The Gods Themselves

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov consists of three consecutive stories. I like that he started this book as an explanation why plutonium 186 can exists (it can’t, but a friend of his mentioned it and he decided he could write a story about it).

I liked the book and it was an interesting listen. As always it’s very interesting to see what happens when communication breaks down between places (the Moon-Earth, Earth-Panuniverse).

As before, here is the analysis of the story-structure, this time with a guide part added (based on Building a StoryBrand).

You: people on Earth in about the year 2100ish. Or, para-people

Need: energy, after ecologic and economic collapse. Also need energy.

Go: ?. Explain why, what has happened (sun low energy).

Search: have to find new energy source. ditto

Find (with the help of a guide): plutonium 186 from para-men. Way to get energy from other universe (pump), guide is themselves as parentals.

Take: energy imbalance, possibility of world ending, losing position (Lamont). Other universe will die if they continue.

Return: tried to warn everyone. Wants to fix it (but doesn’t really do this).

Change: find new solution, kinda. Finds out they are parental themselves.