The Best of Isaac Asimov review

This is by no means the first Asimov book I’ve read. I was given his Complete Robot Collection and the Foundation trilogy for my 18^th birthday and that was enough for me to absolutely fall in love with his style of writing, not to mention the wide variety of science fiction ideas that still fit into one consistent future narrative (with a few exceptions). Having said that, most of the stories in this particular collection touch the main part of his future narrative only tangentially.

Marooned Off Vesta: His first published story, written when he was 18, deals with three survivors of a spaceship hit by an asteroid and caught in orbit around an inhabited asteroid, Vesta. One thing I love about Asimov’s short stories is the way he allows his characters to come to life through their dialogue, with minimal physical description. Whilst reading, I did guess the resolution – how they reach Vesta – but that didn’t detract from the suspense of the second half of the story in which they execute their plan.

Nightfall: It is perhaps appropriate that my first time reading this one is in the run up to the 21^st December 2012. A society living on a planet with six suns, with an absolute fear of darkness, no concept of stars and, hence, no concept of the sheer scale of the universe. It describes the society’s preparation for an approaching apocalypse, weaving together spiritual interpretation and scientific prediction. It is hard not to scoff at their theories, from our perspective. It makes one think about the connection between the environment, the planet, we’re used to and the way that affects how we see the universe.

The C-Chute is more a study of human nature and our motivations, set in a science fiction style hostage situation. It is also a demonstration of Asimov’s “tell a gripping yarn, then sucker punch the reader with the final line” technique, which is awesome.

The Martian Way was written during the McCarthy Era (I had to look it up) and is one of the few stories here where the context does help you to get to the heart of the story. I think this is possibly my favourite story in the collection, taking the mick out of politicians and campaigners who jump on a bandwagon without really thinking about an issue. The main characters are also infused with that pioneering spirit with regards to space exploration that our society has lost in the past 50 years.

The Deep looks at the human race, in particular our social bonds, from the perspective of an alien species. It suffers from a rather unsympathetic main character, I think. It’s not bad; it’s just hard to relate to.

The Fun They Had is a short sketch, written for children, that perfectly encapsulates the sentiment of “the grass is always greener on the other side.”

The Last Question: First, a bit of advice, if you read this story in an anthology, do not read the foreword. I was influenced slightly by Asimov’s description of it – he built it up and so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Having said that, it’s an interesting idea for the future of humans and computing, and one of his more structured stories. Despite myself, I was grinning at the end (getting a few funny looks from the people opposite me on the bus!)

The Dead Past: a story covering the dangers of, not time travel itself, but being able to view the past and why, sometimes, we should trust the authorities when they keep the general public in the dark about something. I particularly liked the view of a future scientific community where everyone has to be extremely specialised to push at the frontiers of knowledge. Well, perhaps “found it interesting” is more accurate than saying “I liked it”, I think there’s a certain creativity in scientific innovation that requires overlap between fields.

The Dying Night: a reunion of university classmates results in a death and the loss of an important scientific breakthrough. The group wish to solve it discreetly and so consult a reclusive private detective who merely needs to hear the story before deducing the culprit. It’s Asimov writing a Sherlock Holmes/Poirot story in a science fiction setting. It’s very enjoyable, although one perhaps needs a little astronomical knowledge to solve the mystery before the reveal. Or I need to pay more attention when reading a murder mystery, that’s possible too…

Anniversary: written in 1959 for the 20^th anniversary of Marooned Off Vesta and set on the 20^th anniversary of the crash, revisiting the trio from the original story. It feels indulgent at first, but that’s not a bad thing. In fact, indulgence or living off a past triumph becomes the driving force of the story. The story is deeper than it appears at first. One could argue that it predicts the fate of astronauts like Buzz Aldrin – those that do have a significant place in history, but not one that immediately occurs to a member of the general public.

The Billiard Ball: a story of theoretical scientist vs. wealthy (practical) engineer and all the jealously, resentment and competitiveness that comes hand in hand with that.

Mirror Image: this was the only story I had already read (it’s in the Robot Collection). Again, it’s Asimov marrying mystery and science fiction, this time using his three laws of robotics (and human nature, of course) to solve a plagiarism case between two mathematicians. In this anthology it is published with a new opening page which I cannot make head nor tail of! I have no idea how it relates to this story. But if you ignore that, it’s a great story.

In conclusion, if I wasn’t already in love with Asimov’s writings…

I’d be interested to know how familiar you guys are with Asimov’s books – let me know in the comments or via Twitter. Also, if you’d be interested in me writing more reviews of this type, do let me know – feedback is always appreciated.

A Conventional Love Story

Excerpt from a philosophical text:

“Love exists in three forms – Familial, Platonic and (that most coveted quantity) True.

Familial Love is felt for parents, siblings (both blood and non-blood), children and child-partners as well as other, more distant, relatives. Platonic Love is felt for friends. These two forms are closely related, they are the bond we share with those who shape our lives in our early years and then into adulthood. Both are mere shadows compared to True Love.

True Love has inspired a million stories and is what drives the majority of the human race. It can only exist between two adult men or two adult women, it is the bond we share with our life-partner.

There are some who posit that True Love can exist between any two (non-blood related) adults. This is nonsense – the biological chemistry of men and women differs too much for such a state to exist.”

*********************

Alex and Sam grow up on the same street. They play together in school, best friends ever since nursery when they run into each other in the playground, smile bashfully and shake hands to introduce themselves. They spend Saturdays at one of their houses, falling asleep in front of movies so that, more often than not, their parents can’t bear to wake them and send one home. As a consequence half of Alex’s stuff is at Sam’s house and vice versa.

There’s a few months when they start secondary school, are put in different classes and feel that this should mean they grow apart.

This ends when Alex stops a bully trying to knock Sam’s glasses off. The two boys smile at each other and shake hands before walking off arm in arm.

When they enter puberty they giggle about the Sex Ed lessons and watch in disinterest as their peers become obsessed with crushes and dating. They already have each other to hold hands and watch movies with, why would they want to do that with anyone else?

They’re fifteen and lying side by side on Sam’s bed, studying in comfortable silence when Alex leans over to kiss the other boy’s cheek. He immediately blushes as Sam shoots a quizzical look at him before smiling and kissing Alex properly.

They tell their families a few days later. The news is met with knowing nods and no one’s surprise.

Their weekends of studying and watching movies are supplemented by proper dates but not much else changes. After all, they’ve been in love ever since they were kids, they just hadn’t realised.

To everyone’s surprise they go to different universities, an hour away from each other, Sam studying Maths and Alex studying the sciences. They stay together via Skype and visiting each other every Sunday. They break up for two weeks in their second year when Sam gets jealous of Alex’s roommate flirting with him and Alex playing along because Sam has been distracted by work. Sam drives to Alex’s mid-week with flowers and a promise ring when missing him becomes too much. The separation takes away their complacency and serves to confirm that they wouldn’t want to spend the rest of their lives with anyone else.

They graduate and move into a tiny flat near their families. It’s not easy. Obviously. Alex doesn’t earn much as a teacher yet and Sam still works too hard. Alex provides distractions for Sam when he spends too much time working, much the same as he did during school. Most of all, they’ve got each other and their plans for the future; someone to come home to, something to work for.

Less than a year later, on the anniversary of their first date, they go out for dinner. Halfway through Alex fumbles in his pocket and draws out a ring box. Before he can get the question out, Sam starts laughing. At Alex’s bemused, and slightly hurt, expression he just draws out a ring box from his own pocket and holds it out.

They get married six months later, surrounded by family and close friends. Sam’s best friend and university roommate proposes to her girlfriend at the reception and during the preparations for that wedding they discuss the future and children, laying the foundation for the four of them moving in together and their future family.

When their siblings come out as a Het couple Sam, always fiercely protective of his little sister, accepts them immediately. Alex struggles to reconcile his love for his brother and the public image of Hets. Sam convinces him to go for dinner at their house and when he sees the two of them together, comforting and steadying each other and so blatantly in love, he offers his congratulations and support wholeheartedly. In the years to come he volunteers to teach Sex Ed at his school so he can include the Het information where most teachers wouldn’t bother.

The years pass by – a kaleidoscope of family holidays, birthdays and festival days, weekend walks and picnics, milestones and the quirks of their daily routines. Their kids grow up and move out one by one.

When they retire the four of them move to a smaller house, near to their eldest and their first grandchildren. They still go out on dates, they still curl up together in front of movies, they spend evenings sitting next to each other reading and listening to music. Just the same as when they were teenagers.

When Alex dies, aged 85, it’s in a hospital bed after a short illness. The day’s visitors have left, Sam remains seated next to him. Their fingers are interlocked as they sit in comfortable silence, occasionally reminiscing on their life together. Alex drifts off to sleep with “I love you” on his lips as Sam watches. When he stops breathing Sam kisses his cheek and doesn’t let go of his hand until the nurse comes in.

He doesn’t cry until he gets home and the absence of Alex hits him. He wanders round the house for a few hours, remembering, thinking, before drying his eyes and greeting their family.

Despite their preparation and Sam surrounding himself with their family he never quite gets used to Alex’s absence before his death four years later. They’d spent the vast majority of their lives together, grown up and changed as one. He could barely remember a time without Alex’s comforting presence and not having that any more stung. But he could look at his children – markers of their shared time – and feel proud and contented.

And when he closed his eyes in his own hospital bed he saw the curly haired boy in the playground and half-felt the firm grip of Alex’s right hand in his own.

Never Let Go

Walking down a corridor,
Feeling so small
Then eating lunch with your friends
And knowing that you belonged.
Thinking you'll always feel this way,
These days will last forever.

The time where it didn't matter
If you had no plan for the future.
You couldn't see past the end of the year anyway.
Never let go
Of the feeling of security.

Those precious moments
In our formative years.
Where,
Unbeknownst to us innocents,
The paths of our lives were drawn.

I don't want to ever let go.
I don't want to forget how I was.
Not fully -
Store those memories away.
For now.