The Gods Themselves
Ratings140
Average rating3.9
If I had a complaint, it would be that the book isn't longer. What's here works, but it feels like a shame to leave the "alien" storyline where it ends. I want to know what happens next.
The Gods Themselves is a meltingly fantastic sci-fi novel and one of Asimov's favorites. I think it's a kind of story that works well as a book but would probably be challenging to bring to the big screens or as a TV series. Nonetheless, expect to find alien sex, nude people on the Moon, parallel universes and electron pumps here!
The main highlight of the book is the exploration of a parallel universe where the laws of physics are slightly different and what it means for the aliens living in the such universe. I expected to find humanoid aliens in this parallel universe, but Isaac Asimov was much more creative than that. Don't get surprised if you get aroused by gaseous lifeforms rubbing into rocks!
I think the story could be more engaging if it was not divided into three parts. Each part progresses the overall story but only loosely connects the characters. I could easily imagine the book fleshed out into three separate books.
Overall, The Goods Themselves is definitely a recommended read for sci-fi fans.
“Creo que no me afligiría el suicido colectivo de la humanidad por pura malevolencia de corazón, o por mera inconsciencia. Hay algo odiosamente mezquino en este marchar hacia la destrucción por simple obstinada estupidez. De qué sirve ser hombre si así es como tienen que morir.”
Novela ganadora de los premios Hugo, Nebula y Locus en la década del 70. En 1982, Asimov declaró en una carta que “Los propios dioses” era su novela de ciencia ficción favorita.
Es un gran libro, sin duda, aunque, en mi escala personal de Asimov, he disfrutado más de otras novelas como El fin de la eternidad y muchas de las novelas en las sagas de Robot y Fundación.
This book reflects some Asimov's concerns throughout his life, such as the disdain that people shows towards science, his role as a public face for science, and the petty disputes in academia. It is very dry, there is no empathy for the characters and nothing worth reading except for the most die hard sci-fi fans.
It shares the same problems I see in The Foundation. There is this sentiment of turning the soft sciences into mathematical facts, though the use of some flimsy rationalization (like psychohistory)
The story revolves around the discover of a infinity source of power, and its consequences to the world.
Read 47/11:26 7%
Story: 8 / 10
Characters: 8
Setting: 7
Prose: 7
A truly remarkable book. The gods are brilliant creations and the humans aren't bad either. Really captures the fight for academic and scientific contribution. The only real way to improve the book is to lengthen the ending.