Pebble in the Sky
by Isaac Asimov · first published 1950
100% neutral
Pebble in the Sky is Asimov's first full length novel. It begins with a retired tailor from the mid-20th Century, who is accidentally pitched forward into the future. By then, Earth has become radioactive and is a low-status part of a vast Galactic Empire. There is both a mystery and a power-struggle, and a lot of debate and human choices. The originality of the S.F. work is the choice of a very ordinary man as the story's protagonist, rather than the more typical space opera hero.
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And from here, it is a very small step (practically speaking) to The sixty of A Pebble in the Sky https://archive.org/details/pebbleinsky00asim/ https://archive.org/details/podcast_dimension-x_dimension-x-... For those who haven't heard or read it, the 60 is a law on the Earth of the future that…
on “China urges its people to struggle. Some say no” ↗…be so confrontational. Isaac Asimov is nowhere close to being my favorite writer but I offer this for your amusement. In his autobiography "I, Asimov" he talks about his simple writing style: >Before Pebble in the Sky was published, Walter Bradbury asked me to do another novel. I did and sent in two sample chapters. The trouble was that now that I was a published writer, I tried to be literary, as I had in that never-to-be-…
on “College English majors can't read” ↗Have you ever read "Travel by Wire!"? It was the first story that Arthur C. Clarke published. It's... youthful in its writing. Or how about Pebble in the Sky? > Boucher and McComas were disappointed by the novel, saying that despite Asimov's good ideas, "his heavy treatment and routine plot are disappointing. Try to find a copy of The Big U by Neal Stephenson.…
on “2026 Hugo Awards” ↗Also found in Asimov's Pebble in the Sky.
on “A startup is pitching a mind-uploading service that is “100 percent fatal”” ↗…the preface like he's 35 and people tell him they thought he was long dead, because even their grandparents read his novels. Which gives the feeling he's still with us. OT: Is foundation better than pebble in the sky and his short stories? I like his philosphical views, but his science ideas feel real outdated to me.
on “Confessions of a Necromancer” ↗…Gaia idea dozens of times, way before it became a fad. His classic "robot" stories, on the other hand, I always found ho-hum. In any case, the second foundation series is no worse in writing than the "Pebble in the Sky" -- and that was his very first novel, after tons of short stories.
on “Isaac Asimov on How to Be Prolific” ↗…Back. Either The Complete Robot (1982) *or* I, Robot (1950) The Caves Of Steel The Naked Sun The Robots Of Dawn Robots And Empire The Currents Of Space (1952) The Stars, Like Dust (1951) Pebble In The Sky (1950) Prelude To Foundation (1988) Forward the Foundation (1993) Foundation Foundation and Empire Second Foundation Foundation’s Edge Foundation and Earth And here is an Expanded Chronological…
on “Apple confirms TV series order of Asimov’s Foundation” ↗