Teaser

The fifty-six year career of Isaac Asimov comes to a close with this final short story collection . . .

Review

All good things must come to an end, and when Isaac Asimov died in 1992 it brought an end to one of the most impressive careers in science fiction. Asimov’s final novel, Forward the Foundation, saw print in 1993, and the few remaining uncollected short stories were quick to follow. Gold collects fifteen science fiction short stories, including the title piece.

If the stories prove anything, it’s that Asimov had not declined in his latter years. ‘Left to Right’ is three pages of classic Asimov wordplay, wrapped around an amusing idea, and starring a tribute to fellow author SF author Robert L. Forward. ‘Cal’ continues to bring new ideas into Asimov’s positronic robot stories, tackling the possibilities and dangers of constant tampering. ‘Gold’ chronicles a science fiction writer’s bid to see his story adapted into a new media. With the writer’s self-deprecating yet boastful tone, and with his story bearing more than a passing similarity with The Gods Themselves, it is impossible to not read this as somewhat autobiographical. If Hari Seldon is the man Asimov wished he could be, then Gregory Laborian is the man he truly saw himself to be.

One common thread that emerges from stories such as ‘Cal’ and ‘Fault Intolerant’ – about a writer encountering new options with his word processor – is Asimov’s conflicted thoughts on the integration of mechanisation and art. The robot Cal wishes to be seen as a writer in its own right, while the fault intolerant word processor soon graduates from simple spellchecking to fully automated story generation. A full thirty years before the rise of generative AI that is so controversial in today’s world, Asimov foresaw both the opportunities and dangers of such technologies.

The stories don’t quite make up half of this book, however. The back half of the book, some two hundred and fifty pages, is dedicated to collecting Asimov’s essays. there’s a frustrating lack of context for these beyond the original year of publication, but from the few I recognise, they are largely drawn from the introductions Asimov wrote for anthologies he edited, and from editorials in various magazines. While the stories that precede them are good, the essays are what make this collection so interesting.

About half of these stories relate to Asimov’s thoughts on science fiction. A highlight for me was ‘Outsiders, Insiders,’ which is a fascinating insight into the culture of SF writers during the Golden Age. It emphasises the importance of fan interaction and the social circle of writers during those early years, and the unsettling event of non-conventiongoer Michael Crichton writing an SF novel. This is still a factor in today’s SF world, as we can see whenever a book with speculative elements is nominated for the Booker Award, or similar literary prize. ‘Science Fiction Series’ is likewise prescient of the modern genre, where trilogies are by far the dominant size of long-form storytelling, though it does seem as though standalones are making a return. Another fascinating article is ‘Survivors’ which reads as a who’s-who of famous literary figures. It’s a sign of time’s passing that none of those writers are active today, but that a new generation of SF writers have a four decade career to their name. Of course, some of Asimov’s musings are either questionable or made in jest, such as when he claims that the shape of Spock’s ears may be responsible for the influx of female SF writers.

The second half of the essays relates more specifically to Asimov’s thoughts on writing ‘On the Name of our Field’ is worth reading for a potted history of the term ‘science fiction’ and distinctions between its derivatives, but most such as ‘Ideas’ and ‘Names’ can be boiled down to another Asimov title: ‘I just make them up, see?’ ‘Originality’ and ‘Plagiarism’ share an amusing amount of common ground, but overall these essays on writing feel more like snippets of conversation than fully-formed thoughts in their own right. I will say, however, that ‘Book Reviewers’ was of great interest. Yes, it’s discussing professional reviewers rather than amateurs like myself, but it’s still food for thought. I don’t agree with all of Asimov’s assertions about the criteria a reviewer should meet, but I do see the logic behind them.

Gold is a fitting climax to a long career, and a reminder of what Asimov did best: Tell good stories, and communicate new ideas.

Book Stats

• Contains 15 short stories and 37 essays
• Published in 1995
• 430 pages