Title The Gods Themselves Series --- Author Isaac Asimov Cover Art Don Dixon Publisher Bantam/Spectra - 2011 First Printing 1972 Category Science Fiction Warnings None Main Characters Lamont, Denison, Selene, Dua, Odeen, Tritt Main Elements Aliens, parallel universes

In the twenty-second century Earth obtains limitless, free energy from a source science little understands: an exchange between Earth and a parallel universe, using a process devised by the aliens. But even free energy has a price. The transference process itself will eventually lead to the destruction of the Earth's Sun--and of Earth itself.

Only a few know the terrifying truth--an outcast Earth scientist, a rebellious alien inhabitant of a dying planet, a lunar-born human intuitionist who senses the imminent annihilation of the Sun. They know the truth--but who will listen? They have foreseen the cost of abundant energy--but who will believe? These few beings, human and alien, hold the key to the Earth's survival

The book is broken into three sections to match up with the quote - "Against stupidity...the gods themselves...contend in vain".

In the stupidity section we learn a scientist named Hallam has invented something called the Electron Pump, that transfers materials from our universe to another universe where the laws of physics are different. This results with both sides generating large amounts of energy essentially for "free". Of course there is a cost, it's not just an exchange of energy but an exchange of the laws of physics, and as Lamont discovers, will eventually lead to the destruction of our sun. He is blocked on all sides to try to shut the pump down, since who wants to go back to a lack of energy and only polluting sources? People's short term comfort outweighing their long term survival, hence, the "stupidity". I enjoyed this section, it's a bit of an info dump but had a real classic SF feel to it. And this is my first Asimov after all.

In the gods section we meet the people who live in the other universe, the "gods" since they were able to initiate the pump, which we could not, so were considered more advanced. But we don't meet with the scientist of this world, we meet with three regular members who have come together as a triad to live together, to breed. The male Tritt, who is a parental and takes care of their three offspring. The female Dua, the emotional, who binds the three together. And another male Odeen, the rational, who studies with the Hard Ones, so called since the triade is made up of near incorporeal beings, able to change shape and meld their bodies together due to the different rules of physics that pushes their atoms further apart. Dua, hearing about the pump, and also the risk that it would destroy the sun on the other side (even as it cools their sun, providing an opposite death), decides to try to stop it, but just as for Lamont, she is ridiculed (just an emotional after all, not supposed to be smart) and blocked on all sides. There is a bit of a twist ending to this section so won't say anymore. I found this section interesting though it dragged as the majority of it revolved around the familial/marital issues within the triad more than anything, but was fascinating to imagine how such an alien species would exist, how they reproduce/communicate/eat/move and their culture (like it was considered childish for the adults to change their shape).

The contender (or is the vain?) section takes place on the Moon, there being a lunar colony where a scientist discredited in the first section finds a Lunarite woman named Selene. Again, Asimov made this section interesting by explaining how hard it would be to live on a world with so little gravity. It's not just walking that is hard, if you roll too fast in your bed you are liable to fall right out of it (and since you'd land so gently you might keep sleeping on the floor). In this section a solution is found to the Electron Pump and the risk it poses to the Sun, however it feels like a bit too easy a solution (and far too quickly found!). And there was another character, who disliked going on the moon surface so much that he wanted to blast it into space to float around through the void far from Earth...frankly I couldn't be convinced a lunar colony could be entirely self-sufficient, its not like Mars that could potentially be terraformed, that whole thread seemed silly and the solution to that one also too easy and improbably given timelines.

So on the whole, as I was already prepared for, this is not considered one of Asimov's best. In fact I saw a rumour that people complained his books didn't have enough sex so he made up for it here by inventing a wholly alien mechanism for reproducting and spent nearly a third of the book investigating it. On the other hand, I can tell he's a good author, the writing was excellent, and even when the story sort of drifted from the main plot, I was still interested to go down that path. I look forward to reading some of his better work since if this is what is considered bad, then his good must be amazing. Was definitely worth a read even if I felt it didn't really have a point, it was more the journey and the ideas than the conclusion.

Oh...and it was weird, something about the dialog, about the way they mixed day-to-day comments with the serious, I could almost hear the voices in my head (which almost never happens to me) and it was like listening to a movie from the same time period. There wasn't a movie or actor in particular that came to mind, but there was just something about the dialog that brought up this impression and somehow made me like the book even more, made me feel I was ready something classic, not some modern knockoff.