Rating: 
Summary: Classic SF
Review: "The Stars, Like Dust" is either the first or second novel, chronologically, in Asimov's Empire Series, depending on whether you believe the consensus (first) or Asimov's Author's Note in Prelude to Foundation (second). Nonetheless, it probably doesn't matter a great deal, the other contender "The Currents of Space" has Trantor as just another would-be empire, and this novel doesn't see any need to bring Trantor into the story. In all other respects too, there's little to connect either book, no common characters, political forces, no anything, beyond a shared past where Earth is radioactive. So read either book in any order you wish. In case it hasn't been hammered in yet, the Empire books form the middle of Asimov's Robots-Empire-Foundation universe timeline.Beyond that, this is a nice piece of SF that George Lucas wouldn't have trouble making a film around. It's the old story - Boy loses father in confusing circumstances, boy goes to take what is rightfully his and possibly avenge his father's murder at the same time, boy is being chased by mysterious murderous groups, boy meets girl, boy and girl hate each other, boy and girl fall in love... well, ok, it's not the old story, it's half a dozen old stories in one, but it's a good thriller and mystery with enough twists and turns to please anyone. It's also mercifully short, the characters are fleshed out in a most unasimovian way, and the science is there but not stupifyingly overbearing. My edition includes an apology at the end from the master about his assumption that a lifeless planet would have an oxygen-rich CO2-free atmosphere, and while I know roughly which part of the book is being refered to, it wasn't a big deal. In all, I think I prefered The Currents of Space, but there's no reason to read one in favour of the other rather than read both. If you can find a copy, and you're after some intelligent light entertainment, you could do worse than read this.
Rating:
Summary: Foundation basics.
Review: After reading Asimov's Foundation and Robot Novels I decided to read the "hard-to-find" Empire novels, which are always referred to as mediocre.
On my opinion, this first part of the series shows much of the content that Isaac Asimov would use for it's Foundation & Robots series; I can't qualify it as mediocre, it's a fine book to read and the proof of the evolution in the career of a science fiction writer. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Foundation basics.
Review: After reading Asimov's Foundation and Robot Novels I decided to read the "hard-to-find" Empire novels, which are always referred to as mediocre.
On my opinion, this first part of the series shows much of the content that Isaac Asimov would use for it's Foundation & Robots series; I can't qualify it as mediocre, it's a fine book to read and the proof of the evolution in the career of a science fiction writer. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Not too bad, but not Asimov's best
Review: As the first Empire novel, this introduces us to the state of the colonized galaxy far in the future, after the events of the Robot novels have played themselves out. The Earth is a radioactive cauldron, inhabited only in carefully chosen locales. A student near to graduating is suddenly thrust into danger as a bomb is discoverd in his closet. It becomes clear that it must have been placed by the same faction that arranged for the death of his father, a prominent political figure. This young man is thus forced to flee Earth and seek assistance from a contemporary of his father, one who may be able to offer him asylum from his pursuers. Of course, though, Asimov makes sure that things in life are never easy, as we can all relate. Refused assistance, he must flee still further, with the skein becoming more tangled as the chase proceeds. Eventually, he deduces the murderer's identity, and a confrontation must follow. The result helps set the stage for a human Galactic Empire, begun in Robots and Empire, in which the source of Earth's radioactive nature was initiated, paving the way for galactic colonization, and in fact forcing humans to leave Earth as it became more uninhabitable. It is interesting that Asimov was able to incorporate all three of his epic series into a single long narrative of future history. As the first Empire novel, this book is nevertheless not the most necessary for continuity of the storyline, but it is still worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: It is a good book, considering it's from 1951.
Review: Asimov himself was dissatisfied with this because of a subplot the editor made him tack on the end, but I still found it overall amusing and entertaining. This is supposed to be an Empire novel, but there is no mention of anything like an Empire arising or even the hint of it, so I don't understand that part, but it is still enjoyable. Asimov did well, being a young writer when he wrote this.
Rating: 
Summary: WoW!
Review: I think it's a matter of taste - vive le difference and all that. For me, personally, this book, as part of the Empire series actually knocks the socks off the Foundation series, but no matter. Its very nice that you CAN get this second hand fairly easily, if it was scarce, I could see some case for banging it out and issuing it on the net. But that would be very undesirable. This book really does rock. I read this when I was 15, and that was a good time to read this kind of stuff. Very happy memories.
In fact, thinking about it, there is a huge swag of books that I saw in that period, authored by Bob Shaw and Asimov and a whole load of others. Why is it that these people are not being printed? I find it very difficult to understand. There is a peculiar theory though. I don't really know if I believe it or not. Together with the Tom Swift books, these authors have managed to paint a picture of some sort of alternative America / Britain. Lets see. In this world, the space race didn't end in the 70's, and Vietnam did not happen, or the Iran Contra thing. Instead, there was a joint effort (while there were the natural resources to do it) to launch an international space station in the late 70's, a colony on the moon in 1994, and the first landing on Mars in 2002. Incidently this first landing was a one way ticket, the astronaut in question volunteering to die over there 'cause there wasn't the technology to get back. Etc. But that did not happen, ergo, this fiction is redundant, the future did not happen. So now we have this kind of Gothic horror stuff about nano technology uber alles, the great enthusiasm of exploration zipped in favour of commercial expansion and militarism, and a dumbing down of science. How many teenagers want to learn about non linear differential equations? Where are our scientists going to come from, if no-one likes this stuff nowadays? It's the latter that really frightens me. Beagle has landed but has either been shot down by the USA or just malfunctioned. And it's 2004 now for goodness sake. We should be FAR more advanced than this! Why did Isaac Asimov have to go when he did... We really do need this guy now,or someone with the same kind of vision....
Rating:
Summary: Power struggles, mystery, adventure in Asimovian tradition
Review: Indeed, there's disagreement as to whether this is the first or second Empire novel chronologically, but it's not important since there are no common characters and Earth is peripheral to the events in either novel. It is good adventure, and there is a fair mystery as to who's responsible for the primary character's death. Of course there's romance complete with complicating misunderstandings, and more importantly, there's the continual power struggle emphasized in the Empire and Foundation novels. And there's some good old fashioned space opera action as the main characters search for the planet harboring a group of rebels. This is classic science-fiction, but don't let that scare you away. There's nothing stodgy about the good Dr. Asimov's story telling.
Rating:
Summary: A Star Like Asimov
Review: Isaac Asimov is undoubtedly one of the brightest stars in the science fiction firmament, and much of his fame stems from the Foundation trilogy. The Stars, Like Dust is the first book of the Galactic Empire trilogy, which is set before the time of the Foundation. As such, it invites inevitable comparison to Asimov's earlier classics. Like the books of the Foundation trilogy, it is an entertaining and thoughtful mix of hard SF and space opera. While it cannot match the Foundation books in terms of sheer originality, TSLD is an enjoyable romp through the pre-Foundation galaxy, and offers the kind of tight plotting and solid scientific speculation (given that it was written in the 1950s) that fans of the Master have come to expect, with a surprise ending I won't forget.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting adventure romp
Review: It is a great shame that Isaac Asimov's fun, if not exactly profound, Empire series is now entirely out of print. Like the rest of the series, the first of them, The Stars, Like Dust, is an entertaining, fun romp that is a quick read that will keep you glued to your seat. The plot is not Asimov's most original, but it is gripping and suspenseful, and will keep you reading (and guessing) right up until the end. Asimov, in his day, tried his hand at writing just very nearly every type of book there was to write, but I, and I am sure most will agree with me, have always felt that his true bread and butter was science fiction. He brought a touch of the mainstream (Asimov was fond of making a murder mystery or logic puzzle out of his SF stories) to the genre, which, along with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things scientific, made him attractive both to the diehards of the genre as well as to more conventional generally-non-SF readers. The Stars, Like Dust is a fine book that deserves to be back in print and deserves to be read. If you're an Asimov fan, I reccommend picking this book up if you see it.
Rating:
Summary: The least of the Empire novels
Review: It is really an enormous tragedy that so many of Isaac Asimov's greatest Science Fiction works remain out of print. The three 'Empire' novels by Asimov are a great example. All three books are wonderfully written and fill the gap between The Robot novels and the Foundation series beautifully. These novels are also a glimpse at the state of science in the fifties. If you are an Asimov fan and see any of the Empire novels available for loan or purchase please do so. You will not be sorry. To clear up some confusion on the part of another reviewer the reason these novels are called 'Empire' novels is because they take place just before the Empire began, during its infancy and at its peak. Very much fun indeed.
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