Stasis Technologies Ltd has perfected a way to reach back into time and bring forth objects for scientific study. Their most recent triumph was a baby dinosaur and now they’ve taken a Neanderthal child from the Ice-age to the 21st century. The nurse assigned to care for the child must somehow bridge a 40,000-year cultural gap. Initially shocked by the “ugly little boy,” Edith Fellows soon recognizes that he is really a frightened child, and slowly forms a deep emotional bond with Timmie. Originally written as a short story in 1956, Robert Silverberg teamed with Asimov to expand the work into this novel format (released as The Child of Time). According to Wikipedia, Silverberg added the storyline of the Neanderthal tribe, and the child advocate subplot, both of which definitely do add to the basic plot. This also explains how I was reminded of Jean Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear when reading about Silver Cloud, Goddess Woman, She Who Knows and the other members of the Neanderthal tribe from which Timmie was taken. (I started out wondering if Auel had borrowed from Asimov, but now think Silverberg wrote these sections after Auel’s publication). I do wish I had a copy of the original story, however, so that I could see how Asimov wrote the ending. I had pretty much figured this would be what happened, but don’t know if it conforms to the original story or is a result of the added elements. Sort of the same conundrum faced by the characters when bringing the child into the future – are you altering the course of history?I did like that the characters are portrayed as fully developed – having both good and bad qualities. Miss Fellowes is dedicated and truly devoted to Timmie, but also very judgmental and frequently fails to see clear signals of what is to come. Hoskins is not merely a profit-seeking CEO, but a family man who listens to Miss Fellowes arguments and tries his best to provide the child with a nurturing environment given the constraints of the Stasis bubble. Child advocate Bruce Mannheim is originally painted as a rabid rabble-rousing attention-seeking hysteric adept at media relations but turns out to be genuinely concerned and willing to help.
Es una novela, a medias con Silverberg, que no es sino hacer más largo su relato El niño feo. Le damos un 8/10 porque es totalmente recomendable, si bien el cuento ya tien casi todas las virtudes de la novela. Va sobre un niño neandertal al que traen al presente gracias a una máquina de Éxtasis, que puede traer cosas del pasado pero sin abandonar los límites de ese campo de éxtasis.No deja de resultarme curioso ver como Asimov nos metía en la CF y a la vez nos predicaba sobre las virtudes que debiera de poseer la Humanidad. Je, je, je, y me he hecho gracia volver a leer una novela en la que aparecen físicos o ingenieros como protagonistas.Estos eran las grandes figuras de las novelas de la CF de la Edad de Oro, donde la técnica todo lo podía y nos iba a llevar a las estrellas por un lado y por otro a uno sociedad maravillosa regida por tecnócratas bondadosos y justos. Je, je, qué tiempos aquellos en los que casi, casi, me lo creía.Vamos, que el libro está muy bie y sólo me lo ha empañado el saber en todo momento cómo terminaba la historia.
What do You think about The Ugly Little Boy (1993)?
Though named in a way that may seem to put off readers at first, is actually quite fun, educational, and gripping in a variety of ways which will appeal to teens and adults. Taking place partly on the frozen tundra domain of the Neanderthals during the Ice Age, and partly amidst the scientifically well-versed time-travel lab of Stasis Technologies, Ltd. some years in the future, this book answers the question: What if we could bring the past to life? The implications of such a task are more groundbreaking and ethically confusing than could ever be imagined without reading this book. Read it!--SF
—Sacramento Public Library
Another novel that is essentially an expanded short story, and like "Nightfall", it just didn't work, in my opinion.The premise is strong and has some good moments sprinkled here and there, especially as the titular little boy slowly moves from being viewed as a specimen to being viewed as a human. Fair enough, that sounds like a good short story.But then, with an ending that you can see coming from a mile away, and very flimsy characters to back it up, this book simply leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I spent most of the book just waiting around for the inevitable climax to finally show up, and the chapters seemed content to just be padding, rather than advance plot or characters. Perhaps it's only compared to other Asimov works that this book doesn't do so well.It's been a while since I read this, so maybe I should give the book another try, but I will be reading several other Asimov works first, believe me.
—Fiver
I love it when a book sneaks up on you and holds you in it's grasp as thoroughly as this one did with me. A simple pairing of stories, really, made fascinating by the 40,000 year time span and the numerous endings that could have been.I loved Asimov's robot short stories and novels for the moral and ethical dilemmas the author tackles. This novel was similar, in that the scienctific underpinnings are secondary to the unforseen consequences of their implementation.It was refreshing to see, too, that the authors didn't bind themselves by Ray Bradbury's "butterfly effect" of time travel, in which minor changes to the past can have enormous consequences in the present.The fact that "The Ugly Little Boy" is under-hyped, possibly under-read and certainly overshadowed by Asimov's and Silverberg's more renowned accomplishments very likely makes it all that more enjoyable. It's the literary equivalent of your favorite used book store that everyone else bypasses on their way to Border's or Barne's and Noble.
—Don
