Nightfall, by Isaac Asimov

Posted by: Redhead on: January 5, 2013

• In: Isaac Asimov
• 21 Comments

Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992) was one of the first science fiction authors I read. I started with his Foundation books, moved onto the Robot books, and leapt into the fray from there. And Dr. Asimov is far more than just a science fiction writer. He wrote droves of non-fiction as well, eventually being involved in over 500 books of both fiction and non-fiction.  His science fiction is utilitarian yet deep, showing a fascinating view of the human condition, yet easily grasped. After all these years, it’s had to believe I’ve never read Asimov’s famous short story Nightfall, which in the 1960s was voted the best science fiction short story ever written by the SFWA. The original short story Nightfall was written in 1941, and shortly before Asimov’s death he and Robert Silverberg adapted it into a full length novel.

Nightfall (short story) by Isaac Asimov

originally published in 1941

where I got it: listened!  download the story from Escape Pod, here

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Lagash  is a planet that never has a sunset, never sees stars, never lights a fire to keep the dark of night at bay.  You see, Lagash has not one or two suns, but six that cross its sky. This is a civilization that has never been in the dark,  never worried about inventing light bulbs, electricity, gas lamps or candles. They barely have an understanding of the burning pitch torch.

Until now.  Every two thousand years or so the stars are aligned just right so that only Lagash’s dimmest star, Beta, remains in the sky as the planet’s dark companion slowly rotates around, causing a total solar eclipse.

When darkness falls, what will happen? The archaeological records show that most civilizations reached a peak, and then collapsed shortly after each eclipse that hits like clockwork.  But this time things will be different. In the capital city, a percentage of the population waits safely in an underground shelter with all the records and knowledge of Lagash, prepared to wait out the worst and repopulate the planet if necessary.

In the observatory, Lagash’s best scientists (and one annoying newspaper reporter) are readying themselves for the event of a lifetime.  Some are sure this is the end of the world, others are more optimistic, and there are plenty of guesses of what will happen.  Will the world be enveloped in total and utter darkness? Will there maybe be a dozen or two strange  pinpoints of light in the sky? Will the populace lose their minds as claustrophobia and other unrealized fears take hold? Are the religious cultists right, or is this 6 hour eclipse nothing to worry about?

(Having just “survived” the Mayan Apocalypse, this was a surprisingly timely read. I didn’t expect anything to happen on Dec 21,  but there was no escaping our own “cultists” who were plenty happy to spread rumors  and take advantage of  gullible people.)

And don’t worry, there is plenty of science in Nightfall as well: There’s a fascinating and easy to digest discussion of the laws of gravitation, and the scientists even hypothesize about how easy their mathematical calculations would be if Lagash only had one sun.  But how silly is that, a planetary system with only one sun! Asimov is enlightening and educating the reader of the complications of stellar mathematics, while at the same time gently making light of the situation. You’ll smile, I promise.

I actually feel really bad for the population of Lagash. without darkness, they have no constellations, no mythological connections to the heavenly bodies, no romances of moonlit rendezvouses, no views of the galaxy or nebulae or the borealis. They don’t even have the vocabulary for the starlit evenings that got me into science fiction in the first place.

Nightfall is an easy story to follow. The characters aren’t incredibly deep (and that was never Asimov’s thing anyways), but it’s OK, because the idea of the story is more about how society reacts to something they’ve never seen before, as opposed to singular individuals. This is the first time I’ve listened to something this long, and the narrator, Stephen Eley did a great job giving the different characters different voices and vocal mannerisms.  Nightfall is available in many, many “best of” anthologies, so a print version should be pretty easy to find.

I recently read Mark Hodder’s new novel, A Red Sun Also Rises. Not to spoil any of the surprises, but the alien planet in that book is also in a stellar system of multiple suns, and the planet rarely experiences total darkness. Makes me wonder if Nightfall doesn’t have a special place in Hodder’s heart.

Tags: eclipse, golden age, science fiction, vintage