have been great strides in astronomy and cosmology since it was written in 1950, some of the discoveries in Asimov's own lifetime, but if you can (as the author so aptly puts it) suspend belief, it's still a cool book.
Isaac Asimov found a - template, if you will - for writing popular books, and he stuck to it in this one. There is the essential mystery, there is an intrepid but underestimated hero (sometimes it was a heroine; Asimov was not as misogynistic as some of the other early sci-fi writers), and said hero/heroine comes to a few conclusions before actually solving the mystery. As a kid, I didn't always figure it out; as an adult it's a lot easier.
It's a quick read, it's comforting and entertaining, and sometimes that's all you need from a book.
Isaac Asimov found a - template, if you will - for writing popular books, and he stuck to it in this one. There is the essential mystery, there is an intrepid but underestimated hero (sometimes it was a heroine; Asimov was not as misogynistic as some of the other early sci-fi writers), and said hero/heroine comes to a few conclusions before actually solving the mystery. As a kid, I didn't always figure it out; as an adult it's a lot easier.
It's a quick read, it's comforting and entertaining, and sometimes that's all you need from a book.
Spoilers follow, but honestly...who cares with a book like this.
Honestly not really worth the trouble of reviewing, but I'll say a few things anyway...Asimov himself described The Stars, Like Dust as his "least favorite novel" and even that was pretty generous on his part given its tortured publishing history. Forced to include a hokey subplot that involved the Constitution of the United States by his editor and publisher that he detested after being forced to complete an outline and two complete revisions, Asimov was done with the book and found himself going through the motions to just get it over with. Ahhh the things I wish I knew before I started reading.
Ultimately The Stars suffers from stiff dialogue, insanely conspicuous deus ex machina intrusions, and for a modern audience, some rather antiquated (to the point of absurdity) gender roles. The story follows the convoluted unravelling of the assassination of the Rancher of Widemos, whose son, Biron is left chasing after his father's murderers from planet to planet throughout the dreaded Tyranni Empire. Asimov borrowed heavily from history for his setting and society, with the dreaded Tyranni, led by the Khan, strongly resembling the Golden Horde. The last Asimov I read was The Foundation Series a number of years ago, and I found the jump to this series pretty disappointing. There are no clever ideas, new angles or speculated technology that make for interesting asides and the plot is boilerplate for its era.
The sexism is astoundingly bad for a modern audience.
Example 1:
Example 2:
Example 3:
Example 4:
Forgive my digression. If this sort of thing bothers you, it only gets worse. In the course of a couple of days, strong, willful Artemisia faints, coquettishly tries to play males off against each other, faints, is rescued, and marries our rather unlikeable hero. And don't give me that cultural relativity, "but he was writing in the 40s and 50s" nonsense. It doesn't make it any easier to read through in the 21st century.
Boring. Pass. Go start with [b:Foundation|29579|Foundation (Foundation, #1)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417900846s/29579.jpg|1783981].
Honestly not really worth the trouble of reviewing, but I'll say a few things anyway...Asimov himself described The Stars, Like Dust as his "least favorite novel" and even that was pretty generous on his part given its tortured publishing history. Forced to include a hokey subplot that involved the Constitution of the United States by his editor and publisher that he detested after being forced to complete an outline and two complete revisions, Asimov was done with the book and found himself going through the motions to just get it over with. Ahhh the things I wish I knew before I started reading.
Ultimately The Stars suffers from stiff dialogue, insanely conspicuous deus ex machina intrusions, and for a modern audience, some rather antiquated (to the point of absurdity) gender roles. The story follows the convoluted unravelling of the assassination of the Rancher of Widemos, whose son, Biron is left chasing after his father's murderers from planet to planet throughout the dreaded Tyranni Empire. Asimov borrowed heavily from history for his setting and society, with the dreaded Tyranni, led by the Khan, strongly resembling the Golden Horde. The last Asimov I read was The Foundation Series a number of years ago, and I found the jump to this series pretty disappointing. There are no clever ideas, new angles or speculated technology that make for interesting asides and the plot is boilerplate for its era.
The sexism is astoundingly bad for a modern audience.
Example 1:
It meant crowding; it meant a complete absence of privacy; and it meant that Artemisia would have to adjust herself to the fact that there were no women's clothes aboard, no mirrors, no washing facilities.
Well, she would have to get used to it. Byron let that he had done enough for her, gone sufficiently out of his way. Why couldn't she be pleasant about it and smile once in a while? She had a nice smile, and he had to admit that she wasn't bad, except for her temper. But oh, that temper!
Example 2:
"I agree with you there, Gil," said Biron. "just let's go somewhere where I don't have to listen to her clacking. Talk about women on space ships!"
Example 3:
The trip, he decided, could be quite wonderful if she would only learn to behave herself. The trouble was that no one had ever controlled her properly, that was all. Certainly not her father. She'd become too used to having her own way. If she'd been born a commoner she would be a very lovely creature.
Example 4:
"A supply of clothes for the lady," said Biron.
Rizzett wrinkled his forehead. "Yes, of course. Well, that will be her job."
"No, sir, it won't. We'll supply you with all the necessary measurements and you can supply us with whatever we ask for in whatever the current styles happen to be."
Rizzett laughed shortly and shook his head. "Rancher, she won't like that. She wouldn't be satisfied with any clothes she didn't pick. Not even if they were the identical items she would have picked if she had been given the chance. This isn't a guess, now. I've had experience with the creatures."
Forgive my digression. If this sort of thing bothers you, it only gets worse. In the course of a couple of days, strong, willful Artemisia faints, coquettishly tries to play males off against each other, faints, is rescued, and marries our rather unlikeable hero. And don't give me that cultural relativity, "but he was writing in the 40s and 50s" nonsense. It doesn't make it any easier to read through in the 21st century.
Boring. Pass. Go start with [b:Foundation|29579|Foundation (Foundation, #1)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417900846s/29579.jpg|1783981].
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Unfortunately, the best thing about this book is the title. Asimov needs to chill with his use of exclamation marks.
TL;DR: A rather baroque intra-galactic espionage tale that could really have done without that last chapter.
TL: If you're reading The Stars, Like Dust as part of the greater Foundation "series" then it comes before Currents of Space not after it. I realised this mostly becauseI was expecting some semblance of chronology and discovered that Earth, deemed almost mythical in Currents, is still recognized as the birthplace of Homo Sapiens in Stars. This probably isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things because there's something like 4,500 years between the two, but I kept trying to work out if Trantor, from Currents was Tyrann from Stars (no, just in case you're wondering). But I get ahead of myself somewhat.
The Stars, Like Dust is the story of Biron Farrell, son to the "Rancher" of Widemos (the leader of that planet) and currently attending university on Earth (partly for education, partly as excellent cover for a secret mission to recover the fabledMacGuffin document that will allow the portions of the galaxy not yet subjugated by the expanding Tyrannian (yup, really) empire. The story kicks off at a pretty cracking pace, and mostly keeps it up for the (relatively short) entirety.
I was not a fan of this book, for a number of reasons, chief among them, the clumsy and baroque plotting and prose. I suspect that the fact that this was only Asimov's second or third book means that he's not had a chance to develop his authorial chops yet, and this shows, especially when juxtaposed with books that are internally chronologically adjacent. Everyone here is an over-the-top single-dimensional parody of themselves or what they stand for; The baddies hail from Tyrann! It only falls short of Spaceballs-levels of (unintentional) comedic pomposity because their leader is referred to as Khan and not Lord Badness or something. The plot is utterly over-the-top and, despite attempts to justify it all in the latter third, it just doesn't all hang neatly together. Oh, and that last chapter, geez. It's 1951 so I guess post-WWII patriotism was still running high and the Cold War was probably helping that but really this almost ends up as US-jingoism on a galactic level. Sheesh.
Speaking of which, it's also very much a book of its time, Boys Own Adventure time that is, and the girls can shut the hell up and get on with swooning for the heroes and making sure the poor heroes are appropriately adored. The whole "love" story is utterly ludicrous and the main female character, Artemisia oth Hinriad, is sorely hard-done-by by the author. She makes a valiant effort to be useful, but is ultimately hung out to dry and relegated to arm-candy.
There are things to like here though! Although most of the characters are beyond simple (despite the contortions the plot puts them through) there's the notable exception of Commander Aratap of the Tyranni military forces. A world (nay, galaxy!) weary soldier of sorts with an almost Holmesian outlook on life. He was quite refreshingly pedestrian and thoughtful and the closest to having a well-rounded character! Also, as usual, I really enjoyed Asimov's science! In this case the nuts and bolts explanation of exactly how one would go about searching for a planet in an unfamiliar solar system and after reading that particular chapter I ended up spending an hour poking around on NASA's Night Sky Network learning a bit more about distance on solar system and universal scales. There's plenty of other interesting science in here too. Polarised sunglasses were apparently invented back in 1936, but I very much wonder if Asimov was one of the earlier folks to consider changeable polarisation in windows? Asimov also takes a passing jab at one of my sci-fi pet peeves, when, whilst searching a solar system for planets, and then people on one of those planets, one of the characters states:
I'd not recommend this to anyone, but I think it's probably interesting in the scheme of the Galactic Empire/Foundation series*.
* It turns out that "series" is also the plural of "series"!
TL: If you're reading The Stars, Like Dust as part of the greater Foundation "series" then it comes before Currents of Space not after it. I realised this mostly becauseI was expecting some semblance of chronology and discovered that Earth, deemed almost mythical in Currents, is still recognized as the birthplace of Homo Sapiens in Stars. This probably isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things because there's something like 4,500 years between the two, but I kept trying to work out if Trantor, from Currents was Tyrann from Stars (no, just in case you're wondering). But I get ahead of myself somewhat.
The Stars, Like Dust is the story of Biron Farrell, son to the "Rancher" of Widemos (the leader of that planet) and currently attending university on Earth (partly for education, partly as excellent cover for a secret mission to recover the fabled
I was not a fan of this book, for a number of reasons, chief among them, the clumsy and baroque plotting and prose. I suspect that the fact that this was only Asimov's second or third book means that he's not had a chance to develop his authorial chops yet, and this shows, especially when juxtaposed with books that are internally chronologically adjacent. Everyone here is an over-the-top single-dimensional parody of themselves or what they stand for; The baddies hail from Tyrann! It only falls short of Spaceballs-levels of (unintentional) comedic pomposity because their leader is referred to as Khan and not Lord Badness or something. The plot is utterly over-the-top and, despite attempts to justify it all in the latter third, it just doesn't all hang neatly together. Oh, and that last chapter, geez. It's 1951 so I guess post-WWII patriotism was still running high and the Cold War was probably helping that but really this almost ends up as US-jingoism on a galactic level. Sheesh.
Speaking of which, it's also very much a book of its time, Boys Own Adventure time that is, and the girls can shut the hell up and get on with swooning for the heroes and making sure the poor heroes are appropriately adored. The whole "love" story is utterly ludicrous and the main female character, Artemisia oth Hinriad, is sorely hard-done-by by the author. She makes a valiant effort to be useful, but is ultimately hung out to dry and relegated to arm-candy.
There are things to like here though! Although most of the characters are beyond simple (despite the contortions the plot puts them through) there's the notable exception of Commander Aratap of the Tyranni military forces. A world (nay, galaxy!) weary soldier of sorts with an almost Holmesian outlook on life. He was quite refreshingly pedestrian and thoughtful and the closest to having a well-rounded character! Also, as usual, I really enjoyed Asimov's science! In this case the nuts and bolts explanation of exactly how one would go about searching for a planet in an unfamiliar solar system and after reading that particular chapter I ended up spending an hour poking around on NASA's Night Sky Network learning a bit more about distance on solar system and universal scales. There's plenty of other interesting science in here too. Polarised sunglasses were apparently invented back in 1936, but I very much wonder if Asimov was one of the earlier folks to consider changeable polarisation in windows? Asimov also takes a passing jab at one of my sci-fi pet peeves, when, whilst searching a solar system for planets, and then people on one of those planets, one of the characters states:
How much you do you suppose we can see of a planet this size by circling it a few times?
I'd not recommend this to anyone, but I think it's probably interesting in the scheme of the Galactic Empire/Foundation series*.
* It turns out that "series" is also the plural of "series"!
This was a little hard to get through coming off the heels of the five excellent Robot novels. The story is rather muddled and the pacing is questionable, but I was interested enough in the characters to remain intrigued to the end.
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
This was dreadful and I can't figure out why it struck me as so much worse than the rest of the novels in the universe. I thought maybe it was written earlier but it was at the same time as the Foundation novels so I guess the premise just was not enough to make up for the characters.
I normally really like Asimov, but this book read like a pastiche of Asimov's style: all of his weaknesses as an author, and few of his strengths.
One good thing about this audiobook was the excellence of the narrator. Sorry, don't have the case nearby, and I can't remember who he was, but he brought some needed life to this hackneyed tale.
Spoiler
Also, maybe it was just me, but I guessed from the beginning that the Super Secret Document Biron was supposed to rescue from Earth had to be either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. My money was on the Declaration, so I suppose I guessed slightly wrong on that one, but still, the big reveal at the end of the novel for me was just an "of course."One good thing about this audiobook was the excellence of the narrator. Sorry, don't have the case nearby, and I can't remember who he was, but he brought some needed life to this hackneyed tale.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fun and fast-paced mystery adventure. The main character must travel through space, on the run from authorities as he has been framed and accused of being a part of some conspiracy against the rulers of the Galaxy.
It was fun to look back at this very early Asimov book - though I can see why it generally remembered as the least favorite of all his books. Characters are likeable, but all rather one dimensional, and the one female character could not be described as "strong" or "independent" by any stretch. You can certainly tell that this book was written in 1951 by the way the female character is portrayed, and she is really only in the story to serve as a love interest for our main character 😆
I had more fun when I did not take this book very seriously at all, but instead viewed it as a peek back in time and an exploration of how far we have come in terms of sci-fi and fantasy.
To top it all off, the blatant American patriotism which becomes obvious at the very very end of the book... oh goodness that ending had me howling with laughter. Wow.
>>Spoiler<<
The very secret document which will someday save the entire galaxy from corrupt fascist overlords and oppressive feudal systems is...
The U.S. Constitution 🙃😆
*slow clap*
It was fun to look back at this very early Asimov book - though I can see why it generally remembered as the least favorite of all his books. Characters are likeable, but all rather one dimensional, and the one female character could not be described as "strong" or "independent" by any stretch. You can certainly tell that this book was written in 1951 by the way the female character is portrayed, and she is really only in the story to serve as a love interest for our main character 😆
I had more fun when I did not take this book very seriously at all, but instead viewed it as a peek back in time and an exploration of how far we have come in terms of sci-fi and fantasy.
To top it all off, the blatant American patriotism which becomes obvious at the very very end of the book... oh goodness that ending had me howling with laughter. Wow.
>>Spoiler<<
The very secret document which will someday save the entire galaxy from corrupt fascist overlords and oppressive feudal systems is...
The U.S. Constitution 🙃😆
*slow clap*