Science Fiction Books By Issac Asimov

[spacetrooper]

I am looking for list of science fiction books by Isaac Asimov. Any suggestions?

 

[nacnud]

Here you go!<br /> <br />From here: http://www.asimovonline.com/

 

[hracctsold]

Issac was such a prolific(?) writer of the first magitude. I have enjoyed many of his works, one of which was his Foundation series. It started out as magazine pieces, which worked themselves into short stories, and then into the books, which went from one to a trilogy, to the vast amount there are now, with other writers taking up where he left off.<br /><br />One of the funniest,I think, things I heard him say in an interview on the radio was this thought. Some one called in and said that he had read everything Issac had written, and Issac said, sir, I highly doubt that, because I don't think I have read everything I have written.<br /><br />One of the most unique things he compiled was his commentary on the Bible. He claimed to be a agnostic(?) Jew, but here he was giving serious thoughts and comments on some material he claimed he did not know if it was real or not. I have the book, and he just was giving ways to make it better, even though he did not claim to accept it as real or not. Even though I enjoy his writing, I could not insist to know ways to improve his writing, just because I would do it different, or stress other points then what were stressed. That is what was given in his work there. <br /><br />But as a writer, there are few as good. Another one I liked was both Fantastic Voyages(?) he penned. Some years in between, but both good works. Indeed, look at that web-site for a great time.

 

[JonClarke]

The 1st fantastic voyage wasn't bad, the 2nd one sucked. One of the new books he did not really do well on. My favourite? The end of Eternity. Other great ones, Currents of Space, Pebble in the Sky, the Elijah Bailey novels. Foundation never did much for me, although Foundation's Edge was very good. The Gods themselves did not appeal much to me either, although he is one of the few to develop a truly alien sexuality that actually works. Short stories and novellaes were his forte, always clever, sometimes brilliant, often funny.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[claywoman]

I had problems with Asimov, and I don't know how to overcome it. His writing is wonderful, but sometimes it felt that he would go off onto a tangent that, although it dealt with the subject, lost me in its complexity, thus I'm trying to figure out formulas and theories and end up losing the story...I guess that's why I enjoyed Heinlein so much, although I learned from his books, and Sagan also, it wasn't hard-core math and formulas. How can I get around this problem so I can enjoy his writing?

 

[dannydare]

Its difficult to get around Isaacs introduction of science bits. He was a scientist and his non-fiction books I found to be some of the best reads during my high school chem days. I corresponded with him about some of the assumptions in his book "Only a Trillion" and his answer was basically "your right but if I got in too deep with the theory no-one would read it!" I guess that means that when he was putting in the science bit in his other books that was him "holding off on the hard stuff".

 

[ai_sci]

Claywoman,<br /><br />Sfjabays is right, you need to start at the beginning (so to speak; they were not actually written in order). As a teen I read the original I Robot (1950) collection of short stories, and was fascinated, but then tried to read <i>Foundation</i>, and was bored to tears. I stopped reading Asimov's novels since then, except for his nonfiction. Heinlein was much better writing/reading, in comparison<br /><br />Recently, though, Sfjabays introduced me to his Robot novels, and they are great fun! But they must be read in order. Be warned, some of them (6, 7, 8) are out of print (OOP) and are hard to find. But they can be skipped.<br /><br />1. The Complete Robot (1982). A collection of shorts.<br />2. The Caves of Steel (1954). This is the first novel.<br />3. The Naked Sun (1957). Second Robot novel.<br />4. The Robots of Dawn (1983). Third Robot Novel.<br />5. Robots and Empire. (1985). Fourth Robot Novel.<br /><font color="yellow">6. The Currents of Space (1952). OOP; 1st Empire novel.<br />7. The Stars, Like Dust--- (1951). OOP; 2nd Empire novel.<br />8. Pepple in the Sky (1950). OOP; 3rd Empire novel.</font><br />9. Prelude to Foundation ((1988).<br />10. Foundation (1951). Which I am bracing myself to read again, after reading the other novels.<br />11. Foundation and Empire (1952). <br /><br />There are a couple or three more after that, but cannot speak to them. After I give Foundation another try, I will let you know...<br /><br />AI Sci <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

If you find Asimov too scientific don't read Peter Hamilton, Stephen Baxter or Greg Benford then! They revel in the more extravagant spectulations of quantum theory and relativity, to the extent it is hard for me, at any rate to tell whther it is reasonable extrapolation of simple technobabble.<br /><br />Certainly Asimov has a very different style to many writers, especially contemporrary ones. The action is large cerebral, there is lots of dialogue but not much description, and his writing style is spare and economical. Rarely a word out of place. If there is a weakness to his books it is in the ethical dimension. Caves of Steel, Naked Sun, and the Currents of space were diminished because of this, as does the zeroth law concept in the later robot books.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>