Tony's Review of The Last Question

The Last Question begins with a five-dollar bet and a question about whether humanity can ever reverse entropy. Asimov follows that question across civilizations, galaxies, and eventually the universe. Humanity keeps finding ways to survive, but the same problem waits at the end of every solution.

Some of the science is dated, but Asimov wrote this in the 1950s, and the story is still compelling. We master the stars, extend our lives, and build computers beyond our understanding, but what happens when the universe itself runs down? Each generation asks that question in its own way, and the repeated answer grows more unsettling every time.

Keep in mind that if you want a story built around people you get to know deeply, this is not that story. Asimov follows an idea to its furthest possible conclusion, and he does it in a very short story.

The Last Question is the kind of science fiction I enjoy most: a simple question that opens onto something enormous and stays with you after the story ends. And this ending has a punch.