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The relationship between the two planets is analogous to the situation between
European imperial powers and their colonies during the 19th century, or the owners and slaves on the cotton plantations of US South: native Florinians are forced to work in kyrt fields and are treated as an inferior race by the resident Sarkites. They are also lighter-skinned than most humans on other worlds, but this is no longer viewed as significant. Memories of racism on Earth have been lost.
229:
trying to prevent. Ultimately he learns that before losing his memory he was a "spacio-analyst": a specialized astronaut who gathers samples of the very sparse interstellar gasses in outer space, and determines their composition. (The spacio-analysts' slogan is "We analyze
Nothing".) He also finds out that he had discovered that Florina's sun is about to explode into a
234:
light which kyrt plants need in order to bio-synthesize the kyrt fiber. Streams of carbon atoms ("carbon currents") are very rare in space; the reason the plants do not make kyrt when grown on planets orbiting other stars is that
Florina is the only known habitable planet whose sun is located in the path of a carbon current.
228:
and apparent feeble-mindedness. When Rik gradually starts remembering his past, a political crisis involving Sark, Florina, and
Trantor ensues. Rik must dodge planetary law-enforcement agents and interstellar spies as he attempts to learn his own history and identity, which the government of Sark is
216:
The independent planet Sark rules, and exploits, the planet
Florina which orbits the star located nearest to Sark's sun. Sark derives great wealth from kyrt, a natural plant fiber which is extraordinarily useful and versatile, but which cannot be grown on Sark or on any planet other than Florina.
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Because losing
Florina would mean losing the principal source of Sark's vast wealth, there was an attempt to use the knowledge to blackmail Sark's rulers. His amnesia was caused by the blackmailer's misuse of a mind-altering device called a "psychic probe" in an attempt to calm him down before he
233:
because it is being exposed to a stream of isolated gaseous carbon atoms flowing through its region of space. The carbon atoms, besides causing
Florina's sun to approach nova-stage, are also the reason kyrt grows on Florina: they are causing Florina's sun to emit a special energetic wavelength of
259:
series. He even calls our attention to it by making the inhabitants of
Florina fair-skinned and red-haired—paler by far than the inhabitants of most other planets, including Sark. To drive home the point, an official of the Interstellar Bureau of Spatio-analysis (IBS) who is trying to locate the
220:
Attempts to break the Sark monopoly and grow kyrt on worlds other than
Florina have so far been unsuccessful, because kyrt plants grown on other planets do not produce kyrt, only a useless, inferior form of cellulose; no one understands why. So Sark's wealth depends on its colonial dominance of
263:"Asimov has the cotton plantations of North America in mind when describing conditions in Florina but has cunningly reversed the complexions of master and servant. On Florina, lighter-skinned people do the work, and darker folk enjoy the wealth which is produced."
171:, but it was the last of the three to be written. Each occurs after humans have settled many worlds in the galaxy, after the second wave of colonization that went beyond the Spacer worlds, and before the era of decline that was the setting for the original
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an advance from Asimov's previous work and described it as "first-rate entertainment is so much more adroitly plotted than Asimov's previous ventures in this vein that it stands up as an intricate and constantly surprising spy-suspense story."
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could seek other means to make it public. However, once Rik recovers his memory and reveals the effect of the carbon atoms, the conditions that enable kyrt to grow can be easily duplicated anywhere now that they are understood.
213:, unifying millions of worlds. The approximate date is around the year 11,000 AD (originally 34,500 AD, according to Asimov's early 1950s chronology), when the Trantorian Empire encompasses roughly half of the galaxy.
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Rik also learns that he was born on the planet Earth, which is now radioactive. He suggests that Earth was the planet where humanity first originated, but this hypothesis remains controversial.
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described the novel as "one of Asimov's lesser efforts, but still considerably above the average space opera". The magazine's
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missing Spatio-analyst is noted as being from the planet in the galaxy with the darkest average skin color and wooly hair."
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The book has often been seen as Asimov's comment on race and the USA's past. But with differences of skin-colour reversed:
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Florina. The government of
Trantor naturally wishes to add the two worlds to its growing empire.
164:, published in 1952. It is the second (by internal series chronology) of three books labeled the
255:"Asimov doesn’t really bother to hide his reliance on history here, any more than he did in the
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was unknown. His idea was that it was caused by a star switching from the
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191:(1952) and that it was "the first of my Empire novels." Book #7 was
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told readers "Don't miss" it and the other Empire novels.
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The action centers around Rik, a man suffering from gross
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that book #6 in the Foundation universe chronology was
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Review at the website of the British Fantasy Society
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350:https://www.asimovreviews.net/Books/Book007.html
287:', but they have nothing to do with the matter.
181:Asimov stated in 1988 in the "Author's Note" to
432:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy
33:Dust-jacket illustration from the first edition
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197:(1951), which was "the second Empire novel."
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759:Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids
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992:Fiction set in the 7th millennium or beyond
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271:When Asimov wrote the book, the cause of
209:'s rise from a large regional power to a
205:The story takes place in the context of
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987:Science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov
891:Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain
773:Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury
462:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
7:
780:Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter
787:Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn
766:Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus
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845:Norby and Yobo's Great Adventure
338:It’s a rather complicated story”
967:American science fiction novels
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434:. Chicago: Advent. p. 21.
830:Norby and the Queen's Necklace
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355:at the Asimov Reviews website
160:novel by the American writer
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389:Gale, Floyd C. (June 1962).
972:Doubleday (publisher) books
962:1952 science fiction novels
850:Norby and the Oldest Dragon
820:Norby and the Lost Princess
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855:Norby and the Court Jester
16:1952 novel by Isaac Asimov
977:Foundation universe books
809:Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot
752:David Starr, Space Ranger
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484:
481:
373:"Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf",
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407:"Recommended Reading,"
391:"Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf"
825:Norby and the Invaders
725:Forward the Foundation
395:Galaxy Science Fiction
376:Galaxy Science Fiction
864:Other science fiction
835:Norby Finds a Villain
718:Prelude to Foundation
690:Foundation and Empire
653:The Currents of Space
468:The Currents of Space
460:title listing at the
457:The Currents of Space
353:The Currents of Space
318:The Currents of Space
189:The Currents of Space
184:Prelude to Foundation
153:The Currents of Space
21:The Currents of Space
957:1952 American novels
815:Norby's Other Secret
799:The Norby Chronicles
711:Foundation and Earth
646:The Stars, Like Dust
496:The Stars, Like Dust
194:The Stars, Like Dust
129:The Stars, Like Dust
982:Fiction about novae
884:The Gods Themselves
872:The End of Eternity
840:Norby Down to Earth
413:, April 1953, p. 98
397:. pp. 190–194.
277:Proton–proton chain
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616:The Robots of Dawn
602:The Caves of Steel
595:The Positronic Man
314:J. Francis McComas
211:galaxy-wide empire
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928:The Death Dealers
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697:Second Foundation
660:Pebble in the Sky
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520:Pebble in the Sky
379:, May 1953, p.122
285:currents of space
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257:Foundation
174:Foundation
905:Nightfall
325:Footnotes
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281:CNO cycle
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88:Publisher
574:universe
430:(1974).
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57:Language
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226:amnesia
207:Trantor
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