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Asimov on Science Fiction

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Isaac Asimov is arguably the most famous science fiction author. He was certainly the most prolific. He also wrote numerous non-fiction tomes, the subjects ranging over everything from an annotated guide to the Holy Bible to introductory chemistry and physics texts. But, so the introduction claims, this is the only book that is a combination of the two -- a series of essays wherein Asimov discusses science fiction itself: its authors, its history and its flavor. Asimov is rather strict in his definitions and rigid in his opinions, but I didn't find this a hindrance. On the contrary, even the passages I disagreed with made me think further about my own positions and opinions. The mark of a good persuasive essay is not that it necessarily persuades, but that it provokes thought.

ASIMOV ON SCIENCE FICTION is three hundred eighteen pages long, made up of fifty-five essays which are categorized into eight sections. These subjects are: science fiction in general, the writing of science fiction, the predictions of science fiction, the history of science fiction, science fiction writers, science fiction fans, science fiction reviews, and science fiction and I (Asimov). These essays are primarily reprints from previously published material. The majority of them are editorials from his eponymously titled science fiction magazine, while the rest are taken from introductions to various collections or magazine articles or previously unpublished essays. There's a slight bit of repetition at times since there's a fair amount of overlap in the scope of these individual essays. But for the most part this is a nicely broad look at different aspects of science fiction.

The book is as intelligent as one would expect from this author. Asimov doesn't limit himself to speaking only on science fiction. Rather, he compares the genre and its history to changes in society and mainstream literature. In lighter moments, he also has some good-humored fun at the expense of both himself and his fellow writers. Virtually everything he says about the genre itself is reflected in his actual fiction. Not surprisingly to anyone familiar with his work, he is very much in favor of emphasizing the 'science' in 'science fiction'. While I may find this approach occasionally limiting as a reader, his argument does make for interesting reading.

The best thing I can say about this book is that it gave me a huge list of classic science fiction novels and authors that I need to check out soon. (I weep at the thought of the free time I will have to acquire if I'm going to get all this new reading done.) Asimov has an obvious love for the genre and he's familiar with virtually everything about it. And there are a few genuine surprises within these pages -- to whit, his critical drubbing of George Orwell's 1984 or his analysis of the science fiction that was coming out of the Soviet Union.

Asimov always had interesting things to say. I remember seeing him in a documentary made by a New Jersey PBS station about the television series "Doctor Who". Asimov, at a local convention, is discussing science fiction in general and angrily decrying those who would dismiss the genre as mere child's stuff. "Anything can be just kid's stuff if it's read by people with the mentality of children." His finger is dramatically stabbing the air. "I invite those people to actually read it themselves. Assuming, of course, that they know how to read." At this point the trajectory of his finger reaches its apex. "Which is not always a foregone conclusion!" That clip basically sums up this book. Opinionated, forceful, amusing and deeply loyal to his genre of choice.

In addition to writing mountains of classic and influential science fiction, Isaac Asimov also wrote plenty about science fiction, including its history, its effects on culture, and how to write it. This book consists of 55 essays Asimov wrote on these topics, and most of them are 3-5 pages long and appeared as editorials in the science fiction magazines of the late 70s (including Asimov's own magazine). Since the essays were created for different publications at different times, the subject matter gets repetitive, and specific examples are outdated. However, Asimov fans will love his always irreverent wit and sly humor, as well as his vast range of knowledge on a plethora of topics. Winning essays here include appraisals of Asimov's contemporaries and fellow SF masters (including the heavily worshipped golden age editor John Campbell), a very harsh review of Orwell's "1984," some surprising reasons why Asimov liked "Star Wars" but hated "Battlestar Galactica" (remember when the essays were written), and several varied pieces on the processes of writing good science fiction. You can't ask for a better authority on such matters than Asimov. [~doomsdayer520~]

55 essays, reviews, and articles written and collected by Asimov.
An explicit example of the insights of the man of 1950 to 1982 into *our* present;
consider the value, then, of those insights into our future.