When looking at a body of work the size of Asimov one problem quickly becomes clear
What book should i start with?
Well, what do you like to read? Novels? Short stories? Science? History? Essays? Autobiography? Any other subjects that you’re interested in (since Asimov probably wrote books about all of them)? Tell us what kind of books you like, and we’ll recommend a place to start.
Well, I’d read a collection of his short stories first. i, robot is one of the best and lays down a foundation that will hold through much of his universe. After reading that and perhaps another book of short stories, the Foundation Triliogy is the way to go. Either that or the Caves of Steel trilolgy. My favorite novel is Caves of Steel, but read i, robot first.
My favorite story of his is Last Word.
Last Word? Do you mean “The Last Question”?
You can pretty much start anywhere with Asimov, but “I, Robot” and the Foundation Trilogy and “The Caves of Steel” are a good starting pointI’m partial to “The Gods Themselves.”
And though Asimov was working to link all his universes toward the end of his career, the stories generally stand on their own.
Just don’t start with his early short stories, such as those found in “Buy Jupiter and Other Stories,” unless you understand that, back then, science-fiction was still a relatively new genre. They don’t stand up well.
If you like mysteries, his “Black Widower” stories are very clever takes on the old school. One in particular “The Cross of Lorraine” was wonderfully clever, especially since the answer is glaringly obvious (which is why I won’t spoil it here).
I’ve used his guides to Shakespeare and the Bible often.
I recommend Nine Tomorrows as a good intro taste of his fiction (good set of short stories), and Adding a Dimension for a sample of his nonfiction science-explainers.
The first anthology of his I read was Nightfall and other Stories. It’s not too early, and the stories are well-written and punchy. And the title story, Nightfall, is not only one of Asimov’s best, it has been said to be the bst science fiction short story.
I agree Nightfall is a good story, although I like Asimov’s non-fiction better than his fiction, with a few exceptions. The robot novels are pretty good, and the Foundation Trilogy is a good story.
One nitpick though. Nightfall is an early story, one of the first he had published. In his autobiography he mentioned he never quite knew what to say when people said Nightfall was the best story he’d ever written. Since it was so early in his career, he figured he had nowhere to go but down!
Ugly
I second the Foundation trilogy as well as The Robot/ caves of Steel stories. He has an awful lot of good non-fiction too.
IIRC, Asimov is the only guy to be published in every single Dewey Decimal catergory…or the only one to write a bestseller in the same. Ah, I forget.
Still, this guy is kind of like the Stanley Kubrick of writing.
He writes great comedy. If you can find it, look for “Prince Delightful and the Flameless Dragon.”
I’d go for the kill and take on the whole Foundation Universe. The actual series is predated by three books, which ties in and sets the stage for what’s to come. They are:
- Pebble in the Sky
- The Stars, Like Dust
- The Currents of Space
Then the choice is to read the seven Foundation books (in the trilogy) in the order they where published or on its own timeline. I’d do it in the order they where published:
(original trilogy - published 1951-53)
- Foundation
- Foundation and Empire
- Second Foundation
(published from 1982-93)
- Foundation’s edge
- Foundation and Earth
- Prelude to Foundation
- Forward the Foundation
When you’re done, you’re probably so immersed in Asimov’s Universe, that you can move on without help. Enjoy.
I would also recommend the collection of Asimov’s George and Azazel stories, called simply “Azazel.” They’re sort of an Asimovian homage to P.G. Wodehouse’s style of comedy.
I’ve always been much more fond of Asimov’s non-fiction than his fiction.
His Guide to the Bible is a pretty good start; you can read it straight through or by bits and pieces.
And when I was a kid, I read and loved his book on the neutrino, which is unfortnunately out of print. He has several other non-fiction works on chemistry, physics, and astronomy which are well worth checking out.
I’m not sure that a reader should be discouraged from his “early works”. I,Robot was one of his best short story collections, and Pebble in the Sky was one of his best novels (my personal favorite), yet those were his first two books to be published.
The Black Widowers stories, for the most part, don’t stand up very well as mysteries, but they’re entertaining enough to be worthwhile nonetheless. And his two non-SF mystery novels (Murder at the ABA and A Whiff of Death) are glaringly obvious. Oddly enough, though, many of his non-mystery works are darn good mysteries (the Foundation trilogy, for example).