The Stars, Like Dust

By: Isaac Asimov

Narrated by: Jon Lindstrom

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

The first book in the Galactic Empire series, the spectacular precursor to the classic Foundation series, by one of history’s most influential writers of science fiction, Isaac Asimov

His name was Biron Farrill and he was a student at the University of Earth. A native of one of the helpless Nebular Kingdoms, he saw his home world conquered and controlled by the planet Tyrann - a ruthless, barbaric Empire that was building a dynasty of cruelty and domination among the stars.

Farrill’s own father had been executed for trying to resist the Tyrann dictatorship and now someone was trying to kill Biron. But why?

His only hope for survival lay in fleeing Earth and joining the rebellion that was rumored to be forming somewhere in the Kingdoms. But once he cast his lot with the freedom fighters, he would find himself guarding against treachery on every side and facing the most difficult choice of all: to betray either the woman he loved or the revolution that was the last hope for the future.

©1951, 1986, 2009 Isaac Asimov (P)2020 Random House Audio

Asimov at his weakest

The beginning of this book is not very great, I really liked the last 3rd or so but it's not nearly as good as Foundation or Robots. If you love asimov, give it a try but don't get your hopes too high.

Still very very good.

This trilogy was written more then 70 years ago, but although a bit scientifically inaccurate it’s still very gripping. Excellent narrator.

Enjoyable but jumbled and overstuffed ending

Was really enjoying the first half but felt like the last sections just got dense with new characters, twists, new planets, etc that made it feel listless and incoherent at times.

good listin

good listin. love issac 's work. make sure you enjoy this listin. you will not be sorry.

poorly written female characters but ok themes

the female characters were written very poorly with no idea of women in mind. they were mere pawns to the story of men in space that were literally fucked to get points across. other than that it was your typical space mystery with some southern politics and ideals.

Early work that launched one of the greats

Good example of some of the earliest work from Asimov. Not as polished as his later books, but you can see the promise and the seeds of greatness within it. From these stories came one of the greatest careers in science fiction.

Isaac Asimov was a master

It is amazing to me that this was written in 1950. I became lost in some of the intrigue and family relationships... but it was still entertaining. It's fun to see how faster than light travel is possible but the calculations for it are still done by hand using tables and formulas from physical books. Even when Asimov passed away in 1992 did he yet realize the degree to which computers would change pur lives? Did he know that most who accumulated books for their knowledge in 1992 would no longer do so in 2024? In this Era in which technology's impact on our lives is changing so rapidly we have even more to learn from science fiction. It is perhaps the greatest genre.

Great book hasn't aged too well

I loved this book when I first read it, about 50 years ago. It hasn't aged well, and, even Asimov corrected a small technical mistake in the epilogue.

The basis of the story, a young aristocrat caught up in galaxy-wide intrigue, is solid. However, the literary conventions of popular fiction in 1950 were such that, even a truly great author like Isaac Asimov included many contemporary tropes (a profoundly obsolete level of sexism, and juvenile romantic subplot) that seem silly, and distracted from the storyline. On top of that, the emotional outbursts and elitist attitudes of the protagonist make it harder to identify with him, even by the time the story has resolved.

I would probably enjoy an update of this plot, with the frequent improbable logic kinks worked out, and the tech updated to what we understand today, along with the dated misogynist and aristocratic posturing removed.

Jon Lindstrom did a good job of narration. I never had a moment when I believed it could have been improved.

Poem

The stars, like dust, encircle me
In living mists of light;
And all of space I seem to see
In one vast burst of sight.

Should have read it sooner…

So, I now know the reason why all roads lead to Asimov. Where all of it came from and the Empire.