Isaac Asimov

My husband has a great love for Isaac Asimov. Isaac Asimov was one of the greatest sci-fi authors of all time. He was a very smart and interesting man that wrote over 500 books in his lifetime that have been published in 9 out of the 10 categories of the Dewey Decimal System (according to the great knowledge of Wikipedia). He had a PhD in biochemistry and was on the faculty of the Boston University School of Medicine. Asimov died of AIDS in 1992 – a fact that wasn’t revealed until much later to protect his family. He contracted the virus during a blood transfusion during his open heart surgery in the 1980’s.

I recently asked on this blog what readers thought was the best of Isaac Asimov’s work. Only six people voted on this poll. The winner was I, Robot a collection of Asimov’s robot stories. I have read and enjoyed this work myself.

Number two on the poll was “Nightfall.” “Nightfall” was voted the best short science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America. It was later turned into a book written with another. I have not yet read “Nightfall” – I need to add it to my “to read” list.

Coming in third was Foundation. I have heard many good things about Foundation. I have been meaning to read it for years, but I began a reading quest with my husband to read the robot novels and beyond in the correct order before Foundation. I failed at this quest after reading I, Robot, The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn. I didn’t care for The Robots of Dawn and didn’t really want to read any more robot books, so I put the quest aside. I really should just skip ahead and read Foundation!

Have my readers read any of Asimov’s work? I’m curious – please comment away! Also we’ll see if we can get my husband Ben to be a guest blogger on the subject. He has many strong opinions when it comes to Asimov!