The novel “The Gods Themselves” by Isaac Asimov was published for the first time in 1972, first serialized in the magazines “Galaxy Magazine” and “Worlds of If” and then as a book. It won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards for best novel of the year.
When radiochemist Frederick Hallam finds a container that is supposed to contain tungsten, he analyzes its contents and discovers that it’s plutonium-186, an isotope whose existence is theoretically impossible. The real great discovery is that the material came from a parallel universe with different physical laws. The decay of plutonium generates totally free energy and by exchanging it with tungsten it’s possible to supply energy to the whole world.
Peter Lamond is a young physicist who studies what was named Electronic Pump, which generates energy thanks to the exchange of materials between the two universes. The first studies indicated that the exchange alters the physical laws of the two universes, especially the strong nuclear force but this will not be a problem for a very long time. According to Lamond, the danger could be much closer but no one wants to believe in the need to give up the pump for fear that the Sun could explode.
Isaac Asimov is best known for his future history that begins with the stories of positronic robots up to the Foundation cycle. In the 1960s, he thinned out his activity as a science fiction writer and devoted himself to scientific articles and essays and detective stories. In his future history, he avoided including aliens because he published the first stories in the magazine directed by John W. Campbell Jr. and wanted to avoid conflicts with him due to their very different ideas about aliens. With “The Gods Themselves”, he came back to the science fiction novel that offered him the freedom to create original aliens.
The novel begins with what is apparently a highly advantageous exchange of materials between two universes that exploits the differences between their physical laws to ensure both of them free and inexhaustible energy. When a physicist raises the alarm because his studies indicate that that activity can damage the universe at least locally to the point of causing the sun to explode, few are willing to believe him.
The first part tells the consequences of using the Electronic Pump, with personal interests and convenience for the majority of the population that come well before the dangers pointed out by a physicist. Giving up the Electronic Pump would cost enormously and for people such as Frederick Hallam there would be a loss of personal prestige.
The most interesting and original part of the novel is the second, set in the parallel universe. Isaac Asimov tells the story of a truly unique trio of aliens, a story heavily influenced by that universe’s physical laws. The aliens’ characteristics are determined by those physical laws and, through the trio of protagonists, they make us discover the life of their species and their role in the generation of energy between the two universes.
Today, some scientific concepts included in “The Gods Themselves” are outdated, as our knowledge in both the field of elementary particles and cosmology and in particular of quasars have increased enormously. It can happen to a novel after decades but in my opinion, it’s a minor problem compared to the merits. Characters who act selfishly and shortsighted for short-term gains ignoring long-term risks and the story of the aliens in the parallel universe have a value that hasn’t been affected by time. These are the elements that in my opinion make this novel a masterpiece and Isaac Asimov’s best novel. I believe that it’s a must-read for anyone interested in science fiction.
