A Good Start

[JustPassingThrough]

Okay, so most know that I like Mr. Asimov, just haven't been able to get into his writing. So, with all that said: You, the great big Asimov fan. The one who yells out I, Robot in the streets when seeing something awesome. You- recommend to me what is the first fiction book of Isaac Asimov that I should read?

[Fried Egg]

I wouldnt' say that I shout out in the streets but I do like Asimov. What have you tried and not liked?

"The Gods Themselves" is regarded by many as being his best novel.

If you like a bit of murder/mystery thrown in to your SF, you could try the Elijah Bailey novels that form a loosely connected series: "Caves of Steel", "Naked Sun", "Robots of Dawn" & "Robots and Empire".

[biodroid]

Sorry I am confused...you say you like Asimov but have technically never read any of his books, I am, uhhh, ahem, well ok. How is it that you like Asimov?

[JustPassingThrough]

Ah, so this proves that no one reads the posts on here! AH HA! I knew it!

I talked about it on some of the other threads, biodroid, but thank you for your reply.

Originally Posted by biodroid

Sorry I am confused...you say you like Asimov but have technically never read any of his books, I am, uhhh, ahem, well ok. How is it that you like Asimov?

[JustPassingThrough]

I was going to try Foundation, Fried Egg, but was told that the book that I had was not the true beginning of it.

Elijiah Bailey novels, hmm. I have not heard of them. Murder and Mystery combined with Science Fiction sounds interesting.

Thanks Fried Egg.

Originally Posted by Fried Egg

I wouldn't' say that I shout out in the streets but I do like Asimov. What have you tried and not liked?

"The Gods Themselves" is regarded by many as being his best novel.

If you like a bit of murder/mystery thrown in to your SF, you could try the Elijah Bailey novels that form a loosely connected series: "Caves of Steel", "Naked Sun", "Robots of Dawn" & "Robots and Empire".

[biodroid]

Oops, did I miss something?

[Fried Egg]

Originally Posted by JustPassingThrough

I was going to try Foundation, Fried Egg, but was told that the book that I had was not the true beginning of it.

Well...what you've got to realise with Asimov is that many of his works/series started out completely unconnected but years later he revisited these and started adding to these series in ways that would tie them all together.

Thus, the original Foundation trilogy written and published in the 50's ("Foundation", "Foundation and Empire" & "Second Foundation") do stand alone and can be read without having read anything else prior to these. They portray a time far into our distant future when mankind has colonised the Galaxy but now this empire is about to break down.

Similiarly, the first two Elijiah Bailey novels were published in the 50's and they had no connect with any other books. In the early 80's, Asimov revisited the Foundation series adding sequels ("Foundation's Edge" and "Foundation and Earth") and prequels ("Prelude to the Foundation" and "Forward Foundation"). He also added sequels to the Elijiah Bailey novels ("Robots of Dawn" and "Robots and Empire"). These new books began to tie the two series together, along with as with "I, Robot" and the various Galactic Empire novels ("Pebble in the Sky", "Currents of Space", "The Stars, Like Dust"), a rich tapestry of our future history is formed.

The "I, Robot" stories are supposed to be set in our immediate and near future. The Elijiah Bailey novels are set in Earth's more distant future in which mankind has just begun to colonise the galaxy. The galactic empire novels were set much later still, during the height of our galactic empire and the foundation stories come much later again, as this empire begins to collapse.

You could try to read these in chronological order but it's not necessary and I'm not even sure it's even desireable.

[Vertigo]

I loved Caves of Steel and the other Bailey books and in fact I re-read Caves of Steel just the other day. I find it interesting now that though Asimov generally seems to get a pretty good handle on future technology, especially computers, he did miss the idea of digital photography completely and in Caves of Steel a critical piece of evidence is the fogging of some photographic film.

[antiloquax]

I think I have missed your other posts on Asimov. I would probably go for the first Foundation Trilogy and "I, Robot". "The Gods Themselves" is a favourite too. I've heard good things about "The End of Eternity" but I haven't actually read that one yet.
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[Darkday]

If you like time travel stories, then "The End of Eternity" would be a great start.

[Vertigo]

The End of Eternity is certainly one of my favourite Asimov but as Darkday says, you've got to like time travel stories and be prepared to deal with the inevitable paradoxes!

[JustPassingThrough]

Wow. Very cool information I greatly appreciate it Fried Egg.
That's what confused me with the Foundation, because when I picked it up originally it looked like it was the first one (it was an older edition and mentioned nothing about other chapters) and then when I was about to read it a friend slapped it from my head and said NO! you can't start there. So, thank you for explaining it.

I've always wondered why authors have done that in their later years- try to interconnect everything, but then I supposed that it's to perhaps up their sales (totally understand that), but it can get quite confusing.

Originally Posted by Fried Egg

Well...what you've got to realise with Asimov is that many of his works/series started out completely unconnected but years later he revisited these and started adding to these series in ways that would tie them all together.

Thus, the original Foundation trilogy written and published in the 50's ("Foundation", "Foundation and Empire" & "Second Foundation") do stand alone and can be read without having read anything else prior to these. They portray a time far into our distant future when mankind has colonised the Galaxy but now this empire is about to break down.

Similiarly, the first two Elijiah Bailey novels were published in the 50's and they had no connect with any other books. In the early 80's, Asimov revisited the Foundation series adding sequels ("Foundation's Edge" and "Foundation and Earth") and prequels ("Prelude to the Foundation" and "Forward Foundation"). He also added sequels to the Elijiah Bailey novels ("Robots of Dawn" and "Robots and Empire"). These new books began to tie the two series together, along with as with "I, Robot" and the various Galactic Empire novels ("Pebble in the Sky", "Currents of Space", "The Stars, Like Dust"), a rich tapestry of our future history is formed.

The "I, Robot" stories are supposed to be set in our immediate and near future. The Elijiah Bailey novels are set in Earth's more distant future in which mankind has just begun to colonise the galaxy. The galactic empire novels were set much later still, during the height of our galactic empire and the foundation stories come much later again, as this empire begins to collapse.

You could try to read these in chronological order but it's not necessary and I'm not even sure it's even desireable.

[JustPassingThrough]

Totally not a big deal, biodroid.

Basically, in another thread, one about talking to dead sci fi (no apologies Mr. Ellision- it's what the world calls it now) thread I mentioned that Mr. Asimov influenced me because of his non fiction writing, in ways that I can't even explain. But I never could get into his writing, so I had never read a book of his- even though I wanted to.

Originally Posted by biodroid

Oops, did I miss something?