The End Of Eternity

Author: Isaac Asimov

'Eternity' is an organization that's kind of 'above time', is that makes any sense at all. I mean, how can you be? Still, they are, and they can go here and there and everywhere and everyWHEN and tweak things to suit their purpose. Well, not quite everyWHEN. There's a barrier somewhere in the future, beyond which they cannot go. The purpose of the organization? To minimize human suffering. On the average anyway. The result of their constant interference is that humanity's development has been arrested; societies are static and there appears to be no real 'drive' to do anything that pushes the envelope. Remind you of much of modern western urban civilization? Most people will choose safety and boredom over the insecurity of adventure and risk. That's just the way things are, and 'Eternity' encourages that. The story is about how all that is about to end; or, better said, how all that is never about to come about. Why it's on the list: A thoughtful story; very complicated and needing your wits about you. The underlying subject is simple and Joss Whedon probably would love this tale if he knew it, because it's all about how we are deeply conflicted and how what makes us move forward is also what creates our greatest suffering Ã¢ but that's our lot, and we got to live with it. Else we cease to be human and the universe will just chew us up and spit us out.