Year long Group Read: Isaac Asimov

Welcome to the Year long Isaac Asimov thread. Asimov, 1920-1992, was extremely prolific. He wrote mainly science fiction, but also wrote non-fiction and some mystery. His Robot series and Foundation series are classic works.

Share with us what you are interested in reading and lets get together for some shared reads, some rereads and some challenges.

I think I'll start with Caves of Steel and go from there. My January to-read list is already pretty full, so I might start in February, which appropriately is the "classic SFF" month for the SFFFCAT.

I'm going to read I. Asimov. I just love the title, quite outside of being sure that it will be worth reading.

It's also about time to reread a lot of his fiction, and an Asimov category would be easy to fill.

>2 mathgirl40: I was going to read Caves of Steel next but after perusing several websites I decided I'm going to read Asimov's books in this order.

I, Robot I've already read this year.
Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation
The Caves of Steel
The Naked Sun
The Robots of Dawn
Foundations Edge
Foundation and Earth
Robots and Empire

After this I'll read more of the short stories and possibly The End of Eternity and who knows what else.

>3 MarthaJeanne: I also want to read I, Asimov. What order did you read most of his books?

The order I got my hands on them over the past several decades.

I'll be reading I, Asimov plus one or two of his SF novels. Then we'll see...

I tried to reread Foundation had hated it. I loved it when I was young, but now, what with no women of any significance, seemingly a world where we were kept out entirely, I just couldn't do it.

>7 majkia: I will keep that thought in mind when I read it. There is always the Rule of 50. :-)

Isaac did include women of significance later on when he added more books to his Foundation series before he died.

I'm hoping I'll get around to reading some of the Foundation books - or at least the first one.

I recently completed The Caves of Steel & The Naked Sun.

Also I'm re reading the Foundation series starting with the Everyman omnibus (F/F&E/2nF).

Although connected the two series can be read independently of each other.

Despite his stylistic failings, (see >7 majkia: majkia's post, ) Asimov is one of those authors I can return to time and again.

I'd like to toss in a recommend for Azazel, Murder at the ABA and (I think) A Whiff of Death. I can't remember which one comes first, maybe Murder at the ABA. Asimov himself appears in these books as an overbearing jerk in the eyes of the narrator, a less-successful writer. They're quite a hoot. Azazel is a series of shorts featuring a little "demon" and the same narrator as in the mysteries.
I was recently disappointed by another favorite (Simak) in his lack of female characters; in the last book of his I read the narrator disparages "woman talk" as not being worthwhile, which was striking since he'd just forgotten who one of his descendants (mentioned by his wife in recounting her "woman talk") was. I have to remind myself they too were a product of their times, and they did pave the way for later thinkers who were less chained by gender stereotypes.

I am going to be reading I. Asimov in December, because it is the only book on my TBR list that could count as a literary autobiography for the BioKIT.

Love Asimov :) I think this may be a good year to re-read the Foundation series!

I do not know much about Isaac Asimov but looking over his list of works the only things that interest me are Murder at the ABA and The Death Dealers (later republished as Whiff of Death).

If what you enjoy are mysteries, I suggest you try Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun. Asimov was best known for his classic Science Fiction. These fall into that genre, and are part of his wonderful robot novels, but are also mysteries. They are relatively short books, but I think they are among his best. (They are also still in print, which the two you mention aren't.)

>16 MarthaJeanne:: Ahhh. I am glad you told me so I wouldn't go looking for books that are out of print. I will put your suggestions on my list of potentials. Thanks! I might just read Foundation.

Last year I started reading the Robot series, which I really enjoyed. I will hopefully get to the last one, Robots and Empire, sometime in January!

I started Robots and Empire yesterday and must say that I am a little disappointed so far. I really loved I, Robot & Foundation and liked The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun very much.

This one feels a bit too much as if Asimov was just trying to bridge the gap between Prelude to Foundation and the earlier Robot series books. Or maybe I am just missing Elijah Baley, along with several of the characters!

>16 MarthaJeanne: and >19 leslie.98: Which one would I need to read first? It looks like The Caves of Steel is the first book in the Robot series?

Caves of Steel before Naked Sun.

I've read Murder at the ABA. A bit dated but fun.

>20 Tara1Reads: You can start with either the short stories of I, Robot or with the novel The Caves of Steel. The novels of the Robot series do need to be read in order but the short stories aren't really a part of the series. They are set much earlier in time so provide a "historical" background to both the Robot series and the Foundation series.

By the way, don't expect the book I, Robot to have much in common with the Will Smith movie!

>22 leslie.98: Ah. I see. That helps. Thanks for explaining his works. I didn't know much about Asimov before signing up for this group read so I am learning as I go. I still haven't decided what I am going to read yet but I have time.

I have not watched the movie I, Robot so I won't have to worry about that!

It's been way too long since I've posted anything here, but I've been lurking. I picked up some Asimov books at the Friends of the Library sale last Friday.

Foundation and Empire
Foundation's Edge
Foundation and Earth
Prelude to Foundation
Forward the Foundation

Fifty cents for paperbacks and one dollar for hardbacks so not a bad deal at all. If I decide I don't like the books and DNF I can donate them back for a future sale. I still need to get my hands on Foundation. The library does have most of his books so I should not have a problem checking it out.

I finally pulled a few from the shelves in the basement, so they are waiting by the bed to be read.

I, Robot

Yes, it felt good to reread this one. It's been a while.

On the issue of women, of the major characters in this book, one, the most important, is a woman. However neither she or any of the others seems any more human than the robots. If anything the robots have more character.

I would like to read some of his short stories (other than I, Robot which I read not too long ago). Any recommendations?

I'm now reading The Currents of Space.

I found my copy of The Caves of Steel which I will start in a few days.

>28 MarthaJeanne: Finished. His plots remain good, but his people might as well be robots.

I Robot fits both RandomCAT and SFFFCAT this month. I'm planning to listen to the audio.

I picked up his first novel at the library yesterday, Pebble in the Sky.

>31 LibraryCin: That also fits February's AlphaCAT. Isn't there some term for getting 3 CATs?

>32 leslie.98: Yes, it does. Thank you!

Is the term CATtrick? I'm not sure, but it might be something like that.

However, I'm not sure AlphaCAT counts for that. Or does it? I thought it had to be the "official" CATs, which I think this year are Random, History, and SFFF.

Though, I would love to get a CATtrick! If I did have one, it would be my first. :-)

Pebble in the sky

This would fit both this month's SFFF and next month's. Enjoyable.

I finished Caves of Steel, my first Asimov novel for this group read. I enjoyed the combination of science fiction and police procedural and I plan to read the sequels later on.

It's been a while since I'd read any Asimov. I had read the Foundation series a couple of decades ago and may reread the books later this year.

I just started Foundation last night. I had planned to read it last month but RL intervened.

I read Caves of Steel. So much of this depends on the mind sets of the characters that they get rounded out quite a bit.

I liked the blend of sci fi and mystery in Caves of Steel!

And now The naked sun

>39 MarthaJeanne: How did you think The Naked Sun compared to The Caves of Steel?

I've read the two together so often that I don't feel finished until I've read both. I like the message of hope that The Naked Sun ends in. And the society on Solaria is interesting to think about. It's the same blend of Sci fi and mystery.

I am reading Foundation and Empire right now. The first book flowed much better.

Picked up Second Foundation from the library but have a few books before I can get to it. I hope by next week!

I want to read Foundation etc, and have discovered that the series are in terrible shape.

I have discovered the following series:

https://www.librarything.com/series/Foundation
This one should probably have the Asimov books removed, as it is mostly something else (also incomplete).

http://www.librarything.com/series/Foundation+-+Publication

http://www.librarything.com/series/Foundation+-+Chronological

These should probably be finished and put into the English CK. Currently they seem to be in the Catalan CK

Does anyone have opinions on this? Know more about the series than I do? I'm not doing it tonight.

What we own is a series of five books starting with Foundation.

My other question is whether I ought to read the two prequels. I haven't read the series in decades. Would it make sense to read them first? I can get hold of Prelude to Foundation fairly easily. Forward the Foundation would be harder.

>44 MarthaJeanne: I read them in publication order and enjoyed it that way. Probably either way is fine though.

This is the order I am following. It made sense to me and mixes the Robot and Foundation series. It's the diagram #17 that I am referring to.

http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/39669/what-is-the-correct-order-for-rea...

I don't think I'll go past the diagram. I've enjoyed the three Foundation novels I've read but they are dated. I don't mind the technical part but the way he portrays women wears a little thin.

I am looking forward to getting to The Caves of Steel. That's up next for me.

The Stars Like Dust

I'm not sure how many more of these I can take. I liked them back in the 70s whem I first read them.

In the course of investigating OverDrive I read Youth This was a reread for me, but it's still a cute story.

Fantastic voyage
Given that this is the novelization of a screenplay by someone else, I think that Asimov did a good job of making it readable.

The Bicentennial Man
I'm beginning to think that short stories were his best works.

Foundation

I'll be working my way through the series now.

Is anyone else still reading Asimov?

Finished Foundation and empire.

I haven't been reading Asimov the past few months, but I intend to continue with the Robot series later in the year. I'm still following this thread, in any case. :)

I am not reading anything of his at the moment but like >53 mathgirl40:, I am still following the thread. I loved the Foundation books when I first read them decades ago, especially the first three that make up the original trilogy. The idea of a statistical mechanics view of psychology is brilliant :)

I haven't read any Asimov but I do plan on continuing the Robot series as well.

>52 MarthaJeanne: What did you think of Foundation and Empire? I think I liked it best of the Foundation Trilogy.

Finished Second Foundation.

>55 luvamystery65: I think this has to be my favourite. I've been waiting for Arkady and her transcriber.

Finished Foundation's Edge

Finished Foundation and Earth. I found the ending very contrived. The people and societies got less and less believable, but the final one was really beyond the bounds of what I can take.

I recently read Robots of Dawn, Robots and Empire, and The Stars, Like Dust. I liked them well enough, even the last one which was very 50's.

I have never even heard of The Stars, Like Dust before! I'll have to see if my local library has a copy...

I've read I. Asimov a few times. I pick it up every time I want to hear his voice again...

I finished off the year by reading I Robot. I really liked this collection of stories, which mainly deal with the Three Laws of Robotics. These stories aren't particularly notable for character development or plot, but they feature interesting and insightful explorations of ideas related to automation and artificial intelligence.

>26 MarthaJeanne: I liked the fact that the main character was a strong and brilliant woman, but it was annoying that in "Liar", Peter Bogert's fantasy was to get a promotion while Susan Calvin's was to marry Milton Ashe.

I really enjoyed reading I, Asimov in December.

>63 mathgirl40: I really enjoyed I, Robot with the one exception in the spoiler too. I wasn't able to get my hands on any of the other Robot books from my library so I didn't go further than the first 3 Foundation books. I'll probably see if I can get my hands on the Caves of Steel via ILL this new year.

I see I forgot to report on reading I. Asimov here. I enjoyed it very much.

LT informs me that I have entered 31 books by Asimov, of which I (re)read 16 in 2015. Only I. Asimov was new to me. The others include two that he edited and the one on the New Testament. I enjoy some of his work very much, but I do feel that he is very dated. It was good looking at his work again, but I can now leave it for a few years.

I'd like to expand a bit on what I wrote in >26 MarthaJeanne:. I think he did get a bit better at both women, and characterization in general as he grew older. It's worth noting that he felt as a young man that he would like to see women left out of SF because he disapproved of the roles they were given. Quite honestly, I agree that no women is better than women as objects, sex or otherwise.

I wrote up there that his robots had more interesting characters than any humans in most of his stories. There are a few exceptions, but in general, he was a lot more interested in the robots.

>66 MarthaJeanne: Wow, nice work on the challenge, with 16 Asimov books read over the year!

I should also say that a young man from India asked me to recommend a book to him, and after some thought I suggested I, Robot. He ended up with larger book of Asimov's short stories and enjoyed them.

I know, corrupting the youth of the world, but I like the idea that his readership goes on.