Sunset

Author: Isaac Asimov
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: The long version of The End of Eternity (1990) remarkably preserves the framework of the original short story. The story still takes place on the planet Kalgash, which has six suns. The people there do not know what darkness is because they only experience one night every 2049 years, when they see the true face of billions of stars. Silverberg divides the novel into three parts: the first part tells the process by which scientists discover the eclipse that causes the night; the second part describes the arrival of the night and the resulting conflict between science and religion; the third part depicts the madness and chaos of the world after the night. It is clear that Silverberg handles Asimov's original idea with caution; equally clear is that his focus differs from Asimov's. Although Asimov also wrote about the attack of ignorant forces on science in the original short story of The End of Eternity, his focus clearly lies in showing readers a once-in-a-thousand-year, heart-stirring classic science fiction scene; whereas Silverberg is more interested in the conflict between religion and science. In his telling, the arrival of night and the appearance of stars become the backdrop of this conflict. From Silverberg's creative intent, The End of Eternity is successful. The conflict between science and religion is depicted as sharp, intense, and shocking. What is particularly thought-provoking is that the scientists who have no power to overcome ignorance, while the religious forces exploit the public's fear of darkness to control the world, pushing civilization back into the Dark Ages. This ending is oppressive, and the author uses this extreme consequence to warn the reader: science only becomes powerful when it is widely disseminated, and the world can only be rationalized through it. From a comparative perspective, the long version of The End of Eternity loses the conciseness and tightness of Asimov's original short story, becoming somewhat loose. Especially, Silverberg's attempt to leave a glimmer of hope in the ending is seen by critics as a destruction of Asimov's original work. Despite these criticisms, the long version of The End of Eternity is still largely successful overall. The book sold 100,000 copies in its first printing. Like many of Asimov's and Silverberg's books, you can always buy the English version of this novel over the past decade. This also proves, from another angle, the value of this novel.