Audiobook1 hour
Youth
Written by Isaak Asimov
Narrated by Mark Bowen
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
"Youth" is a science fiction novelette by Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the May 1952 issue of Space Science Fiction and was reprinted in the 1955 collection The Martian Way and Other Stories. Youth is one of the rare Asimov stories with alien characters.
Slim is a boy whose astronomer father is visiting the country estate of an important industrialist. The industrialist's son, Red, has found two strange animals, and he enlists Slim in a plan to turn the animals into a circus act. The astronomer, meanwhile, tells the industrialist that he has been in contact with space aliens who want to open up their world to interstellar trade. Their world needs help, the astronomer says; for ever since the atomic wars that destroyed their old civilization, their world has been regressing. Unless something is done, their civilization may face total collapse.
When they do not hear from the aliens, the astronomer and the industrialist go out looking for them. They find a small crashed spaceship with a number of tiny dead aliens in it, and the astronomer is convinced that the aliens all died in the crash. When he hears Red admit to the industrialist that he has been keeping two animals in a cage in a barn, he realizes that the "animals" are actually two surviving aliens. When the industrialist learns that the aliens allowed themselves to be captured and caged rather than harm the two youngsters, he is favorably impressed and agrees to help the aliens begin trading with his people. The two aliens succeed in repairing their spaceship and set out for their world: Earth.
Necessary for the narrative twist at the end, none of the characters in Youth have proper given names, and identifiable physical descriptions only appear toward the conclusion. All the adults, including the two aliens, are known by their professions, and the two youngsters are known by their nicknames.
Slim is a boy whose astronomer father is visiting the country estate of an important industrialist. The industrialist's son, Red, has found two strange animals, and he enlists Slim in a plan to turn the animals into a circus act. The astronomer, meanwhile, tells the industrialist that he has been in contact with space aliens who want to open up their world to interstellar trade. Their world needs help, the astronomer says; for ever since the atomic wars that destroyed their old civilization, their world has been regressing. Unless something is done, their civilization may face total collapse.
When they do not hear from the aliens, the astronomer and the industrialist go out looking for them. They find a small crashed spaceship with a number of tiny dead aliens in it, and the astronomer is convinced that the aliens all died in the crash. When he hears Red admit to the industrialist that he has been keeping two animals in a cage in a barn, he realizes that the "animals" are actually two surviving aliens. When the industrialist learns that the aliens allowed themselves to be captured and caged rather than harm the two youngsters, he is favorably impressed and agrees to help the aliens begin trading with his people. The two aliens succeed in repairing their spaceship and set out for their world: Earth.
Necessary for the narrative twist at the end, none of the characters in Youth have proper given names, and identifiable physical descriptions only appear toward the conclusion. All the adults, including the two aliens, are known by their professions, and the two youngsters are known by their nicknames.
Related to Youth
Related audiobooks
Untamed Pellucidar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Island of Doctor Moreau and The War of the Worlds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Forest of Stars Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Strangers from the Sky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fatal Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Enemies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMad God's Wrath [Dramatized Adaptation] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Time Cube: Book 11 of The Evaran Chronicles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Planetary Explorer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreylorn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lost World (version 2) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conquest: The Chronicles of the Invaders: Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Space 2069: After Apollo: Back to the Moon, to Mars, and Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Horizon Storms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5QUANTUM: THE TRILOGY BEGINS Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Crawlers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mission: A True Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Back to the Moon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scattered Suns Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stars My Destination Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Human for Hire – Cellblock Orion: Collateral Damage Included Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Five Greatest Warriors: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apollo's Legacy: Perspectives on the Moon Landings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blaster Squad #4 Raiders of Cloud City Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo A Fungus Unknown: A Space Colony Exploration Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science Fiction For You
Red Rising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens: A Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Three-Body Problem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Left Hand of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kindred Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Systems Red Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose The Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune Messiah: Book Two in the Dune Chronicles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sparrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man in the High Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gideon the Ninth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House 23: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/520,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Golden Son Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Live in Concert Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Morning Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dune: House Atreides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories of Your Life and Others Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Youth
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews