Customer Reviews

Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're a diehard Asimov fan like I am, you'll probably like this book. The main story, "Gold," details a filmmaker realizing the second part of ...And the Gods Themselves. For that alone, it's worth a look.

Asimov's more famous collections are a little more fun. If you're becoming an Asimov fan, it's best to start with his early science-fiction and then move through his career.

First and foremost there are a couple points you must consider if you are reading this review as a means of deciding whether or not to read this book. First off: I did not read the first section of the book, yet. Secondly I intentionally read the second two sections because I am endeavoring to be a science fiction author myself. I can say I did not agree with everything Asimov had to say but his honors and body of work alone definitely indicate that his opinion carries merit.
Secondly: This would not likely be a good "starter" book for someone who has never read Asimov as over half of it is Asimov the author writing about science fiction and about writing science fiction.

That being said I absolutely loved this book. I felt it was a great insight into the way Asimov thought and wrote. It inspired me to continue to improve my writing.

Finally, a previous reviewer (who only gave the book 2 stars) made some comment along the lines that the book was just a collection of Asimov yelling about how great he is. I can understand how the obviously misinformed reviewer might hold that ignorant opinion. It is my personal assumption that the last two thirds of the book were mostly collected from Asimov's Science Fiction (the magazine) within which he would regularly write, as the editor, a letter from the editor. Frequently in the various pieces in the final two parts of the book Asimov makes obvious reference to the magazine in such a way that these pieces could only have come from Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Bearing that in mind several of the pieces may come across as repetitive and several of them refer to the various words he had invented and his Three Laws of Robotics (regardless of whether they are "laws" that is what he called them and that is how they are known). However, this repetitiveness never once struck me as someone with an overly inflated ego.

Like one of the other reviewers, I didn't purchase this book for the short stories. None the less, I read them and two words come to mind: terrible and forgettable. Writers beware. Just because you can concoct some hair brained idea, doesn't mean that you should turn it into a SF story.

I was interested in what Asimov had to say about SF and SF writing. Unfortunately, a disappointment here. Too much pontificating and in places, just poor writing. There is not much here that someone can glean on to that would make them a better SF writer. Don't buy this book; get it from your local library. I look forward to reading some of Asimov's early work some day; it has to be better than this one.

It doesn't seem like the other reviewers read the same book that I did. The book I read consisted of a lot of self-congratulatory essays on Asimov's creation of the Three Laws of Robotics (which aren't really laws, but that's a topic for a different rant) punctuated by a bunch of shaggy-dog stories (MAYBE they were funny in 1955) and a couple of lame science-fiction stories. I know Dr. Asimov was a brilliant man, but this book in no way offers him tribute to his genius. For fans only. Maybe.

Doing up a new one like Lear.


3 out of 5