Nightfall [Novel]

This book was SO GOOD. The way the plot built up to the eclipse was done expertly. I was invested in the characters and story pretty much immediately. I adored the different approaches to the inevitability of the eclipse: not just astronomy, but psychology, archaeology, and media. My favorite part was the way the writing weaved those approaches together into a delicious, slowly growing tension to that moment of the eclipse itself. The tension broke after the eclipse, obviously, but it built again slightly in the aftermath to an engaging conclusion. At times, especially during and after the eclipse, the book had significant horror elements. The effects on a species of discovering that the universe is far more vast than they ever could show more have imagined was believable, terrifying, and thoroughly explored. Highly recommend. show less

Kalgash, a planet with six suns. A prophecy from an ancient text states that every two thousand years the world will be plunged into Nightfall and the cities will burn, retribution from the gods for the wickedness of man. But the scientists scoff, knowing it to be just some religious hocus-pocus. Until two of their own make disturbing discoveries based in fact. Beenay, the astronomer, finds that a rare event will soon happen: a conjunction of five of the suns, combined with an eclipse of the sixth. And Siferra, the archeologist, uncovers a dig site which proves that their civilization has existed seven times previous, and it has burned every two thousand years.
What will happen when an entire society unaccustomed to night is plunged into show more complete Darkness? What will happen when starcrazed people burn their cities, desperate for light? Who will control what remains when the suns come up?

Some time ago I had read that the working title for the film Pitch Black had been Nightfall. And furthermore, that the germ of the idea behind the movie had been from a story by the same name. I didn't think much of it until browsing one day at a Friends of the Library sale when I came upon the book by Asimov & Silverberg, apparently an expansion of the short story written by Asimov back in 1941. Now, I'm not a 'hard' sci-fi reader by any means. I had attempted one of Asimov's Robot books in the past and had cast it aside knowing that Asimov was not for me. But my curiosity took over. Did Asimov write a creature-feature? Well, no, he did not - that was pure Hollywood. But he did write about the chaos that ensues after Nightfall.
I found this book utterly captivating and I read it all in one sitting. I remember the Y2K frenzy and I think that helped me to get into the correct mindset. The battle between Religion and Science is one we see almost everyday in the news. To see it here played out against a backdrop of Darkness, both physical and mental, is fascinating.
Other reviews I have read claim the addition of the section Daybreak weakens the original story. I have not read the original short piece but I don't agree with that statement. We are told early on that the civilization has previously survived The Darkness. I think it's natural to explore what that is like.
An excellent book. If there is more Asimov like this than I am onboard! show less

A civilization on the planet Kalgash, illuminated by six suns, never experiences darkness. A group of astronomers, archaeologists, and psychologists at Sorrows University predicts the eclipse based on gravitational anomalies and evidence of previous societal collapses every 2,000 years.

A religious cult, the Apostles of Flame, independently predicts the impending doom, believing the darkness brings the end of the world and the revealing of stars that steal souls

I normally hate short stories. Just as I get into them, they end. My favourite short story of all time, and the one time you'll hear me say the short story was better than the longer book version. More bang. It's wonderful.

Imagine you lived on a planet with multiple suns, so it was always light. Except, once every 2,000 years when all the suns are eclipsed. You see the night sky. You see the stars. The world goes mad.

With the 2017 eclipse, a perfect story for the time!

This is actually one of my favorite Asimov books - and I liked the short story as well. The psychology of mass hysteria and resulting social chaos and destruction is always ripe for sci-fi and this is no exception. I also felt it was an interesting example of world building based around a fundamental question of what life would be like in a solar system dominated by multiple suns and there was no such thing as night. What sorts of things would be different and what would be the same? What sorts of things would folks in this world be afraid of?

This was a very disappointing read. Scifi by Asimov should be a safe bet, but this has been cobbled together. The original short story was written by Asimov in 1941 and this book length adaptation was published in 1990. I have the strong feeling that the book was written by Silverberg alone, but Asimov's name was retained because it is his original idea. And for marketing purposes. I doubt I would have read this had it not been for the Asimov name.
After finishing the book, I found the original short story and read that. The short story is good - tightly written, creative, and leaving plenty for the reader to imagine.
The book length treatment is different. I found it plodding and predictable. It took all the mystery and suspense away. show more And the greater length exposed all the potential flaws in the story line, every one of them, and did nothing to address them. What a shame. show less

Always a treat to read an Asimov book, and with Robert Silverberg joining him, this is a great little novel. It started out slow, but got better as the book progressed and had one of the better climaxes/denouements, particularly for a post apocalyptic style story. I liked the 4 main protagonists and how I never really knew where the story was going.