Blank!

1957 short story by Isaac Asimov

This is the current revision of this page, as edited by imported>Cewbot at 08:52, 24 August 2024 (Normalize {{Multiple issues}}: Remove {{Multiple issues}} for only 1 maintenance template: Notability). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.

(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

"Blank!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was commissioned by Larry Shaw, editor of Infinity Science Fiction, as being the least inspirational title on which to base a story. Harlan Ellison and Randall Garrett were also invited to submit stories based on the same title; Garrett wrote one with "Blank?" as the title while Ellison submitted "Blank."[1] All three were published in the magazine in June 1957.[2] Asimov's story was later reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories.

File:Blank (Infinity magazine).jpg
First publication of "Blank!"
cover art by Ed Emshwiller

Plot summary

The story is about a scientist who is experimenting with time travel. He persuades a reluctant colleague to join him on a journey in the machine he has developed. Despite the inventor's protestations that nothing can go wrong, something does go wrong, and the two travelers find themselves stuck in non-time, between two time-particles. As they fade into unconsciousness, they realize that 'where even eternity was meaningless, there would only be – blank!'

References

  1. ^ Asimov, Isaac (1975). Buy Jupiter and Other Stories. Garden City NY: Doubleday.
  2. ^ "Infinity Science Fiction, June 1957". ISFDb. Retrieved August 23, 2024.

External links