I took a sci-fi literature course in university, back in the ‘90’s. This stuck with me about Asimov. The prof said he didn’t include any Asimov in the course because, though he had great stories, he told you everything that was interesting in the story itself, so there wasn’t anything left to ruminate and discuss.
As an addendum, that professor I mentioned in the GP comment thought Asimov was obviously important, but not worthy of inclusion in the survey, given other great works (like Dune, Ender’s Game, Neuronancer, Left Hand of Darkness, ...).
I think Asimov’s “The Last Question”, like “They’re Made Out of Meat” are triumphs of short stories. With Asimov, character development is a weakness, but he’s still more than worthy of inclusion in the pantheon of great sci-fi writers.
I read the first few chapters of Foundation and had to stop. It read like a synopsis of a really interesting story, but it was just delivered in the most artless way.
> I read the first few chapters of Foundation and had to stop. It read like a synopsis of a really interesting story, but it was just delivered in the most artless way.
I wonder if that's more a function of the length of contemporary SF novels, which sometimes seem to me to spend an inordinate amount of time doing scene-setting without advancing the plot. Space opera seems particularly prone to this, with blow-by-blow accounts of battles, interspersed with thoughtful analysis of how one side's technological superiority vs. the other side's numerical superiority affects tactical considerations.
And the ham-handed foreshadowing. Ugh. If one side has a competent but arrogant commander with a subordinate who is worried that they might have missed something, or just has a feeling that something isn't right... you can be pretty sure that they and their fleet are about to have their asses kicked by... Oh No! A Surprise Plot Twist where the other side reveals a hitherto unknown capability (which is now described in loving technical, tactical, and strategic detail before getting on with describing the battle)! Also, said arrogant commander + worried subordinate have a 50-50 chance of simply being vaporized in the opening salvo with a surprised look on their face (good thing we've never seen them before so aren't invested in them as characters). <eyeroll/>
> ...spend an inordinate amount of time doing scene-setting without advancing the plot.
I find I dislike the conversational style. I've tired so much of these characters feeling and pretending to be clever about their strategizing, and it continues in the same style without regard to the change in characters.
I totally agree on the foreshadowing.
I had to stop after a few chapters of the third book. I don't know that I'll make it back.
Yes. I made it through most the series and I think your take is accurate. The story is interesting and the plot progresses in unexpected ways.
It is worth continuing with them as the story is clever, however the dialogue and characters are basic at best.
As you say, the characters are like a synopsis of the person which is given the odd line, and this is never filled in.
I attempted to see if anything had been written about this aspect of his books, and stumbled into the mess that was his attitude to women. It’s depressing to find these things out.
