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These posts mostly relate to books I am reading or series I am collecting to read in order (I tend to collect the series and then read it in one block). You can see a see a list of the books I am currently seeking, as well as a list of all the books I've bothered to catalog if you're interested.


Mon, 22 Sep 2008



Second Foundation

    I am starting to think that there is something missing in the Foundation trilogy. Specifically, there isn't much action. Most of it is just people talking at each other -- with pages and pages of dialog. This makes these three books much harder to read (and therefore less compelling) than those elsewhere in the extended Foundation Series.

    I did enjoy this book, I just feel that I could have done with some more action to make it less hard work.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0345336291.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Sat, 13 Sep 2008



Foundation and Empire

    This is the second book in the original foundation trilogy, which I am reading as part of the the extended Foundation series that I am working my way slowly though. This book contains two stories -- both of them Seldon crises, although one of them unpredicted by Hari. As Hari had always said in the series -- his techniques can only predict broad social trends, and the not the work on individuals. What happens if a single person who could not be predicted appears? This story covers that scenario.

    I found this book harder to read than the previous one, but that might have been because I've had a pretty distracted week. Once I actually sat down to read without too many interruptions, I enjoyed it.

    The comments from others on LibraryThing are fair though -- the character names are odd, and the writing does feel a little awkward.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0553293370.

    (LibraryThing for some reason gets the ISBN mapping for this book wrong. The above link's ISBN is right, but this link goes to the right place).

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Wed, 10 Sep 2008



Foundation

    Foundation is an interesting book, as its quite old and was originally written as a series of short stories (as much early science fiction was). Because I am reading the books of the extended Foundation series in the order that Asimov recommended towards the end of his life, I have read the two prequels to Foundation (Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation) before Foundation itself. This means that the time line is a little inconsistent, specifically about how the Foundation project ends up on Terminus (Was it lobbying or exile? Did Hari go or not?). That's not too bad though, and the book is very good.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0586010807.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Mon, 08 Sep 2008



Forward the Foundation

    This is a Foundation prequel, coming after Prelude to Foundation and before Foundation. The book is almost a series of short stories or novelettes -- there are several year gaps between these stories. That was a shame in a sense, because each of these separate stories has its won startup cost -- the time it takes me to get into what is happening. For some reason I don't find that as much of a problem with collections of short stories, possibly because I'm expecting it more. This technique meant Asimov could cover a lot of ground, but I found it jarring over all.

    I guess I'd say this book was ok, but not one of Asimov's best.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0553565079.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Wed, 03 Sep 2008



Robot Visions

    This was a pretty short read -- in fact I read it on the bus into work this morning. That's mainly because there are only three short stories in this book which aren't covered in one of Asimov's other robot short story collections. The three stories were good, but I am not sure they were worth owning the entire book for.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0451450647.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Sat, 16 Aug 2008



Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series

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Isaac Asimov's Robot Short Stories

    I was getting quite confused about which robot short stories I had already read (many appear in more than one collection), so I built this table to help. Note that crosses indicate stories which aren't about robots, and are really stow aways.

    Robbie
     
     
    Runaround
     
     
    Reason
     
     
    Catch That Rabbit
     
         
    Liar!
     
     
    Little Lost Robot
     
    Escape!
     
         
    Evidence
     
     
    The Evitable Conflict
     
     
    Robot AL-76 Goes Astray  
         
    Victory Unintentional  
         
    First Law  
         
    Let's Get Together  
         
    Satisfaction Guaranteed  
         
    Risk  
         
    Lenny  
     
    Galley Slave  
     
    A Boy's Best Friend    
         
    Sally    
       
    Someday    
     
    Point of View    
         
    Think!    
     
    True Love    
       
    Stranger in Paradise    
         
    Light Verse    
       
    Segregationist    
     
    Mirror Image    
     
    The Tercentenary Incident    
         
    Feminine Intuition    
     
    ... That Thou Art Mindful of Him    
         
    The Bicentennial Man    
     
    Robot Dreams      
       
    Breeds There a Man      
       
    Hostess      
       
    Strikebreaker      
       
    The Machine That Won the War      
       
    Eyes Do More Than See      
       
    The Martian Way      
       
    Franchise      
       
    Jokester      
       
    The Last Question      
       
    Does a Bee Care?      
       
    The Feeling of Power      
       
    Spell My Name With an S      
       
    The Ugly Little Boy      
       
    The Billiard Ball      
       
    The Last Answer      
       
    Lest We Remember      
     
    Robot Visions        
    Too Bad!        
    Christmas Without Rodney        
    +Essays        


    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Robot Dreams

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Mon, 11 Aug 2008



The Complete Robot

    This is another of Asimov's robot short story collections, and many of the stories appear in earlier works. In fact, I would recommend getting I, Robot and this book, and avoiding The Rest of the Robots if you're not interested in owning a complete collection of books, but do want to have all of the stories. I say you should get a copy of I, Robot mainly because it has linking matter between the stories that this book lacks.

    The Complete Robot is as good as Asimov's other short story books I have read, which means I thought it was fantastic.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0586057242.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Fri, 08 Aug 2008



Isaac Asimov's Nightfall Short Stories

    Asimov published two books named Nightfall 1 and Nightfall 2 which are collections of short stories. I have both of these books in a single volume named "Nightfall', which is not to be confused with the novel of the same name by Asimov and Silverberg. I was getting quite confused about which robot short stories I had already read already (many appear in more than one collection), so I built this table to help:

    Nightfall
    1969
    The Complete Robot
    1982
    Robot Dreams
    1986
    Robot Visions
    1990
    Nightfall
           
    Green Patches
           
    Hostess
     
       
    Breeds There a Man
     
       
    C-Chute
           
    In a Good Cause
           
    What If -
           
    Sally
       
    Flies
           
    Nobody Here But -
           
    It's Such a Beautiful Day
           
    Strikebreaker
     
       
    Insert Knob A in Hole B
           
    The Up-to-date Sorcerer
           
    Unto the Fourth Generation
           
    What is this Thing Called Love?
           
    The Machine That Won the War
     
       
    My Son, the Physicist
           
    Eyes Do More Than See
     
       
    Segregationist
     


    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Wed, 06 Aug 2008



The Rest of the Robots

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Tue, 29 Jul 2008



Prelude To Foundation

    Written well after the original Foundation novels, Prelude to Foundation is one of two prequels. The book ties in nicely with Robots and Empire, as well as the other robot novels.

    Its a good book too, with its 460ish pages only taking a few days to read (I think I knocked it over in about four days). The story is sufficiently engaging that I kept looking up and discovering that I had read another 100 pages. There are also a couple of twists in the book (I count three in fact), only two of which I had figured out before the characters.

    A good book. Probably better than Robots of Dawn and Robots and Empire, and definitely better than Allen's Caliban trilogy (Caliban, Inferno, and Utopia.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0586071113.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Tue, 22 Jul 2008



Pebble in the Sky

    This is Asimov's first book, and not his best. Its set on an Earth which is radioactive (possibly because of a global nuclear war as supposed in the book, or perhaps because of events described in Robots and Empire). There is a galactic empire at this point, and overall humans have forgotten that they originated on Earth.

    (I find that a little hard to believe by the way. Whilst it is true that we have lost historical records from thousands of years ago, we do have some and archeology has constructed at least a partial history for humanity. Additionally, we now have pretty solid record keeping as a society, and it is left unexplained where all those records might have gone. Finally, there is no mention of techniques like carbon dating, which presumably could have been used to prove that Earth is indeed the original planet.)

    I did like the general gist of the book, although the conclusion was unsatisfying as well. Overall, not Asimov's best work.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN B000K052KS.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Sun, 20 Jul 2008



The Currents of Space

    "The Currents of Space is a 1952 novel by the American science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is the second of three books labelled the Galactic Empire series. Each occurs after humans have settled many worlds in the galaxy after the second wave of colonisation that went beyond the Spacer worlds and before the era of decline that was the setting for the original Foundation series. Each of the three is only loosely connected to other works, being separated by a fairly large gulf of centuries."


    That's the description from Wikipedia. This book is completely separate from The Stars Like Dust, in that while it might use the same universe the characters are entirely different and there quite a distance between the books in the time line of the series. Really, they're separate novels entirely.

    I found it quite hard to get into this book, and I don't think it is as well written as The Stars Like Dust. The problem might have been that I found it pretty hard to care about Rik, and the Florina / Sark division was a bit shallowly constructed. Its hard to imagine a segregation system which is as completely effective as the one described. How did it ever occur? Why didn't people fight back? Did people never randomly fall in love with the "wrong" set of have affairs?

    I persevered however, and the second half of the book is much better that the first, including some twists I didn't expect. Overall an ok book, but not fantastic.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0553293419.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Sat, 12 Jul 2008



The Stars, Like Dust

    This is a short book, and quite different from the other Asimovs I've read recently. Specifically it doesn't have any robots, and isn't a murder mystery. Its also set about 1,000 years into the future from the previous Robot Mysteries. Its a good book, with a style similar to the original Robot Mysteries (distinct from the newer ones written 40 years later). Its short and an easy read. I liked it.

    Update: I originally thought the space between the Robot Mysteries and this book was much bigger than apparently it is meant to be. According to Wikipedia's page on the empire series:

    "Some sources further this argument by asserting that The Stars, Like Dust takes place about one thousand years following the events of Robots and Empire."


    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0449023737.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Sun, 08 Jun 2008



Robots and Empire

    I find the newer Asimovs harder to read for some reason -- I think it might be because they are more inclined to introspection that the earlier ones, but that might not be all of it. Overall I enjoyed this book, although I did find that I lost enthusiasm briefly in the middle. Overall, worth the effort though.

    You can tell that Asimov was getting old at the time that he wrote this book, as he dwells extensively on the importance of living an interesting and worthwhile life, instead of necessarily a long life. Overall he makes the argument that this is what is wrong with Spacer society -- life is so long that its inconceivable to take risks early in life that might shorten that life. Later in life its too late however, as you are by then trapped in your comfortable rut. Its an interesting concept, and one which bears further consideration.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0586062009.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Wed, 28 May 2008



Robots of Dawn

    This book is the third in the third in the Robot mystery series, and is once again set on a Spacer world. This one was written 30 years after the first two, and Asimov's style has noticeably changed between the 1950s and 1980s.

    The book starts off slowly, with a lecturing tone which I found quite annoying. For example, devoting an entire page to a discussion of whether the deliberate death of a a robot (even a human shaped on) is murder. Often the first part of the book feels like it is going excessively slowly.

    However, its only the first third of so of the book which suffers this flaw. Its as if Asimov realized after a while that he also had a story to tell, and got on with it. The book then improves massively and has a good story.

    So, overall I liked this book, although the first part of the book wasn't as good as the rest of the Asimov I've read.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0553299492.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Fri, 16 May 2008



Naked Sun

    Bill Clarke was kind enough to lend me a compendium of Asimov that contained the next book in the series I'm reading at the moment. I've had to skip over some of the earlier collections of robot short stories, because they're quite hard to find. Specifically, I haven't been able to find anyone with a copy of The Complete Robot for sale, even new.

    This book is the next in the Robot series, and the second which features Detective Baley. Again Baley is solving a murder, although this time its occurred on a Spacer world instead of his own Earth. Along the way he has to confront his own fear of open spaces, as well as other's fear of proximity to other humans.

    This was again another excellent book. I enjoyed it a lot.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0553293397.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Tue, 13 May 2008



Caves of Steel

    Caves of Steel is interesting because it is a murder mystery set in the future, which at the time this book was written was a novel concept. It also presents an interesting almost-communist view of the future, where individual liberties are surrendered one by one in order to improve economic efficiency in order to support Earth's ever growing population. Implicit in that is the assertion that capitalism is inherently inefficient, but I'll leave that discussion alone.

    This book is a really quick read. It took me a day (including actually going to work) to knock it over, which was fun. The book is a good, light read.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0553293400.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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Sun, 11 May 2008



I, Robot

    The 1950s must have been a great time to be a science fiction author. WW2 was finally over, and seemingly massively stupid ideas like mutually assured destruction, nuclear rifles so powerful that they were as much a danger to those firing them as those who were on the receiving end, and Brylcreem were all the rage. Into this atmosphere of run away idiocy comes Asimov's I, Robot, the book which defined the three laws of robotics, and some how managed to not suggest that humanity should nuke each other all into submission. This book is still an excellent read almost 60 years later, and I think still shows us some of the future. Its a little depressing to think how little we've achieved towards Asimov's proposed future world, given the time line laid out in this book.

    One of the interesting aspects of this book is Asimov's failure to predict things which seem so mundane now, but must have not been obvious to an observer in 1950. For example:

    • The commonness of computers now. One of the short stories revolves around a secret batch of robots, and the need to debug them. The protagonists can't use a computer though, because that would draw too much attention. Why not use a laptop? Because Asimov failed to predict them.
    • The use of wire recorders to record sound. No optical media (or whatever we'll have in the future) here.
    • The assumption that robots contain vacuum tubes.
    • The failure to account for inflation. This one should have been obvious! A batch of 63 robots for instance is valued at $2 million dollars in one of the stories, a sum so great that no one can conceive of deliberately destroying the batch.


    A good book.

    LibraryThing link for ISBN 0449239497.

    Tags for this post: book(S) Isaac_Asimov(S)

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