blind alley

"Blind Alley"

Author	Isaac Asimov
Country	USA
Language	English
Series	Empire Series
Genre(s)	Science fiction short story
Published in	Astounding Science Fiction
Publication type	Periodical
Publisher	Street & Smith
Media type	Print (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback)
Publication date	March 1945
Preceded by	Pebble in the Sky
Followed by	Prelude to Foundation

Blind Alley is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the March 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and later included in the collection The Early Asimov (1972).

Although the story postulates a race of intelligent non-humans, it is set in the Foundation universe, during the era of Trantor's Galactic Empire.

Plot summary

The few remaining members of an intelligent non-human alien race have been removed from their dying planet and transferred to a human-occupied planet Cepheus-18 (hence their name of Cepheids given to them). The planet is intended to be utilised as a combination zoo, laboratory, and reservation for the creatures, and they are being studied, without too much success, by a scientific group that regards them as little more than experimental animals.

The Civilian Supervisor, a career member of the Imperial administrative service, attempts to improve conditions for the creatures, using his working knowledge of the Imperial bureaucracy. By submitting reports and encouraging others to submit reports, he manages to cause a spaceship to be delivered with the intention of having the Cepheids study it. In fact, as he intended, the Cepheids commandeer the ship and depart the galaxy to find a new world of their own.

Historical context

The author utilises a turgid long-winded bureauocratic style of phraseology for the many memoranda that are a part of the story; this was based on that in use by the US Navy, Asimov's employers at the time.

The aliens' predicament in a human-dominated galaxy is similar to the eventual fate of humans in the alternative futures of The End of Eternity. It does however have a different ending — the Cepheids are encouraged to steal a spacecraft and head for an independent life in the Magellanic Clouds.

In Foundation and Earth, we are told that no human ship has ever penetrated the Magellanic Clouds, nor the Andromeda Galaxy or other more distant galaxies. It is not known whether Asimov intended to make a link between those novels and this short story.

The Second Foundation Trilogy

In the 'Second Foundation' trilogy, a series of books authorized by the estate of Asimov, a race of Aliens within the Foundation Universe is mentioned who appear to be in circumstances similar to the Cepheids. Although they are not mentioned by name, a major character in this story is. A subplot in Foundation's Triumph investigates the problem raised in this story.

See also

External links

• Review by John H. Jenkins

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