The Stars, Like Dust - Isaac Asimov

Written by Tom Clare in Book Reviews, Monday 19 May, 2008

Spaced Out

For 1951's The Stars Like Dust, Isaac Asimov opted to take the second instalment of his Galactic Empire series down an altogether more action-orientated path than its predecessor Pebble In The Sky. It ditches some of the scientific spectacle that characterises many of his novels; instead focusing more on character development and constructing an atmosphere of political intrigue, and though the author apparently considered it among his weakest works, it still makes for an absorbing read.

In marked contrast to Pebble In The Sky, the storyline of The Stars Like Dust centres around a youthful individual - Biron Farill, who just days short of graduating from the University of Earth is spirited away to the planet of Rhodia after an attempt is made on his life. To make matters worse (or better, if you're the reader) his highly-influential father has just been executed by the all-powerful Tyranni, after it emerged that he may have found a 'weapon' powerful enough to destroy the race, who rule over or influence much of the galaxy.

The introduction is as lively and bright as any I've come across in an Asimov novel, establishing an immediately engaging scenario whereby Biron is trapped in his University room with what he suspects is a radiation bomb. During this opening scene, Asimov sets the tone skilfully, moving the narrative forward at a relatively brisk pace whilst also allowing his near-limitless imagination for future technologies to run free; his attention-to-detail covers all ranges of the scale, from giant spaceships to small appliances such as watches that double as Geiger counters. Even if many of these seem almost romantically outdated in today's climate, their practicality within the context of the story is, as ever, meticulously positioned.

Asimov's ability to integrate incidental details as to the historical and environmental happenings in his stories are as wonderful and prominent as ever, as we learn of an Earth in its twilight years suffering from the after effects of radiation exposure that has all but destroyed the planet. The standout moment comes with the description of a cruise ship entering a 'jump' in space, as it's intelligently conveyed and yet understandable to those with little understanding of physics and technology, and helps the book gain a real ambience early on. An interesting point to note is that it's actually set before Pebble In The Sky, though they never make reference to each other in the text. As Biron spends much of the novel on the run, Asimov's thriller credentials are put under the spotlight; a couple of escape scenarios work quite well, but the battle sequences seem a little lightweight and, but for a nice line in futuristic weaponry, come across as slightly uninspired.

With Biron making journeys across space, The Stars Like Dust returns to more familiar ground for the author. Indeed, his search for a mystery rebellion world evokes comparisons with Asimov's superb latter-day novel Foundation and Earth, but as the sum of its parts amounts to rather less, TSLD can only really be seen as a less-developed prototype.

It's debatable whether the characters themselves are an improvement on those seen in Pebble In The Sky, as ironically extra attention to personality seems to do more harm than good over the course of the novel. There's a greater range of personalities on show, and the line between Biron's allies and adversaries is blurred as many have ulterior motives. Biron as a character suffers next to the charismatic Golan Trevise (star of the later Foundation novels), as even taking into account his youth, he comes across as needlessly hot-headed and arrogant at times without any especially likable or defining characteristics.

As for the supporting cast, Princess Artemisia fills the role of the love interest and sadly little more, in the rather hackneyed love story that runs parallel to the main plot, a romantic streak that Asimov perhaps wisely toned down for the early Foundation novels and then improved in his latter years. Artemisia's uncle Gillbret is the best character; his bright exterior makes him an instantly likable figure and yet his unpredictability and multi-faceted personality mean there is more to him than meets the eye. The villains of the piece don't have any real bite to them, never really exuding any great threat; the Tyranni leader (known only as the 'Kahn') is only mentioned in passing and so the pursuit of Biron is left up to one of his lackeys Simok Aratap - a more logical choice perhaps, but it's a shame we don't get to learn a little more of the Tyrann race that has been overthrown and superseded in time for Asimov's later stories. As ever with Asimov, he ties up the loose ends whilst dropping a mystery-solving bombshell at the end of the novel, though on this rare occasion it falls a little flat and is unlikely to impress fans.

At a whisker under 200 pages, it's pretty compact as sci-fi stories go, and though it fits between Pebble In The Sky and The Currents of Space in a series of three, it can be read as a standalone novel as the individual stories and characters are not linked, and as Asimov states in later works, chronologically speaking the series runs in reverse anyway!

It isn't the most common of books these days alas, with reprints relatively scarce. That said, if you don't mind getting a slightly worn copy, there are still quite a few knocking around the internet for a couple of quid which, for Asimov's eloquence and imagination alone, must be worth the fee.

Leave a Reply