Every author has his favourite hero, usually based on a flattering version of his own personality. In his first work of fiction for fifteen years, The Gods Themselves, Isaac Asimov continues with his fictional alter ego in the form of the questing man of science. A man, it need hardly be added, of intellect, vision, courage, and so on. In this tripartite novel there are, basically, three distinct personalities who might be said to fit these rather exacting criteria, including an exotic though blobby alien. Despite Asimov's obvious identification with his dramatis personae, it is Science itself that directs the proceedings, manipulating both humans and aliens as the godlike puppetmaster; the layman is soon left floundering in a swamp of scientific complexities….

Between experiments there is plenty of extra-curricular activity, such as nude PT sessions, a guided tour of a moon colony by a long-legged moongirl, and a...