In Isaac Asimov’s The Gods Themselves, which curiously begins with Chapter 6, chemist Frederick Hallam has discovered plutonium-186… sitting on a desk in his laboratory. It turns out that aliens from a parallel universe have discovered that plutonium is a powerful source of energy whereas tungsten steel is a powerful energy source in theirs. What the human characters set up with the aliens (“para-men”) is a free energy trade: they get our tungsten, we get their plutonium. Although there is the distinct possibility that pumping resources back and forth will lead to disaster, humanity is too addicted to care. Who’d want to give up free energy?

Isaac Asimov, like many golden age science fiction writers, is known for relying on a utilitarian narrative to convey grand ideas, but here he steps out of his comfort zone and creates something unusually literary. In his memoirs, he refers to it as “writing above my head.” For the first time he writes something which belongs to the new wave science fiction of the 60s and 70s. New wave was experimental, risque, and anything but golden age.

Following Chapter 6: Chapter 1, more of Chapter 6, Chapter 2, and so on. When Chapter 6 finally concludes, you understand why Asimov arranged the novel this way. Just when you get comfortable with the human characters—poof!—Asimov shifts gears and focuses entirely on the gods themselves: the so-called para-men who occupy roughly one third of the novel’s attention. This is the best part.

The abstract para-men are not your run-of-the-mill aliens. They come in two categories: the hard ones and the soft ones. The soft ones are divided into three sexes: parental, emotional, and rational, and mating requires no fewer than all three. The good doctor does something he’s never done before: he writes about sex, though their sex is vastly different than ours. (Asimov himself complains about his sometimes laughable characterizations of sexuality in the aforementioned memoirs.)

Despite Asimov’s departure from his usual style, you never forget he’s the man who masterminded it. He’s far too modest when it comes to the quality of his writing, but with The Gods Themselves he shouldn’t be. Asimov is a great science fiction writer. He has said this is his best novel. I can see why.