One moment Joseph Schwartz is a happily retired tailor in Chicago, Issac Asimov 1949. The next he’s a helpless stranger on Earth during the heyday of the first Galactic Empire. Earth, as he soon learns, is a backwater, just a pebble in the sky, despised by all the other 200 million planets of the Empire because its people dare to claim it’s the original home of man. And Earth is poor, with great areas of radioactivity ruining much of its soil—so poor that everyone is sentenced to death at the age of sixty. Joseph Schwartz is sixty-two. This is young Isaac Asimov’s first novel, full of wonders and ideas, the book that launched the novels of the Galactic Empire, culminating in the Foundation series. Isaac Asimov was born in 1920 in the Soviet Union. His family came to the United States in 1923. He earned his PhD in Chemistry in 1948, and in 1958 he became a full-time writer. His writings include: In Memory Yet Green, I. Asimov: A Memoir, Yours, Isaac Asimov, and It’s Been a Good Life, as well as three Opus books. He died in 1992. Robert Fass—actor, director, writer, photographer, and musician— starred opposite Theodore Bikel in the hit off-Broadway production of The Gathering. Other credits include leading roles in The Kids, The Night That Roger… , Dent (opposite Isabel Keating), and Stars. He can be heard weekly on the InTouch network reading The New Yorker magazine for the visually impaired. Playing Time: 8 hrs 6 min PEBBLE in Copyright P 1950 by Isaac Asimov. All rights reserved. Cover art © Getty Images. SKY BBC Audiobooks America is committed to publishing and distributing audiobooks that reflect many different viewpoints on a variety of topics. The opinions expressed in this and other works published by th BBC Audiobooks America are solely those of the authors, and not of the company. Sound Library® is an imprint of BBC Audiobooks America. SOUND LIBRARY® is a registered service mark of Chivers North America, Inc./BBC Audiobooks America. E 42 Whitecap Drive North Kingstown, RI 02852-7445 Unabridged Tel: 1-800-621-0182 PLY [email protected] BBCAudiobooksAmerica.com 1674 3693 THE ALL-IN-ONE AUDIOBOOK WWW.PLAYAWAY.COM All rights reserved. Designed in Ohio. Made in China. PLAYAWAY® and associated logos are registered trademarks of Findaway World, LLC. 31999 Aurora Road, Solon, OH 44139 USA.