Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Norby Gets It Right Eventually
Norby's Other Secret (1984) is the second SF novel in the Norby series, following Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot.In the previous volume, Norby and Jeff Wells foiled the plans of Ing the Ingrate and saved the Earth.Fargo Wells received a grant of funds to keep the family business going, Jeff received a scholarship to continue attending the Space Academy, and Norby is awarded the title of Honorary Cadet at the Academy.

In this novel, Norby is wanted by the Inventors Union so that they can disassemble him to discover the secret of miniantigravity.Even Admiral Yobo wants to find out that secret, but he is considerably less ruthless that the inventors.

The Admiral drops in unannounced to warn Jeff and also to eat some real food.The Admiral has a large appetite and a love of very hot spices.He is busily eating the roast chicken when a thump and a growl come from elsewhere in the apartment.

Checking out the strange sounds, Jeff and the Admiral find a full-grown lion in the bedroom.After throwing the chicken to the lion and waving a chair in its face, Jeff packs sedatives into the meatloaf and throws it to the lion.During this time, Jeff's brother Fargo and Albany the policewoman show up;Albany orders an antigravity car and Norby loads the sleeping lion into it for transport to a nearby zoo.

When agents of Federal Security show up to take away Norby, he and Jeff flee through hyperspace.Norby takes them back to Jamya, but this time the lady dragon Ziphyzggtmtizm welcomes them and even allows them to call her Zi.They are invited into her castle for a bite to eat.

In this story, Jeff is summoned to the large castle on the hill by the Mentor, a large four-armed robot.When he and Norby arrive at the castle, Jeff is confined by a misty force field, but Norby escapes through hyperspace.Jeff's mind is scanned by a computer until Norby can rescue him.

First they stop by Zi's small castle for an old tail rest and then return to earth.For a while, they hang above an icy, snow-covered surface, then Norby takes them to a large and busy arena with gladiators in it, and finally he returns them to the apartment.Norby is really mix-up today.

This story takes Jeff, Norby and their friends back to Jamya in the Wells family scoutship.There they face hungry dinosaurs and angry robots.Then they return to the Solar System to discover an alien spaceship and rogue inventors in the asteroid belt.

The story tells more about Norby's origins and abilities.The robot Mentor is initially hostile, but eventually becomes an ally.Fargo Wells is again rescued from ill-considered actions.Admiral Yobo is finally convinced to protect Norby from disassembly.

Highly recommended for younger Asimov fans (and for some older ones) as well as for anyone else who enjoys tales of space adventures, alien robots, and friendly dragons.

-Arthur W. Jordin

A delightful robot tale
Norby's Other Secrets


Norby's Other Secrets is the second book in the Norby seriesfollowing Norby the Mixed-Up Robot.In this one Norby battles or really hides from the evil Inventors Union that wants to dismantle him to discover the secrets to his anti-gravity capabilities.

Norby discovers who his Father is, sort of, and where his home is, again, sort of.All-in-all a delightful book.He, also, discovers another major capability.

Highly recommended for Middle School level readers and above.


Gunner2007

A humorous science fiction tale for juveniles.
This is the second volume in the Norby series of science fiction stories for children. In this tale, the robot Norby discovers his origin, a dragon-inhabited planet, and some new abilities: traveling through time andtelepathy. The first two books in this series were also published togetheras "The Norby Chronicles." ... Read more

Product Description
A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history:  the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain.  Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together.  Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions.  But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer.  The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start.  Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner:  R. Daneel Olivaw.  Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot--and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (90)

Great mystery, interesting sci fi
In a world where most humans live in vast enclosed cities, never seeing the naked sky, Elijah Bailey is a homicide detective assigned to an unusual case. A murder has occurred in the "spacer city". Spacers are earth-men who colonized the stars generations before, and went on to achieve technological advantages, mainly through the use of Earth-shunned robotics, that give them a serious edge on the mother planet. The murder itself is a seemingly impossible circumstance, which is a specialty of Asimov's mysteries. And Elijah must solve it with the help of a humaniform robot.

Asimov builds a likely sounding future society that is at once oddly familiar and totally different from our experiences, and ties it in with technologies and off-world humans who are interesting and complicated. Asimov was above all else a plot technician. Often his characters don't outshine other writers in raw emotion, but his stories are unrivaled for sensible, interesting plots with unexpected but highly believable and logical twists. The Caves of Steel is one such book. The emotions of Detective Bailey do come through as he faces his individual version of the society wide agoraphobia, but the focus is on the mystery and its accoutrements. As is all Asimov, The Caves of Steel is enjoyable, fascinating, and a fair mystery ... you have the clues at the same time the detectives do.

Couldn't Slog Through
As you may note from the title of this review, I couldn't get more than halfway through this book. Bored to tears.I'm giving it two stars instead of one because I don't think you can completely discount a book you haven't finished.That said I have already packed this up to go to the used book store.I love Asimov's robot short stories, they were some of the most captivating things I read in middle school, and they are still fun to pick up now and then.This, from what I read, lacks anything nearly as compelling, and might have been better as a short story.Avoid it unless you are really into golden age/pulp sci-fi, or are under the age of 16.

Asimov does well blending sci-fi with mystery.
Lije Baley, a plain-clothes cop in the steel-encased New York City has a murder mystery to solve. A prominent Spacer was murdered and unfortunately for Lije his partner is a robot, R. Daneel Olivaw. Lije doesn't like robots. Actually, most humans don't like robots. Robots can easily do the same jobs that humans can do and they don't require a paycheck.

Asimov really set the hook with Caves of Steel. I'm going through the whole Robot, Empire and Foundation saga and I'm doing it in the Asimov recommended reading order. I started with I, Robot which was an enjoyable read for sure, but Caves of Steel may be the book responsible for an Asimov-obsession. Asimov's prose is very accessible and his ideas are brilliant.

I will admit that Caves of Steel suffers from the same issue as I, Robot. Some of the plot devices are just a little too convenient. For example, it's all but impossible for humans to go outside because most humans suffer from agoraphobia. This is so, just to keep the mystery alive. There are other plot devices in the book that are similar. Still, this is a fine yarn that all fans of sci-fi should check out.

Good Start to the Series
I guess in some sense the series is started with the I, Robot short stories, though this is the first of the Robot Novels and brings the (soon to be) famous R Daneel Olivaw into the picture, in addition to Bailey, whose name becomes large enough to be referenced in the Foundation works. The book itself is classic Asimov, and stands in there as a great Sci Fi novel in itself and part of the greater whole. While I'm not going to say it's as classic as some of the other work of the time, it does set the stage for some solid speculative fiction both on the pages and in your own head, which is always a great accomplishment for an author. Where the Foundation books are more of a far, far distant future of stories, the Robot novels give you something very tangible to think about as it pertains to the world now.

Some of the basic ideas are put forth in this novel which will pop up again and again in future books, both in the Robot and Foundation series'. Well worth the read, and short enough to knock this out in 2 days time.

One of the greatest
This is one of the best science fiction novels because all of the elements re-inforce each other.They mystery is interesting in itself but also gives a pretext for describing a vast future metropolis, from the "yeast farms" to the transportation system.The characters have been molded by their environment: they have a phobia for going outside the crowded city, and they have developed intricate social customs to avoid tripping over each other all the time.Asimov also comes up with a plausible reason as to why a single murder could have interstellar repercussions.Best of all, he avoided making his hero the macho type that runs around with blasters blazing: Baley has his quirks, but he THINKS his way to the solution.
... Read more

Product Description
From the world's greatest science writer, a history of the world from the Big Bang to 1945, told in irresistible short takes and highlighted by a timeline. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

concise and interesting
Asimov puts his own spin on info that could otherwise be dry and boring. An excellent rendition of the history of the world. Offers scary insight into our tribalistic species.

doorstop
heavier than lead, the thump made when the postman dropped it off at my door. i wasn't expecting much from a huge book that cost so little, but when i opened up the package and saw the amazing specimen, i had to bow to the amazon gods once again. the book is in pristine condition, except for the usual yellowing of years past on its pages, which lends it a classical feel true to the beloved asimov. i buy books nowhere else but amazon, and will do over and over again.

A Fantastic Book
The title says it all. This book starts at the beginning of the universe and ends at the end of World War II. He breaks up time periods, which get increasingly smaller as history gets more elaborate (a thousand year period, a hundred years, twenty years). In each period he starts with the most historically important geographical area at the time, then covers other areas of the world. If I were to give this book any negatives, it would be that he doesn't go into extreme detail in any area. But considering the size of the book (648 pages, not including the index) it's no wonder. He is throrough enough to get a good idea of any time period.
He writes in a very easy, conversational style. If you have ever wanted to learn history but found acadimic writings to be to boring, then this book is for you.

Best history book covering all history. Asimovs best nonfiction work.
This is without a doubt my favorite history book of all time. Although Asimov wrote this primarily as a reference work it is exceptionally readable it is clear concise and doesn't stray into nonessential minutia. The history of the world is layed out from start (the commonly accepted correct scientific version)to near present day. Asimov not only recognizes almost all of the key people and discoveries in arts and sciences asimov puts his no-nonsense analysis to political and cultural changes as well.
You can read it in small segments by the nightstand, or you can read it cover to cover chapter by chapter and still benefit from it.As a desk reference it is invaluable.
The thing this book did for me that no other history work really achieved was that it gave me a clear understanding of how all of history connects on a timeline and how the whole picture of world history fits together with a perspective that is impossible for me to convey in this review. This is near the top of in my top 20 favorite books.
As far as I'm concerned Asimovs work as a historian rivals his enormous achievents in science fiction, literature and science. I have read this book at least 10 times now and will reread it many more times before I'm history/.

Don't expect to learn history from this book
Isaac Asimov is one of my favorite writers and I particularly enjoy reading his non-fiction work - Life And Energy is one of my all-time favorites. Chronology Of The World is a good reference book and provides brief overviews of the dominant cultures throughout history.

The reason I have given it 4 stars instead of 5 is that many of the histories he provides do not have the life that Asimov is usually able to impart to a subject. This may be do to the fact that Asimov is limited to how much he can write on any one time period/culture (the book is already huge). It is more of a reference book than a book that imparts understanding, but Asimov's true gift was his ability to provide understanding of a subject. So I would rather of had book that covered the major periods of history with a bit more depth at the expense of removing some of the lesser periods. ... Read more

Product Description
Arguably the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived, Isaac Asimov also possessed one of the most brilliant and original minds of our time. His accessible style and far-reaching interests in subjects ranging from science to humor to history earned him the nickname "the Great Explainer." I. Asimov is his personal story--vivid, open, and honest--as only Asimov himself could tell it.

Here is the story of the paradoxical genius who wrote of travel to the stars yet refused to fly in airplanes; who imagined alien universes and vast galactic
civilizations while staying home to write; who compulsively authored more than 470 books yet still found the time to share his ideas with some of the great
minds of our century. Here are his wide-ranging thoughts and sharp-eyed observations on everything from religion to politics, love and divorce, friendship and Hollywood, fame and mortality. Here, too, is a riveting behind-the-scenes look at the varied personalities--Campbell, Ellison, Heinlein, Clarke, del Rey, Silverberg, and others--who along with Asimov helped shape science fiction.

As unique and irrepressible as the man himself, I. Asimovis the candid memoir of an incomparable talent who entertained readers for nearly half a
century and whose work will surely endure into the future he so vividly envisioned.Amazon.com Review
The long-awaited autobiography of the science fiction master. Filledwith his opinions and insights on topics ranging from his own genius andhis fear of flying to politics, love, mortality, Hollywood, and religion.Non-fiction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (36)

Rather pleased after reading the sample
First of all, let me say this as a preface: I own a Kindle, so I used the Sample feature to read a section of the book. Overall, I was pleased with the whole experience.

On one note, this particular sample was actually a decent sample as opposed to other samples that I have used before buying a book. It gave several full essays, filling to maybe the first quarter or third of the book. So I now have a clear picture of what kind of autobiography this is, as opposed to when I have used other samples that gave maybe a page or two that did little to entice me (though I ended up buying anyway).

In dealing with the actual contents of the book, I must say that the quality of the writing and information was superb. What Isaac Asimov lacked in poetic metaphor-making and the liked, he more than made up for in clarity; Asimov was time and again nicknamed, "The Greatest Explainer of the Age". He went on to use his talents for explanation to deal with topics ranging in history, religion, literature, and of course both science fact and fiction. With regards to his autobiography, the explanations of where he comes from and how he feels about aspects of his life was not only insightful, but makes one feel as though this man was talking to you, sharing a drink on a Friday night. Yes, at times it may seem self-indulging and more than a trifle arrogant, but with the way that Asimov apologetically reminds us that arrogance is one of his many flawes, we can forgive him that.

So in closing, I say that this is a remarkable book, one that gives clear insight to one the best regarded writers of not only science fiction, but other subjects as well.

Short review: I loved the book
I you like the books Isaac Asimov produced and you want to know a bit more of the man behind them, this is the book.
Witty, interesting, infuriating, ... you won`t be disappointed.

Asimov's Memoirs a Great Read for Fans
As a fan of Asimov since I started reading SF back in the 50s, I loved this third part of his autobiography. Only last year did I sell the first two volumes at the local used-book store, somewhat sadly -- just to make some space on our shelves. With the Kindle, it was easy to buy "I, Asimov" to complete the trio. It was typical Isaac Asimov, written by a man with a large ego but who knew it and handled himself with humour and a certain amount of humility, ego or not. He knew who he was, and here allowed the reader to see himself, warts and all.

There are a number of errors in the book that make it appear that it was transcribed via OCR: "Hitler" is consistently rendered as 'Hider'; "title" as 'tide, and similar foul-ups. However, they won't take away from the reading for anyone who appreciates Asimov. (They certainly would have bothered him, though, as he was highly critical of his own proflific writing output!)

EDIT, September 27, 2010: I'm very pleased to state that this book has been edited for the errors noted in this earleir review of mine and reissued. Good work, publisher!

This is a wonderful book...
...but the Kindle version is just riddled with spelling errors. They are all over the place. It looks as though the text was scanned in, and errors were introduced and never corrected. "Hitler" becomes "Hider", "I'll" becomes "PU", "and" becomes "arid". Many many times throughout the whole book.

This should be pulled from the store and fixed.

The book itself is great; as an Asimov fan, I can recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about the Good Doctor.

My most influential book
I first read I. Asimov in its spanish edition when I was 14 years old, after reading a lot of its sci-fi books.
I felt a connection to a man through its writing that I have never felt so strongly again. Then I got the english version, found by pure chance in an out of town bookstore. It was my most prized book.
Since then, I've read it about a hundred times, often just opening the book at random and instantly becoming inmersed. Now I'm getting it in kindle, to be read a hundred times more!. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A wonderful book on numbers and math
Why schools these day's require dry textbooks that cost $$$ instead of this wonderful story of numbers is beyond me.I think you would have triple the number of math lovers if they were all introduced to Isaac Asimov's world at an early age.You will gain a greater appreciation of numbers and the people behind the ideas of mathematic's as you glide through this book.I doubt you will want to put it down, and if you do, your mind will still be puzzling the ideas and concepts that Asimov explains.

The Joy of Counting
Let us return to those dark and thrilling days of yesteryear, the 1960s. I was in high school at that time. We were still using slide rules for mathematical calculations in physics. (You had to keep their edges lubricated with powdered graphite so that they would slip smoothly. Does anybody remember _those_ days?) There was no internet and no Googol website. But I knew what a googol was, and what a googolplex was, and even what Skewes numbers were. I had read an article by Isaac Asimov in the August 1963 issue of _Fantasy and Science Fiction_ called "T-Formation" that dealt with Big Numbers of various kinds.

From other math related articles by Asimov in _F&SF_, I understood why the square root of minus one wasn't _really_ imaginary. I had a rough idea of how the value of pi had been calculated over the years. And I had something of an understanding of why you couldn't square a circle with a straightedge and compass.

There were other things that I didn't grasp so easily. Why was infinity not really a number? And how could you have more than one infinities? My understanding of factorials was very fuzzy. And some mathematicians-- Gottfried Leibnitz, Leonardo Fibonacci, Georg Cantor, Leonard Euler, and Karl Friedrich Gauss-- I knew almost nothing about. (Though the names of Euclid, Archimedes, Pythagorus, and Newton were familiar.)

The articles by Asimov were no substitute for the daily drill in math that my teachers imposed upon me. But they sharpened my thinking about a few concepts, and they gave me my first glimmering of a notion that maybe mathematics was something more than what was presented to us in textbooks. The formulas that we were supposed to memorize didn't represent concepts that sprang full-blown out of the brow of Zeus. They were ideas that _evolved_, with lots of trial and error and refinement. I wasn't ready to admit that math was fun, but I was willing to concede that at times it could be interesting. In short, Asimov's articles gave me an education.

Here are seventeen mathematical essays from _F&SF_ published between September 1959 and June 1966. They are grouped into seven parts: Numbers and Counting (five essays), Numbers and Mathematics (three essays), Numbers and Measurement (two essays), Numbers and the Calendar (two essays), Numbers and Biology (one essay), Numbers and Astronomy (one essay), and Numbers and Earth (three essays). "T-Formation" is here, and most of the others that made an impression on me back then: "The Imaginary That Isn't," "A Piece of Pi," "Tools of the Trade," "Varieties of the Infinite," and "Exclamation Point!" Asimov elsewhere states that this last piece, on factorials, is his all-time favorite math essay.

Perhaps the most amusing article in the book is "Forget It!" It is a review of a 1797 math textbook, explaining why most of its contents are rightfully left out of modern math textbooks. In a related vein, "Nothing Counts" compares the Roman and the Arabic Number systems. And "Pre-Fixing It Up" is an introduction to the metric system. Asimov correctly argues that it is superior in every way to the English system. I remember that at one time I took several education courses on teaching metrics. It was to be the coming thing. But the metric revolution in the United States fizzled out in favor of tradition. Other countries have adopted it, but we still lag behind.

Asimov is fond of writing articles that play with comparisons and measurements, and there are several of these articles here: "That's About the Size of It" (on the relative sizes of animals), "Water, Water, Everywhere" (on the comparative sizes of bodies of water around the world), "Up and Down the Earth" (on geographic heights and depths and bulges), and "The Isles of Earth" (on the different sizes of islands). Herman Melville was known to sneer at science essays loaded with tables and numbers. I found these numerical exercises to be anything but dry.

The two essays on the calendar deal with figures like Julius Ceasar, Charlemagne, Napolean Bonaparte, and George Washington-- figures better known to high school students than many mathematicians. What is the significance of Washington and the calendar? It lies in the answer to this question: When was George Washington's birthday? Read Asimov for greater detail.

The book has one feature that was not in the original magazine columns. It has illustrated sidebars with commentary-- sometimes on historical personages, sometimes on animals, oceans, volcanoes, old mathematical documents. In each case, they give the reader a bit more in the way of informational trivia than would be obtained by the text alone. Today, my knowledge and appreciation of mathematics is much greater than it used to be. But I still return to the essays in this book. I often find that there are details in the Good Doctor's articles that I missed on the first couple of readings. Get this book for yourself. If you are a parent, get a copy for your children. Take the time to go over several chapters with them. Then let them read the rest on their own.

Can numbers be exciting?
Yes!

This is a funny, interesting, eye-opening, highly readable book. Who would have thought that a book about numbers could be so fascinating!

Are ya curious about the Fibonacci sequence?

Can't Get Enough
This is the most concise, humourous book on the history of numbers you will read. Asimov is at his peak with this one. The last couple of chapters lost my interest, but the rest is well worth the money. Written for the layman, but enough fuel for the enthusiast.

One of my favorite books
Every time I read this book (I've read it at least 4 times) I get to achapter that I've read before and I say, "I don't think I'll read thischapter, I'll just skip it and go on to the next one..."But then Iend up reading that chapter and I will think to myself, "That chapterwas AWESOME!Why would I ever think of skipping it?"I love thisbook, I find it hard to put down.Asimov has a way of explainingmathematical concepts in a very compelling way.I'm sad that the book isout of print - I can't find the copy that I read back in high school - surewould love to pick up another copy.As mentioned else where this book is acompilation of articles written by Asimov, mostly in the 60's. ... Read more

Product Description
A millennium into the future, two advancements have altered the course of human history:  the colonization of the Galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain.  On the beautiful Outer World planet of Solaria, a handful of human colonists lead a hermit-like existence, their every need attended to by their faithful robot servants.  To this strange and provocative planet comes Detective Elijah Baley, sent from the streets of New York with his positronic partner, the robot R. Daneel Olivaw, to solve an incredible murder that has rocked Solaria to its foundations.  The victim had been so reclusive that he appeared to his associates only through holographic projection.  Yet someone had gotten close enough to bludgeon him to death while robots looked on.  Now Baley and Olivaw are faced with two clear impossibilities:  Either the Solarian was killed by one of his robots--unthinkable under the laws of Robotics--or he was killed by the woman who loved him so much that she never came into his presence! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (65)

Fine Asimov mystery
A lot of people don't realize that as famous as Isaac Asimov was as a science fiction writer, he took great pride in writing mysteries, often of short story length. He has several volumes of fascinating short story mysteries.

Here, we get a full length mystery, once again staffed by the interesting and entertaining investigative duo of Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw, his humaniform robot partner. This time, the murder occurs away from Earth on a "Spacer world". This particular Spacer world is extreme in that the residents have a phobia for human contact, which provides an odd sort of balance for Bailey's phobia of the great outdoors. The murder is a classic locked door mystery, and the solution is impossible on its face.

Since Elijah had so recently solved a Spacer's murder on Earth, and since there are no such investigative skills in a society where murder is unheard of, the Spacers request Elijah as the man to solve this one. Asimov provides us with an interesting look at a society that has gone in completely the opposite direction of his over-crowded Earth cities ... a world where robots do virtually everything for the human residents, while on Earth any robots outside of routine automation are looked upon with threat and suspicion.

Asimov took great pride in the internal logic of his mysteries, and this is a good example. "The Naked Sun" is an entertaining read for fans of both science fiction and mysteries. Although it is not absolutely necessary, I would recommend that you have read "The Caves of Steel" before tackling this book.

Asimov keeps me hooked on the series
The Naked Sun is a sequel to The Caves of Steel featuring Elijah Bailey and his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw.

A murder has taken place on the planet Solaria and it's up to Elijah and Daneel to solve it. However, Solaria is not like Earth. In the future the major cities on Earth are covered by huge metal domes and Earth is greatly over-populated. Humans don't look too kindly at robots. Most humans, including Elijah, are agoraphobic (fear open spaces). On Solaria the human population is very small, everyone lives on massive estates and there are thousands of robots for each human. Humans are bred to fear direct human contact so in order to 'view' each other they use complex holographic technology. Robots cater to every human need. This is pretty much Hell for somebody like Elijah but alas he is called into action.

I actually liked the plotting in The Naked Sun a bit more than The Caves of Steel. Because the people on Soliaria are the polar opposite of the people on Earth some interesting situations arise. For example, Earth humans are looked at as dirty animals and the thought of even being in the same room as an Earthman is sickening to a Solarian. Elijah, who craves direct human interaction, is forced to live by himself in a massive estate and he quickly becomes fed up with all of the robots trying to cater to every need of his. Elijah also does some 'growing up' in this novel.

One of my minor complaints with Caves of Steel is that some plot elements are a bit too convenient, only to keep the mystery alive. There is still a little bit of that in the Naked Sun, but to a lesser degree.

I strongly recommend this book, but read Caves of Steel first if you haven't already.

Nice ending after the ending!
I absolutely love this book. The mystery was a good one, but the moral of the story was far bigger then the story itself. I have read the foundation series and I love the way this book tied into the foundation series (specially to the last foundation book) I have ready many a mythological, fantasy books and Asimov has to be one of the great minds of all time.

Love the message of the book.

Jehosaphat! Holmes in Space!
I just got done reading The Naked Sun in record time - over the course of a few measly days - and that, I suppose, is testament to just how compelling a writer Asimov was. Can you put it down once you stop? No. Would you be inclined to do so? Not likely. Having written hundreds of books, Asimov had honed his craft down to a tee. There are no lengthy expositions, superfluous descriptions,esoteric metaphors, similes, orother unnecessary literary devices in an Asimov book;simply, there are characters, plot, world-building, and ideas, lots of ideas. If you've read, The Caves of Steel, or any other fiction by Asimov, and liked it, your sure to enjoy this book. as the second book in a trilogy, it felt slightly weaker than Caves, but held its own.Plainclothesman Elijah Baley develops in this book far more than in the previous installment. one thing this tale lacks that the first one had is a sense of urgency and/or danger. Asimov seems to have dialed down the action a bit well cranking up the mystery. But hey - what, exactly, is wrong with that?

The Naked Sun
I first read "The Naked Sun", by Isaac Asimov, in 1963, as a teenager. It was great reestablishing my acquaintance with the audio version! ... Read more

Product Description
Forty-seven Isaac Asimov short stories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Reading for ideas!
I am, in general, a reader of fact, not fiction, but the environment in one of the stories made me buy the book!
The story is called Strikebreaker, and it is about a world which is like an asteroid where they have basically hollowed it out and are living on the inside of it at many levels at 50 metres per level, which gives an awful lot of living space.Earlier I read a book called "Asimov on Astronomy", where Strikebreaker is mentioned due to a consideration about living inside a planet-/oid.

So, I ordered this book with the story and was hoping to get a thorough description of this world by Asimov. Well he has done the maths, but does not go into much detail about how it could be done.I was disappointed on that score.

However in this book there are so many very short stories that if a title grabs your interest most of them are not a long affair to go through, and there are quite a lot of stories with a good idea on how things could be done.This is a good feature of all those stories by Asimov.I do not read fiction, or science fiction, but Asimov being such a fantastic science writer, seems to have convinced me to check out some of his stories for ideas.This book confirms the conviction, even if I know I won't read it all. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of science fiction stories by the top writers in the genre features selections from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine by the likes of Larry Niven, Gregory Benford, Lucius Shepard, Greg Bear, and others. ... Read more

Product Description
The second volume in an extraordinary collection published shortly before the author's death. In these forty stories, Asimov's vivid awareness of the potential of technology is translated into human dilemmas. The definitive collection of short fiction by Isaac Asimov, supreme master of the science fiction genre continues with Volume Two of the Complete Stories. The Good Doctor was always ahead of his time and his work stands today as the clearest expression of our collective hopes and fears for the future. But the ever-expanding popularity of his stories with young and old readers alike is explained by their wit, zest and human interest. Within this volume are stories often voted among the best science fiction stories of all time. In these stories Asimov's vivid awareness of the potential of technology is translated into human dilemmas that are more relevant today than ever before. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Good Doctor writes Some More






Isaac Asimov The Complete Stories Volume 2

Only Isaac Asimov could have a book entitled The Complete Stories Volume 2 and still leave room for a volume three. The Good Doctor has to be the most prolific writer of Science Fiction ever, at least to my knowledge. In this volume are found his stories:

Not Final
The Hazing
Death Sentence
Blind Alley
Evidence
The Red queen's Race
Day of the Hunters
The Deep
The Martian Way
The Monkey's Finger
The Swinging Bell
The Talking Stone
Each an Explorer
Let's Get Together
Pate de Foie Gras
Galley Slave
Lenny
A Loint of Paw
A Statue for Father
Anniversary
Obituary
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Star Light
Founding Father
The Key
The Billiard Ball
Exile to Hell
Key Item
Feminine Intuition
The Greatest Asset
Mirror Image
Take a Match
Light Verse
Stranger in Paradise
That Thou Art Mindful of Him
The Life and Times of Multivac
The Bicentennial Man
Marching In
Old- Fashion
The Tercentenary Incident

Highly Recommended for Fans of the Good Doctor

Gunner December 2007

The Good Doctor Writes some more

Isaac AsimovThe Complete StoriesVolume 2

Only Isaac Asimov could have a book entitled The Complete StoriesVolume 2 and still leave room for a volume three.The Good Doctor has to be the most prolific writer of Science Fiction ever, at least to my knowledge.In this volume are found his stories:

Not Final
The Hazing
Death Sentence
Blind Alley
Evidence
The Red queen'sRace
Day of the Hunters
The Deep
The Martian Way
The Monkey's Finger
The Swinging Bell
The Talking Stone
Each an Explorer
Let's Get Together
Pate de Foie Gras
Galley Slave
Lenny
A Loint of Paw
A Statue for Father
Anniversary
Obituary
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Star Light
Founding Father
The Key
The Billiard Ball
Exile to Hell
Key Item
Feminine Intuition
The Greatest Asset
Mirror Image
Take a Match
Light Verse
Stranger in Paradise
That Thou Art Mindful of Him
The Life and Times of Multivac
The Bicentennial Man
Marching In
Old- Fashion
The Tercentenary Incident

Highly recommended for fans of the Good Doctor

GunnerDecember 2007

Contents...
Contains some winners and losers.
Most notablly, Red Queen's Race and Feminine Intution.And a
few other little seen works that I can remember even decades
after reading them.

Still does not contain "Good Taste".
I'm not aware of any volume 3.

"Not Final!"
"The Hazing"
"Death Sentence"
"Blind Alley"
"Evidence"
"The Red Queen's Race"
"Day Of The Hunters"
"The Deep"
"The Martian Way"
"The Monkey's Fingers"
"The Singing Bell"
"The Talking Stone"
"Each an Explorer"
"Let's Get Together"
"Pate De Foie Gras"
"Galley Slave"
"Lenny"
"Loint of Paw, A"
"Statue For Father, A"
"Anniversary"
"Obituary"
"Rain, Rain, Go Away"
"Star Light"
"Founding Father"
"The Key"
"The Billiard Ball"
"Exile to Hell"
"Key Item"
"Feminine Intuition"
"The Greatest Asset"
"Mirror Image"
"Take a Match"
"Light Verse"
"Stranger In Paradise"
"-That Thou Art Mindful of Him"
"The Life and Times of Multivac"
"The Bicentennial Man"
"Marching In"
"Old-fashioned"
"The Tercentenary Incident" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Great Collection of Classic Asimov!
"Nine Tomorrows" is a collection of nine classic sci-fi short stories by Isaac Asimov.For those unfamiliar with him, Asimov is one of the "grand-masters" of science fiction and his writing (up through the 60s in particular) is amongst the very good or great of sci-fi writing...I think this collection is as good a place as any to start with his works.

The collection starts out with its longest piece, "Profession," a satisfying story with a nice mystery behind it that could easily have been adapted into a screenplay. Nearly all the additional stories are also very good (and several are excellent) - dealing with such topics as philosophizing on a man's future dealing with increased technological advances, such as more and more powerful computers...to our ability to wipe out each other with ever increasing more powerful weaponry. Overall, this collection is the kind of storytelling that seems hard to find these days and is representative of the thought-provoking science fiction that came out of the 50s.In my opinion, Asimov always put the "science" (and logic) in science fiction - but his readings are also very accessible to readers.

There are enough very good stories contained in here to warrant a 5-star rating for the book (it's also a rather short - but very "meaty" read - at 220 pgs).Even the stories that may not be of classic quality have clever/humorous endings.If you can get a copy of this I recommend it - your brain will thank you!

The title could be "The Best of Isaac Asimov"
Many of the skills that were needed for survival even 100 years ago are now largely lost to the mass knowledge pool. The people of that time would have found it difficult to believe that what was so critical to their lives would be rendered irrelevant in the future.
The first two stories in this collection take that as their premise, in "Profession" the very act of reading is lost and in "The Feeling of Power", the ability to perform basic arithmetic has vanished with the advent of accurate, handheld computers. The first seems unlikely but the second is very real, as a math teacher, I have witnessed students going into a panic mode if their calculator is not working. The fact that the numbers are simple so the operations are easy makes no difference.
In "The Dying Night" an eccentric if not mad scientist professes to have perfected a process of mass transfer and he openly brags to his former classmates that have returned to Earth from various planets and moons in the Solar System. When the mad scientist is found dead under questionable circumstances, all of the classmates come under suspicion. Sleuth Wendell Urth is consulted and using his supreme powers of deduction, the culprit is unmasked. The Urth stories are especially entertaining to readers that understand that the Urth character is Asimov poking fun at himself.
"I'm in Marsport Without Hilda" is a space age rendition of story of the husband out of town without his wife and looking for some action. He finds it when he makes contact with Flora and then is called into emergency service to solve what could be a monumental drug-smuggling syndicate. Solving the crime turns out to be easy, the woman problems are a more complicated situation.
"The Gentle Vultures" is an unusual twist on the benevolent alien observers of humanity theme. An advanced space traveling species has set up bases to observe Earth and are willing to help, the problem is that their help will only come after there is a major nuclear war on Earth. In their experience with other species, once nuclear weapons are developed, they will be used in a massive war and then the "Vultures" land and offer their assistance. Although it may appear to be the case, they are not malicious, truly believing that they are doing the right thing to advance a species.
A very powerful and an ultimately all-powerful computer are the primary story points in "All the Troubles of the World" and "The Last Question." In the first, computing technology has advanced to the point that the Multivac computer is the only real authority on Earth and it is able to predict the potential actions of people. By taking pre-emptive action, nearly all crime has been eliminated so law enforcement is little more than watching the output of Multivac and responding accordingly. However, being the repository of all the individual problems of humans has created a personality disorder in Multivac and it becomes the source of a potentially catastrophic crime. In "The Last Question" Multivac becomes the ultimate computer, existing in several dimensions and finally it is merged with the very fabric of space and the spiritual existence of all humans. When the universe reaches the point of heat death, Multivac realizes that it is the ultimate power in the universe so it acts like it.
"Spell My Name with an S" is a basic story about simple changes having significant results. Marshall Zebatinsky is an American man that wants to have a greater impact in the scientific world. To placate his wife, he consults a numerologist, only to discover that the man is actually a statistician so his skepticism is slightly alleviated. When the consultant recommends that he change the spelling of his last name to Sebatinsky, he dismisses the advice yet follows through with it. The change turns out to be significant as it is the height of the Cold War and since there is a prominent Soviet scientist with the name Zebatinsky, this causes the speculative causality wheels in the American intelligence types to churn and generate hypothetical reasons for the change. This is an excellent parody of the Cold War mentality that interpreted even trivial events as major challenges.
"The Ugly Little Boy" is one of Asimov's best short stories. A scientific establishment manages to establish a stasis field that allows them to bring items from the past to the present. Their first attempt brings a young Neanderthal boy forward in time. Miss Fellowes is hired to be his nanny and while others find him repulsively ugly and call him ape-boy, she quickly grows to love him, naming him Timmie. When Timmie proves to be capable of being educated, she realizes that returning him back to his native environment would be a death sentence so in an extremely selfless act, she returns with him.
In these nine stories, Asimov conclusively demonstrates that he is truly a grand master of science fiction; the tales are imaginative and in some cases have been proven plausible.

The Nine Tomorrows
All of the stories are good. But one in particular is more than excellent.
It's called: The Last Question. It blew my mind away when I first read it. I'm sure it'll do the same to you who ever you are.

The Ugly Little Boy is a good one as well. Please read the book and enjoy!

How could this book not be in print?
This collection contains two of Asimov's best stories--"The Feeling of Power" and "The Last Question." I find it odd that so many lesser books can remain in print while this major work of one of SF's more important voices languishes. Let's hope it gets bundled with another Asimov short story collection and returns to print.

Science-Fiction MasterpiecesFIND & BUY THIS BOOK
Any one of the nine short stories in this volume would make their author's career.By assembling them in one volume it becomes immediately apparent that Isaac Asimov was the undisputed master of modern science-fiction.Asimov's style is perfectly suited to the genre--his writing style is plain and deceptively simple.Yet for all the simplicity of the writing the ideas remain profound.

Asimov not only understood science and technology, he had a virtually prophetic vision of how science and technology would change the world.Our internet and cell phones would be no surprise to Asimov--he'd consider how far we have yet to go.

PROFESSION:A fascinating study of a future society where one's profession is dictated by a computer according to a person's talents and aptitudes.Ideas that no longer look entirely futuristic.

THE FEELING OF POWER:The guy can do math in his head!A wry take on the effects of computing power on personal computational ability.

THE DYING NIGHT:A first-rate mystery story told in the milieu of science fiction.

I'M IN MARSPORT WITHOUT HILDA:Like "The Dying Night" a story that demonstrates Asimov's ability to effortlessly cross genre boundaries.

THE GENTLE VULTURES:Watch out for the humans.Take any work by any modern science fiction author--Asimov has already been there and has often done the story better.

ALL THE TROUBLES IN THE WORLD:Artificial Intelligence issues that are still being debated today.

SPELL MY NAME WITH AN S:About the societal impact of near infinite computing power and governmental intrusion into scientific research.

THE LAST QUESTION:Wow.A mindblower.This one is easily among the best science-fiction short stories ever written.Asimov's take on intelligence and the future of the universe.

THE UGLY LITTLE BOY:Time travel and human experimentation are combined in this gem that teaches us that our essential humanity is more important than any scientific achievement.
... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Seven Poems and a Fragment is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of W. B. (William Butler) Yeats then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fun Story with Surprise Twist
Youth is an early Asimov story written in 1952. It is a short story, lots of fun with a surprising twist at the end. Safe for kids to read too.

Get twice the bang for your buck and buy Best of The Sci-Fi Vintage Pulp1952 --Short Stories by Asimov and Holden (Vintage Sci-Fi 1952) also here on Amazon for a dollar, this volume contains "Youth" and a story by Fox B Holden. ... Read more

Product Description
Three stories, including two by Asimov, stretch the imagination; "Strikebreaker" tells of a caste system on a distant plane; "It's Such a Beautiful Day" tells of a child who wanders outside when everyone must live indoors; and "Sitting Around the Pool, Soaking up the Rays" is about young minds captured by aliens. ... Read more

Product Description
Isaac Asimov's boundless, inexhaustible intellectual curiosity and his extraordinary talent for explaining complex subjects in clear, concise prose is logendary to readers throughout the world.In addition to treating his devoted fans to nearly five hundred illuminating science-fiction and nonfiction books, he also found time to write a three-column autobiography.Now these volumes have been condensed into one by Asimov's wife, Janet, who also shares excerpts from letters he wrote to her and shocking revelations about the illness that led to his death.More than being just an absorbing history of Isaac Asimov's life, IT'S BEEN A GOOD LIFE is like having an intimate conversation with the master himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

I was dissappointed.
I have read Asimov's earlier biography, I. ASMOV, and rather enjoyed that as a funny look into one of science fiction's most respected writers. This book trashes that down to a few measly pages, and ruins Asimov's clear, flowing style. After reading one book with this information already, I felt cheated.

Very good, Janet compliments Asimov's story
I enjoyed reading it. Asimov's writing-style combined with Janet's clarifications and additions, make it a very interesting book. The end is sad but dignified, no doubt as Janet intended. Very good.

Truly Amazing. Awesome.
Asimov was like Mozart, only more so: whereas Mozart's genius was more or less confined to music, Asimov ranged all over, rampaging over every aspect of knowledge -- so it seemed to me. When Mozart was asked how he composed, hewas reputed to have said: I just sit down and begin writing as the music came pouring out. Similarly, when Asimov was asked how he prepared to write, he said: I just sit down, put my hands on the keyboard of a typewriter or wordprocessor and begin typing, often at 100 words a minute, hardly ever makingcorrections, as the story just came pouring out. How many authors could have said or can say: On my book shelves are almost half a thousand books every one of which I wrote?Janet Jepson's notes and organization rendered the book even more enjoyable.

Great condensed memoir
Even though Asimov wrote a few autobiographies, this one really stands more as a condensed version of the others.I don't think it's really meant to be as serious and in-depth as the other ones.It does exactly what it sets out to do--inform the reader about Asimov's life in a more general and succinct way, with plentiful anecdotes along the way.We get to find out about his boyhood, education, early writing days, when he was an established writer and long past his days of writing for magazines, quite a few of the books and stories he wrote, his interactions with other people in his life, his twilight years, and his beliefs on quite a number of subjects.Even though I don't share his atheism and humanism, it was interesting to read about those beliefs of his, how he came to have them, and how he lived them.I've never really been into sci-fi, except maybe for some soft sci-fi, but Asimov is just about the only hard sci-fi writer I voluntarily read things by.This engaging writing style is a big reason why, as well as the influences behind his writing.And as he describes in some of the chapters, he didn't just write sci-fi; he also wrote some books on the Bible (he didn't let his atheism get in the way of writing a pretty neutral unbiased account of Biblical history as it was understood at that time), Shakespeare, limericks, and history, and points out that his famous 'Foundation' trilogy was inspired by his love of history.He wanted to combine his love of history with his love of sci-fi, and that series came about as a result, being so successful in fact that years after the original trilogy came out, he was called upon to write a few more books in the series.It was also a big shock to read that Asimov had actually died from AIDS, having gotten a blood transfusion in the days before blood was routinely screened.After the main text of the book are also one of the essays he wrote, along with his story 'The Last Question,' which he considered to be his favorite of all of the stories he'd ever written, and one which was also the favorite story of many of his fans as well.This was a fascinating multifaceted human being, and this book would be a good general introduction to a new fan.

Excellent!
It's been a good life is a good way to describe Asimov's life as he describes it in his own words. An autobiographical account of his life, with inserts by his wife, this book details Asimov's life in a funny and interesting volume.
He starts with his birth and childhood, which is an interesting feat. Not many people can remember their young lives. From there, he describes how he became interested in reading, then writing and finally how he first became published. From there, he describes his academic and writing lives in a clear, paced fasion. Everything blends in perfectly, from birth to death.
I was paticularly fasinated by his writing life, as a fan of his. For most of the book, he describes how he became a novelist, then how he stopped in favor of scientific resources and then how he returned to fiction. Because he wrote this in the first person view, it is entirly too easy to fall right into his head, and see things the way he did. This is expecially true towards the end of the book and his life. I really got the sense that he had too much to do, that he wanted to do and didn't have nearly enough time to accomplish it all.
I have read many of his science fiction novels, and from this book, learned a lot about what drove him to writing the stories I enjoy, but also about his life in general. There was much that I had no idea about. For example, he was in the Army, died of AIDs, due to a blood transfusion, and went through writing cycles.
Paticularly helpful was the editing that his wife did. On almost every section, she inserted references to his life that explained what he was talking about a little better. This book would have been very difficult and/or confusing if they had not been put in.
In addition, this book is an extremely fast read. I finished it in nearly five to six hours and enjoyed every minute of it.
The only complaint that I have with it is that it's too short, almost abridged in sections, that could have had more to it. Other than that, it's a wonderful and entertaining read. ... Read more

Product Description
This book demonstrates the full range of Isaac Asimov's imagination: his lively discussions of science fiction; future space adventures; inner space discoveries; rediscoveries of our hidden past; and even what to do when the present state of the world is just too oppressive - his "Tyrannosaurus Prescription". Asimov fans will find gems of every kind in this far-roving collection. The section on "Science" provides thirteen pieces on the planets; unstable atomic nuclei; Einstein, "the one-man revolution"; and dinosaurs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A wonderful book of short essays.
A wonderful book filled with thousands of tidbits of knowledge.The essays span many different topics, all in Asimov's best form ... Read more

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Presents the story of the Portuguese explorer who became the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean and whose expedition completed its voyage around the world after his death en route. ... Read more

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Describes the life of Columbus as a young man, and as an explorer who marshalled the best technology of his time to explore new lands. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Asimov's great robot murder-mysteries
Isaac Asimov is one of the greatest Science Fiction writer of all time as he brings science to the genre while writing in a very clever and accessable way. Not many SF authors were scientists before they became writers and Asimov clearly knows his science and, more importantly, the level of science the audience knows.

This "Robot Trilogy" is set two thousand years into the future; well after his "I, Robot" short stories which precede it and set up the now-universal Laws of Robotics, and before Asimov's 'Empire' novels. 'The Caves of Steel' (an acronym for the cities of the future) is set on Earth, while 'The Naked Sun' and 'The Robots of Dawn' are set on colonised planets elsewhere in the galaxy. Each story follows the investigations of detective Elijah Baley and his human-looking robot partner (mascarading as a 'Spacer'), Daneel Olivaw, as they solve murder mysteries on each planet.

These stories are well crafted and read like good old-fashioned murder mysteries. The unique aspects of these novels are their off-world settings and robot characters; the robots must obey the three laws of robotics, the first being that a robot cannot harm a human, or through inaction, allow a human to be harmed. But loopholes exist which Asimov explores brilliantly. But what drives these stories is the relationship between Earthmen and Spacers (outer world colonialists). Here, the two are distinctly polar in every way, thus fueling the stereotypical fears between the two groups. For example, Earthmen are considered by 'spacers' as second-class citizens due to their idiosynchratic indoor-only nature and susceptibility to disease, while spacers are considered elitist by Earthmen as they don't allow physical contact. A number of other psychological and social problems are also addressed by Asimov, in particular the "Frankenstein" complex that humans have developed in response to creating robots - other sentient beings. Other themes include community versus the individual, change versus stagnation, and dependance on technology to prolong life.

What is really impressive about Asimov is the fact that he has accomplished what he has without violence. I don't recall in any Asimov novel a gun being fired!

Why buy this book? Each novel can be read individually but are really designed to be read one story after another. So buy this omnibus instead of purchasing three separate books. You will want to read "The Naked Sun" and "The Robots of Dawn" after reading "The Caves of Steel" anyway. Also, read "I, Robot" before venturing into his other novels as Asimov sets up his rules here.

(Asimov began his robot novels with the collection of short stories entitled "I, Robot" which was set in the years 2010 to 2050 roughly and presented for the first time the Three Laws of Robotics. These stories revealed man's distrust of robots which were created to serve man and his occupations, especially in Earth orbit and in the Solar System (the extent of exploration at this point in human history), and importantly, not on Earth.)

Great!
In these books, Asimov puts in views and theories and situations that may arise as well as fit in facts about books set in later eras, such as Foundation. Well written, sound bases. Gives a reader the feeling of "This is how it could be." ... Read more

Product Description
Shakespeare's genius is marked by his rare ability to appeal to theatergoers of all types and all levels of education.But for most modern folks, the Greek and Roman mythology and history, let alone the history of England and the geography of sixteenth-century Europe that his works are laden with, are hardly within our grasp.Isaac Asimov comes to making obscure issues clear to the layperson, selects key passages from 38 of the great bard's plays plus two of his narrative poems and, with the help of beautifully rendered maps an figures, illuminates us about their historical and mythological background. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Asimov: a brand of his own
Isaac Asimov(mhrp)is a never-fail brand name.While some of his science fiction becomes dated as science itself advances, his wide, eclectic vision has not.This is a rich commentary/guide to Shakespeare's works, and a never-fail reference for those wishing to bone up on the bard before attending a play or dropping bon mots in cocktail conversation.

Suffers from Significant Flaws
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare is simple in its structure. Taking all the plays, Asimov looks at some hard-to-understand or important quote, explaining obscure words. These include, e.g., the annoying mistake that Juliet, asking "wherefore are you Romeo" is looking for him; Lear's "those pelican daughters"; or Hamlet's "doubt that the sun dought moves". Asimov explains that "wherefore" means "why", not "where"; that at the time most people believed the sun moves around the earth (despite Copernicus' discoveries a few decades before); and that the pelican was the symbol of children's ingratitude since it was believed, wrongly, that their young eat their parents' flesh.

On a more significant level, Asimov gives us introductions with good historical background of the whole story from Richard II on, with the English wars of succession and the 100 year war, which is crucial to understanding the different factions and historical characters in Shakespeare's many related historical plays (Richard III, Henry VIII, Henry IV, V, VI...). Sometimes he explains the plays' views -- e.g., making Richard III a villain, Henry VIII a hero, Jean D'Arc a cowardly lunatic -- in political necessity, or bias, being an Englishman who lived under the all-powerful Elizabeth, Henry's daughter, who was a scion of those who opposed Richard III.

All this is, in itself, praiseworthy. The problem is that Asimov has a total tin ear for literary and emotional distinctions. Romeo is criticized, for example, for not doing the "rational" thing and simply asking his father to send an emissary to the rival family and end their long-standing feud with his marriage to Juliet; or Hamlet's character is "analyzed" as wanting to be king as well as avenging his father as the "explanation" for his apparent lack of action. This is, to be sure, better than pseudo-psychological nonsense about the "subconscious conflicts" of various Shakespearian characters, Hamlet especially, but shows very limited understanding into the kind of characters they are and the emotional depth Shakespeare shows.

One example is the treatment of Othello. Iago is simply dismissed as "envious" at Othello's success. But, as W. H. Auden notes, this is not nearly enough. Iago is a practical joker -- a man of a very specific makeup -- which explains not only why he wants to hurt Othello, but why he uses those particular sorts of plans in that particular way. Othello, for his part, is considered not merely "naive" for believing Desdemona is betraying him despite little, in fact no, real evidence, like Asimov says; his real disappointment is that of an outsider, a Moor, that finds out that despite everything he was never actually accepted as equal in the society. Comparing Auden's treatment of "Othello" in his famous essay "The Joker in the Pack" to Asimov's in this book is like comparing a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost with a Model T Ford.

If one wishes for historical and literary background, Asimov will do. If one wished to gain any understanding of the plays beyond this superficial level, leave this book aside and read Auden's "The Dyer's Hand", just to name one.

Perfect companion
A brilliant book by a brilliant author!Asimov is a master at making difficult things accessible.For each play, he offers a detailed guide to the plot, extensive historical context about the geography and time period Shakespeare was (or thought he was) representing, background information on all the historical characters, and explanations of all the references to the Bible and classical mythology.He does not explain the language; for that you'll have to look elsewhere.The book definitely encourages love for the Bard: even where Asimov goes to great lengths explaining where Will went wrong historically, he follows up by showing why it doesn't matter.

Interpretively horrid, but good background info
Isaac Asimov here provides much useful background information for a greatly enhanced understanding of each play. As Asimov writes, this is the main function of the book.

Would that he had limited himself to this! For when he ventures to interpret, Asimov too often drowns in the shallows. His take on Gertrude, for example, is entirely superficial. The same with Portia. Other examples could be provided of this bathetic failure to plumb the depths.

But, refusing to make the perfect the enemy of the good, I recommend it. If, interpretively, you really want to dig deeply into Shakespeare, I recommend The Meaning of Shakespeare, Volume 1 (Phoenix Books) and The Meaning of Shakespeare (Volume 2). (Note: Harold Bloom and his ilk also inhabit the shallows. Do not be deceived.)

P.S. I recently watched an interview with Asimov in which he cited psychology as one of the things that never really interested him. How such a man was simultaneously interested in Shakespeare - that supreme psychologist and most comprehensive of men - well, it boggles the mind. Suffice it to say that, because of the superficiality I mention, I wasn't surprised at this lack of interest, nor was I surprised at his hostility to religion and concomitant scientism (which surface via various snide remarks scattered throughout the book). Anti-psychology and scientism: a fatal brew to any deep understanding of Shakespeare. Again, rely on this book only for the background information Asimov ably provides.

P.P.S. I speak there at the end of scientism, not science. Scientism, unlike science rightly understood, dogmatically limits reality to the material, the measurable, the calculable.

Scientist illuminated literature
Excellent book, benefitting from clarity of thinking and breadth of factual support not often found in literary writing.
... Read more

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Describes the adventures of the seventeenth-century English explorer, from his search for a short route from Europe to the Orient to his mysterious disappearance after members of his crew mutinied. ... Read more