The Ugly Little Boy by Isaac Asimov

Today, people's beliefs of Neanderthals have changed immensely. In the past, it was believed that these early humans were not too smart in the membrane, and lived without tools and were basically ignorant.

That belief has changed, and new findings show they were a smart people, and some believe they were humans, at any rate they eventually bred with humans. Neanderthal DNA can be found in homo sapiens today, and some have that look about them. 

These ancient people lived in caves or homes they made with mammoth bones, and were very careful about the way they kept their domiciles. Most could have made the cover of Neanderthal Home and Garden (sorry). They made tools, performed operations, and may have used language and created music.

This book is about a young Neanderthal brought to the future (the future of 1958 when the book was published) and the nurse who learns to love him even though he is an ugly little boy.

No one could say this story shows any signs of political correctness, and some of the words are quite offensive. Ape boy is what the media call him, and he is just a spectacle to be poked at and studied--no one cares that he is a scared little guy except his nurse, who names him Timmie and eventually she loves him dearly.

Ultimately, the company who brought him into the future is ready to send him back where he came from--they want to pull someone else out of time. It doesn't matter to them that he now wears clothes, reads, talks, uses utensils while eating and will be completely lost back in his original home.

It's heartbreaking to think they wouldn't care, but it's believable that corporations and some scientists care for nothing but money and fame, and what's one little boy's life in the shadow of their greatness.

The nurse wants desperately to sneak him out of the building to safety, but she's found out, and so her only recourse, which would be the same as most mothers frantically afraid for their child, is to go back in time with him, and try to keep him safe.

There are many conclusions my mind has created on what happens when they get back and I persist in my belief that she will help him be safe and he will grow to be a great man.

This is a wonderful story and Asimov felt it was one of his best.

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov

The thought of gazing upward to the stars driving any creature to complete madness is a difficult concept to fathom, nonetheless that's the driving force behind the story of Nightfall.

Picture a planet with six suns and no other way to light people's world. Every light they utilize, inside or out, comes from their suns. A few select scientist discovered there will be a total eclipse of all six suns and total darkness will ensue.

They're cognizant concerning the stars, though they're a bit shaky on what they may be. There are religious texts--thousands of years old-- explaining a well-known theory. The texts tell a tale of  catastrophes that happened when the world turned to darkness at a previous time. People burned their cities to light their world and set themselves back to their own dark ages. 

The primary component of the story presents dialog among a reporter and the scientist trying to record the event for future reference.

The dialog makes up 99% of the book, and the event of complete darkness occurs only on the last few pages. Asimov writes the amount of stars number 30,000 compared to the few thousand that inhabitants of Earth view during our nightly observations.

It's difficult to conceptualize the feelings except beauty from these pinpoints of lights, although to never observe a star and suddenly to be bombarded with thousands could jolt anyone's composure.

Even though the book feels especially long winded--the writing continues with Asimov's excellence and the story's interesting subject matter is definitely worth the reader's time.

Breeds There A Man by Isaac Asimov

This is another short story by Asimov that has a very interesting chilling concept that I know couldn't be the truth--could it?

A scientist believes that the human race is nothing more than bacteria that is studied by long-lived (alien) beings. We are nothing but bacteria in a microscope to them, but they must keep us contained, just as we must contain all bacteria and viruses in our laboratories.
Each time a civilization's pursuit for knowledge grows to an extensive degree, these "beings" force a war among us to create such havoc, that all intelligent advances are lost.

One scientist gives out that is why all past great societies burn out at their greatest degree of strength and awareness. I have always wondered about these great empires and why they fall at their strongest--though I believe it's the death of a powerful leader, and no one to take his place that cause the great collapses.

The good news for the earth's populace is that the suicidal scientist helps create a barrier against warring enemies and thus help the bacterias (humans) escape the lab.
This story reminds me greatly of The Forgotten, a movie with Julianne Moore. In the film, we are all just lab rats for a race of aliens that play with our emotions and  taking away or changing the people in our lives. No one can remember what happened before, except Moore can remember her son, and nothing the aliens do to her can change that.

Humans are at the top of the food chain, and there would be a great horror to realize we are at the bottom--no more important than a stain on a microscope.

The Feeling Of Power by Isaac Asimov

I'm actually cheating a little bit on this review since this is not a book but a short story.
I started my love of books in middle school due to feelings of not fitting in and loneliness.
One author stands out in my mind and that is Isaac Asimov. The school library had several of his books containing short stories, and I fell in love with science fiction and reading for the rest of my life.
Though Asimov and I would never agree on views of Christianity or politics--I believe we could agree to disagree.

The Feeling Of Power is a story I read when I was young, and I've always wanted to read it again. The way computers are doing everything for us--this book has become even more believable, and very insightful of Asimov since he wrote it in 1951.

The story is set in the future, and Myron Aub (I love that name) has learned basic math--no one knows how to do this since computers compute numbers for everyone. Before long the military get their hands on it and of course nothing good will come of that.
Poor Aub, he just wanted to help mankind, but instead the military is going to use the formulas in a war to kill more beings.

The story ends on a sad note, but you should read it to find out.