View source for Pebble in the Sky

{{Short description|1950 novel by American writer Isaac Asimov}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{infobox book
| name          = ''Pebble in the Sky''
| image         = PebbleInTheSky(1stEd).jpg
| caption       = Hardback first edition cover
| author        = [[Isaac Asimov]]
| cover_artist  = [[Richard M. Powers]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?188181 |title=Publication Listing |publisher=Isfdb.org |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref>
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        = [[Galactic Empire series|''Empire'' series]]
| genre         = Science fiction
| publisher     = [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]
| release_date  = January 19, 1950
| media_type    = Print (hardback and paperback)
| pages         = 223
| preceded_by   = [[The Currents of Space]]
| followed_by_quotation_marks = [[Blind Alley]]
}}

'''''Pebble in the Sky''''' is a science fiction novel by American writer [[Isaac Asimov]], published in 1950. This work is his first novel — parts of the [[The Foundation Series|''Foundation'' series]] had appeared from 1942 onwards in magazines, but ''[[Foundation (Isaac Asimov novel)|Foundation]]'' was not published in book form until 1951.  The original ''Foundation'' books are also a string of linked episodes, whereas this is a complete story involving a single group of characters.

==Publication history==
''Pebble in the Sky'' was originally written in the summer of 1947 under the title "Grow Old with Me" for ''[[Startling Stories]]'', whose editor [[Sam Merwin, Jr.]] had approached Asimov to write a forty thousand word short novel for the magazine. The title was an adaption of [[Robert Browning]]'s ''[[Rabbi ben Ezra]]'', the first few lines of which (starting "Grow old along with me! / The best is yet to be...") were included in the final novel. It was rejected by ''Startling Stories'' on the basis that the magazine's emphasis was more on [[Adventure fiction|adventure]] than science-heavy fiction (despite the editor inviting Asimov to write the latter as an experiment for the magazine), and again by [[John W. Campbell]], Asimov's usual editor. In 1949, [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] editor Walter I. Bradbury accepted the story on the suggestion of [[Frederik Pohl]], on the condition it was expanded to seventy thousand words and the title changed to something more science fiction oriented, and it was published in January 1950 as ''Pebble in the Sky''. "Grow Old With Me" was later published in its original form along with other draft stories in ''[[The Alternate Asimovs]]'' in 1986.<ref>''The Early Asimov'', Chs. "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline", "Mother Earth"</ref>

In ''[[Before the Golden Age]]'', Asimov wrote that ''Pebble in the Sky'' was influenced by the short story "[[Proxima Centauri (short story)|Proxima Centauri]]" by [[Murray Leinster]].

The book has been reprinted many times: in 1953 by [[Galaxy Science Fiction Novels|Galaxy]], in 1957 and 1964 by [[Bantam Books|Bantam]], in 1958 and 1982 by [[Corgi (publisher)|Corgi]] as the first British edition, in 1968 by [[Sidgwick & Jackson]] in hardcover, in 1969, 1972, 1974 (both paper and hard cover editions) and 1981 by [[Sphere Books|Sphere Science Fiction]], in 1971 and 1975 by [[Fawcett Books]], in 1983 by [[Del Rey Books]], in 1986 in hardcover by [[Grafton (publisher)|Grafton]] and in 1990 again by Doubleday in hardcover; in addition, it was reprinted as part of the ''Empire'' series, in 1986 by [[Ballantine Books]], in 1992 by [[Bantam Spectra|Spectra]] and in 2010 by [[Orb Books]], in both print and [[Amazon Kindle|Kindle]] editions.

''Pebble in the Sky'' was also included in a number of [[Anthology|omnibuses]]: first in 1952 in ''Triangle'' along with the others in the [[Galactic Empire series|''Empire'' series]] (''[[The Stars, Like Dust]]'' and ''[[The Currents of Space]]'' which had only been published earlier that year), in 1978 in ''The Far Ends of Time and Earth'' along with ''[[The End of Eternity]]'' and the short story collection ''[[Earth Is Room Enough]]'', and again with the ''Empire'' series novels in 2002 as ''The Empire Novels''.

The book was adapted for radio by [[Ernest Kinoy]] for ''[[Dimension X (radio program)|Dimension X]]'' as "Pebble in the Sky"; first broadcast in 1951 it was released as an audio download in 2007 by [[Radio Classics|Radio Spirits]], and again in 2011.

==Story background==
The book begins with a retired tailor from the mid-20th&nbsp;century, who is accidentally pitched forward into the future. By then, [[Earth]] has become radioactive and is a low-status part of a vast [[Galactic Empire (Asimov)|Galactic Empire]]. There is both a mystery and a power-struggle, and a lot of debate and human choices.  The [[protagonist]] is a very ordinary man, rather than the more typical [[space opera]] hero.

This book takes place in the [[future history|same universe]] as the ''Foundation'' series. Earth is part of the Empire of [[Trantor]], later the setting for [[Hari Seldon]]'s invention of [[psychohistory (fictional)|psychohistory]]. Asimov returned to the radioactive-Earth theme in ''[[The Stars, Like Dust]]''; ''[[The Currents of Space]]''; and ''[[Foundation and Earth]]''. He would explore it most fully in ''[[Robots and Empire]]''.

''Pebble in the Sky'' has been grouped along with ''The Stars, Like Dust'' and ''The Currents of Space'' as the so-called [[Galactic Empire series|''Galactic Empire'' series]]. However, these are only loosely connected, occurring between the era of the Spacers and the ''Foundation'' series, but not otherwise overlapping in time, location, or theme.

In this work, unlike ''[[The End of Eternity]]'', the time travel is one-way and uncontrolled. It is unlikely that the technologies are related, since, according to Andrew Harlan, the energy requirements for transporting a human with the Eternity's technology far exceed the capabilities of twentieth century Earth.

One element of the novel Asimov was particularly fond of was the inclusion of a scene of exposition conducted over the course of a game of [[chess]] between two of the characters. By recounting all the moves, Asimov reacted against the common tendency of novelistic portrayals of chess games to neglect the action on the board. The game that he chose to present was a victory by [[Grigory Levenfish]] (black) over [[Boris Verlinsky]] (white) in Moscow in 1924, one which gained the victor a brilliancy-prize.

==Plot summary==
While walking down the street in Chicago, Joseph Schwartz, a retired tailor, is the unwitting victim of a nearby nuclear laboratory accident, by means of which he is instantaneously transported tens of thousands of years into the future (50,000 years, by one character's estimate, a figure later [[retcon]]ned by future Asimov works as a "mistake"). He finds himself in a place he does not recognize, and due to apparent changes in the spoken language that far into the future, he is unable to communicate with anyone. He wanders into a farm, and is taken in by the couple that lives there. They mistake him for a mentally deficient person, and they secretly offer him as a subject for an experimental procedure to increase his mental abilities. The procedure, which has killed several subjects, works in his case, and he finds that he can quickly learn to speak the current ''[[lingua franca]]''. He also slowly realizes that the procedure has given him strong telepathic abilities, including the ability to project his thoughts to the point of killing or injuring a person.

The Earth, at this time, is seen by the rest of the [[Galactic Empire (Asimov)|Galactic Empire]] as a rebellious planet — it has rebelled three times in the past — and the inhabitants are widely frowned upon and discriminated against. Earth also has several large radioactive areas, although the cause is never really described. With large uninhabitable areas, it is a very poor planet, and anyone who is unable to work is legally required to be [[Euthanasia|euthanized]]. The people of the Earth must also be executed when they reach the age of sixty, a procedure known as "The Sixty", with very few exceptions; mainly for people who have made significant contributions to society. That is a problem for Schwartz, who is now sixty-two years old.

The Earth is part of the Trantorian Galactic Empire, with a resident [[Promagistrate|Procurator]] (who lives in a domed town in the [[Tibetan Plateau|high]] [[Himalayas]]) and a Galactic military [[garrison]], but in practice it is ruled by a group of Earth-centered [[religious fanaticism|"religious fanatics"]] who believe in the ultimate superiority of Earthlings. They have created a new, deadly [[supervirus]] that they plan to use to kill or subjugate the rest of the Empire, and to [[revenge|avenge]] themselves for the way their planet has been treated by the galaxy at large. Citizens of the Empire are unaware of Earth's lethal viruses, and mistakenly believe it is Earth's radioactive environment that causes the characteristic syndrome of "Radiation Fever," and that Earthlings pose the Empire no threat.

Joseph Schwartz, along with Affret Shekt, the scientist who developed the new device that boosted Schwartz's mental powers, his daughter Pola Shekt, and visiting archaeologist Bel Arvardan, are captured by the rebels, but they escape with the help of Schwartz's new mental abilities, and they are narrowly able to stop the plan to release the virus. Schwartz uses his mental abilities to provoke a pilot from the Imperial garrison into bombing the site where the arsenal of the super-virus exists.

The book ends on a hopeful note — perhaps the Empire can be persuaded to restore the Earth and reintroduce uncontaminated soil.

==Reception==
[[Anthony Boucher|Boucher]] and [[J. Francis McComas|McComas]] were disappointed by the novel, saying that despite Asimov's good ideas, "his heavy treatment and routine plot are disappointing.<ref>"Recommended Reading", ''[[F&SF]]'', Summer 1950, p. 106</ref> [[L. Sprague de Camp]], however, recommended the novel highly, praising it as "excellent; one of the few really mature and professional jobs available in book form [''in 1950'']. . . . Asimov's characterization is good, his suspense is almost unbearable, and his handling of the theme of group prejudice is masterful."<ref>"Book Reviews", ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'', August 1950, pp. 146–47</ref> ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]''{{'}}s [[Floyd C. Gale]] told readers "Don't miss" it and the other Empire novels.<ref name="gale196208">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Gale
 |first=Floyd C.
 |date=June 1962
 |title=Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf
 |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v20n06_1962-08#page/n189/mode/2up
 |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction
 |pages=190–194
}}</ref> [[Lester del Rey]] found the novel "a first-rate story."<ref>"Reading Room", [[If (magazine)|''If'']], April 1972, p. 119</ref>

Although [[Hugo Award]]s were established only in 1953, too late for the novel to be eligible, it was later retroactively nominated for the [[Retro-Hugo Award]] and finished 2nd among the novels nominated for a retrospective 1951 Hugo Award for the Best Novel (of 1950) in 2001, losing to a similarly named ''[[Farmer in the Sky]]'' by [[Robert A. Heinlein]].<ref name="Hugo51">{{cite conference | last=  | first=  | display-authors=  | date= August 31, 2001 | title= 1951 Retro-Hugo Awards | publisher= [[World Science Fiction Society]]/[[Hugo Award|The Hugo Awards]] | location= Philadelphia, PA, United States | conference=  The Millennium Philcon | url= https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1951-retro-hugo-awards/ | access-date= 17 December 2024 | archive-date=  | archive-url=  | url-status= live }}</ref>

==Place in the wider Foundation saga==
{{unreferenced section|dfate=October 2025|date=October 2025}}
[[File:Two Complete Science-Adventure Books Winter 1950.jpg|thumb|right|''Pebble in the Sky'' was reprinted in ''[[Two Complete Science-Adventure Books]]'' after its Doubleday release.]]
The 50,000-year estimate is at odds with the chronology given in Asimov's later novels, in particular ''[[Foundation and Earth]]'' and ''[[The Caves of Steel]]''. The latter novel indicates that the [[robot]] [[R. Daneel Olivaw]] was constructed some three thousand years after [[New Amsterdam|the founding of New York City]]. ''Foundation and Earth'', in its concluding scene, establishes that Daneel survives into the Interregnum period, after the First Galactic Empire collapses. He gives his age as (roughly) twenty thousand years. The Galactic Era dating system, to which most of Asimov's [[Foundation Series]] adheres, places ''Foundation and Earth'' approximately twelve thousand years after the events of ''Pebble in the Sky''. Adding up all the differences, Joseph Schwartz's time displacement ultimately transported him only some eleven millennia into the future.

In ''[[Foundation (Isaac Asimov novel)|Foundation]]'', the Galactic Empire has existed for 12,000 years. Nuclear power is believed to have existed for 50,000 years, even though this is long after the era of ''Pebble in the Sky''.

==Other media==
On June 17, 1951, the NBC radio network broadcast a much abbreviated radio dramatization of ''Pebble in the Sky'' in the science fiction anthology series ''[[Dimension X (radio program)|Dimension X]]''. In this much abbreviated version (only 25 minutes), the whole story of time travel was cut out with Bel and Pola being the main characters. The ending was quite different, since the virus was released, leaving Earth alone as "a pebble in the sky".

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{isfdb title|1406}}
* {{OL work|id=46402W|cname=''Pebble in the Sky''}}

<div style="font-size:90%;">
{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="margin:auto;"
|- style="background:#ccc;"
! style="width:30%;"|Preceded by:
! style="width:40%;"|Series:<br>
! style="width:30%;"|Followed by:
|- style="text-align:center;"
|''[[The Currents of Space]]''<br><br>
|[[Galactic Empire series|''Empire'' series]]<br>[[Foundation (book series)|''Foundation'' series]]
|"[[Blind Alley]]"<br><br>
|}
</div>

{{Isaac Asimov novels}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pebble In The Sky}}
[[Category:1950 debut novels]]
[[Category:1950 American novels]]
[[Category:1950 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:American science fiction novels]]
[[Category:American post-apocalyptic novels]]
[[Category:Religion in science fiction]]
[[Category:Novels about time travel]]
[[Category:American novels adapted for radio]]
[[Category:Foundation universe books]]
[[Category:Science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov]]
[[Category:Doubleday (publisher) books]]