Nightfall

Nightfall is a extrememly interesting book with amazing concepts. The storyline and plot keeps your eyes glued to the words, and you don't want to stop turning the pages until the climax. The book itself was written by both two of the most brilliant science fiction writers. Nightfall was only a short story by Isaac Asimov until he teamed up with Robert Silverberg. This book will pull you into the story as things turn dramatic. I read this in a matter of days and for you Sci-fi fans, you will be thinking about this book long after you read it.

Like Fahrenheit 451, Asimov tells a very believable story about a people coming into knowledge -- but with terrible consequences. Unlike Fahrenheit 451, however, Asimov tells not of the continuous evolution of a people, but of a cyclic rise and downfall. Or, rather, Nightfall.Kalgash is an Earth-like planet in all but one respect: it is surrounded by six suns which in turn provide illumination so that the planet is never in darkness. Most of the time there are at least three suns in sky; but on extraordinary days there can be as many as five. The residents know darkness only as a fearful presence that lurks in caves, and they never subject themselves to it, even sleeping with a sort of nightlight during the duskiest parts of the day.However, evidence exists that every 2049 years there is a total eclipse, enshrouding every part of the planet in complete darkness for several hours. This evidence is murky and incomplete, having just been turned up by an archaeologist and held by religious fanatics since the last eclipse. However, records indicate that the time of the eclipse approaches within the year, and astronomers begin to see the signs that there is something else lurking in their sunny universe that they had been previously unaware of, which spells mankind's insanity and destruction.

Nightfall, by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg, is set on a planet that has six suns and perpetual daylight. The plot revolves around an unlikely event: an eclipse that shrouds the world in darkness for several hours. The main characters in the story are all scientists, and they are able to predict the arrival of the eclipse, but not its results. Because people on this world have lived with sunlight for their entire lives, the darkness inflicts severe psychological trauma on the population. The book is divided into thirds, with the first section showing the discovery of the eclipse, the second section is set on the night of the eclipse, and the third shows what happens afterwards.This is a fairly short novel, just over 300 pages, and the authors' writing is quite good. I think that Asimov does a better job with the characters and dialogue in Nightfall than he did in most of his other novels. Also, there isn't much time wasted on long descriptions or on lecturing about the novel's themes, so the novel keeps moving at a good pace. I would have liked it if a little less time was dedicated to the character's personal lives, especially since some of their actions during and after the eclipse seem a little bit absurd. Overall, the book's strongest component is the originality of the concept. The idea of a world where darkness is a catastrophe is so different from the repetitive and predictable plots of so many other SF novels that I found Nightfall hard to put down, even when reading it for the second time.Some people have complained that the authors' attitude towards religion is insulting, but I disagree. I don't think that they intended to bash all religions. They were, rather criticizing fanatiscism and cult-like behavior. And while some people might not agree with Asimov's rigid insistance on following science and logic at all costs, that shouldn't prevent anyone from enjoying the book as a good work of science fiction.

Really one word. No further comment is necessary on this book. It is magnificient.