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OVERVIEW The story, part of Asimov's Empire Series . It takes place before the Galactic Empire and even before Trantor has become important. It starts with a young man attending the 'University of Earth'. Biron Farrill is the son of the greatest nobleman on the planet Nepholos. The story starts with the news that his father has been caught conspiring against the Tyrani. The Tyranni (who come from planet Tyrann ) are a minor empire that rules fifty planets near the Horsehead Nebula in a decade. Tyrann suppressed science and space navigation trainging in the Kingdoms, to help maintain control over its subject worlds. The ruler of Tyrann was called the 'Kahn'. Asimov obviously took the Mongol dominion over the Russian principalities as a model, much as he used the declining Roman Empire for Foundation . (See ' Golden Horde ' for the real-world history that Asimov drew on and adapted.) The context should be interesting, the long period between the initial expansion and the rise of the Empire of Trantor. But the main action in the SF novel revolves round one small intrigue that really resolves nothing. It is widely considered as one of Asimov's worst novels, even by the author himself. CONTEXT (SPOILER-FREE) The story is set long before Pebble In The Sky , though it was written a year later. Trantor is not mentioned - it would be far away, assuming it has even been settled yet. Earth's radioactivity is explained here as the result of an unspecified nuclear war. Departing Earth: :The huge World-Island of Eurasia-Africa majestically took the stage, north side 'down. Its diseased, unliving soil hid its horror under a night-induced play of jewels. The radioactivity of the soil was a vast sea of iridencent blue, sparkling in strange festoons that spelled out the manner in which the nuclear hombs had once landed, a full generation before the force-field defence against nuclear explosions had been developed so that no other world could commit suicide in just that fashion again. This contradicts what Asimov later wrote in Robots And Empire . You could suppose that history has become muddled - the inhabitants of the planets near the Horsehead Nebula now believe it was named after an explorer called Horace Hedd. And when Biron pretends on Rhodia that he comes from Earth, Earth is not recognised and he has to identify it as "a small planet of the Sirian Sector". PLOT The main theme is a number of planets that have been conquered by a race of oppressive conquerors. There The story starts on Earth, but Earth is not really involved and the affairs of this group of worlds is seen as a small matter in a large galaxy. The hero is sent to Rhodia , the strongest of the conquered planets. There he gets involved in romance and intrague. are rumours of a world where rebellion is secretly being plotted - but is there anything to it? A sub-plot involves a search for an ancient document that will help govern the Galaxy -- the document is ultimately revealed to be the United States Constitution . Asimov noted in his autobiography that the genesis of the Constitution subplot lay with H. L. Gold , editor of '' Galaxy '' magazine. Asimov felt that Gold's judgement was at fault by attributing too much power to the Constitution as a document. Asimov later considered the premise highly improbable, and became annoyed at Gold for having persuaded him to insert the subplot into the novel. Whatever Asimov's opinion of the novel, he never actually withdrew it from publication. SEE ALSO |
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