The End of Eternity: A Novel

I remembered this novel from my teenage years, having read it then with enjoyment. At this time in life, however, I found it poorly conceived and, well ... boring. I didn't even finish it. As a science writer, Asimov was superb in my opinion. As a writer of fiction he was not in the same class as the greatest (Heinlein) although some of his fiction was certainly enjoyable. But not this.

This is an example of Asimov at his verbose worst. Poor plot, insubstantial characters and a lapse into the jargon that amateur sci-fi authors, of which isaac most certainly is NOT one, is disappointing. Lightweight story, far too verbose and overall not worth reading. Fun only as a means to learn the tricks available on a new Kindle.

George Halligan

I’ll probably be in the minority, and I understand Asimov is one of ‘The Greats’, but this book did nothing for me. The End of Eternity was my first exposure to Asimov’s writing. He is detailed, complex and well thought out, but the book left me feeling ho-hum.
Time-travel is a very complex subject to write upon, and Asimov does it well. There were so many twists and turns in this story I had difficulty, at times, following where he was going. That in and of itself doesn’t turn me off to a book. Complexity of story-line doesn’t scare me off. And if I don’t get a certain part, I’m not above going back over it again.

No, the complexity wasn’t the problem. It was everything else. The characters acted like robots. Sure, there may have been a reason for it, but some of the things the main character, Technician Andrew Harlan, did were crazy. There should have been a lot of emotion for all the rules he broke, but I thought it lacking.

The concept was good, especially when you consider when Asimov wrote the book. It wasn’t a bad book, but for me…not sure if I’ll read another Asimov or not.

3.5 of 5 Stars (and I’m going to round it down, as it’s my review)

When I realized there was an Asimov novel I hadn’t read yet I was both surprised and elated. I have read all the others a minimum of two times and to find another one was like finding a hidden Seinfeld episode or a Twilight Zone I had never seen. The review blurbs called it a masterpiece and one of his greatest. My only questions are what we’re the reviewers smoking and where may I get some? The End Of Eternity is without question the weakest of Asimov’s novels. It is the only one I had to force myself to finish and the only one I never plan to read again. The protagonist is arrogant, paranoid, and unlikable. This is bargain basement Asimov from my perspective and utterly lacks the charm of the other books. The only saving grace is the character Senior Computer Twissell. If you must confirm my pessimistic evaluation for yourself, do yourself a favor and check it out from a library. Save your money for the other books. Seriously. Two stars for the overall greatness of this Master of the genre. None for this particular tome.

I probably should give this book at least one more star, and maybe I would have if this book had been billed as "an interesting take on time travel by Isaac Asimov." If so, I would note that Asimov has a really interesting idea of what man would do if he REALLY could travel into the past or future. I would note how in many ways the book is dated and the characterization could be better, but you still have really good ideas. But that's NOT how it's billed. It's billed as Asimov's GREATEST novel, and it's definitely not. "Fantastic Voyage" for example---even though it was based on a screenplay written by someone else---is much better. Here's another problem I have with the book. Know the blurb at the back which explains the plot? This part:

"Andrew Harlan is an Eternal, a member of the elite of the future. One of the few who live in Eternity, a location outside of place and time, Harlan's job is to create carefully controlled and enacted Reality Changes. These Changes are small, exactingly calculated shifts in the course of history, made for the benefit of humankind. Though each Change has been made for the greater good, there are also always costs.

During one of his assignments, Harlan meets and falls in love with Noÿs Lambent, a woman who lives in real time and space. Then Harlan learns that Noÿs will cease to exist after the next Change, and he risks everything to sneak her into Eternity.

Unfortunately, they are caught. Harlan's punishment? His next assignment: Kill the woman he loves before the paradox they have created results in the destruction of Eternity."

First, this implies that "the paradox they have created" is a direct result of Harlan and Noÿs' love affair. Not exactly. Said paradox comes from a rash impulsive act, but not directly from the love affair itself. Also, while I won't spoil the ending of the book, I can categorically state that Harlan is NOT ordered to kill Noÿs at all. This book may have inspired the famous Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" by Harlan Ellison, but it does NOT go in that direction. Maybe it should have.

The ideas behind "The End of Eternity" are indeed thought provoking. Everybody who has wondered about time travel has wondered, "What if somebody killed Hitler before he came to power?" Asimov takes it a step further, and imagines what if decisions like how to change history are made ALL the time. He introduces an organization called Eternity that spans millennia, and where a group of professional reality changers can travel forward and backward in time as if they were riding an elevator. I'm not making this part up---the time travel device or "kettle" is treated like an elevator, with future centuries labelled "up when" while the past is downwhen. (That's another thing I had a little trouble accepting. The narrator thinks nothing of travelling from the 95th century to the 575th. To put this in perspective, only ten centuries have passed since William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings. I don't think man as a species is going to last that far into the future. I just don't.) The people of Eternity occasionally visit the real world---called Time---to see if changes need to be made. Would this really be a benefit to mankind. Asimov doesn't think so, and explains why in the last chapter which I suspect he wrote first.

However, I just don't care about these characters as much as I should. The protagonist Harlan seems to either been written BY someone without much sexual experience, or worse, FOR people without the same experience. Maybe I'm spoiled by current 21st century fiction, but I expect better characterization in my sci-fi/fantasy books. Even "cozy" books like Pit Perfect (Barkside of the Moon Mysteries Book 1) which deliberately avoid explicit sexual details create more believable characters. And that's a book where the main character turns into a cougar during the full moon when she isn't solving murder mysteries like Ms. Marple. (I'll review this later.) There's a part where Harlan falls head over heels with Noÿs and he describes what a difference a GIRL makes over a woman---meaning a young, sexually attractive, and fertile woman. I don't usually mind people using "girl" for woman, but this part made me cringe. Later in the novel, Twissell explained the personal price he had to pay as a result of his duties as an Eternal, and I should have been moved to tears---but the writing was so off-putting it left me cold.

Feel free to flame me, Asimov fans and tell me that I'm wrong. But I couldn't help feeling that when people describe this as a masterpiece, they mean the rough draft for a masterpiece written by someone else.

This is one of Asimov's masterpieces. It's a stand alone novel, but references are made to it in other Foundation and Robot novels.
This is about a time travel corporation/government; i.e. they have the real power over humanity.
The corporation/group/governmental department are called the Eternals, and their job is to constantly change history to prevent disasaters, wars, plagues, famines, or any other kind of disaster, and simply have humanity lead a smooth existance from one century to the next. This group lives outside reality, in another dimension, called eternity, as opposed to "Reality," and these eternals make constant "Reality Changes." This has been going on from the 27th century C.E. all the way to the 575th century
These eternals travel in "kettles" to periods to time to make minimal changes. They use the Minimum Necessary Change (doing as little work as possible) for the Maximum Desired Response. One example is, and this will have a big effect at the end of the book, is where the main character, Andrew Harlan, goes back to an engine room of a spaceport to move a container from the upper shelf to a lower one, resulting in a ripple effect that will do away with space travel in that time's future.
People are confined to Earth, never to travel in space. There is inter-temporal communications and trade, where a merchant can travel from one century to another to make trades and do business. This is the advanced method of humainity's adventure. Instead of from one country to another, or one planet to another, it's one century to another, all on Earth.
There are offices for each century in the eternal dimension, with it's own Computer (a person in rank, like a C.E.O.) and his subordinates.
The story is where the main character, Andrew Harlan, is a Technician, training "cubs" under him, who has his regular job, assigned to the 575th century. He is temporarily assigned to the 482nd century, finds a girls with whom he falls in love, named Noys. However, he is forced to make a change that would put Noys out of existence, so he smuggles her into Eternity and takes her to the 111394th century, and leaves her there for protection, but then finds he is unable to get back. Under the threat of the death penalty from the All When (When is used rather than Where) Council, Harlan confesses to Computer Twissel, Harlan's supervisor. All hell breaks loose, and Harlan realizes that he has the power to destroy Eternity. There are surprises from Noys at the end of the book, finding out whom she really is and where she really originated.
The end of the book, not to ruin the surprise, reveals that the Eternals are doing a great disservice to humanity by eliminating the disasters (and space travel) that they encounter for an easy existance on Earth, but at a great price. That price is revealed at the end of the book, and what is done to correct that.
I'll leave it here for the reader to figure out the rest.
Before ending, this book does make us think about one question. If an individual, or an entire society, had the means to go back in time and avoid a bad thing, or a disaster from happening, sidestepping all the pain and suffering, would that really be a good thing? Would the good a society is trying to achieve really come to pass? Would the individual really benefit if he or she successfully avoided a pain in his or her life? Lessons taught would never be learned, and then what? What would really become of that individual, or a society? Think about it!

Heinlein and Asimov were for decades the "big guns" in science fiction, and I enjoyed their work equally. Heinlein's stories were always character driven. Asimov's stories were always more concept driven. His characters never really stood out to me in heroic ways. They were everymen struggling within another of Asimov's fascinating suppositions of technology.

In "The End of Eternity", we have an organization of Eternals, many thousands strong, who exist outside of time. They consider it their duty to observe humanity and make small corrections to history that improve the lot of the race. While well intentioned, it turns out that one of their primary suppositions about the future of mankind is an immense mistake.

Told in the first person, our protagonist is betraying everything that's been ingrained into him as an Eternal. First, for the woman he loves, and then for a larger goal. Really, saying more than that would entail big-time spoilers. They're around if you want to find them, but I encourage you to just read the book. Asimov had a way with his "big reveals" that are worth the read, and worth the wait. :-)

I first read this in High School, and while I thought the book was good, it didn't excite me in the manner of some others. On a recent re-read, with decades of life experience behind me, I found much more depth than I did as a teenager.

The book is simply brilliant, and rivals Asimov's "The Gods Themselves" in its deviation from "normal" sci-fi to a place at once unfamiliar but true.

This is one of Asimov's masterpieces. It's a stand alone novel, but references are made to it in other Foundation and Robot novels.
This is about a time travel corporation/government; i.e. they have the real power over humanity.
The corporation/group/governmental department are called the Eternals, and their job is to constantly change history to prevent disasaters, wars, plagues, famines, or any other kind of disaster, and simply have humanity lead a smooth existance from one century to the next. This group lives outside reality, in another dimension, called eternity, as opposed to "Reality," and these eternals make constant "Reality Changes." This has been going on from the 27th century C.E. all the way to the 575th century
These eternals travel in "kettles" to periods to time to make minimal changes. They use the Minimum Necessary Change (doing as little work as possible) for the Maximum Desired Response. One example is, and this will have a big effect at the end of the book, is where the main character, Andrew Harlan, goes back to an engine room of a spaceport to move a container from the upper shelf to a lower one, resulting in a ripple effect that will do away with space travel in that time's future.
People are confined to Earth, never to travel in space. There is inter-temporal communications and trade, where a merchant can travel from one century to another to make trades and do business. This is the advanced method of humainity's adventure. Instead of from one country to another, or one planet to another, it's one century to another, all on Earth.
There are offices for each century in the eternal dimension, with it's own Computer (a person in rank, like a C.E.O.) and his subordinates.
The story is where the main character, Andrew Harlan, is a Technician, training "cubs" under him, who has his regular job, assigned to the 575th century. He is temporarily assigned to the 482nd century, finds a girls with whom he falls in love, named Noys. However, he is forced to make a change that would put Noys out of existence, so he smuggles her into Eternity and takes her to the 111,394th century, and leaves her there for protection, but then finds he is unable to get back. Under the threat of the death penalty from the All When (When is used rather than Where) Council, Harlan confesses to Computer Twissel, Harlan's supervisor. All hell breaks loose, and Harlan realizes that he has the power to destroy Eternity. There are surprises from Noys at the end of the book, finding out whom she really is and where she really originated.
The end of the book, not to ruin the surprise, reveals that the Eternals are doing a great disservice to humanity by eliminating the disasters (and space travel) that they encounter for an easy existance on Earth, but at a great price. That price is revealed at the end of the book, and what is done to correct that.
I'll leave it here for the reader to figure out the rest.
Before ending, this book does make us think about one question. If an individual, or an entire society, had the means to go back in time and avoid a bad thing, or a disaster from happening, sidestepping all the pain and suffering, would that really be a good thing? Would the good a society is trying to achieve really come to pass? Would the individual really benefit if he or she successfully avoided a pain in his or her life? Lessons taught would never be learned, and then what? What would really become of that individual, or a society? Think about it!

Time travel stories when done right are brilliant, fascinating, mind-poundingly maddening in intellectual somersaults. The End of Eternity is, however, not just a time travel story, but one crafted by a master of the art of science fiction storytelling, Asimov.

End of Eternity posits a world where time travel exists, but only in the hands of a chosen few, the Eternals who inhabit the thin corridor known as eternity. The time travel devices travel up and down tens of thousands of years through eternity and resemble more Wonka’s great glass elevator than Dr. Who’s Tardis. Here, they are colloquially known as “kettles.”

In all time travel stories, there’s the paradoxical issue of whether killing a butterfly or dropping an ice cream cone will lead step by step to a future where the time traveler never came into being or someone who saves the world is never born. Observe but don’t leave any footprints some say. Asimov deals with this issue by compounding it to the nth degree. We are no longer going to worry about changing the future say the Eternals. Rather, they explain, we have as our mission, changing the timeline by curing cancer, by resolving all problems as appropriately determined by analysis. We are removed from reality they say precisely so we can act as gods and nurture mankind. And, in this story, reality is constantly changing, constantly being nudged along.

This story concerns one technician Harlan and his decision that a certain woman in a certain century should not be nudged out of existence for the betterment of the human race. Indeed, as the Eternals are like the high school dungeons and dragons society, only men, Harlan should not necessarily be blamed for going over the deep end when he finally meets Noys, but committing a timecrime by pulling her out of one century and hiding her in another may just be too much for the universe to bear.

An absolutely brilliant book that plays out many of the issues with time travel, it’s used, it’s paradoxes, it’s twists and turns. A really top-notch story.

I rate Isaac Asimov's 'The End of Eternity' about a 4.5. Its easy to enjoy Asimov's science fiction; his ideas, science, twists, and turns keep the story moving and are explained well enough to permit the reader to suspend disbelief and 'go with it'. Also, this book was published in 1955, but despite 63 years, the story ideas have held up remarkably well. But as I've noticed in other books of his and as a number of reviewers have mentioned, his characters tend to be flat and one-demensional, even somewhat naive at times. If you, as I, are a fan of the science fiction classics, this one should definitely be on your list.

This is definitely one of my favorites of Asimov's book and one the better (or best) sci-fis I've read! The plot revolves around "time-travel" and "tampering," I thought I detected a related plot hole around 2/3rds of the way in or so, which detracted a bit from the story for me down the stretch. For that I could consider going down to 4 stars, but I'll go with 5 since it's still one of the more imaginative sci-fi’s I've read and if it wasn't for a flaw or two it could probably be considered the perfectly written sci-fi novel. Pretty short too, as a lot of sci-fi was in those days (1950s-60s)...overall a good "short and sweet" read.

The original "Foundation Trilogy" was Asimov's great "3-act" trilogy; the "Robot" books were a great on-going series, and "End of Eternity" was probably his seminal "stand-alone" sci-fi novel (though there's several other good ones including "The Gods Themselves."). Note- although I describe it as a "stand-alone" work, which I believe it really was at the time written, in Asimov's later writings he attempted to "connect" a lot of his older writing to his newer ones into one "larger universe." I don't think this necessarily did a service to his classic stuff, including this book. In my opinion it's better to appreciate this for the original stand-alone that I assume it was intended.

The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov was a reread from my teenage years when the author was a favourite of mine.

I've always found the subject of time travel compelling and here, Asimov creates a lot of tension in this sparse 1955 novel that has become a classic of its genre.

I won't retell the story here, but rather share my opinion that the mechanics of time travel are well thought out, as are the social constructs. Our "hero" is rather vapid throughout and I enjoyed the nicely conceived twist that puts the whole plot in place.

The characters are rather one dimensional and definitely take second place to the thought provoking description of the future society and its role in controlling human destiny.

Not your average time travel novel. Recommended.

The science-fiction part of the story is far less interesting to modern readers than the twists and double-twists that compound at a frantic pace near the end.

The time travel is "primitive" even if quite adventurous going tens of thousands of centuries in future. The moves between various centuries is seamless but does not have as many novel points as one would imagine. The age old "leaders know what's best for all humanity" is not as villainous despite the author's best efforts to describe how wrong such attitudes are. And the love and the envy are never allowed to develop fully in to interesting sub-tales.

Yet what truly lifts the book is a series of surprises that redefine most characters towards the end and make the plot immensely clever. As such, the Sci-fi master likes his stories to keep moving throughout in the short book and as a result the reader never has any downtime. And that pace where one keeps moving centuries in early parts in each chapter appears downright snail-like the way the story keeps changing its entire purpose and colour again and again in the last few pages.

It is the story rather than any sort of new futuristic vision that makes the book a modern sci-fi even decades after it is written.

The End of Eternity shows how much a great core idea can raise a book from pedestrian to fascinating almost by itself. Isaac Asimov to this point in his career (1955) had produced some groundbreaking stuff, primarily the original Foundation series of stories, along with a couple of intriguing but flawed novels (Currents of Space, The Stars Like Dust, Pebble in the Sky).

The flaws that have dogged his books—cardboard characters, especially women, and pedestrian plotting—are still here but are compensated for with a great premise. That premise is the existence of a kind of priesthood that travels back and forth through time while existing outside of it (in "Eternity"), continually adjusting events to keep mankind from destroying or severely harming itself.

The great flaw in that system is what drives the resolution of the plot but in the meantime there is enough impressive speculation and working out of how such a system might function that a reader is hooked. Had Asimov been able to create characters who are even remotely interesting, this would have been an utter masterpiece. Even without that it must be regarded as a seminal work in the science fiction genre, which is why I'm giving it five stars.

That I reacted to that line with a gleeful feeling of 'exACTly!' sums up my impression of Asimov's book. It is a talky, philosophical treasure. It was the one book in Asimov's canon that I never managed to read. I had so rapidly devoured nearly all his Robot, Empire, and Foundation books while is high school and college, including such one-offs as 'The Gods Themselves', that I finally grew tired of him--he was a terrific storyteller, but not without fault (cardboard characters, his own particular view of humanity's strengths and weaknesses, his female characters (I say this as a woman). So, I never read Eternity. But then I discovered it in the audiobook section of my library, so bear in mind that I am reviewing the AUDIOBOOK version. That said, listening to this book was like uncovering, or perhaps re-discovering a long lost treasure. I felt transported back to my gee-whiz adolescence, when Asimov's writing first so intrigued me.

I don't know if I'd say End of Eternity is Asimov's 'best' work, but it is surely upwhen there.

Asimov weaves a complex and amazing well-explained scheme of time travel, introduces and discusses in an intelligible and uniquely intriguing (for all the long discourses his characters are so often prey to) way the paradoxes and conflicts, and does so in a way that addresses the strengths and weaknesses of humanity--or at least, men. Women are apparently much more vital to reality, and yet they are also, like many of Asimov's female characters (at least at the outset--more below) exasperatingly passive.

SPOILERS FOLLOW!

When Finge first bursts Harlan's bubble about Noys's interest in him, despite the skin-crawlingly annoying character that Finge is, I couldn't help agree: why on earth would Noys choose Harlan?!? Sure, don't choose Finge, but Harlan??? He's a jerk, and absolute, no-doubt-about-it, chauvinistic, self-righteous, paranoid jerk. Moreover, he remains a jerk for most of the book, even admitting to Noys that he took her into Eternity not because he loved her, but because he wanted her for himself--in other words, he really, really loves himself. And she goes along with it. HUH? She's so ridiculously passive, her personality so utterly vanilla. And yet.

And yet somehow, I cared about what happened to Harlan, which just goes to show what great nailbiter of story Asimov wrote. But nevertheless, the more I listened, the more annoyed I was by Eternal society, with its monk-like chauvinists (I wouldn't exactly call them, or even Harlan, misogynists, per se, as they didn't despise women, they just felt superior to anyone who wasn't an Eternal), static societies, and womanlessness. When the Eternals kept ruling out space travel, I found myself thinking, "Is this Asimov? Is he really writing about the evils of space travel? Asimov?" So, something smelt funny.

And then, enter the great Asimov trope: the beautiful, seemingly passive, and often silly-headed/ignorant woman who is actually a Gaian/Second Foundationer/Robot/Hidden Centurite. Asimov has used this device so many times, I'm surprised I didn't see it coming. It annoyed me momentarily, but then, with rising certainty, it made all that had come before not only more sensible, but more believable (as a woman). Noys's inexplicable interest and love for Harlan was a product of her having seen their whole lives together from the start to the blissful end, so she was able to put up with him being a jerk at first--she knew he end up being a loving husband and father.

Nevertheless, this book, taken to be in the same universe as the Robot/Empire/Foundation novels left me wondering what Asimov truly thought about humanity's future. On the one hand, you have in this book and in the early Foundation novels a sense of the importance of man's ingenuity, creativity, and risk-taking being unbridled by careful calculation. But then, by the late Foundation novels, especially Foundation and Earth, the sense that humanity must be protected from itself by super-Computers, via the Three Laws of Robotics, and ultimately, the Zeroth Law, that, as enacted by Daneel, in order to ensure 'the greatest good for the greatest number'. Sure, there's Infinity of a sort, but Daneel, a creation of man, becomes the ULTIMATE ETERNAL, paternally creating psychohistory and then Galaxia.

So, which is it that Asimov felt? Noys' dream of Infinity, or Daneel's dream of Eternity? Perhaps Asimov changed his mind.

As a pre-teen and teen, I read EVERYTHING of Asimov's, fiction and non-fiction and he was my favorite author. Later on, I got a bit weary of Asimov's cardboard characters, but still admired his intricate plots and excellent scientific speculations. Somehow, all these years I missed "End of Eternity" and this is very much like getting a long-lost postcard from a long-departed friend.

The concept of "eternity" is based part on an idea of time-travel in post-"primitive" (our) history and the keepers of Eternity are a sort of latter-day Dark Ages society of monks; they don't marry, are not permitted to have families and they preserve humanity by making small changes at points in history, to encourage mankind's best achievements and to pluck out the damaging technologies that are all-too-often threatening to decimate mankind. As the story unfolds, we meet Andrew Harlan, a brilliant young technician who is understudy to the great Twissell, a "computer" or analyst of the changes in timelines. Harlan is swiftly promoted to work with Twissell, but meets the non-"Eternal" timer Noÿs Lambent, a beautiful woman who tempts Harlan to violate his vows. In working to stash Noÿs Lambent away somewhere in Time from the prying eyes of other Eternals, he finds out he's violated more than just his vows. Meanwhile, his projects and reports to Twissell seem to be making him a pawn in some incomprehensible game. He will shortly have an adventure with a surprising twist at the end.

As usual, Asimov's characters are punched out of cardboard; the brash, brilliant young scientist, the older, wiser, somewhat cynical professor, the bulbous-nosed jealous academician, the voluptuous, mysterious, enigmatic young babe, and so on. But Asimov's plots are the beauty of his books, and this is no exception.

While some deem "The End of Eternity" to be Asimov's best and most-under-rated novel, I think that honor still goes to the Foundation Series, but this book segues nicely into Foundation. And "The Gods Themselves" is also one of those "not read" Asimov novels that I think really work, and I like it slightly better than "The End of Eternity." But for someone who finds an unread gem a half century after it was written, it was like a surprise party in my head.

The Audible version is stiffly read at first by Paul Boehmer, so stiffly that it sounds almost like that text-to-voice on the Kindle. But he warms up as the plot and characters enter into conflict and mystery. I'm probably going to get the Kindle edition, as the audio book is slightly tedious due to the reader. Audible gets a B-minus on this edition, in case you like Audible books. Not bad but not great like the Foundation series in Audible.

Uma das obras primas de Isaac Asimov, é um dos must read dos fãs de sci-fi.
Andrew Harlan é um Eternal - um membro da elite do futuro, que vive em organização chamada Eternity - um local fora do tempo e do espaço, cuja missão é proteger a humanidade de seus próprios erros.
Eternity possui diversos ambientes construídos como habitats de cada século da história do Homem. Todos ligados ao futuro previsto da expansão de nosso Sol.
Em Eternity há uma sociedade dividida em castas, em que cada indivíduo é relacionado a um tipo de trabalho para o qual é intencionalmente melhor adequado - de manutenção de computadores a técnicos de realidade virtual.
Alguma relação com Admirável Mundo Novo, de Aldous Huxley?
Esses indivíduos são recrutados no tempo espaço real, já que os Eternals são proibidos de terem filhos.
Andrew Harlan é um desses recrutas identificados como Técnicos, com habilidades intelectuais e emocionais, para criar múltiplas realidades, cuidadosamente controladas. Pequenas mudanças no curso da história, passada ou futura, em benefício da humanidade.
Os Observadores são os que coletam dados de diferentes períodos do tempo; os Computadores analizam os dados e determinam as mudanças na realidade; os Técnicos executam essas mudanças. Porém... há sempre um custo a ser pago...
Durante uma de suas experiências, Harlan conhece e se apaixona por Noÿs Lambent, uma mulher que vive no tempo e espaço reais.
O relacionamento entre essas duas pessoas, quebra todas as regras de Eternity. Então, Harlan descobre que Noÿs deixará de existir em breve, e arrisca tudo para trazê-la para Eternity.
Infelizmente, eles são presos...
A punição de Harlan? Sua próxima tarefa: matar a mulher que ama antes que o paradoxo do tempo que eles mesmos criaram, resulte na destruição de Eternity, já que ele possui o conhecimento secreto de como Eternity foi estabelecida, pela primeira vez.
Asimov explora, conscientemente, os limites imaginários do clássico paradoxo do tempo, que tem permeado tantos trabalhos de ficção científica. A idéia da inércia do tempo, quando os efeitos das mudanças introduzidas vão sumindo, aos poucos, é bastante interessante.
A teoria que Asimov quer passar através dessa estória filosófica, é a do perigo desse controle da nossa realidade. Assim como uma criança aprende a andar, com repetidas quedas, a principal característica da humanidade é o desejo e a habilidade de inovar através de riscos. Se formos protegidos de cometer erros, podemos evitar tragédias, mas iremos vegetar e morrer.
A estória explora a implicação de uma estrutura social na mudança da História, e os efeitos que as ações de indivíduos isolados podem significar a todo um sistema.

First, I don't know who writes the product descriptions for these books, but they're NEVER right. Ugh. So frustrating. The main character is not asked to kill the woman he loves.

Now, that that's off my chest...

This is the third attempt I've made to read Asimov. The first attempt didn't go well at all ("Foundation"). The second was better, but not worthy of the praise he typically garners (a collection of short stories). THIS one? Wow. "The End of Eternity" lives up to all the Asimov hype. I get it now.

The setting for this is unique. I couldn't think of any book it reminded me of (of course, I'm still filling lots of gaps in my sci-fi reading). Sometime in the 24th - 27th centuries mankind discovered the math for a space that exists outside of regular time. That space is given the name "Eternity." Man sets up an organization, also simply called "Eternity," to oversee time and the development of the human race.

Like a military organization, there are specific units (called sections) that oversee each century. Each unit (section) is staffed by a combination of the same types of roles/jobs: computers, technicians, observers, sociologists, life-plotters, etc.. There is technology that allows people to move through time to the stations that function as headquarters for each section (1 per century).

As part of Eternity's open role, they serve as import/export coordinators between the centuries. So, one century that has no more elms, for example, could trade whatever resource they do have with a century that still has elm trees. But the most interesting part about their function (one that they keep secret) is that they watch society in each century for negative trends. If they see something "dangerous" starting to emerge, they trace the root of that back to a single point in time. They compute what Change will reverse the trend with the least amount of acceptable negative impact. Then a technician is sent in to make that Change. As a result of the change, individuals' personalities and life courses will be different as well as society at large. Technology, works of art, etc will be different. The different "versions" of each centuries are called Realities. Copies of items that will be lost or changed from each Reality are archived in each century's library.

The story plays out over this framework. In order to work in Eternity, you have to abandon normal life - no family, no friends outside the organization, and you can't ever go back to your century of birth. The main character, Andrew Harlan, is perfectly suited to this kind of life. He's more than happy to concentrate on work and abandon human relationships. UNTIL (duhn, duhn, duhn) he falls in love at first sight with a woman from one of the centuries. Nothing about their backgrounds would lead you to think these two people would form a connection, but they do.

From this point on, Harlan's job takes a back seat to his new found love. His only concern is figuring out a way to keep her in his life despite the illegal nature of such a relationship. What he doesn't know ... well, that's where the book gets REALLY good and I'll let you discover that for yourself.

The only minor flaw I'll point out is that, as with many male authors, there's not a lot of foundation to support the sudden "love" the main characters experience. I'd be more inclined to call what they experience "lust." But the story is strong enough to survive that weakness.

Towards the end of his life, Issac Asimov attempted to bring together his various series of novels (the Robot books, the Galactic Empire, and the Foundation) into one universe with a common history. In many ways, the End of Eternity stands out-- it is both independent piece (not part of any series) and and, at the same time, it is the back story behind most of his novels.

The eternals are a group of "time travellers" who live outside normal time and who can travel up and down the time line, from the 27th Century to far in the future. They see their mission as maintaining order and tranquility across the timeline. For example, they can "remove" war, extreme inequality, or even poor manners from the timeline. While the aim is to benefit the most number of people, it also tends to remove creativity and the drive for advancement.

Andrew Harlan is a gifted technician in this world and challenges the order in his soceity, ultimately putting at the risk the very foundation of eternity. A lot of good tension and debates behind Harlan's final decision.

The novel introduces a very interesting concept of time travel and different (co-existing?) realities that differs from most accounts of time travel (for example, H.G. Wells' The Time Machine or Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories)where the impact of time travel grows over time. Asimov explains quantum physics, introduces his concept of psychohistory, and explains one of the paradoxes of time travel (if time travel is possible, why have we never met a traveller from the future?) in this book. Along with a pretty entertaining story as well.

Asimov spends a great deal of time in the opening two-thirds of this story detailing the characteristics of the characters involved. Even though we only see the internal thoughts of the main character, Andrew Harlan, so much time is spent with each character that we really get to know the ins and outs of them all. However, there is so little action that takes place during this time that I was really starting to wonder why this book is so popular with so many. I love Asimov's short stories, but this novel seemed like it was plodding along for so long.
And while it was plodding along, Harlan spends so much time thinking of the unfairness of the social order he lives in. These Eternals have something almost like a caste system in place, where the ones who do the majority of the work to keep Eternity intact are the least respected individuals while those who are treated so highly do almost nothing but endlessly debate. After dwelling on this so many times, I thought I knew where this novel was going. Harlan was going to change the social structure of Eternity. That would have been a cool concept to see Asimov explore.
But then in the last few pages things totally switched around for me. Asimov ended the story in a typically sci-fi sort of way that I suppose sets up his classic Galactic Empire stories (although I am not sure about that for I have not read those Empire stories yet). I was a good ending, just not what I expected. I admit, I was somewhat disappointed. I think an ending changing the social order would have been better. Oh, well.
But I could not get over the fact that the middle half of the story just plods along. Thus, four stars instead of five.

Such a fine book about a time travelling bureaucracy threatened by one rogue "technician".

Asimov was so abnormally prolific that I have a tendency to class his writing with some of the dregs that will make their way into a lifetime of work. It's a mistake and I always marvel at how profound some of his writing could be.

This book has some of the oddities of "golden age" science fiction: a lack of women (though a key plot element in this book), a surfeit of "blasters", an undying faith in the future of microfilm, and a fondness for smokers (though, surprisingly, no academic pipe smokers in this one).These elements are more than compensated for in a story that does marvelous work with the paradoxes of time travel, of the nuances of reality, of how minor events - a moved container, a missed appointment - can impact the future. It even has an interesting love story and some nail-biting adventure. It's Asimov at his best, willing to take on massive ideas about human existence compressed into a fairly brief novel which, at its heart, is about a man's obsession for a woman.

One of Asimov's best science fiction novels. . . . As with his best works, there are rand themes at play. Here, the control of history to "benefit" humanity. . . . His characters are, as in many of his works little more than vehicles for moving the story forward. Still, the characters are a step beyond those of the original Foundation series, for instance.

People are recruited from different points in history to serve as "Eternals," who can travel forward and backward in time and, hopefully, use subtle means to adjust history to ensure good end results. These reality changes are carried out to smooth history and prevent disruptions.

The central character, Andrew Harlan, is one of those who manages change. However, things change dramatically when he becomes involved with a non-Eternal, Noys Lambent. Key plot issue: At one point, she must not exist as a result of a reality change. This sets in motion Harlan's efforts to prevent her nonexistence.

There are political metaphors here. Are Eternals protectors of humanity? Or are they agents of totalitarianism, using their technology and power to control society--past, present, and future? There is a great deal at stake here!

Overall, one of Asimov's more intriguing works.

If you haven't read this before, set aside whatever garbage you're reading right now, and read this from cover to cover. It's amazing. I don't know how I missed it all these years. I now think it's Asimov's best work (which makes it anyone's best work.) It's all the fun of the Foundation trilogy, and all the mystery of the Robot novels, but it's even more clever, and it's probably the most suspenseful book he ever wrote. The details of Eternity - how it started, and how it works - emerge gradually. I thought it was just Asimov's characteristic style of creating richly detailed worlds for his characters to live and struggle in. But it's not indulgence. It's a carefully constructed history, and the threads weave back together in the last third of the book. It's even compatible with the "trilogies".

With Asimov, there's always this strange prescience for developments in society, in technology and even in science itself. "Punctuated Equilibrium" in evolutionary theory doesn't appear until 1972, but he's clearly describing just that in a short passage in one of the latter chapters of this book. Maybe it was just a device for this story, or maybe he was really on to something. Did Stephen J. Gould read this? I would guess there's a good chance he did. It makes me wonder.

For all his cleverness and clairvoyance, this treatment may not be consistent with chaos theory (which didn't exist in 1955.) Today, we might expect that a tiny change in the distant past would trigger a series of ever-widening changes ending in an unrecognizable present and future. In Asimov's world this series of changes reaches a maximum over many centuries, and then gradually diminishes again. Perhaps it's just that the subsequent interventions cascade upscale and eventually displace the former changes. I'll have to give it some more thought...

Of all his works, I think this one is the most conducive to a feature film adaptation. I'm thinking Christopher Nolan or Spike Jonze to direct. No movie stars please.

This was the Good Doctor's response to Heinlein's seminal 'By His Bootstraps': a time travel novel that adds more to the mix than just man-goes-back-to-meet-his-grandfather.
Asimov envisions a society that has tasked itself with improving the lot of mankind by introducing carefully calculated changes in the time flow, a society of 'Eternals' that live outside of the normal time stream in their own environment constructed with full living habitats in each century, all powered by a thin line to the far future when our sun goes nova. It is a caste society, with each individual rigidly relegated to the status and job they are deemed best suited for, from Maintenance to Computer to Technician. The individuals are recruited from the normal time flow, as the Eternals, by their own rules, are forbidden to have children.
Andrew Harlan is one such recruit, who is quickly tabbed as having the emotional makeup and intellectual skills to be a Technician, one of those who actually implement changes in 'normal' time. Somewhat naive, a little bit of an aesthetic who is somewhat bothered by hedonistic societies that he is sometimes required to observe or change, he finds himself in a quandary when he falls in love with a lady from such a society. Determined to have her, he decides on actions that he knows might bring about the end of Eternity, for he has determined a great secret, just how Eternity was started in the first place.
Asimov unravels the mysteries and paradoxes of this situation in his usual inimitable style, carefully laying down the parameters of the problem, leaving clues lying about here and there (which Harlan, obsessed as he is, blithely ignores), all leading to a grand climax that gives new perspective to the traditional time paradox problem. The idea of time 'inertia', where the effect of changes that are introduced to the time line slowly die out, is an interesting one, and is carefully folded into the plot line. Though other books envisioned a corps of people who manage time, the society shown here is better fleshed out than just about all previous attempts, not to be surpassed until Fritz Leiber's The Big Time. And possibly there would not be another better worked out 'solution' to the basic riddle of the time paradox until Heinlein's 'All You Zombies...' appeared. As an intellectual exercise, then, this book is excellent.
But as is also typical for Asimov, his characterization is somewhat weak, although he does a better job here than in some of his other works. Harlan is too one-dimensional, too driven, a little too arrogant about his own abilities, to be totally believable. Noys, his ladylove, is almost a nonentity, although she will become one of the lynch-pins of the final resolution. And Computer administrator Twissell is very close to a stereotype. Still, the characters are adequate to move the plot, and as this is an idea driven novel, not one of character, this failing is not fatal to the enjoyment of the book.
This is one of the very few Asimov novels that is not part of his Foundation or Robot sets. Read it, if for no other reason, to see just what he could do outside of those confines.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Can it be? Has Isaac Asimov actually written a (gasp) love story? Yes indeed. In an organization that is not only apart from time, but actually in control of it (called appropriately enough "Eternity"), one extremely gifted time-alteration technician has done something he never should have. He's fallen in love with a woman from a reality that soon will not longer exist, and is determined to have her love. He knows that it goes against everything he has ever stood for, he knows that it's probably not even real love (can obsession with a person you barely know who only likes you because of mistaken preconceptions actually be called love?), but he's DETERMINED. And to achieve his goal, he's willing to sacrifice ANYTHING, even Eternity itself...

There have been many, many books, movies, ect. over the decades on the subject of time travel. It's always a tricky subject to cover, because so much is theoretical. Rest assured, Asimov knows his stuff. Where others make time travel seem more like fantasy-adventure than science-fiction, Asimov treats his subject as if it were indeed possible, and being done all the time. The implications of changing events in the past and in the future is discussed in a fascinating style, with Eternity altering reality over and over again in the name of making a better world. Although many of the ideas discussed in this book have been done to death since it's creation, this book tackles both the science AND the philosophy of time-travel in expert fashion.

In the end, I'm not sure whether it was the main character and his desperate acts to preserve the only love he'd ever known, or the cool concepts that kept being tossed my way that kept me glued and ripping through pages till I finally finished this masterpiece.

One thing I can tell you though. This is one of the best books by Asimov I've ever read. The characters and world were compelling (and I found myself really feeling for the technician as his plight grew more and more serious), the style is easy to read, the concepts and technology are cool (trading resources across time?), and the plot twists....to die for. This one kept me guessing right up until the end. And if you don't see it coming, you're sure to love the final plot twist. Awesome!

The fame of Asimov's Foundation and Robot series has tended to steal the limelight from some of his other masterpieces, chief among them, The End of Eternity, a book that is hard to find. In this book, Asimov consciously set out to explore the limits of the classic paradox of time travel that has bedeviled so many works of science fiction. As a result, this is a "bare bones" novel; no robots or empires or any other such distractions. Its strength lies in imagination. Asimov looks at our world as it has evolved, and then introduces the organization called Eternity, whose mission is to protect humanity from its own mistakes, by making deft changes in key events over time (past and future). Along the way, he has fun making digs at the unchanging fundamentals of human nature (competition, drive, love) amid centuries of changing social mores. At the heart of the book is the love story of Andrew Harlan and Noyes Lambent, but this tale is just a framework for Asimov to build on. In the final analysis, Asimov is making the point that just as a child learns to walk by repeated falls, humanity's ultimate characteristic is the Schumpeterian desire and ability to innovate through risks. If we are protected from ever making mistakes, we may avoid tragedies, but the human race itself will vegetate and die. As with many of his earlier works, the dialog can be jarring and characters often one-dimensional. For all that however, The End of Eternity ranks among Asimov's finest in the field of science fiction and makes it all the more strange why this book is so difficult to find. Do take the time to lay your hands on it; you will not be disappointed.

(3.50 stars)
This book is from 1955 and deals with an earth-based technology that allows a group of people known as Eternals to travel between the various centuries, including into the future. It's only about 190 pages so won't take too long to read. The plot is a bit convoluted at times (at least I found it so) but it's generally interesting and there's some unseen plot twists along the way. Good for what it is (for me, a welcome change of pace and genre) but it didn't blow me away. A solid 3.5 stars.

I probably first read this classic sometime in the late 1950s; certainly, it's the earliest time travel novel I can remember reading. Andrew Harlan, a native of the 95th century, is a Technician in Eternity, a member of a corps of self-appointed guardians of reality that exists outside of ordinary time. It's a highly stratified society and Harlan is a member of the caste that actually effects changes by making the "Minimum Necessary Change" at the selected point in time and space. Then he meets a woman outside of Eternity with whom he falls in love -- sort of -- and takes it upon himself to protect her from a Change planned for her continuity. Of course, it's a far more complicated matter than that, as Harlan finds out the hard way. In fact, the very existence and survival of Eternity is at stake. But maybe it ought not to survive. The writing seems a bit sappy now, a bit turgid, but styles and tastes change. The basic "time patrol" theme, however, has been riffed on by scores of subsequent novels and short stories. Some points seem rather naive to us now: The enormous size of the "computaplexes," even thousands of years in the future, a voice recording device that's still large enough to require a storage case and a separate microphone, and so on. (It's always surprised me how many Golden Age authors failed to anticipate the minute size of electronic devices so short a distance in their future.) But ignore all that and just enjoy the story for what it is.

I've long been of the slightly heterodox (though far from rare) opinion that The End of Eternity is Isaac Asimov's best novel. It benefits partly from being unconnected to his various series (though there are hints, both within this book and in some of the later books, that there could be a tenuous connection). In addition, Asimov is interested in a significant, and resonant, theme, in a way the central theme of 1950s SF: the human desire for exploration, and the concomitant link between risk-taking and expansion of the human spirit. This still works now, nearly at the turn of the millennium, though inevitably the theme needs to be viewed with a touch of irony. Finally, the story is cleverly constructed, and really quite well-written in spots, within the constraints of Asimov's goals and style. There are weaknesses, to be sure. The central love story is awkwardly handled, and the treatment of women in general is creaky, while the characterization of heroine Noys Lambent in particular is uneven. And as with almost any time travel story, the clever structure of the plot tends to wobble on close examination: but that is a fault endemic to the form, and, I think, excusable here. I was a bit concerned about rereading this book now, not having read it in 20 years, though I read it multiple times as a teen. Would it hold up? With the one caveat that I couldn't quite buy his portrayal of women and romance (which I think I did pretty much accept as a callow teen), I think the book holds up fine.
The End of Eternity concerns Andrew Harlan, a Technician for the organization called Eternity. As a Technician, Harlan is an expert at determining and executing the Minimum Necessary Change in a timeline to attain a desired Change in history. For the Eternals, men who live "outside Time", monitor human history from the 27th Century to about the 70,000th Century, trying to maintain a stable society, with reasonable prosperity. Harlan, we soon learn, is ready to betray Eternity, for the love of a woman. But as his plot advances, he learns more and more about the true nature of his organization.
Asimov resolves his story cleverly, in the process giving us a look at the creation of Eternity, and at the Hidden Centuries so far in the future that the Eternals can't penetrate, or aren't allowed to penetrate. He makes use of time paradoxes worthy of Charles Harness, but Asimov's presentation is so deadpan and rationalistic that he almost makes them believable. And in the end he asks whether stability and general happiness is the most worthwhile goal. His answer is the expected answer for a Campbell-nurtured writer of the 1950s, but it's still the answer I'd give, with modifications.
I'd say that upon recently rereading The End of Eternity I'd still call it Asimov's best novel. If his picture of an all-male Eternity (admittedly given at least nominal justification in the book) seems risible from a contemporary perspective, so does much 1950s SF fail in treatment of women. So too his love scenes are awkward : but 1950s SF writers were rarely allowed much practice in that area. The ideas presented in the book are still compelling: the meta-society of Eternity is nicely worked out, with many cute details, and the overarching theme is well-argued, and still merits thought. And Asimov's prose, so often denigrated, is here, as ever, well-wielded in service of his goals. It's not beautiful, but it's well constructed, and the occasional telling line (as a character's soft sentence about a spaceport wiped out in a Change: "It had been very beautiful") really works. This is the kind of book that made me an SF fan, and it's still worth reading.

Like all the best books, The End of Eternity can sometimes be hard to find. Written back in 1955, it differed from SF books written back then and still stands out today. I still don't understand why it was never embraced by Hollywood. The Russians tried to make a movie based on it in 1987 (`Konets vechnosti') but they made a mess of it.

The story feels real, mainly because of its simplicity and deeply developed characters, all with human frailties. Asimov's imagination was still exceptional and the reader has no difficulty in entering into the blissful state of `willing suspension of disbelief'.

I put it into the same gem category as `Solaris', `The Day of the Triffids' and `Roadside Picnic'. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favour and get a copy as one cannot fully appreciate Asimov without reading The End of Eternity.

This novel and Leiber's THE BIG TIME are the two best time-travel novels. Both avoid the hoary change-history-and-have-to-fix-it plot, and instead address the question: if you had time-travel technology available, how would you use it? In Leiber's novel it is used as a weapon in a ruthless war. Asimov takes the opposite possibility: it falls under the control of an elite that has good intentions, but lacks the wisdom to use it properly: like the controllers in BRAVE NEW WORLD, they end up as a bureaucratic hierarchy obsessed with safety.

The sex/gender treatment is interesting. Most novels of the 1950s took all-male elites for granted; in this novel Asimov shows that Eternity's lack of females is a serious flaw because it cuts the participants off from diverse points of view, not to mention a normal social life. Harlan thinks he is in love with Noys; actually he has simply fallen for the first woman he has met and he knows nothing about her. What looks like flaws in the novel -- Harlan's hysteria and Noys' lack of personality -- are deliberate and part of Asimov's plan. It is a great plan.

There once was a time when authors could write books about important subjects with a short page count, and the books were good, and the stories were complete. This work is an example of the past which has changed.
This book has thematic similarities to both his Galaxia/Gaia of the end of Foundation, as well as with Clarke's City and the Stars and Childhood's End. In that it deals with the grand transfiguration of human culture from the safe and staid to uncertain limitless potential. Oddly though, Asimov's position in this early work is diametric from the result in Foundation and Earth.
This dichotomy also appears in the work, it is almost like two books in one. A straightforward, simplistic 'Back to the Future' naive work that was common for the time dealing with simple characters exploring the neat idea of time travel and its paradoxes. Then for the very last few pages we switch gears to a philosophical discussion on man's place in the universe and his destiny.
For me, the straightforward adventure story of fixing the timestream worked better than the philosophy of fixing the future so mankind will not be safe, but be adventurous and leading to his Galactic Empire/Foundation series. Particularly as I have mentioned Foundation comes right back full circle to a planned safe society rather than an uncertain dynamic society.
Perhaps this was done intentionally as in this book we are told that the centuries are cyclic with industries and attitudes returning over and over again. It could be Asimov's arcing storyline over this and his other series was hinting that not only did industries and social mores repeat, but that a slower cycle of uncertain expansion alternated with the safe over-controlling method of Eternity in this novel and Gaia/Galaxia at the end of Foundation.
To try and summarize, the adventure story here will go down easy and please you while the ending will give you things to think about and possibly disturb you.

"The End of Eternity" was one of the first sci-fi books I ever read. In fact, I remember checking it from the library a few days after seeing "The Time Machine". I was (and am) such a fan of time travel tales. Although Asimov has won kudos for his volumnious works over the years, I've always found him somewhat less than appealing. It seems the plot is always for better than the other elements and the romance is, well, unromantic. His characters are often sterile - more portrait than flesh and blood.
But this novel is something different - a work in which the story, characters and action move along to a surprising ending. The pace of the tale is perfection itself, not too rushed or caught up in non-essential happenings. The romance is, as usual, almost chaste in its presentation but surprisingly deep. Rereading it after all these years still brings pleasure even if it is a tad dated.
All the paradoxes and what-ifs of time travel are present (the idea of "self-protection" from time changes while in the machine is a stroke of genius). The various twists and turns make for an enjoyable read. Do yourself a favor and get the book.

The End of Eternity is a remarkable novel. To begin with, it's Asimov at his best. Except for minor lags when he pauses the story to give lots of background information, it's a pageturner. It's also not only a love story, it's the only one of his novels I recall where he has a number of love scenes. Something that I thought was a mistake - the love interest Noys seemed to only be that, suddenly changes in the final pages when you realize who she really is and what she is doing. It's Asimov at his misleading best. You see what's happening through the eyes of Andrew Harlan, which means that your view of what's going on keeps changing. Then, underlying the story is a whole other level of theological meaning. I don't know if Asimov intended this or not, but essentially the novel, without ever mentioning religion, deals with the old question of why doesn't God intervene to prevent evil. The novel shows a universe in which men acting like gods are intervening constantly to make the universe a better place. Asimov shows the logical consequences, what a true horror that world would end up being.

Having poured through the majority of Isaac Asimov's sci-fi works -- including Nightfall just recently -- I've come to anticipate what makes his characters churn and what plot devices he might pursue. I can even guess at his imaginative twists, though usually they're hard to identify. I can definitively say, though, after being engrossed in this brilliant, self-contained masterwork, that while End of Eternity isn't as enthralling on paper as some of his other stuff, it is -- to me -- his most ingenious novel.

I have never seen the time-travel paradox tackled with such resourcefulness, down to the most detailed minutia. And yet, Asimov's storytelling is so clever, from little wrinkle to expanding little wrinkle, that it feels anything but stagnant and overwrought.

Eternity is developed by humanity in the not-too-distant future (the 24th century, to be exact, but not used until the 27th). It's a secure, time-traveling place where its cerebral workers make careful tweaks across the centuries, hoping to improve humanity's happiness with little pushes here and there. Of course, their intention is to do so while creating the minimum possible ripples, all calculated to a science. As a result, time no longer becomes chronological but fluid, with constant variations being made in wide leaps between future, present, and past.

The crux of the story centers around the actions of the highly intelligent Andrew Harlan, a technician in the world of Eternity (we are introduced quite expertly to the different jobs within Eternity and how these specializations are perceived), after he falls in love with Noÿs Lambent, a woman he observes in the 462nd century. To what lengths will he go to preserve her life, or even to protect Eternity's mere existence? He shuffles among the centuries, working under Computer Twissell and Computer Finge (two superiors), trying to outsmart them while guessing at what they know, and whether they are allies or enemies.

Harlan's mental anguish, his constant stream of deductions, the way he responds to each new revelation as he travels through Eternity are presented so flawlessly that by the conclusion, the resolution makes perfect sense, yet would be impossible to explain without reading the whole book.

As I thumbed through the final pages into the early morning hours, I found myself wondering how a tale featuring just a few main characters could seem to encompass all of humanity, now and going forward. That is the magnificence of End of Eternity, perhaps the greatest book ever written by one of the most inventive minds of our time.

Easily, five stars. Or, as an Asimov fan might say, as many stars until you reach star's end!

This book is almost the paragon of Asimov's earlier science fiction. Critics blow nonesense about lack of character depth and so on and other such maunderings, but the power behind this novel comes from the plot, the science fictional ideas, and the love story. I believe it was of this novel that Damon Knight spoke when he said to Asimov, "If you can write love stories like this, then why bother with science fiction at all?" I must admit, though, that the ending seemes a bit to melodramatized for my tastes, but surely at the time the book was written it carried more power. The revelation of Noys' true identity is the paragon "Asimovian Twist" that I have come to see recurrent through the late grandmaster's work: he starts by feeding the reader a bit of information-- an assumption, if you wil-- about someone or something(more often than not the former) and then at the climax of the story, tears that assumption right out from underneath the reader's feet. Only through intense reding and study of Asimov's works was I able to predict this twist several pages in advance, but I was fooled until then, which says enough in itself, because I knew what to look for. Any fan of Asimov's will already read this book, so it is to the not-yet fans that I speak: if you like science fiction this is as good an early example of it as there is, and it still makes for great reading. PLus, it's not as long as some of his later works, so feel a bit of relief there. Also, look for tie ins to the Empire/Foundation/Robot series in the form of certain concepts and devices mentioned.

"The End of Eternity" was one of the first sci-fi books I ever read. In fact, I remember checking it from the library a few days after seeing "The Time Machine". I was (and am) such a fan of time travel tales. Although Asimov has won kudos for his volumnious works over the years, I've always found him somewhat less than appealing. It seems the plot is always for better than the other elements and the romance is, well, unromantic. His characters are often sterile - more portrait than flesh and blood.
But this novel is something different - a work in which the story, characters and action move along to a surprising ending. The pace of the tale is perfection itself, not too rushed or caught up in non-essential happenings. The romance is, as usual, almost chaste in its presentation but surprisingly deep. Rereading it after all these years still brings pleasure even if it is a tad dated.
All the paradoxes and what-ifs of time travel are present (the idea of "self-protection" from time changes while in the machine is a stroke of genius). The various twists and turns make for an enjoyable read. Do yourself a favor and get the book.

Another excellent work by Asimov! Fascinating storyline with intriguing concepts; I had to work on some of the new vocabulary and meanings, but it was well worth the effort. I may just read it again to see what I missed the first time around.

It's always a pleasure to come across an Asimov book I hadn't read. At the end I'm often left thinking -- wow, how did he come up with that? Well, Asimov was a genius, and in this book, like the Foundation Series, he really takes it to the next level of brilliance. You, or I, or anyone else can try to come up with something as good as this. But we can't. Because he was that good.

The End of Eternity is Asimov's take on time-travel, and quite possibly the time-travel book to end all time-travel books. It's almost like Asimov challenged himself to include every time-travel paradox he could think of, and he adroitly resolves all of them.

This is vintage Asimov, and one of the most thrilling and unpredictable of all his books. It is considered by many to be his single best SF novel, and I concur.

Tl;dr : Pure genius.

This is the only asimov book I've had trouble finding. Sadly he's one of the few science fiction authors of his generation still largely in print. This book is more emotionally engaging than most of his work. Also I think this is one of his earliest stories to have an independent woman who wasn't a spinster. This is quite possibly my favorite of his books, but I like time travel stories. The Robot-Empire-Foundation series is great too, but it's a shame it's overshadowed this (Although this book does have a ,very tenuous, connection to that series.)Interestingly my favorite of his short stories ,as I recall, was "The Last Question" which is overshadowed by "Nightfall". Funny how things work.

One of the issues older science fiction novels--late 40s, early 50s--is that they are usually anachronistic. In other words, characters are using slide rules thousands of years in the future instead of advanced computers, etc. The beauty with The End of Eternity is that these anachronistic story elements actually make sense in the context of the story. Using a lever to move an "kettle" back and forth through time actually feels realistic since Eternity is a hodgepodge of people from different times and places throughout human existence. Isaac Asimov's weakness actually works for him in this storyline, making it feel surprisingly realistic.

The storyline takes a lot of time to unfold. The pacing is very slow until you get to the end, where the plot unfolds at a neck-breaking pace. If you enjoy science fiction that realistically deals with the implications of time travel and what humans would do with it (turn it into a bureaucracy that plays God with potential timelines) then The End of Eternity is a wonderful book to read.

In the future, there's the Eternity, an entity in charge of keeping history in balance. The Eternity is set outside the time flux, so the members can see the timeline of thousands of centuries, and they often enter the "reality" to make small chages that affect the future (or the present - or the past), preventing a war, or simply the birth of someone.

The protagonist is one of these men, used to change and interfere with reality. Until he meets someone who will chage his perspective.

Although it seems excessively intricate, the plot is not so difficult to aprehend after some chapters. It's hardcore sci-fi, ok, but it's so appealing that you can't put it down.

The best novel by Asimov by far, in my opinion. A mature tale about morality, love, and free will. Strongly recommended.

This is a thoughtful book that explores what time travel would do to humanity. It also explores the stunting effects of overly protectionistic policies which can prevent proper development and exploration of new opportunities.

The plot is riveting and the exploration of the implications of these ideas is masterful, however the characters can be somewhat flat at points.

I have to say that this is one of Asimov's best works in the Galactic Empire series. Others might say that this doesn't fall in the series, but I feel it should be considered to be the first book in the series.

I don't think any other author has discussed time manipulation in as much detail as Asimov does in this book. He also refrences a couple of ideas found in his other books. One is the idea of scanning possible timelines to determine the best for humanity. (This was mentioned in "Foundation and Earth") Also the Galactic Empire was mentioned, which is the overall idea of the series.

This book should be a must read for all Asimov fans.

I read this book as a teenager. Now that I'm 50. I reread it and am even more impressed. The plot is complicated but comes together very well in the end. There is a 1950's charm that still works well now in 2014. All in all it if the best time travel story I have read. I hope that one day it is made into a movie.

In my mind, the best of early Asimov books, full of the choice of human possibility over safety, and the technological solubility of problems being a double-edged sword. He is of his time; a contemporary girl will find it hopelessly dated. Nevertheless, perhaps the best lines Asimov ever wrote close the book: "It was the end of Eternity. And the beginning of Infinity." Read the book for a sense of what has been lost from the human vision since its publication. Perhaps the "Star Trek" franchise serves a similar purpose, imagining a human future in which we have survived, prospered and remained true to our best selves. Recall Faulkner's Nobel address: mankind will not just survive, but prevail.

While some of the other reviewers had pretty much summed up the philosophical points of time travel - I'll recommend you'll read those reviews. I'd like to bring up a point which has little to do with time travel, but the the phylosophy so subtly woven in this book many people may miss it - the fact that the 'happiness' which was mathematically & so carefully calculated by the eternals wasn't the best happines human kind can achieve, and that through pain & suffering we can rise up and make great achievements.

If you like Foundation, you should like this book. Asimov 's writing style pretty much tells the story thru dialogue, with sparse descriptions and minimal action. The plot centers around time travel and probably was one of the first to deal with the dilemmas of that idea.

At the beginning, the primary character seems hopelessly naive and smitten by love for a woman, a situation that leads to trouble that threatens eternity. However, Asimov with his sense of mystery along with the science-fictional sense of wonder brings us to a suspenseful ending, one which is eminently satisfying.
I was drawn to it after reading his Robot, Empire, and Foundation series, and at first thought found that it just was not in the same universe, but by the end, saw clearly how it fits in.

This is another one of Isaac Asimov's great stories provided by the store. This one is about a man taken out of time and educated in temporal manipulation. The time agents go about changing events to make a better future, but at certain expenses. There is a problem, though. Those people of the distant future are trying to stop this process.

This story begins a little slow, but when it finally kicks off, you really want to know what happens next. One of the really good points of this sci-fi story is the way the details of the world fit into each other. The world and the characters are interesting because they are believable. It all makes sense, because of the amount of detail that goes into everything.

Besides that, this book gives you another interesting view at time travel than most stories about this subject. I truly recommend this to every sci-fi fan that likes an intelligent story.

This is one of the shortest novels Asimov has written (at least, the shortest I've read, and I've read plenty), but it packs a hell of a punch. Asimov's presentation of Eternity, an organization which exists out of time for the continual betternment of mankind, is very thought-provoking. This novel is unique among Asimov's in at least two respects: it explores (and questions) the morality of the "future" he presents (although Asimov deals a lot with morality in one form or other in most of his novels - this is one of the things I like most about reading him); and his characters are unusually human. Actually, for much of the book they are almost too human: they are often irrational and, well, dumb - as are some aspects of the world he creates. But persevere. As always, there is a reason for everything. It all comes together in an ending which will bend your mind. In short, a great read.

The End of Eternity is a brisk and totally satisfying thought experiment that poses the question most other time travel books don't even ask: why would you even want to alter events in time? Asimov concludes, correctly, that the life of a species should unfold the same way an individual life unfolds; without the beneft of hindsight. A decision made in hindsight, it turns out, is not superior to the original - it's just wrong for different reasons.

The Foundation series was just OK, Pebble in the Sky and The Currents of Space were downright boring, but this is the type of story that earned Asimov the title of master. Read this book.

I suppose that Asimov couldn't ignore the basic sci-fi themes of time travel and alternate realities and here he turns in a respectable novel that makes use of these themes. Not as good as some of other sci-fi works that he published around the same time, such as the robot novels and the (early) Foundation series, nevertheless 'End of Eternity' reflects the signature Asimov writing style: plot twists, scientist-as-hero characterization, and the 'let's stretch this sci-fi concept to it's logical conclusion' story-line (done in his usual playful, tongue in-cheek manner). In other words, it delivers the goods.

If you have enjoyed most of the other early works of Asimov, and tire quickly of his later, nostalgia-riding, buck-raking-in 'Foundation's Fridge' period, read this book. It will not disappoint.

This is one of Asimov's best. Each chapter ends on a high (a la perils of Pauline) so that you want to keep reading. The time travel ideas in here are unique and very interesting. I don't think they've ever been copied!! It's an enjoyable read, and you've probably never encountered some of these ideas before. This is a very enjoyable, easy read

I do not like sci-fi. I find it technical, dry and one dimensional. But this book is a masterpiece. This book is pure, unadulterated, first class literature. The time a great book happens does not matter. This one happens to happen.... Everywhere in time. I lovely it !

This is an outstanding 'hard' science-fiction story. It is ideas driven - and one has to bear this in mind. It has an exciting plot - but, yes, as some others have said the writing style is from the 1950's, and I found myself having to adapt to it.

But if you are interested in conceptions and ideas around 'Time', and a great thriller plot which is true to the ideas in the book - then I recommend this book thoroughly. The ideas in it stretch the imagination - and I would say have the power to reconfigure reality within oneself. Yes, the book is as powerful and profound as that!

it to be a little rocky, especially as far as his writing of male/female relationships. But this book far surpassed my expectations and the last 20 pages or so completely surprised me despite my having read and viewed lots of science fiction over the years. I have never been able to get through Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, but this I would recommend to anyone who likes science fiction dealing with time travel.

I first read this book many, many years ago. It is still as enjoyable today as it was then. Although most of Asimov's other novels are better known than this one, it should definitely be on the "to read" list of any of his fans. Most others here have given a brief synopsis of the story line, so I will not repeat them. But do read this one; you won't be sorry!

This is, quite simply, my favourite book of all time. The End of Eternity captures soft sci-fi with compelling romance, and does what no 'romance' genre book could ever do for me.
I use it for teaching in my fiction writing classes at college.

Melodie Campbell, author of The Goddaughter

There's a tremendous irony in finding this novel a little bit 'old fashioned'. But it's even more ironical to realise that something so old/modern can still have a galvenising effect 50 years after it was written.
In fact it's a timeless classic - a brilliant take on the well worn 'time travel' genre with a great paradoxical twist at the end. Give up the modern stuff and settle down with the instructions from somebody else's future.

I really enjoyed this book. I am a bit of an Asimov junkie and this felt different than much of his other work. I really enjoyed it though. Really accessible to all SF readers and some well written time-travel.

An extremely criative story only the mind of Isaac Asimov could've put together. It takes a few pages to get into the plot, and it demands continued attention throughout in order not to get lost, but then the book becomes a fascinating "page turner".

This is one of my favorite Azimov novels. I liked it much more than some of his more popular books. It has a tight plot, a snappy pace, and some thoughtful insights.

I love the characters in this story. I think he drew more than just a little on his experiences in the scientific community to flesh them out.

The only criticism I have is about the publishers:

26 dollars????? For a <200 page paper back?????

Are these Liberian dollars?

Are the pages printed on gold foil?

Do the pages exude an airy humor that cures cancer?

If you want my opinion, buy the book second hand. It's well worth the read.

Even though this book is out of print and difficult to find, make the effort, whatever it may be, and GET IT. Read it. I assure you, you will read it many times over. I have read more than 20 Asimov books and this is for sure one of the Top 3. He deals with Time Travel in a manner that's never (to my knowledge) been done before. The characters - with the exception of Noys - are really well developed and the suprise ending at the end is great.

This is clearly one of the best of Asimov's works. A pleasure to read. Its a simple story of alternative reality going into non-existance when one unknown Technitian falls in love with a very special woman. The result of love is nothing unexpected except that Eternity ends clearing way to Galactic Empire which in turn switches to the Foundation. It is simply amazing how Asimov sticks to his original idea and how he introduces new perspective. In this book you will learn a great deal on time travel and all its aspects. Read it as soon as you can, the ending is really astonishing.

Considering the publish date of this novel, Asimov proves that he is ahead of his time even in the year 2005. I have not really read many time-travel intesive books but Hollywood can't compare to the master of Science Fiction. This was a rather short read for me as I had just finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The pace of the book is a bit slow at the beginning but picks up quickly toward the end. I enjoyed the time perspective change from the main character and found it to be rather unique. If you are an Asimov fan and haven't read this book, you are cheating yourself out of a good read.

I first read this book 20 years ago and still believe it is one of the best works of science fiction I have ever written. It's certainly the most ingenious book on time travel ever written. Asimov's characters are richly drawn, and the story is fascinating. The social commentary is also intriguing; Asimov's potrayal of Eternity is a thinly veiled critique of the American corporate workplace, circa 1950, with its backstabbing, it's all-male culture and its crushing emphasis on conformity and careerism. "The End of Eternity" is a masterpiece that deserves wide exposure.

Harlan is a technician and works for a political sort of organisation called The Eternals. They minister to time over tens of thousands of centuries, and try and keep it running with a minimum of adjustments.

People being what they are, Harlan decides to make a minor fiddle because of his feelings for a woman.

It is inexplicable why this book is out of print and so little known. It is probably Asimov's best, and a very enjoyable read, despite the fact that it shows its age and does not avoid some of the standard sci-fi cliches.

I've loved that book. At first, because I like of time adventures and after because the highly creative end of its storie. Unfortunately, I gave my book to a friend and never more I found the book again to buy.

I first read this book 20 years ago and still believe it is one of the best works of science fiction I have ever written. It's certainly the most ingenious book on time travel ever written. Asimov's characters are richly drawn, and the story is fascinating. The social commentary is also intriguing; Asimov's potrayal of Eternity is a thinly veiled critique of the American corporate workplace, circa 1950, with its backstabbing, it's all-male culture and its crushing emphasis on conformity and careerism. "The End of Eternity" is a masterpiece that deserves wide exposure.

Harlan is a technician and works for a political sort of organisation called The Eternals. They minister to time over tens of thousands of centuries, and try and keep it running with a minimum of adjustments.

People being what they are, Harlan decides to make a minor fiddle because of his feelings for a woman.

It is inexplicable why this book is out of print and so little known. It is probably Asimov's best, and a very enjoyable read, despite the fact that it shows its age and does not avoid some of the standard sci-fi cliches.

I've loved that book. At first, because I like of time adventures and after because the highly creative end of its storie. Unfortunately, I gave my book to a friend and never more I found the book again to buy.

A really interesting, fast-moving time-travel book that I thoroughly enjoyed. At first I was put off by the protagonist, who is an emotionally-stunted wrecking ball, but I decided to go with it, and I'm glad I did. As it turns out, there's a reason for it!

What makes this book so fascinating for me is that I kept thinking I had figured out where Asimov was going with his story. Each time I did, I soon found I was right, and then I wondered what he would do with the rest of the book. He would then use what I thought had been the solution to set up an entirely new problem that led the book to a completely new level.

It's always difficult to play with man's ability to travel through time, while you always end up with contradictions you can't explain away. Asimov bypasses this problem more elegantly by isolating the timetravellers from society in a separate environment. That leaves the reader with a pleasant and well written story.

Seeing as the Eternals have access to most time periods of the future, you would think they would have better technologies than micro-film to store books and other information :) Another problem is the relationship between Harlan and Noys... one non-described roll in the sack isn't going to create the deep romantic interest we see presented in the book. I'm a huge Asimov fan, and have read almost all of his SciFi work, and this book, while not a failure, has earned my lowest rating so far.

This is a brilliant book, written by a brilliant science fiction writer. Since it was published in 1955, i think that many others stories and movies about travelling in time were inspired in this book. I recommend for all interested in time, space and reflection about human evolution.

That's what makes a sci-fi book/movie great!! The plot and environment are totally plausible if you project our civilization a few thousand years into the future.
This was my first Asimov book, I've also read the first three of the foundation series but this one is much better.

I love this book. I read translated edition again and again.
After I bought a Kindle I tryed to buy Asimov books first, but almost all books has no kindle edition yet, at least in my country.
I wish I can buy and read them on my kindle as soon as possible.

Again, Macmillan and Tor appear to be selling their back catalogue at ridiculous prices as ebooks in my opinion. This book is 50 years old and the author has been dead for 18 years, yet they expect people to be gullible to pay $11.99 for an ebook that costs about $2.50 to make. What a joke.