Review: Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov – In which very few pebbles appear...

Novel: Sci-Fi. 

This review contains spoilers. 

Our story starts off innocently enough, with an optimistic man named Joseph Swartz in the late forties strolling down a Chicago street. His fate is quite a tragic one, as moments later he steps over a doll and gets sent tens of thousands of years into the future. Interestingly enough, the book doesn’t really dwell on the fact that he loses his wife and three children in this manner.

Later on, he laments over it, but it can’t have been mentioned more than one or twice.

After much deliberation, he begins to understand this new world. As it turns out, a great catastrophe since his day has not only caused Earth to become infertile but also for earthlings to be treated as lesser humans. 

The Galactic Empire treats earthlings as less-than-humans and they don’t allow them to leave the planet Ior ship goods and products of the planet) because they believe that everyone born of earth carries toxic radiation. All correspondence between the empire and the Earth council is strained at best, with outsider guards essentially taking on the role of racist cops dealing with African American communities. Common practice is to never speak against them, or even speak to them, as they assault without regard.

The situation worsened by a history of riots turned massacres, and the fact that Earth is led by ultra-religious and xenophobic (never a good combination) “Ancients.” The Empire justifies their belief as they follow the belief that humans did not originate on Earth, but rather are the eventual product of all evolution across the galaxy. And the Earthlings justify their belief in an ancient prophecy of rising up to destroy the galaxy.

As it turns out, that prophecy is near to coming true. So Swartz teams up with an archeologist, as well as a scientist and his daughter in hopes of preventing the mass slaughter. It’s not an immediate thing, in fact, the characters interact unknowing of the genocidal plot for the first half of the book. Which isn’t to say that the first half is boring, au contraire! 

The book has excellent pacing and doesn’t repeat itself while still returning to some of the same subjects. It also has a supreme narrative despite jumping between different character’s views. The story is mostly Sci-fi and Adventure, but there is a bit of comedy and a strand of romance woven in as well.

It manages to pose a large number of moral questions not just for the characters but the reader. Should Swartz indulge in some of the strange powers he is gaining? If so, should he utilize them for the benefit of the galaxy or turn to the side of the Ancients, who are the closest thing to remnants of his world? Can a romance between an earth girl and an “outsider” work? Even if it can, would either be happy with judgmental looks wherever they went? Doesn’t the Empire deserve some retribution for treating earthlings horrendously and even letting them starve to withhold their ignorance based fear?

The swaying perspectives gives us a good look at the way empire officials, outsiders, the prime minister of Earth, as well as the average Earth man views the galactic government control, the general clash of cultures and lack of resources available to most earthlings, and “The Sixty”, a law which controls overpopulation via having everyone north of sixty killed with euthanasia. It’s a complex and realistic world, which despite taking place mostly in the one, fairly unimaginative setting, still delivers with its page-turning story.

Thus, it achieves the best thing a book can do.

Make you think.

It also reveals an optimal style for aspiring writers how to create complicated political and social systems (and let’s face it, anything else is a little unrealistic), while still having a powerful and grounded story. The characters face quite a few mental and physical trials to reach the correct course of action, but the story never drags in the pitfalls of self-correction. Quite the opposite, it flows exquisitely.

In fact, the only real issue I have with the story is that A) I found it just a tad confusing early on, and B) there are several moments where Asimov goes into a little bit too much detail. Not on objects, settings, or people, but rather scientific theories (and there’s a similar part about chess; he must have been a fan).

The story has a wide variety of characters, many of which are given a fair amount of page time and then just slip out of the story later on. This is done quite naturally, so it doesn’t feel sudden or strange. It just takes a while to figure out who the main cast are. And they are all very strong. Perhaps lacking a bit of detail. But the fast pace throws them in and out of action quickly, allowing us to get a good look at their core reactions and choices.

Some of them seem like stereotypes, with the strong male character Arvadan and the meek woman Pola Spekt who he falls in love with. However, Arvadan holds a myriad of opinions and emotions, proving to worsen the situation much of the time. He is also an archaeologist, which makes him more of a planner than a fighter. Whereas Pola has to take the lead in the name of not just saving her father but *quadrillions* of others.

Also…

(*SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER*)

Arvadan doesn’t save the day in the end either.

(*SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER*)

The story keeps great tension the whole way and makes good use of banter to introduce the idea of some human beings thinking they are better than other human beings, just from what planet they live on.

Apparently the book takes place in the same universe as the Foundation series, which I will have to look into. Asimov does a good job of human emotion and interaction, with the few problems fading from your mind as the story races forward.

Awful – Bad – Good – Great – Brilliant

Thanks for reading and have a nice day.