The Currents of Space
by Isaac Asimov
The Currents of Space (1952) follows an amnesiac scientist on the planet Florina who once possessed crucial knowledge about a galactic catastrophe. Set against a backdrop of planetary exploitation and class struggle within the rising Trantorian Empire.
Published
1952
Pages
191
Pub. Order
#14
Chron. Order
#7
Synopsis
Rik, a man stripped of his memories, slowly recovers and realizes he once possessed critical information: the carbon currents of space are going to make Florina's sun go nova, destroying the planet. Florina is economically enslaved by the planet Sark, which monopolizes its valuable kyrt fiber production.
The novel combines mystery (recovering Rik's memories) with political intrigue (the exploitation of Florina) and science fiction (the stellar catastrophe). Trantor, the future capital of the Galactic Empire, appears as a rising power.
Reader's Guide
How the Book Is Built
The Currents of Space was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction from October to December 1952 and published as a book that year. It is set when Trantor is a rising power that has not yet united the galaxy.
The planet Florina grows kyrt, a uniquely valuable fiber, and its people are kept poor and powerless by the aristocrats of the neighboring planet Sark, who control the trade. A man found on Florina with his memory wiped, known only as Rik, slowly recovers fragments of who he was: a spatio-analyst who had discovered something terrible about Florina's sun. His struggle to remember, and the scramble by several powers to find out what he knows first, drives the plot.
What to Watch For
Colonialism. Florina and Sark are a pointed portrait of an exploitative colonial economy, including the way the powerful justify it. It is the most openly political of Asimov's early novels.
A mystery with several layers. Who wiped Rik's mind, and why, is a genuine puzzle, and Asimov keeps more than one suspect in play until the end.
Trantor as a player. Trantor is not yet the Empire's capital, but its growing power hangs over everything. Watch how it treats the Florina question; it is a hint of what the Empire will become.
The science. The "currents of space" of the title are Asimov's invented astrophysics for how a star could become unstable. It is 1950s speculation, but it gives the plot a deadline.
Where It Fits and Who It's For
It is the middle Empire novel chronologically, between The Stars, Like Dust and Pebble in the Sky. Like the other Empire novels, it is optional for Foundation readers, but it is well regarded and often recommended as the best of the three.
It stands completely on its own. Read it if you enjoy a political mystery or want to see the Empire as it was forming.
On Screen
No adaptation exists.
Key Themes
Historical Context & Writing Background
Published in 1952 by Doubleday), this is the middle novel of the Empire series chronologically. It deals with themes of economic exploitation and colonialism that were ahead of their time in science fiction. The presence of Trantor as a rising power connects it to the Foundation timeline.
Critical Reception
Better received than *The Stars, Like Dust*, with critics praising its social commentary and mystery elements. Its portrait of Florina's economic exploitation reads as a pointed commentary on colonialism.
Connection to Asimov's Universe
The appearance of Trantor as a growing imperial power helps establish the timeline leading to the Galactic Empire of the Foundation series. The novel takes place thousands of years before Hari Seldon.
Read more on WikipediaFrequently Asked Questions About The Currents of Space
Where does The Currents of Space fit in Asimov's timeline?
The Currents of Space is set during the early expansion of the Trantorian Republic, thousands of years before it becomes the Galactic Empire. It is chronologically the second of the three Empire novels and approximately 15,000 years before the events of Foundation.