The Currents of Space
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The Currents of Space is a 1952 novel by science fiction author Isaac Asimov.
Overview
It is the second book in a set of three that are classified as the Empire Series. Each occurs after humans have settled many worlds in the galaxy - after the second wave of colonisation that went beyond the 'Spacer' worlds - and before the era of decline that was the setting for the original Foundation series. Each of the three is only loosely connected to other works.
The story takes place during the time when Trantor was building a confederation of planets that would ultimately grow into the Galactic Empire. The action occurs on two planets well outside Trantor's reach. Sark rules Florina, which grows 'kyrt', a vital raw material. This two-world Empire is enormously wealthy as a result, second only to the Trantorian empire.
There is a hidden joke in Sark's dominion over Florina, clear parallels to the US South growing cotton with slave labour. But we learn that the Florinians are one of the lightest-skinned people in a galaxy where racial categories seem to have been forgotten, but where the people of Sark do have an oppressive separation between themselves and the Florinians. One of the characters happens to come from a planet with some of the galaxy's darkest-skinned people and feels some sympathy with the Florinians.
The plot itself revolves around 'Rik', who seems to be a mental defective, but may have had his memory destroyed. Why? And by who? The answer matters a lot in various power-political games that are going on. But we also see the contrasting feelings of a Florinian woman who cares just for the man himself.
Plot
The story takes place in the backdrop of Trantor's rise from a large regional empire to a single Galactic Empire unifying the millions of worlds in the galaxy. This story occurs around the year 34500, where the Trantorian empire encompasses roughly half the galaxy. The independent planet Sark exploits the planet Florina, and derives its great wealth from the kyrt (a versatile fabric) that can only be grown on there. The relationship between Sark and Florina is analogous to the situation between the Colonial powers and their colonies in mid 20th century, where the Florinians are forced to work in kyrt fields, and are treated as an inferior race from the Sarkites. Attempts to break the Sark monopoly and grow kyrt on other worlds have thus far been unsuccessful. The main topic of the novel is the possible destruction of Florina, predicted by Rik, a spatio analyst, who has had his mind manipulated resulting in amnesia.
The story begins when Rik starts remembering the past which produces a crisis in the political relationship between Sark, Florina and Trantor. Florina is oppressed. Trantor would like an excuse to seize this very rich world. Other characters have their own games to play.
Rik actually comes from Earth. He discovered that Florina's sun is about to go nova, because it is being fed carbon by one of the 'currents of space'. Sark without Florina would lose its wealth, so there was a reluctance to accept the message. The solution is for Trantor to buy out the entire planet - expensive, but likely to repay in goodwill, presumably a key step to a full empire.
The idea of 'currents of space' causing suns to explode ingenious but thoroughly mistaken. There are indeed two types of stellar fusion, one involving carbon as a kind of catalyst. But the processes are a simple product of the star's size and temperature. It is now known that stars likely to have habitable planets cannot go nova, though they will become giant stars at the very end of their lifetime.