The Stars, Like Dust (Hardcover)

Beyond that, this is a nice piece of SF that George Lucas wouldn't have trouble making a film around. It's the old story - Boy loses father in confusing circumstances, boy goes to take what is rightfully his and possibly avenge his father's murder at the same time, boy is being chased by mysterious murderous groups, boy meets girl, boy and girl hate each other, boy and girl fall in love... well, ok, it's not the old story, it's half a dozen old stories in one, but it's a good thriller and mystery with enough twists and turns to please anyone.

It's also mercifully short, the characters are fleshed out in a most unasimovian way, and the science is there but not stupifyingly overbearing. My edition includes an apology at the end from the master about his assumption that a lifeless planet would have an oxygen-rich CO2-free atmosphere, and while I know roughly which part of the book is being refered to, it wasn't a big deal.

In all, I think I prefered The Currents of Space, but there's no reason to read one in favour of the other rather than read both. If you can find a copy, and you're after some intelligent light entertainment, you could do worse than read this.

The Earth is a radioactive cauldron, inhabited only in carefully chosen locales. A student near to graduating is suddenly thrust into danger as a bomb is discoverd in his closet. It becomes clear that it must have been placed by the same faction that arranged for the death of his father, a prominent political figure.

This young man is thus forced to flee Earth and seek assistance from a contemporary of his father, one who may be able to offer him asylum from his pursuers. Of course, though, Asimov makes sure that things in life are never easy, as we can all relate. Refused assistance, he must flee still further, with the skein becoming more tangled as the chase proceeds.

Eventually, he deduces the murderer's identity, and a confrontation must follow. The result helps set the stage for a human Galactic Empire, begun in Robots and Empire, in which the source of Earth's radioactive nature was initiated, paving the way for galactic colonization, and in fact forcing humans to leave Earth as it became more uninhabitable. It is interesting that Asimov was able to incorporate all three of his epic series into a single long narrative of future history.

As the first Empire novel, this book is nevertheless not the most necessary for continuity of the storyline, but it is still worth the read.