The Gods Themselves
Isaac Asimov
<p>The Gods Themselves is a 1972 science fiction novel written by Isaac Asimov. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972, and the Hugo The main plotline is a project by aliens who inhabit a parallel universe (the para-Universe) with different physical laws from this one. By exchanging matter with Earth, they seek to exploit these differences in physical laws. The exchange of matter provides an alternative source of energy in their dying Universe. However, the exchange of physical laws will have the ultimate result of turning the Earth's Sun into a supernova, and possibly even turning a large part of the Milky Way into a quasar which, in turn, provides more energy for the para-Universe. The second part takes place in the parallel universe. The aliens consist of the "hard ones" and the amorphous "soft ones". The soft ones have three sexes with fixed roles for each sex: Rationals (or "lefts") are the logical and scientific sex. Rationals are identified with masculine pronouns and produce a form of sperm. Emotionals (or "mids") are the intuitive sex. Emotionals are identified with the feminine pronouns and provide the energy needed for reproduction. Parentals (or "rights") bear and raise the offspring. Parentals are identified with masculine pronouns. All three 'genders' are embedded in sexual and social norms of expected and acceptable behavior. The third part of the novel takes place on the Moon, centering on a cynical middle-aged physicist named Denison, briefly introduced in Part 1 as the colleague and rival of Hallam whose snide remark drove Hallam to invent the Pump. Denison, independently of Lamont, deduced the danger in the Electron Pump, In his autobiography, Asimov stated that the novel, especially the second section, was the "biggest and most effective over-my-head writing [I] ever produced"</p><p>**</p>