Always a treat to read an Asimov book, and with Robert Silverberg joining him, this is a great little novel. It started out slow, but got better as the book progressed and had one of the better climaxes/denouements, particularly for a post apocalyptic style story. I liked the 4 main protagonists and how I never really knew where the story was going. ( )

22-3

El planeta Kalgash está al borde del caos, pero sólo unas pocas personas se han dado cuenta. Kalgash conoce únicamente la luz diurna perpetua, pues durante más de dos milenios la combinación de sus seis soles ha iluminado el cielo. Sin embargo, ahora empieza a reinar la oscuridad. Pronto se pondrán todos los soles, y el terrible esplendor del anochecer desencadenará una locura que marcará el fin de la civilización.

This book was SO GOOD. The way the plot built up to the eclipse was done expertly. I was invested in the characters and story pretty much immediately. I adored the different approaches to the inevitability of the eclipse: not just astronomy, but psychology, archaeology, and media. My favorite part was the way the writing weaved those approaches together into a delicious, slowly growing tension to that moment of the eclipse itself. The tension broke after the eclipse, obviously, but it built again slightly in the aftermath to an engaging conclusion. At times, especially during and after the eclipse, the book had significant horror elements. The effects on a species of discovering that the universe is far more vast than they ever could have imagined was believable, terrifying, and thoroughly explored. Highly recommend. ( )

This was a very disappointing read. Scifi by Asimov should be a safe bet, but this has been cobbled together. The original short story was written by Asimov in 1941 and this book length adaptation was published in 1990. I have the strong feeling that the book was written by Silverberg alone, but Asimov's name was retained because it is his original idea. And for marketing purposes. I doubt I would have read this had it not been for the Asimov name.
After finishing the book, I found the original short story and read that. The short story is good - tightly written, creative, and leaving plenty for the reader to imagine.
The book length treatment is different. I found it plodding and predictable. It took all the mystery and suspense away. And the greater length exposed all the potential flaws in the story line, every one of them, and did nothing to address them. What a shame. ( )