The Gods Themselves by Isaac AsimovMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Far be it from me to contradict the Hugo and Nebula awards regarding a novel from a Science Fiction Grandmaster no less, but I found The Gods Themselves rather dry. The book starts when a scientist inadvertently discovers a form of inter-dimensional matter transfer that produces cheap energy for Earth, and what's more it also benefits the "para people", the beings from the other dimension by providing them with plentiful energy. So what's not to love? It appears to be a win-win situation all around. However, another scientist has a theory that continued usage of the Electron Pump as it's called could have catastrophic consequences for our universe.
With stakes so high one would think there would be a sense of urgency to the tale but most of the novel is VERY talky with academic head butting among the scientific hierarchy, and plenty of science discussions but very little action.
There are some big ideas and Asimov knows his science, but this could have been served better as a short story because even at less that 300 pages it does drag on a bit at times.
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