Pebble in the Sky

This is the link to the Foundation Universe. The story takes place when a 62 year old tailor living in Chicago in 1949 steps over a Raggedy Ann doll and ends up 20,000 years in to the future, the 800th year of the Galactic Era of the Empire that Trantor rules. (This phenomenon is explain with a nuclear reaseach institute in Chicago firing a laser beam that supposedly hits the tailor, Joseph Schwartz, transporting him permanently into the future).
In this future Earth in the Galactic Era, Earth, and its inhabitants, are shunned by the rest of the Galaxy, so the surviving Earth people, stuck on a radioactive planet (supposedly the resutl of a nuclear war, but it never states that. Asimov finanlly comes up with a alternative explanation 35 years later in his book, Robots and Empire, but I don't want to spoil this for you).
The story states that the Earth can only support 20 million people, so anyone who reaches the age of 60 must report to an institute to be painlessly put to death, to make room for the young. However, this is stated, but it is not an essential element of the story. Schwart is 62, and does got in trouble, but not over that, and he is not chased for that reason, so this never really comes into play. There is another plot that supercedes this, and could be worse.
In this future, Schwartz finds that he cannot speak the language, so he meets up with a doctor, Dr. Shekt, and subjects Schwartz to a Synapsafier, a device that can improve one's mind to learn faster, i.e. raising one I.Q. Schwartz not only learns the modern dialect, but he finds out what is going on with the future Earth, and develops a gift of mind probing, and can make others think and do his bidding.
And he needs it. Earth is governed by Procurator whose home is on top of Mt. Everest, now supporting a domed city, the rest of the galaxy shuns Earth and will not take any Earth "refugees" onto their worlds, and one Secretary, Balkis, an Earthman who hates the rest of the galaxy and devises a plot to destroy the rest of humanity in the galaxy, and has a believable way of doing it.
There we have the plot, with conflict and relationship of many of these characters. Here, with Schartz's new found mental powers, you can see, even back in 1949 when the book was written, the link between this, The Mule in The Foundation, and later, the sequels to the trilogy, "Foundation's Edge" and even "Foundation and Earth."
Notice that the old city names were shortened: Chica instead of Chicago, Washann instead of Washington, D.C., and Senloo rather than St. Louis. Being that far in the future, the names would shorten, or at least evolve.
Mainly, the book and the Galactic Empire Trilogy is the link to the Foundation Series, and every aspect, including psychic abilities found in "Foundation's Edge" and "Foundation and Earth," are found here. It also tells the story of a man who innocently is transported eons into the future, and tells of how he adjusts to his new era, especially when he can never go back to his past. In spite of the fact that he had a family, he seems to do quite well, even through the hard times he experiences. There should be more on how the local government would dispose of him because of his age, but there are bigger problems he has to experience before that.
There is a lot in this book, and if you are a Foundation fan, you should note the connections between this and the plots of subsequent books.

I have mixed feelings about this book. As Asminov’s first novel, it is a bit rough around the edges. Yet the way it presents racism as from the receiving end is interesting and those who do not get why racism is fundamentally wrong could learn from this.

Some of the scientific premisses are seriously dated – like the presumption that all new scientific wonders somehow relate to radioactivity (radioactive spider bite, anyone), that a galactic civilization’s most advanced mode of news transmission will be “microfilm” (how old do you need to be to even know what that is?) – and the mode of an angry repressed Earth taking on a massive pan-Galactic civilization is seriously implausible. You could also argue about the plausibility of the radiation vs. merger hypotheses of human origins – you could test such things by studying genomic variation even in today’s world. Of course the structure of DNA was only known in 1953, and this book (based on earlier short stories) was published before then. And of course computers were barely known at the time, though electronic transmission of information was known if primitive by today’s standards.

The most interesting aspects of the story are the way a person from the far distant past would react to being thrown into a future they could barely comprehend, and the manner in which racism is presented in a way that puts the reader inside hurtful discrimination. To a modern reader, the treatment of women is archaic, but that is par for the course for literature of that era. Despite the story moving at a good clip and the characters being developed just enough to be plausible, the ending has a bit of a whiff of deus ex machina.

Still, for some background to the later, highly successful Foundation series, this is interesting reading and Asimov’s natural skills as a story teller make up to some extent for its deficiencies.

Every once in a while you just need something to read that is light and easy. As enjoyable as complex plots are and as rewarding as it can be to read carefully nuanced and well-developed, multifaceted characters, sometimes you just want something that is comforting and easy. After all, you can't eat at a 5-star restaurant every day. Sometimes you just want mashed potatoes.
That is exactly what you get with "Pebble in the Sky." It's not deep like Asimov's Robot stories can be (and I can't recommend Asimov's Robot stories enough). It's not multifaceted like Asimov's novel "The End of Eternity" (and every science fiction fan should read "The End of Eternity"). It's the lightest Asimov read I have yet come across, but it is fun. I wouldn't call it engrossing. It is a little too predictable to be engrossing. By the time you get to the end of the story you realize that, of course, it had to end that way, and somehow you always knew that it would end that way. But it is just so much fun to read. The way the characters talk and interact with each other reminds me of the way characters talked in the movies I have seen from the 50's and early 60's. It's charming. Yes, that is the perfect word for it. The way these characters talk is charming, and it transports you back to that time. I know this book is supposed to transport you to the far distant future, but for me it transported me to the 50's and everything seemed simpler and it was charming.
So yes, this is not Asimov's best work. By far it is not. Yes, the story is simplistic and full of coincidences. Yes, I am still trying to figure out why it was even necessary to have a person from the 60's be transported to the far distant future to even tell this story (Schwartz, the main character of the story, seems so unnecessary to the unfolding of the story). But the story itself is just so fun and relaxing and doesn't require much thinking, and sometimes you just need that. So, if you every just need to totally relax and shut everything down while you let your eyes wander across a page and have fun while doing it, then this is the book for you.
Oh, I almost forgot, there is a great scene where the villain so totally misinterprets everything that is happening that he creates an entire far-reaching conspiracy where none exists. Classic.

Pebble in the Sky (1950), Isaac Asimov's first published novel, is a revision of the earlier short story `Grow Old With Me' published in the late 1940s. The novel itself takes place in the vast Galactic Empire based at Trantor that features in so many of Asimov's short stories and novels -- most famously, Foundation. Although I am generally unimpressed with Asimov's science fiction, Pebble in the Sky contains intriguing world building and an elderly man as the main character which is rather rare in sci-fi (albeit, this does not prevent a silly romance between the other younger main characters from providing the novel's emotional core). But, most appealing to me, Asimov moves away from the all too simplistic dichotomy of good vs. bad that characterized most pulp of the day.

Recommended for fans of Asimov and 40s/50s science fiction... And space opera fans interested in more "substantial/complex" early manifestations of the subgenre...

Brief Plot Summary/Analysis

Joseph Schwartz, a retired tailor, is accidentally transported thousands of years into the future due to a nuclear laboratory accident (be warned, Asimov had not fully settled on his Future History outline so readers who know Foundation inside and out will find some dating inconsistencies in Pebble in the Sky etc).

Future Earth has been drastically transformed... The planet is a minor province in a vast Galactic Empire, its soils and air is radioactive, and its people are governed by strange (an outside might argue, disturbing) customs. Earth is ruled by a Procurator who lives with his court high in the Himalayas. Local authority is in the hands of a group of fanatics who believe that Earth should be independent from the Empire. Due to the barren state of the planet the population is held low and all individuals over the age of sixty (and those who no longer can work) are euthanized.

Due to the fact that the language has changed drastically, the people who find Joseph think that he is mentally handicapped. He is taken to a controversial doctor in Chica (what was once Chicago) who has developed a machine to increase intelligence (queue standard plot device). Joseph is "volunteered" without his knowledge for the procedure... Over the course of the rest of the novel Joseph learns the true extent of his new abilities.

The second plot strand follows Bel Arvardan, an Archaeologist at the University of Arcturus. Bel Arvardan is a proponent of a controversial theory that all of humanity originated on Earth. However, due to the intense hatred Earth holds for Outsiders and the Galactic Empire's hatred of Earth -- Asimov makes it clear that this is a vicious self-perpetrating loop and neither party is more complicit than the other -- Arvardan's theory is met with derision.

Both plot strands -- Joseph Schwartz + Dr. Shekt's scientists who operate on him and Bel Arvardan's archaeological mission -- combine in a rather contrived way. Arvardan falls head over heels for Pola, Dr. Shekt's daughter, despite his initial prejudice: "The women weren't bad-looking... His brows knit. Of course even tolerance must draw the line somewhere. Intermarriage, for instance, was quite unthinkable" (123). Eventually the parties uncover an Earth plot to send missiles with a virus to the planets in the Galaxy -- but who will listen to them? Can they even agree with each other what should be done?

Final Thoughts

Read as a commentary on colonialism Pebble in the Sky is at its most thought provoking. The Galactic Empire reads as a sort of European power who have colonized other planets. For example, Bel Arvardan's opinion of Earth people is complex due to the poor status of Earth -- he believes that he is more enlightened, yet, simultaneously admits that his prejudices are from birth. Try as hard as he can to dispense with childhood indoctrination it creeps into his dialogue, his thoughts, and his actions. It's rather a shame that Asimov thought that the only way for Bel Arvardan's views to be fully altered happens after he fell in love with an Earth woman....

Earth's inhabitants (and fanatical organizations that govern them) view the Galactic empire with hostility as well. Earthmen are unable to leave the planet for healthier worlds yet are simultaneously condemned by the outside world for their "barbarous" actions despite the environmental situation on their radioactive planet. Both sides have a full range of superstitions they hold for each other.

Asimov's world building and characterization is top-notch. However, I found that the plot integrated rather haphazardly into the word -- and plot-facilitating last minute insertion of missiles filled with biological weapons is simply to bring a little tension and a quick conclusion.

I purchased this as a Kindle book for its convenience (my paperback version having fallen apart many years ago). The book is great, the price, however, sucks! This was a $0.35 paperback in the '60s. ... To get to $10.19 (paperback) & $9.99 (Kindle) would imply somewhere near 3000% price inflation from 1967 dollars. Even a non book-cooked CPI doesn't show this type of inflation. // Maybe the publisher thinks that this is a college text book where they can simply screw the public. Horse thieves are horse thieves no matter what kind of horse they are stealing. Get this book from your library instead. //

For about two thirds of the book, Pebble in the Sky is a wonderful read. Unfortunately, the last third descends into stereotypical adventure story boilerplate complete with a rather sloppy deus ex machina ending. I guess we have to remember that at this point (around 1950) the audience for science fiction novels was largely composed of teen and young adult boys looking for tales of adventure and daring-do, and to succeed with them, a young, not-yet-established Isaac Asimov had to give them what they wanted.

Nevertheless, Asimov's first published novel shows an author who had already clearly honed his craft with numerous shorter works published in magazines before he got a chance to put out a self-contained extended narrative. And he wasn't about to blow it. Especially noteworthy in Asimov's works preceding Pebble are the Foundation stories, which provide this novel with a ready-made universe including a galactic empire populated by humans tens of thousands of years in our future. Clearly, Asimov was already well versed in the mechanics of space opera construction when he penned Pebble.

All of which makes the ending of Pebble especially disappointing as the interesting characters, compelling setting and intriguing New Testament allusions promised a much more thought-provoking resolution. Chalk it up to a rookie mistake...

Don't you just hate those days when you're walking down the street just minding your own business and then suddenly poof! you're in another time completely? That's how Joseph Schwartz's day starts, and it more or less goes downhill from there. Before too long he's volunteered for a scientific experiment because everyone assumes he's mentally damaged (due to nobody being able to understand a word he's saying, and vice versa, thanks to a several thousand year language gap) and that, hey, it can't make him any worse. So what if all the animals we've tried it on so far have died? This time's the charm! Besides, it's not like he'll be able to complain to anyone. And that's all before the plot really begins to start.

The Empire novels are kind of the misbegotten children of the Asimov stable of SF novels. Not only were they early works (this is apparently his first real novel, unlike stuff like Foundation and I, Robot, which were collections of linked short stories) but they don't have the thematic weight that the other series have, basically winding up being those stories that were set between the Robot and Foundation years, and even that was kind of determined after the fact. There don't seem to be continuing characters and are essentially a trilogy in all but name.

But even here Asimov clearly has something going for him. His idea of the future is topsyturvy in parts, with Earth being radioactive and an extremely minor player in galactic affairs. Everyone is ruled by a massive empire now and no one believes that they all came from Earth, except for some archeologists. The plot of the novel sneaks up on you, where you think it's going to mostly be able Schwartz and his acclimation into future society, but he hardly even gets a chance to become used to his surroundings before people start chasing him in the name of science, until he gets the ability to fight back. His injection into sideways politics, a bystander who manages to upend the scene, isn't what you normally saw in Golden Age SF of the time, generally your protagonist was a go-getter space hero character, where nobody here falls into that category. It gives a weird everyman perspective to events, which only makes it seem stranger because everything is new for us, but with all the rapid changes even the characters don't seem to know which end is up.

It makes for fun reading when it gets going, which like most Asimov books it takes a bit to really kick into gear. Still, even at this point in time he had some of his old tricks, his allergy to anything resembling action is already apparent, with the ending coming along as people walking in from offscreen mopping their brows and going "Whew, that was tough. I almost didn't think we'd make it through!" It's the collision of ideas that sparks the mind here, as everyone tries to imagine the future in their own way, and coming to a type of happy medium doesn't seem to be an option. He makes you care, even though the stakes aren't anything we can really relate to and our one viewpoint character is absent for good chunks of a fairly short novel to begin with.

For amusement purposes, it's also interesting to see a future that doesn't seem to involve computers or the Internet (or famously, robots, which would get him into a pickle later when he tried to link the series) but there's a reason why SF never attempted to predict the future. But Asimov started out strong and while he's not in his prime here, he clearly has a taken on the genre that's groundbreaking in its own way, even if its more a quiet revolution than anything else.

There's no question that Isaac Asimov is one of the great sci-fi writers of all time. Published in 1951, Pebble in the Sky, Asimov's first novel, reminds us of his greatness and iconic influence on the genre, and makes me want to revisit his other, more famous books.

The story opens with Joseph Schwartz, a twentieth century everyman, suddenly transported thousands of years into the future due to an accident at a nearby nuclear laboratory. In the future in which he finds himself, Earth is a "pebble in the sky," an insignificant backwater in the Galactic Empire. Now the political and cultural centers of the Empire are light years away and the Earth is a radioactive, post-nuclear wasteland, with only isolated inhabitable portions. The catch is that the Earth is actually the cradle of humanity, but no one really knows that.

Schwartz arrives in the 9th century of the Galactic Era at a crucial moment. The leaders of earth are plotting revenge on the rest of the empire, and it's up to Schwartz, an Earth scientist, and an archeologist from another planet to thwart the plot. Pebble in the Sky has all the characters and elements necessary for pulp sci-fi: the everyman hero, the hand-wringing megalomaniac with the plot to take over the galaxy (you can almost hear the evil laugh), the almost believable technological advances, the brilliant scientist who is taken advantage of by the evil plotters, his beautiful daughter/assistant, and the famous outsider who sets aside his prejudice and takes the side of the underdogs.

This is a fun, fast-moving story with lots of coincidences to tie the people and events together. But more than that, it reveals Asimov's prophetic insights in culture, technology, and history. Some of his insights are dead on, like the readers they use instead of books. However, they put spools into the readers; Asimov didn't anticipate the memory capacity of today's devices. As prolific as he was, we could fit everything he ever wrote on an ipod.

I particularly liked the portrayal of discrimination against Earthmen. Earth was isolated and looked down upon by the rest of the galaxy as filthy and detestable. I imagine the same kinds of attitudes as the English held toward some of their colonies, or as whites toward blacks. Writing in the early 1950s, before the civil rights movement took hold, I wonder if Asimov's message was noted; it must have been at least a little controversial in some circles.

This is truly a classic. Sci-fi lovers shouldn't miss it.

People said I would like Isaac Asimov's writing. People were right.

For my first dip into Asimov's remarkable selection of literature, I picked up "Pebble in the Sky", his first novel. It turned out to be an excellent choice. After reading the first few chapters, I was scratching my head at why I had gone through my entire life thus far without having read anything by Asimov. But I didn't dally too long on that thought as the book pulled me in, and I plunged right back into the story:

Sixty-two years young, Joseph Schwartz is a retired tailor in Chicago. The story begins with his miraculous transportation to Earth's distant future, where he finds himself in a human society that is completely alien--a society that has been devastated my leftover radioactivity from an ancient nuclear war, a society that is ruled and discriminated against by the Galactic Empire, a society that euthanizes all people who reach the age of 60.

Along the way, we meet other characters, including: Bel Arvardan, an archaeologist from Sirius; Dr. Shket and his daughter, Pola, who have built and operate a mind-enhancing device called the Synapsifier; and mastermind who is behind a plot to destroy the Empire and bring Earth back to power.

Asimov does an amazing job intertwining his characters and plots in a seamless fashion. The words, pages, and chapters just flow out of the book naturally. He reveals information at the right time, always preventing the reader from being confused, but leaving much still a mystery until the very end.

"Pebble in the Sky" is an excellent science fiction novel. I'm glad I was recommended to read Asimov. Now let me recommend it to you. :)

Pebble in the Sky is seminal Post War "message" science fiction, like giant bug movies and Star Trek's morality episodes. The science is wrong or just missing, the storytelling is unsophisticated and the plot is simplistic but it is popular.

Why, after 60 years, are people still reading and reviewing this book? No doubt partly because it's an Asimov work and calls out to completists and admirers. Probably in part because (Spoiler Alert) it has a happy ending and the triumph of good people and good causes over bad people and malign systems. Also, it's an easy read, seemingly unchallenging intellectually or in any other way. But I think there are reasons that don't show on the surface. The book is not as simple as it seems.
Asimov's main plot speaks to our desire to be simple decent people but also exceptional, heroically recognizing and overthrowing an oppressive system. The protagonist is a retired tailor, an immigrant everyman. In his old life and in his new world, he overcomes wrenching dislocation in a world teetering on the edge of destruction. These are strong themes of the American experience of the immigrant waves and the displaced persons of the Second World War. It appeals as well to anyone who has fantasized about ending up in another world and becoming a local hero on a vast stage. Attentive reading provides an additional dimension that also resonates from the cold war into our wars. That is the relentless and repeated demand of aggressive ideologies (in this case the corrupt Earth oligarchy) to violently assert domination over a more legitimate and better, if flawed, order; using real grievances to drive a terrorist and absolutist agenda. One reviewer applied this to Israeli policies and Zionism, fair perhaps, but one can more reasonably assume Asimov in 1949 was worried about Stalinism, McCarthyism, or both. In any case, it is a powerful theme that gives the story greater depth and another tie to contemporary concerns. A third theme, ever present, is the immense power of authoritarian systems and the incredible difficulty of resisting them. Asimov overcomes their power with a sci fi deus ex machina, and a somewhat unrealistic falling off of the scales from the eyes of the oppressors. Prior to that, the book is built on the backs of people embedded in political systems they cannot alter or even question. A very "1984" cold war fear described in surprisingly relevant terms.

Overall, Pebble in the Sky is anachronistic and contemporary, simplistic and complex. In other words, it's early work, but it's vintage Asimov at his best, and well worth the time.

Asimov was 29 in 1949 when Doubleday accepted his first novel; its first printing was in early 1950. The year 2010 marks its sixtieth anniversary in print. For an author, having your novel reach sixty years in print is a good thing. For the natives of Earth, who reach their sixtieth birthday in the year 827 G.E. (Galactic Era), that is a bad thing.

Earth is one of the very few planets, among the millions of worlds in the Galactic Empire, that is radioactive. Well, not completely, there are a few habitable areas, just enough land to support the current population of 20 million. To keep the population from growing, the Brotherhood ensures everyone who reaches their 'Sixty' will do their duty ...

Unfortunately for Loa Maren, her father is past sixty and the census is next year. They live in fear that the Brotherhood will find out. And then, one early evening, someone begins banging on the door. Could it be the Brotherhood? Arbin leaps up and wheels Loa's father out of the room. Loa opens the door and finds an oddly dressed man, silhouetted agains the softly glowing creek behind him, who begins babbling incoherently.

Unknown to Loa, the confused Mr. Schwartz had just recently appeared out of thin air a couple of miles down the road.

Unknown to Schwartz, a scientific accident had popped him, in mid-step, several hundred thousand years into the future.

Known only to a few, a nefarious plan, to shake the Galactic Empire to its very core, is about to be executed ...

Asimov's second and third novels are 'The Stars Like Dust' and 'Foundation'. For more, reference: 'I. Asimov, A Memoir'.

I can make no comment on the physical quality of the book listed, since mine is a 1971 Fawcett Crest paperback.

One of my favorite Asimov novels, not part of a series but a strong and sweet stand alone. It starts out when Joseph Schwartz, an elderly and contented retiree, vanishes from a Chicago street and reappears in a strange, radioactive earth, millenia in the future. Earth has become a radioactive pariah planet, long forgotten by the spacer civilization which has formed an empire that stretches across the heavens. But some believe that it the home of humanity, a premise with vast political implications. Things get more and more complicated from there on in, but the future world remains fascinating. Some of the characters are compelling -- Joseph's situation resonates a lot more with me now that I'm almost 70 than it did when I was 17. Some are not so much, and the plot does have its space opera elements (oh noble hero! oh palpitating heroine!). It's still a joy, however, and I won't take away even one star.

This is Isaac Asimov's first published science fiction novel and a nice introduction to 1950s science fiction. I first read it when I was a teenager. This particular story is an interesting look at discrimination. In this book, a 62-year-old tailor is accidentally transported to a distant future. In this future, the Galaxy is populated by man and Earth is only a minor planet within the Galactic Empire. The peoples of other worlds treat Earthlings as being a separate and defective race. An archeologist travels to Earth to find evidence that a single planet, Earth, was the source of mankind. Earth itself has a Procurator representing the Galactic Empire while the local politics are centered about a strict theocracy (reminiscent of ancient Rome and Israel) which controls the size of the population by euthanasia of its citizens at the age of sixty. The population is always threatening to revolt against the Empire. An Earth neurophysicist has discovered a new technique with which the rate of learning can be accelerated. He describes it as a procedure that can alter the dielectric constant between synapses (unfortunately, a change in the dielectric constant would probably result in protein denaturation; but that would ruin the story). Our time-traveling tailor is subjected to this treatment with unexpected results.

In this novel, a great deal depends upon a science fiction element not used very often by Asimov: time travel. A strange accident transports an innocent middle-aged man thousands of years into Earth's future from his native mid-twentieth century. Earth is much-changed in this future, as a poisoned backwater world of no importance in the Galactic Empire. The citizens of this Empire not even aware that Earth was the original home of humanity, despite that very assertion by Earth's inhabitants.
An archaeologist seeks to end this dispute by visiting Earth to find proof one way or another about Earth's place in humankind's past. And he happens to be visiting shortly after the arrival of our hapless 20th century American. But things are not to be that easy.
This novel details the efforts of the archaeologist to solve the mystery, the travails of an unintentional time traveler adjusting to his fate, and the others they encounter. Asimov also uses a plot element to be found in both the Robot Novels and the Foundation Novels: Psionics, obviously a favorite concept of his.
The storyline becomes entangled with the politicians of Earth and their feelings toward the Empire as a whole, especially their rancor at being despised by the Empire. Unlike the previous two Empire Novels, this story does not read as a mystery. Rather this novel is more an adventure in the future, with some romantic elements thrown in.
Among the three Empire Novels, this is my favorite. The story may start a bit slow, but once it picks up it does not slow down until the conclusion, where Asimov pretty much sums it up as one might see coming. There was not really anything difficult to anticipate, but the concepts are wonderfully applied. I recommend this book even if you have not read any of the other Empire Novels, as you will really not miss out on anything.

So far I've read Asimov's four Robot novels and all three Empire novels. I haven't read the Foundation series yet. Pebble in the Sky is the last of the Empire trilogy. It's a good read but I didn't enjoy it as much as the other Empire books or the Robot series. I feel that science fiction is most enjoyable when it's somewhat believable, but Asimov nonchalantly combines three far-fetched concepts in this work: time travel, telepathy/ mind control, and a weapon of extreme mass destruction. It's a bit too much!
A man named Joseph Schwartz is for no reason warped in time to the far future when the Trantorian Empire (introduced in The Currents of Space) has conquered and brought general peace to the entire Milky Way galaxy. The novel takes place wholly on Earth but the Earth of the future is a shattered and largely radioactive planet that bears little resemblance to what it is today. There is no space travel in this book.
After the random time travel event, Schwartz proceeds to acquire superhuman powers and uncovers a conspiracy that threatens the Empire, helped by a couple people who really just end up being the supporting cast for Schwartz's show. The viewpoint of this book is interesting: the "good guys" are the vast and powerful galactic Empire and the "bad guys" are some militant activists on Earth!
Overall, this book was a letdown after The Currents of Space, my favorite of the seven Asimov novels I've read so far. Still, it gives you an interesting perspective on the Empire at the peak of its power. From what I've heard, the Foundation series is where the Empire begins to crumble. So read the Empire series if you want to get a better idea of what life in the early Trantorian regime was like!

Pebble in the Sky is the last of Asimov's Galactic Empire trilogy, which precedes events described in the masterful Foundation Trilogy. Pebble adds further detail about the Empire of Trantor and the place of Earth within it, thousands of years in our future. Humanity is spread across the Galaxy, inhabiting a hundred million star systems and numbering in the quadrillions. Yet atomic warfare has reduced Earth to a radioactive backwater, despised by the other imperial citizens.
This is the world where Joseph Schwartz, a complacent and mild-mannered tailor, finds himself after being catapulted forward in time as a result of an accident in a nuclear lab in mid-20th century Chicago. He soon meets two brilliant scientists: Dr. Bel Arvardan, who is intent on proving that Earth is humanity's birthplace, and Dr. Affret Shekt, physicist and inventor of the Synapsifier, which can boost intelligence in astonishing ways. They team up to foil a plot that could destroy nearly every human alive in the Galaxy.
The book is not without weaknesses. The future science that drives the plot is often a bit dodgy and far-fetched. Schwartz is propelled into the future as a result of an experiment with crude uranium gone freakishly awry, but how exactly this happens is never explained. Nor does Asimov convincingly describe how the biological WMD at the heart of the plot could actually spread across the Galaxy so quickly without the many technologically-advanced worlds of the Empire discovering a way to stop it. Then there is some of the dialog. Even though most of the book takes place so far in the future that humans have evolved miniature appendices and no longer grow facial hair or wisdom teeth, the characters sometimes lapse into dialog reminiscent of American slang straight out of a bad 1950s detective novel. Dr. Arvardan, for example, after knocking down an obnoxious Galactic lawman who has slapped him, asks: "Any other .. think he can play pattycake on my face?" Ughh. These weak spots make suspension of disbelief a bit challenging at times.
As with the other books in the trilogy, however, Pebble's strengths outweigh its shortcomings. It is a worthy addition to Asimov's pre-Foundation future history and a fun read to boot.

I picked this book up expecting something grand. I mean, Isaac Asimov is a famous writer, if not THE famous SF writer. But after finishing this short book (around 230 pages) I believe he's overrated. At least, if all his books are as "not-awesome" as this one.
The main premise is good. 62-year-old male starts walking and with one step he goes a hundred thousand years in the future. All righty then...
The fallout Earth isn't described vividly enough. I often had to come up with details myself so I could picture it as vividly as I'm used to do with other books.
The characters varied from painfully artificial to amazingly natural. The main character is very human, and reacts as surprised as anyone would be jumping to the future, but he comes to that conclusion far slower than the average person would.
Also, I'm afraid a sad ending or even a not-so-happy ending would fit the story better than it's current "everyone-hugs-with-a-rainbow-on-the-sky-straight-outta-hollywood" ending.
But the conspiracy theories the villains create are surprisingly elaborate and very well thought-out...
On the whole, I'd still recommend this book, but don't expect the 4.5 out of 5 book that everyone's raving about here...

If you’re looking for smaller scale, look no further. This one of Asimov’s pieces that spans a shorter time following a single protagonist. It’s a wonderful quick read that stays within his tradition of interplanetary fiction. If you are looking to get into reading Asimov, this is a great jumping off point. It’s light enough to hold the interest of small scale science fiction enthusiasts while still being grand enough to keep his seasoned readers entertained.

This story of a twentieth century man thrust into the far future was one of the few S.F. novels of Asimov that I had not read. I picked it up at a garage sale and I was not disappointed. This was a very enjoyable story of time travel and political intrigue.

Tailor Joseph Schwartz gets accidentally transported from modern day (1949) to the far-flung future of the Galactic Empire. (I am always a sucker for a time travel story.) What transpires is a classic Asimov story line. Schwartz is "volunteered" for a science experiment in which he inadvertently acquires the ability to read minds and influence them. This type of "happy accident" is evident in other Asimovian stories. In Robots of Dawn R. Giskard is given similar abilities by a child playfully rearranging his programming. In Foundation and Empire the Mule is a mutant born with such abilities. While this is all OK, I wonder why he used it so much.

Even though I liked the book, the ending came too quickly, which seems to be Asimovian as well.

This story of a twentieth century man thrust into the far future was one of the few S.F. novels of Asimov that I had not read. I picked it up at a garage sale and I was not disappointed. This was a very enjoyable story of time travel and political intrigue.

Tailor Joseph Schwartz gets accidentally transported from modern day (1949) to the far-flung future of the Galactic Empire. (I am always a sucker for a time travel story.) What transpires is a classic Asimov story line. Schwartz is "volunteered" for a science experiment in which he inadvertently acquires the ability to read minds and influence them. This type of "happy accident" is evident in other Asimovian stories. In Robots of Dawn R. Giskard is given similar abilities by a child playfully rearranging his programming. In Foundation and Empire the Mule is a mutant born with such abilities. While this is all OK, I wonder why he used it so much.

Even though I liked the book, the ending came too quickly, which seems to be Asimovian as well.

Asimov is a joy to read! Whether he is writing exciting SCI-FI or expounding on the vast mysteries of the scientific world (from inner space to outer space), he is extremely educating and entertaining. The first in a series of galactic empire with sidesteps into robotics and other areas, Asimov reaches the culmination of his reign in the "Foundation Series which ties everything together in one vast universal story, Doctor Asimov is to the world of Science Fiction as Tolkien is to the world of Fantasy. It has been a great pleasure to read and re-read. On to the next novel.

It is really an enormous tragedy that so many of Isaac Asimov's greatest Science Fiction works remain out of print. The three `Empire' novels by Asimov are a great example. All three books are wonderfully written and fill the gap between The Robot novels and the Foundation series beautifully. These novels are also a glimpse at the state of science in the fifties. If you are an Asimov fan and see any of the Empire novels available for loan or purchase please do so. You will not be sorry. To clear up some confusion on the part of some, the reason these novels are called `Empire' novels is because they take place just before the Empire began, during its infancy and at its peak. Very much fun indeed.

I tore through this book so fast; its impossible to put down. Well paced, and full of exciting fake science and plot twists. Asimov's writing style is such that you can't really read idly. keep your brain on and let asimov build his world around you. Keep a dictionary handy, he uses a $5 words for sure.
I read this book out of order (apparently its book 3 and I read it first) but that didn't hamper me at all. Not sure what I might have missed

I've recently been rereading Asimov; some from my own collection, others from the library. I've decided I need to stop since they aren't holding up.

Pebble in the Sky starts slow, but Asimov slowly creates an intriguing world and several characters that seem to have a little more depth than usual (for both Asimov and that era of science fiction.) Unfortunately, the plot soons starts to stumble. Then come several absurd twists and a rather silly "all too convenient" ending.

Yeah, it's still worth reading, just not critically.

Pebble In The Sky is probably the reigning titleholder of "Undiscovered Classic" in Isaac Asimov's impressive lexicon. It may take a little searching to locate this book, but believe me, it's well worth it.
Dr. Asimov constructed a huge universe that traces humanity from the near future (the Robot stories) to its first creaking footsteps into the unknown (the Robot novels), to the founding of a Galactic Empire (the Empire novels), and finally to the ultimate destination of mankind (the Foundation novels), although this was not his original intention - the Robot universe and Empire/Foundation universe were knotted together by later books. Anyway, of these four categories, the Empire novels are easiest the weakest. This is partly because it is very early Asimov (but Foundation and I, Robot, both classics, are equally early), and partly because the idea behind it all maybe isn't as inspired as the others.
However, Pebble in the Sky is a true work of literary genius. It is set on Earth in the year 827 of the Galactic Era. A man called Joseph Schwarz is found by a farming family, who find that he cannot communicate. They take him to a doctor at the city of Chica, Dr. Shekt, who uses his new Synapsifier to increase intelligence. Soon, they discover that Schwarz is in fact from the year 1949 AD, an era thousands of years back. Schwarz is equally amazed to find himself thousands of years in the future. And what a future he finds waiting for him...
I will not give any further information because it may well spoil the plot for you. It is a well-written enjoyable book. It showcases Dr. Asimov's incredible ability to render cultures, as his portrayal of Earth is one of the most haunting things I have ever seen. It is only a shame that he never wrote later Empire novels (maybe team Schwarz and R. Daneel Olivaw together!) to add to this forgotten chapter in his works.
Finally, a quick word about the contradictions. This work was written in 1949 and published in 1950, and so Dr. Asimov's knowledge of nuclear physics was a little rudimentary, as was anyone else's. Only four years removed from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the idea of a fullscale nuclear war seemed a very real possibility, and this was the reason that the Earth was radioactive. However, when Asimov wrote a later book entitled Robots And Empire, he realized that this was impossible and devised a more scientific solution. Everyone's belief in the story that it is because of a nuclear war can be put down to folklore - after all, the book does seem to say that much of our knowledge has been forgotten.
Read Pebble In The Sky and enjoy it as the classic that it truly is. You won't be disappointed.
5 out of 5 stars.

My enthuziasm for "Peeble in the Sky" comes from reading this book when I was 14. It was a Romanian translation (apologies for subtleties lost), but when I finished it, I thought I was a Galactic citizen! In case you wonder, I started with Gerard Klein's "Les seigneurs de la Guerre" -- a classic French Sci-Fi that's missing from the store.com ... Fifteen years later, I re-read "Peeble..." (found it at an antiquariat in University City, St. Louis MO) and by this time, I had already covered the Foundation trilogy, Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth. By comparison I think "Peeble..." stands as an equal to the original Foundation Trilogy -- at least in tempo and characters, if not in concepts. Even Isaac cannot easily surpass Psychohistory, a true peak in Sci-Fi literature... "Peeble..." has tempo, and will absorb you in genuine Asimov style. So, from someone who read this book twice, in two languages, a well-deserved five-stars for "Peeble in the Sky"!

I'm writing this review in order to make clear some points which seem a bit confusing about the Empire novels. Dates: -Daneel Olivaw and Elijah Baley novels take place (more or less)in the year 5,000 a.C. -The Stars like Dust 6,000-7,000 a.C. -Pebble in the Sky 13,800 a.C. -Foundation 25,000 a.C. -Foundation and Earth 25,500 a.C.
you can calculate this following R. Daneel Olivaw's life, and knowing it was created in 5,000 and that Hari Seldon was born by 20,000.
Radiactivity:
It is true that its full of mistakes and errors if we believe what was explained in Robots and Empire: -Earth should be radiactive in 150 years more or less (mandamus said). Regarding this novel, Earth was still inhabited 8,800 years afterwards -It was Mandamus, allowed by R.Giskard Reventlov, who provoked this situation, and not any nuclear war. Anyway, you can imagine that the increase of radiactivity caused a number of wars which have been blamed (afterwards) of causing the increase of radiactivity.

Gonna give this 4 stars only finshed chapter 9 up to this point, its has chapter that are boring and then interesting, so I will not give it a bad review or good review yet, I did like the Sixty part with kept my interest.

In an instant I became a huge Asimov fan. I have read nearly all of his Sci-Fi novels and a number of his Non-fiction titles as well, but I continually return to this book. "Pebble in the Sky" is a perfect novice title for the beginning Asimov reader, not too meaty as with the Foundation series, but still a very serious and emotional story which anyone can empathize with.

I will not give any form of synapsis on the book. This has been done already.

This is by far one of my very favourite Asimov books. I last read it some 20 years ago, and it was a delight to read it again.

I think it is praiseworth that Tor Publishing releases old classics in new hardcover. I just hope they keep doing this with all of the Empire/Foundation/Robots series.

Another great book by Isaac Asimov and sold by the store. This one takes place in the future, but long before the foundation series took place. If you want to know a bit about what went on before the Earth vanished from history, this will give you some idea.

This one does not disappoint. Believable characters, plot developed quickly and logically. Easy to read and to follow with no far fetched jumps of point.
Nice read. Would like it to mesh into the Robot story line better. Obviously it fits but not really spelled out as to when and where.
And of course now I want to follow these lifelines into the whole of their life span but there is no part two and no accounting of them in the Foundation series. A shame.

Although technically incorrect on some points, i.e. the effects of radiation on humans, this can be excused for the fact that the novel was written in 1949 if I remember correctly. The story is pure Early Asimov and is wonderful for that. Definitely worth reading if you like Asimov novels, and the characters do actually seem like people.

Forgive me Master, cause I have sinned by giving Pebble In The Sky 2 stars. But, were you still here, I`d gamble that even you, actually especially you, wouldn't consider it a shining gem this side of Trantor.

What bothers me Master is not the science that is dated. Nor the telepath cop out, after all, telepaths were so hot back then.

What bothers me is PITS formulaic writing with a bad guy so laughably bad he actually becomes likable, and the good guy so rewardingly good, that he finally saves the universe and gets the girl (daughter of a good physicist as an added bonus). What bothers me is 200 pages of formulaic writing coupled with no-no plot holes and convenient coincidences.

And had it not been for a few scenes, your chess scene, or your villain coming to amusingly wrong conclusions scene Master, I might have stopped reading altogether.

Master, you have a cult of followers. But, as everyone knows, cults of followers are not necessarily good. All those 5 stars reviews may lead the uninitiated reader (don't forget that a new possible Asimov reader is born every second or two) to be introduced to you with this book, which would be an insult to Hari Seldon, Elijah Baley, Andrew Harlan, Susan Calvin et al. So, forgive me Master, but this is 2 stars, retro Hugo or not.

Obviously written in the late 1940's, this novel heralds back to the birth of the sci-fi novel. It is rooted in post-war phrasing and ideology.

This, like most of Asimov's works, is safe sci-fi reading for any age bracket.

Pebble in the Sky is clearly an inmature writer's work. Too many tangents and too wordy and too many unveiled references to the bigotries of the time (when written).
Asimov's The End of a Eternity is a much superior work.

With the "Foundation" stories being published and gaining fans, Isaac Asimov wrote a story which he initially titled "Grow Old with Me" in 1947 with plans to publish it in "Startling Stories". When he finished the novel, he found that the editorial policies for the magazine had changed and they no longer were interested in the story. Asimov then offered the story to John Campbell Jr., but he also was not interested in it. Thus, it was never published in that form. In 1949, Frederik Pohl offered to be Asimov's agent, and since Asimov had not been able to sell this story he let Pohl give it a try. Pohl found that Doubleday & Co. were interested in the story as a novel, and so it was expanded and retitled as "Pebble in The Sky" and it was published as the first novel length story in the "Foundation" universe on January 19th of 1950.

The story focuses on several characters, the first being Joseph Schwartz, who in 1949 is a retired tailor walking down the street in Chicago, when suddenly he finds himself transported into what he later learns is the far future. The time now is the year 827 G.E. (Galactic Era), and the difference between the times is unknown but estimated to be 50,000 years. Earth has become a radioactive planet, likely the result of a war, and the Galactic Empire is run by Trantor. Other key characters include two Earth physicists, Dr. Affret Shekt and his daughter Pola, and Dr. Bel Arvardan an archeologist from Sirius.

There are numerous problems with the story, and for the impending reprinting of the novel in 1983, Asimov wrote an afterword in which he declared that he now longer believed the scientific theory which was key to the story plot. Just how this story fits in with his universe is also not clear. Clearly there was a nuclear war on Earth, but was that before or after space travel? There are several mutations in humans which differentiate Joseph Schwartz from the rest of humanity. Man has occupied hundreds of millions of worlds, most if not all are part of the Galactic Empire, and somehow along the way historical records have been lost, not just on one world, but throughout the Empire. The timing given in later "Foundation" stories also do not agree with those included here.

This book is usually linked with "The Stars, Like Dust", and "The Currents of Space" as the three precursor novels to the "Foundation" series. However, each of them stands on their own, and they are only very loosely connected. They take place hundreds if not thousands of years apart in time.

Given that the science which is critical to the plot is considered out-of-date, and the fact that this story doesn't directly link with any of his other stories, it ultimately is only of interest to those who are Asimov fans. There is some flavor of life in the Galactic Empire, but as the story takes place almost entirely on Earth, there isn't really all that much of it. "Pebble in The Sky" was nominated in 2001 for the Retro Hugo for novels published in 1950, but that may have more to do with Asimov's name than the actual quality of this work. There are many more deserving works by Asimov than this one.

I bought pebble in the sky at a yard sale,I didn't even know who Isaac Asimov was.The book was fantastic and I became an instant Asimov fan.I was just wondering if any other Asimov fans out there could tell me if there's any benefit to reading his books in a certain order and if so which ones.
thank you.

I have read many books by the "MASTER". My favourite author by far. Never mind the outdated science or the religious parallels, the story is just plain bad. Characters in power too easily manipulated for one thing. The Galaxy is in potential peril and the Procurator figures he would wait it out and see if it's true instead of investigating. The denouement felt like he had to finish the story because he had a train to catch.

That's enough of me complaining on the MASTER's work.

How can anyone give this story 5 stars is beyond me.

A protagonist named Schwartz suddenly finds himself on Earth in a far, far future time where humans reside on millions of planets throughout the galaxy. Although Earth is the most ancient of these, this knowledge has been forgotten by the rest of humanity, who display bigotry towards the dirty, uncouth Earthmen, their ghetto-planet of "contaminated" unwashed, their provincialism, strange customs, and religious belief that Earth was once the most powerful seat of humanity and that it will one day rise again to the most glorious of human planets and rule the galactic empire. It's such a hit-you-over-the-head allegory for the Jewish condition that it loses all potential entertainment value. Sometimes the allegory being used is for modern-day Israel and recent historical conditions of Jews, other times it's the Jews under the Roman empire, with the threat of rebellion stirring. But whichever one he's using at a given moment (he switches back and forth between them frequently), it's way overdone. Drawing on an idea for inspiration is one thing, but in this case Asimov beats this drum so hard that it gets tiring and feels like a polemic, not a story. And it's badly written with bad scientific understanding, and inconsistencies regarding the far future setting where geographic place names have been forgotten, likewise an exterminating nuclear war, but someone still says of someone else's shirt, "That's a snappy number." Asimov couldn't seem to do enough mental gymnastics to imagine characters that would act or talk like other than 1950 when the story was written. Pass on this. Asimov was highly overrated to begin with and this is one of this worst, and unimaginative.