Read this: http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html

It's a short story but trust me.
By far my favorite and extremely relevant to your current interest.

Rest in peace...

Seriously though if thats whats going to happen (although no one is sure) I'd say its a fitting end.

Had not read this yet. Really, wow. Asimov was and is a literary genius.

I too had never heard of this or the author, but that short story was fantastic, I shall have to delve further I think, thank you very much for that.

Methtical

Asimov essentially invented the science fiction novel and was the first to coin the term "robotics". Also wrote over 500 books, so you have quite a bit to delve into.
The Foundation Series is a great start.

Hi Nexians. Golden era of sci-fi! My favorite subject!



I'm not sure if any of this is true...
1.Jules Verne, Mary Shelley, H.G.Wells wrote sci-fi novels when Asimov was not alive yet. Lovecraft, Poe and others for short stories.

2.Robot was invention of Czech author Karel Capek, so there goes invention of 'robotics'
look here at 'Etymology of robot' section
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Capek

3.500 books is probably true if one counts editing of work of others.

In my humble opinion Asimov was among 10 'giants' of that era, but I would not call him genius. Golden era has soooo much more of better novels to offer than Asimov's hard sci-fi. I'm not sure, but I think none of his books was among of 'true sci-fi masterpieces' chart. I think he has Hugo or Nebula price (novel) for 'The Gods themselves' only, but I'm not sure again...



Regards.

I have avoided science fiction in my reading all my life, I think this is due to catching things like Star Trek at an early age and finding it boring, and assuming that all other science fiction was like this, but of late, I have heard the calling, I have "A Scanner Darkly" sitting on the shelf awaiting me, and that Asimov story had me glued, I believe I may be finding a new favourite genre....

Methtical

We are out of topic here but I have to say:

I read plenty and not only sci-fi. But I grew up on those stories and I think because it's set in future it has great potential to actually criticize present time. If you like to read some I would recommend to start with short stories first. There are some great anthologies named like 'best of sci-fi' or 'hugo (nebula) winners short stories' etc. If it contains at least three - four of these I guarantee you a great time:

A.C.Clarke - Rescue Party
Daniel Keyes - Flowers For Algernon
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game
Harlan Ellison - I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
P.K.Dick - Golden Man
Fredric Brown - Arena
Clifford D Simak - The Big Front Yard
Henry Kuttner - 'almost any short story'

Maybe it is possible to get em on net (most of these are more than 50 years old).

For novel check this out:
http://sffmasterworks.blogspot.com/
There are also subgenres like hard sci-fi, space opera, cyberpunk, new wave, new weird...
If you like I could recommend you particular novel by sending you review link...
I'm sorry for hijacking this thread.


Regards.

Really, I should have specified science fiction mystery. I might have let a bit of bias into those proclamations.
Anyway, I am a bit disappointed in Mr. Isaac myself... he does make the claim to have coined "robotics" in the intro to his Robot Dreams short stories. This does not appear to be true.

In any case, calling him a genius was very subjective. I have read quite a lot of Asimov and have honestly loved every work.

You posted some titles new to me though, I have some reading to do.

Hi Nexians. I can't help myself to stop this. I just love Golden era of sci-fi. I tell you about two authors I really adore.

1. In 1955 the World Science Fiction Society started to awarded authors with Hugo Award (It's like Oscar for writers till today). First novel awarded is called 'The Demolished Man'. This book literally defined sub-genre 'cyberpunk' which got reinvented 30! years later by P.K.Dick and William Gibson. Alfred Bester (author) wrote only one more book in the era 'The Stars My Destinations' which did the similar job for 'space-opera' sub-genre! Many authors of fictional literature used to say 'I wish to write such a good book as 'The Demolished Man', but I know it's not possible'. It is like tradition to say this. How cool is that!

2. Henry Kuttner (died 1958 ) with his wife wrote sci-fi stories together. Many best of best short stories. If there was top 10 short story chart at least 3 of their would be there. But there was a problem! They used dozens of pseudonyms. No one knows how many really. Therefore there is a tradition (or cultural legend if you wish) that if you just read a GREAT short story from fifties from author you don't know, it's actually Kuttner and Moore with big probability. How cool is that!


Regards.