The Gods Themselves

By: Isaac Asimov

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Only a few know the terrifying truth - an outcast Earth scientist, a rebellious alien inhabitant of a dying planet, a lunar-born human intuitionist who senses the imminent annihilation of the Sun... They know the truth - but who will listen? They have foreseen the cost of abundant energy - but who will believe?These few beings, human and alien, hold the key to the Earth's survival.

©1980 Isaac Asimov (P)2014 Random House Audio

Drags at times but some interesting parts too.

It took several attempts to get through this one. It drags on at times. Normally Scott Brick does a fine job reading but on this one he speaks as though every word is dramatic, there's no excitement and no difference between the characters. Some interesting concepts were advanced in the book though.

loved it, so clever

only problem was, it was so clever that I remembered it all from the last time I read it, two decades ago

Wow

This book is amazing! Plot is simple but so rich it will make you think for weeks! Great find

Good Concept, Mediocre Execution

I love Asimov. The Foundation books are incredible, and this book hints at the grandiose scale which makes those books so great, but I feel it's relatively short length causes it to miss the mark. Everything felt too easily solved. The imagining of the parallel universe was strange at first, but eventually quite compelling. So compelling relative to the rest of the story (especially the rather prurient and frankly gross relationship between Denison, the older earth professor, and Selene, the younger moon woman, which seems to be a personal fantasy of Asimov's, made clear especially if you have read Foundation and Earth and know of the relationship between Janov, an old professor, and Bliss, a lithe, young, sexually ambitious woman from a planet of collective consciousness) was the imagining of the parallel universe that the book's most major fault is never returning to it to see how the "paramen" react to the changes made by Denison and Selene. If you're a big Asimov fan, give this a try, but think of it more as a short story than a novel to avoid being disappointed.

middle section meh

For the middle third of the book I almost switched to another audiobook intending to never come back, but for one reason or another kept listening. Asimov was constructing a whole other universe that was hard to relate to and appreciate much. By the end of that third I caught on it was decent, but that portion really could've been cut entirely for the better. Otherwise, classic and awesome Asimov storytelling.

One plot from 3 perspectives - love it

the way the story was written to describe the conflict from 3 perspectives, 2 separate human civilizations and a third conceptual civilization, none of which communicate about the conflict directly but still affect each other is brilliant. another great sci-fi however I feel thurs is unique even among other asimov books

Nifty

I like Asimov. I like this novel. The classic scientist guys vying for power is always fun to watch and there are good scientific-reveal-plot-twists as usual. I wish there was a more robust wrap up with the parauniverse though.
I don't think this is as good as his robot books (but really, what could compare).

An old favorite

I first read this in high school over 30 years ago. I may have read it more than once, but it's certainly been over 30 years since last I picked it up. It's as great a story now as it was then, and Scott Brick, of course, never disappoints.. It's no accident that Dr. Asimov is so widely haled as one of the masters of SF, and this is, I think, among his best work. The second section, where he imagines a whole alien society and life cycle, even including alien sex, was superbly done (and, as I recall the story, on a bet!) Come to that, I think the "para-men" were more fully fleshed out characters than were the humans. Anyway, it was great revisiting a well-loved story and finding that it's still just as well loved with lots of time in between.

Great book

Great story, great performance, great quality. This book was better than I expected. Asimov pushes the boundaries of his writing.

The Grandmaster of SciFi Always Delivered

I have yet to read a book by Asimov that didn’t wow and inspire me.

I was attracted to this book by its mention in Barrowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials. In fact this is one of the few of the books referenced in that essential guide available on Audible. Maybe they should work on that (hint hint). I have vision problems that make reading large amounts of text difficult.