nasathespaceship's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a yes on so many levels. Don't read sci-fi? Now you do.
agnesoshiro's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
sbenzell's review against another edition
3.0
What is more fundamentally important: freedom or happiness? Is there some aspect of human flourishing that cannot be fully captured in the concept of utility? For an economist, both the conviction that problem of human happiness and suffering can be approached mathematically and the knowledge that such analyses must always be incomplete must coexist uneasily in the mind. When speaking to these themes, which is returned to more famously in the Foundation series, The End of Eternity is at its best.
The best moment of the novel is towards the end, when the protagonist makes a decision that will determine the fate of the Universe. Asimov is truly at his best when laying out these choices, though the decision here I think is slightly inferior to the one presented in Foundation and Earth
The discussion of time travel in this novel, while competent, didn't inspire me much. Time travel is a very hard concept to get right. Approach it from a too facile direction, and you get contradictions and plot holes up the wazoo. Approach it from a more complex direction, and you can confuse or bore your audience with technicalities. This book strikes a pretty good balance, with few plotholes (although some definitely seem to exist - the book seems pretty inconsistent about how changes in real time effect people in eternity; maybe there is a distinction between changes made before or after eternity's establishment? If so it is not addressed) and yet is seldom boring.
A good but not great book solidly in the tradition of Asimov's other best works, it also shares many of his other works' flaws. Female characters are scarce and in general interpersonal relationships and personalities are sketched rather than fully developed.
The best moment of the novel is towards the end, when the protagonist makes a decision that will determine the fate of the Universe. Asimov is truly at his best when laying out these choices, though the decision here I think is slightly inferior to the one presented in Foundation and Earth
The discussion of time travel in this novel, while competent, didn't inspire me much. Time travel is a very hard concept to get right. Approach it from a too facile direction, and you get contradictions and plot holes up the wazoo. Approach it from a more complex direction, and you can confuse or bore your audience with technicalities. This book strikes a pretty good balance, with few plotholes (although some definitely seem to exist - the book seems pretty inconsistent about how changes in real time effect people in eternity; maybe there is a distinction between changes made before or after eternity's establishment? If so it is not addressed) and yet is seldom boring.
A good but not great book solidly in the tradition of Asimov's other best works, it also shares many of his other works' flaws. Female characters are scarce and in general interpersonal relationships and personalities are sketched rather than fully developed.
gera14's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
adel_bajzova's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gingerreader99's review against another edition
5.0
What really makes this so so so good is the end and climax. It is obvious it is from another era. The length and speed in which the novel progresses is very mid 20th Sci-Fi but the masterful tie in to other novels which may have only been a very slight idea in his mind back in the 50s was incredible. Harlan might not be the most compelling protagonist but the overall implication of his role is what is so exciting.
ahalpine's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
4.0
You've never read a time travel story like this. Leave it to Isaac Asimov to write something that bends your view of science and reality. It's amazing too that, even though this book was written in the 1950s, few other writers have come close to his vision. Many science fiction writers today tend to write in a vacuum and not considering the "bigger scheme of things", if you will. Not to say that that is a bad thing, but it's just refreshing to revisit the Golden Age of science fiction, when giants like Asimov ruled the science fiction world with their grand, sweeping ideas about space, time and time travel.
I really shouldn't have read the middle portion of this book with a high fever. It didn't help that Asimov used the second act of the book to lay on the big theories and heavy ideas. I admit that I was more than a little lost part of the time. Still, it's a time travel story, and if you think too deeply into it, it's just going to fry your brain (just like that line from Looper). So accept it, enjoy the ride and let Asimov take you into his far-reaching mind.
I really shouldn't have read the middle portion of this book with a high fever. It didn't help that Asimov used the second act of the book to lay on the big theories and heavy ideas. I admit that I was more than a little lost part of the time. Still, it's a time travel story, and if you think too deeply into it, it's just going to fry your brain (just like that line from Looper). So accept it, enjoy the ride and let Asimov take you into his far-reaching mind.
rossarms's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75