The Currents of Space

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The Currents of Space

Dust-jacket illustration from the first edition
Author Isaac Asimov
Country United States
Language English
Series Empire Series
Genre(s) Science fiction novel
Publisher Doubleday
Publication date 1952
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 217 pp
ISBN NA
Preceded by The Stars, Like Dust
Followed by Pebble in the Sky

The Currents of Space is a 1952 novel by the American science fiction author Isaac Asimov.

Contents

[edit] Plot introduction

It is the second book in a sequence of three that are classified as the Galactic Empire series. Each occurs after humans have settled many worlds in the galaxy — after the second wave of colonisation that went beyond the Spacer worlds — and before the era of decline that was the setting for the original Foundation series. Each of the three is only loosely connected to other works, being separated by a fairly large gulf of centuries.

The story takes place during the time when Trantor was building a confederation of planets that would ultimately grow into the First Galactic Empire. The action occurs on two planets well outside Trantor's reach. Sark rules Florina, which grows "kyrt," a vital raw material. This two-world Empire is enormously wealthy as a result, second only to the Trantorian Empire.

There is a hidden joke in Sark's dominion over Florina, clear parallels to the American South growing cotton with slave labour. But we learn that the Florinians are one of the lightest-skinned people in a galaxy where racial categories seem to have been forgotten, but where the people of Sark do have an oppressive separation between themselves and the Florinians. One of the characters comes from Libair, a planet with some of the galaxy's darkest-skinned people and feels sympathy for the Florinians.[1]

The plot itself revolves around "Rik," who seems to be a mental defective, but who may have had his memory destroyed. Why? And by whom? The answer ultimately matters a great deal in various political power-games that are going on during the course of the novel. But we also see the contrasting feelings of a Florinian woman who cares just for the man himself.


[edit] Plot summary

The story takes place in the backdrop of Trantor's rise from a large regional empire to a single Galactic Empire, unifying the millions of worlds in the galaxy. This story occurs around the year 11,000 A.D. (originally 34,500 A.D., according to Asimov's early 1950s chronology[2]), where the Trantorian Empire encompasses roughly half of the entire galaxy. The independent planet Sark exploits the planet Florina, and derives its great wealth from the kyrt (a versatile fiber) that can only be grown there. The relationship between Sark and Florina is analogous to the situation between the Colonial powers and their colonies during the mid-20th Century, where the Florinians are forced to work in kyrt fields, and are treated as an inferior race by the Sarkites. Attempts to break the Sark monopoly and grow kyrt on other worlds have thus far been unsuccessful. The main topic of the novel is the possible destruction of Florina, predicted by Rik, a spatio-analyst, who has had his mind manipulated by a Psychic probe, resulting in amnesia.

The story begins when Rik starts remembering the past, which produces a crisis in the political relationship between Sark, Florina, and Trantor. Florina is oppressed. Trantor would like an excuse to seize this very rich world. Other characters have their own games to play.

Rik actually comes from Earth. He discovered that Florina's sun is about to go nova, because it is being fed carbon by one of the "currents of space." Sark — without Florina — would lose its wealth, so there is a reluctance to accept the message. The solution is for Trantor to buy out the entire planet — expensive, but likely to be repaid in goodwill, presumably a key step towards ultimately establishing a galaxy-spanning empire.

Even though Trantor is not yet a full Galactic Empire, it does control the now largely radioactive Earth.[3] The idea of evacuating Earth is mentioned, but is strongly rejected by Rik [4]. He insists on its status as the original planet of the human race, though this is not generally accepted.

The idea of "currents of space" causing suns to explode is creative, but thoroughly mistaken in modern-day scientific terms. There are indeed two types of stellar fusion, one involving carbon as a kind of catalyst. But the processes are a simple product of the star's size and temperature. It is now believed that stars likely to have habitable planets cannot go nova, though they will become giant stars at the very end of their lifetime.[citation needed]

Preceded by: Series:
 Followed by:
The Stars, Like Dust

 Empire Series
Foundation Series		 Pebble in the Sky
v • d • e
Novels by Isaac Asimov
Robot series
Empire series

The Stars, Like Dust · The Currents of Space · Pebble in the Sky
Foundation series
Lucky Starr series
(writing as "Paul French")
Other science fiction
Other mystery

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ “We are both extremes in a Galaxy of averages... They are unusually pale. We are unusually dark. (Chapter Six)
  2. ^ An Early Asimov Timeline
  3. ^ A native of planet Earth, which, by the way, is part of the Trantorian domain (Chapter Sixteen).
  4. ^ (Epilogue)

[edit] References