Nightfall (expanded edition)
A great yarn about the fate of Kalgash ... a planet with 6 suns, and a civilization that developed in perpetual light.
A multi-disciplinary team of scientists (astronomers, archeologists, psychologists, a journalist, etc.) slowly assemble frightening evidence of a recurring calamity that befalls their planet every other millenia ... total darkness.
What does it all mean ? How to prepare the public in order to head off mass hysteria ? How to deal with nihilistic religious cultists who, with growing alarm, the scientists realize may have the right of things ? How to handle the media ?
It's a great tale about a civilization faced with immanent collapse, the nature of human frailty, and the will to survive.
A solid 9. Highly recommended.
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Asimov & Silverberg - Nightfall (novel length edition) - 9
Moderators: clong, Mr. Titanic
Asimov & Silverberg - Nightfall (novel length edition) - 9
Last edited by Darb on Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
As I type this, I'm finishing the last 50 pages of 'Daybreak'.
The heart of the tale is 'twilight' and 'nightfall', and I'm not really sure that the 'daybreak' chapter of the expanded edition is really necessary. Yes, it's both realistic and well written ... and more than a little depressing ... but it's not really that essential to the overall story. Parts one and two make this book a 10, but daybreak drags it down to a 9 for me.
If my feelings on that change after reading the last 50 pages, I'll let people know.
The heart of the tale is 'twilight' and 'nightfall', and I'm not really sure that the 'daybreak' chapter of the expanded edition is really necessary. Yes, it's both realistic and well written ... and more than a little depressing ... but it's not really that essential to the overall story. Parts one and two make this book a 10, but daybreak drags it down to a 9 for me.
If my feelings on that change after reading the last 50 pages, I'll let people know.
I never read the original short story - just the novel.
Just to side-step briefly into our ratings system: for me (an IBDoFer, rather than an IBLister), a 10 doesn't necessarily mean I consider it an all-time classic ... it just means it gripped me hard, and that I enjoyed the heck out of it. Bimbos of the Death Sun (being discussed in a separate thread) is an example of that.
For me, Twilight and Nightfall were in the high end of the 9-10 range, whereas Daybreak is a 7 ... that averages out to 8.666 for the overall book, which I rounded up to 9.
Just to side-step briefly into our ratings system: for me (an IBDoFer, rather than an IBLister), a 10 doesn't necessarily mean I consider it an all-time classic ... it just means it gripped me hard, and that I enjoyed the heck out of it. Bimbos of the Death Sun (being discussed in a separate thread) is an example of that.
For me, Twilight and Nightfall were in the high end of the 9-10 range, whereas Daybreak is a 7 ... that averages out to 8.666 for the overall book, which I rounded up to 9.
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