Science Fiction Books > Isaac Asimov Science Fiction Books

Advantages: Fluent and enjoyable read, characters explored better than in Foundation, clever view of the future
Disadvantages: Characters linguistics are dated as are elements of the science, tricky to attain these days

...all, Earth is but a pebble in the sky.” It's a running theme in a great deal of Asimov's novels – a refreshing view of a galaxy that does not centre around Earth and a writing-style that is not necessarily shackled to the sole portrayal of our own planet's (usually dominant) position in humankind. Though Pebble In The Sky, his first published novel, is set on Earth, it defies convention by portraying the birthplace of humankind as something of a ...
...find a paperback copy of Pebble In The Sky (PITS) on eBay for only £3-4 – though as a consequence of seeing little or no major reprints down the years even in the wake of Foundation series popularity (the last minor reprint coming after his death in 1993), my copy of the book is around fifty years old, and is unlikely to be available to buy new in any great numbers. Pebble In The Sky was the first of three books that would comprise the Galactic ... Read review

Advantages: Typical Asimov strengths...
Disadvantages: ... typical Asimov weaknesses!

Foundation and Empire continues the saga started in Foundation. In that book one man, Hari Seldon, foresaw the beginning of the end of the great, all-encompassing Galactic Empire long before anyone else. He also foresaw, through the mathematical science of Psychohistory, which he himself developed, that the fall of the empire would lead to thirty millennia of barbarism. The decline and fall of the empire was impossible to halt, however he devised ...
...planet of Terminus. The first Foundation was entirely the subject of the first book, and faced several Seldon Crises, which were successfully overcome. The first Foundation remains the focus in Foundation and Empire, and the book includes that Foundation's first (and last) real encounter with the remains of the first galactic empire. However, a freak of nature (I will give you no more clue than that), which could not possibly have been accounted ... Read review

Advantages: asimov, silverberg, what more do you want...
Disadvantages: short for the price, no aliens , no battles, no planets.

...It is about a neanderthal child snatched from the comfort(?) of his home into a future,of what can only be called, a comfortable prison. Of course a nanny is required. Plot here, she does not know anything about who she is to look after. It's a great story about a womans love for her charge, and the coldness and indifference of the superior scientists. A boy becomes nothing more than an expendable lab rat.. I liked it. A true asimov fan ought ... Read review

Advantages: A truly mind blowing and humbling experience
Disadvantages: It ends.

Previous to this book I had never encountered Isaac Asimov before, I had heard that he was a giant in the SF genre and as such my expectations were very high. High expectations lead to highly critical evaluations and so it is clear that something is very special if it can meet those high expectations, even exceed them. This book is one of those very special things. A special mention should go to the artwork on the front of my edition, it is simply ...
...place and gave me incentive to buy it. I have to say that the first few chapters didn't seem to live up to the hype. To begin with the periods discussed in the story are separated over vast periods of time. Just as you feel that you are becoming familiar with a character or group, really getting a feel for them, the story jumps another hundred years into the future. It leaves the reader feeling no real connection with the story, however as the overall ... Read review

Advantages: Absorbing Itelligent mystery.
Disadvantages: A little slow for the impatient.

...a lot of detail from the book, this to me says a lot about the quality of the writing to have remembered it over such a long time. To give a rough revue of the plot is all I shall do, as to do any more than that will ruin the story. Basically a humaniform robot has ceased from functioning, this is virtually impossible to happen by itself and the creator of this robot (Dr Fastolfe) claims that he is the only person that could have done it, but, that ...
...Elijah Bailey is invited to the planet Aurora (Dawn) to investigate the case. The depth of character, the strong intriging plot, political implications, robotic interaction and functioning, the twists and turns of the story and an ending which just blew me away. I will admit that I didn't have a clue who did it right up to the end. Though my wife figured out out about a 3rd of the way through. But she reads a lot of murder mysteries and I read a ... Read review