4/6/22

4/6/22

Like most short story collections, even—maybe especially—those from a single author, this one ran hot and cold, from the excellent, period-perfect "orbital world" stories to the very punny short-shorts to the teeth-grindingly dull title story, which is literally a 15-page monologue. Still, if you're a fan of classic mid-century science fiction, or of Asimov in particular, it's definitely worth a read. A great nightstand book. ( )

This is a 21 story collection of short stories written by Isaac Asimov largely between 1976 and 1982. The stories range in length from one to about 20 pages, give or take. It's a very, very uneven collection. Some of the stories are pretty good, some quite entertaining, some fairly bad, some you simply can't help asking what the hell was he thinking including in this book. Still, it's a short, fun read, for the most part. One thing I like about this collection is that Asimov writes a brief introduction before each story, which is pretty unique and cool. Another interesting thing is that he seems to be completely honest about these stories. He admits that probably more than half of them were rejected when submitted to various editors and magazines, and so these were ultimately published in his own magazine, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, whose editor, he asserts, was free to reject his submissions, and allegedly once did. Still, it's pretty much self published material that was considered not good enough to appear in other publications, so that tells you something about the quality of work in this book. Nonetheless, there are some good stories. In "Found," a two person male and female team of computer techs encounters an unknown space parasite while attempting to repair Computer Two, one of four computers/satellites orbiting the earth that control space travel and everything that has to do with it . It is a creepy story of a first contact that ends on a distinctly paranoid note. Not a bad story. The final story, "The Winds of Change," Asimov states is his favorite, and it's interesting because it's a complete monologue that takes a swipe at the newly formed Moral Majority. Interesting. So, some good stories in an uneven collection of somewhat decent pieces. Fun to read, but not essential Asimov. Borderline recommended. ( )

This was Asimov's twelfth collection of his short stories, and by the time he got to this collection, he appears to have tapped out most of his best material. This isn't a bad collection, and for some well-known authors, it would be the best of their career. For Asimov, however, it is well below the standard set by his other collections, primarily composed of his lesser works, including a couple of stories he wrote for odd markets that were rejected.

There are really only three stories in this collection that are outstanding: Lest We Remember, Good Taste, and The Last Answer. The other stories range from examples of Asimov's odd and groan inducing love of puns, to the simply mediocre. The three good stories though, make the collection worth reading - Lest We Remember is one of the earliest science fiction stories I remember reading, and it holds up well. Good Taste is well done, and one of the few science fiction stories I have read that focus on food as anything other than "food pills" or tubes of food paste. The Last Answer is, quite simply, one of the most frightening science fiction stories I have read - unlike many Asimov tales, it has no realistic possibility for a happy ending.

Though not one of his best collections, it contains some good stories, and for completists, a fair amount of material not readily accessible otherwise. I wouldn't recommend this as someone's first introduction to Asimov, but it is still a work I found enjoyable to read. ( )