Which Asimov Novel Should I Read?
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intro24 (
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December 8th, 2010
Which novel by Isaac Asimov would be best for me to read for my English assignment. I think my teacher would prefer it to be a novel rather than several short stories compiled as one book such as I, Robot. Anyway, I’m pretty much looking for his most famous work. Something that captures Asimov’s writing style. Also, one that began one of the series as opposed to one in the middle of a series. Preferably average length as far as novels go.
Additionally, one requirement is that I can find 10 critical sources written about the book. So I wouldn’t think I’d have any trouble with one of his more popular works. Am I right?
So, collective, what’s book is best given the situation?
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17 Answers
By the way, unless someone suggests another, I’m considering the following:
Pebble in the Sky
The Stars, Like Dust
The Positronic Man
Prelude to Foundation
Foundation
The Caves of Steel
I liked Foundation. But I never read the newer stuff, just the old trilogy.
When you say foundation you mean the trilogy of several different books, correct?
The first three came out in the 50s?? I think. Then he ended up writing more in the 80’s… but I never read those.
You know, I never actually finished the third book. The first book was really awesome, though, (the second one was pretty good), so you might want to check it out first and see if you like it before reading the others.
I have heard it said that the series doesn’t come to a satisfying conclusion, so I stopped reading.
I suggest the Caves of Steel. It introduces the robot series. It is seminal Asimov.
Start with I Robot, although come to think of it, those are short stories.
+1 for Caves of Steel.
I don’t think he’s a great SF stylist – the Robot series is pretty much a series of detective novels that happen to have robots in them. The allegories are pretty obvious.
The Galactic Empire series is where the whole universe really takes off, although I’ll repeat that he’s not such a great stylist – much of Asimov’s work feels 50s, although not in a good way (even though I love his books).
Foundation, or perhaps Fantastic Voyage.
Most of Foundation is a collection of short stories chronicling the rise of the titular Foundation, and the fall of the Galactic Empire. Dunno if that’s ok, but it’s worth a shot.
To clarify, the first book of the Foundation series is just called Foundation. It’s a good introduction and it stands alone well, even though it is part of a series. The same is true of The Caves of Steel.
For those who enjoy the Foundation books I strongly recommend Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury. It takes place in more or less the same universe but several thousand years later.
Look at the introduction to “Prelude to Foundation.” It will have a list of books following “I, Robot” that you should read and in what order.
This is a great list of Asimov books and how they relate to each other.
The first and most impressive one that I read was” Robots of Dawn” I think that it was a part of “Foundation” but it was enthralling! Good luck, good choice and God Bless:)
I would maybe pick a stand-alone novel. Might make it easier to analyse and discuss for your class. The Gods Themselves or maybe Nemesis (ties into Foundation but you can read it as such as well). Not sure how famous they still are really.
Otherwise, I’d go with Foundation (the first one). Plenty of sources to be found about that one and it’s readable on it’s own as well.
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