ASIMOV, Isaac
US writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction (1920-1992)
Asimov published his first story at 19, and went on to write over 300 books ranging from Bible guides and history text-books to the sf novels and stories for which he is best known.Much of his most seminal science fiction work was written in the 1940s when he (and others) came under the editorial wing of John W. Campbell, the pulp magazine man who virtually defined science fiction as Hollywood now depicts it. Strongly plotted and concentrating on ideas more than style, Asimov’s novels and stories invite the reader to collaborate in the unfolding of concepts like the famous ‘three laws of robotics’. Asimov’s down-to-earth, logical thinking means that his works are often the stuff of real science – the ‘three laws’, for example, have been used as the basis of real-life robot programming. His novels and stories live by their easy-going style, their busy plots and above all their technical swagger. His ideas are dazzlingly ingenious, and the more extraordinary the science, the more matter-of-fact its presentation. This gives his writing powerful appeal: flattered that we know more science than we thought we did, we feel that we are sharing in the wonders Asimov reveals rather than (as with most sf writers) merely gaping in astonishment.
THE FOUNDATION SAGA (1951-93) The first three books, a self-contained trilogy, appeared in the 1950s; Asimov added the remaining volumes 30 years later. The Saga is 'space opera' (sf soap opera) on a huge scale, an account of political manoeuvrings among nations and civilisations of the far future. Hari Seldon, a professor of psychohistory (statistical and psychological prediction of the future) foresees a disastrous era of war in the galactic empire, and establishes two Foundations on the galaxy's edge, dedicated to safeguarding civilised knowledge until it is again required. The Saga describes the nature and the work of each Foundation, their uniting to defeat external threat (from an alien intelligence, 'the Mule') and their subsequent internecine struggles. For, like all human constructs, they are themselves prey to emotion and irrationality, to a bias which can lead towards dark as well as light. The Foundation novels are Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. Books in the continuation series are Prelude to Foundation, Foundation's Edge, Foundation and Earth and the posthumous Forward the Foundation.
Asimov's other sf novels include Pebble in the Sky, The Stars Like Dust and The Currents of Space (all on themes related to the Foundation Saga). His short sf stories are gathered in The Early Asimov Volumes 1-3. Opus is a useful anthology, an excellent sampler from his dazzling list of works.
READ ON
Asimov’s other major achievement is the robot sequence of books : I, Robot The Rest of the Robots The Caves of Steel The Naked Sun The Robots of Dawn Nightfall (from a collection of that title,has several times been voted the best science fiction short story ever written)
To Asimov's short stories : Italo Calvino, Cosmicomics Robert Heinlein, The Menace from Earth
To the Foundation Saga : Tom De Haan, A Mirror for Princes uses sf techniques to describe a mesmeric society not of the future but of the past. Iain M. Banks, Consider Phlebas (and the other Culture novels) Gordon R. Dickson, Tactics of Mistake (and others in the Dorsai sequence) Robert Heinlein, The Man Who Sold the Moon Peter F. Hamilton , The Reality Dysfunction Frank Herbert, Dune
To the Elijah Bailey books : Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency for anyone who finds Asimov's ideas too poker-faced, in need of sendup Larry Niven, The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man Gene Wolfe, Free Live Free
Other examples of Golden Age,: John W. Campbell-inspired science fictionRobert Heinlein, Methuselah’s Children A.E. Van Vogt , The Voyage of the Space Beagle
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