The Early Asimov: Volume 1

Early Asimov #1

by Isaac Asimov

In the late 1930s a new young talent began to make his mark on the science fiction scene with a succession of outstanding stories in the various SF magazines of the time. His name: Isaac Asimov. He was later to become world-renowned as the author of such classics of modern science fiction as the epic FOUNDATION trilogy and the robot stories in which he formulated the now famous Three Laws of Robotics.

THE EARLY ASIMOV (published in three volumes in Panther Science Fiction) is an unsurpassed showcase of the story-telling brilliance of the young Asimov. Each story is prefaced by Dr. Asimov with fascinating biographical detail of how and when he came to write it as well as his own critical evaluation of it. The result is a doubly rich science fiction treat: a collection of tales that makes engrossing entertainment in its own right and, in addition, gives the reader a first-hand look at the development of the twentieth century's undisputed Grand Master of science fiction.

Contents

9 • Introduction (The Early Asimov Volume 1) • (1973) • essay by Isaac Asimov
18 • The Callistan Menace • (1940) • short story by Isaac Asimov
36 • Ring Around the Sun • (1940) • short story by Isaac Asimov
51 • The Magnificent Possession • (1940) • short story by Isaac Asimov
68 • Trends • (1939) • short story by Isaac Asimov
89 • The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use • (1939) • short story by Isaac Asimov
107 • Black Friar of the Flame • (1942) • novelette by Isaac Asimov
152 • Half-Breed • [Half-Breed • 1] • (1940) • novelette by Isaac Asimov
175 • The Secret Sense • (1941) • short story by Isaac Asimov
187 • Appendix -- The Sixty Stories of the Campbell Years • (1973) • essay by uncredited

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Collections, Ebooks, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Sepidaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

آسیموف برای سال‌ها تنها نویسنده ی مورد علاقه‌ی من بود طوری که حاضر نبودم هیچ کتابی از نویسنده های دیگه بخونم و وقتی کتاب‌های جدیدی ازش گیرم نمی‌اومد ترجیح می‌دادم تو آرشیو مجله‌های دانشمند پدرم دنبال داستان‌هاش بگردم
به خاطر همین اسم آسیموف و قلمش بیشتر از هر نویسنده‌ی دیگه‌ای تو دنیا برام نوستالژی داره
این مجموعه شامل داستان‌هایی است که آسیموف بیشترشون رو زیر بیست سالگی در اواخر دهه‌ی 30 قرن گذشته چاپ کرده یعنی تقریبن 80 سال پیش. به خاطر همین دیگه چیزی از علم ژانر "علمی- تخیلی" توشون نمونده و همه تقریبن فانتزی محض هستن. پس توصیه نمی‌کنم به خاطر آشنایی با آسیموف سراغ این کتاب بیاین. این کتاب مال عشق آسیموف‌های پیری مثل منه! یا کسانی که به تاریخچه‌ی کارهاش علاقه دارند
امتیازهای من به هر کدوم از داستان‌ها بالا نیست. کاملن معلومه که این‌ها نوشته‌های یک جوان بی‌تجربه است ولی همین‌ها من رو به تابستان‌های خوش نوجوانی پرتاب کردن و کلی لذت بردم که ترجمه‌ی روان آقای سیمرغ هم درش بی‌تأثیر نبود
این است امتیازهای من به داستان‌های کتاب
شرور کالیستویی 2.5
حلقه‌ای به دور خورشید 2
ثروت باشکوه 4
معیارها 3.5
سلاحی هولناک‌تر از آن که بتوان به کار برد 2.5
راهب سیاهکار آتش 2.5
دورگه 2
حس سری 3
انسان‌وارهای خورشیدی 4

[Tomislav · Rating 2 out of 5]

During the early years of his writing career, starting in the late 1930s, Isaac Asimov wrote only short stories for monthly SF magazines. As his fame grew, the best were put together in collections, published as books. By 1972, there had been ten such collections. Still, not all his stories had been collected. And so, those remaining, that had been passed over repeatedly, were chronologically ordered in The Early Asimov or, Eleven Years of Trying. Volume 1 includes his very earliest published stories, and frankly, some of those are awful.

More interesting than the stories themselves is Asimov’s interstitial narrative of his life as an aspiring writer. Along with the 18-year-old Isaac Asimov we meet John Campbell, editor of the seminal magazine Astounding Science Fiction, and soon others such as Frederik Pohl, A. E. Van Vogt, Clifford Simak, and L. Sprague De Camp. He catalogs his many rejections, and fortunately, this collection does NOT include those stories that didn’t even sell in the first place.

The contents are:
The Callistan Menace, Astonishing Stories April 1940
Ring Around the Sun, Future Fiction March 1940
The Magnificent Possession, Future Fiction July 1940
Trends, Astounding Science Fiction July 1939
The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use, Amazing Stories May 1939
Black Friar of the Flame, Planet Stories Spring 1942
Half-Breed, Astounding Science Fiction September 1940
The Secret Sense, Cosmic Stories March 1941

Of special note is the story “Trends”. In it, the first space flight is opposed by a popular religious demagogue who gains political power. It is one of the very first science fiction stories concerning social resistance to technology. Additionally, it was written shortly before the outbreak of World War Two, and yet concerns the aftermath of that same war. Astounding July 1939 is sometimes described as marking the opening of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, as it contained numerous stories of the type John Campbell steered for, such as Van Vogt’s “Black Destroyer”.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you can tell from the title of this book, it brings together some of Isaac Asimov’s early work. Because of that, it’s perhaps not as polished as you might expect from him, and it’s also not really the best place for you to begin unless you see a copy of it going spare and you’re curious.

In fact, for me, what was most interesting was what’s always most interesting, and that was to read Asimov’s introductory essays to the stories and to discover the histories behind them. It offers a unique insight into life as a writer and I think that makes it a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about the craft.

But of course, even in his early years, Asimov was one of the greats, and it’s cool to read him writing about his experience as a professional writer. There’s stuff that you can learn, if you’re willing to learn it. And the ideas are awesome too.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 2 out of 5]

These were the early days for the Grand Master. As a result, along-with his tendency to scientify pulpy ideas, we had some truly awful works here that are lengthy, drab, pompous and devoid of charm. But there are some beautiful stories here as well.
Real value of this book is in the autobiographical notes that helps us understand the growth of scifi as well as Asimov himself. As far as the stories are concerned, have fun with 'Ring Around The Sun'. The rest are utterly forgettable, if not avoidable outright.

[Mina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers Asimov’s stories, and more importantly, Asimov’s life between 1937 and 1939, right before WWII. Volume II covers the beginning of the war and his mental struggles.

I love some of the stories, but it’s charming to see the world through his eyes (I said “charming” — while reading I am making a conscious effort not to calculate inflation).

So yes, the advantage of this edition is Asimov’s notes and little introductions, talking about each story, about where he was in life when he was writing them. I was astonished to learn that Robbie and The Half-Breed were initially rejected (Gasp!) or that Asimov contemplated going to med school (no, no, too much time away from writing!).

Bought this because I wanted a copy of one of my favourite Asimov collections (I read this as a kid: the Romanian edition is confusingly called “The Campbell Period” — knowing what I know now, it’s a sweet and apparently warranted homage), only to realise, like with all anthologies, getting all the pieces right is a gamble. There are new stories in this one I haven’t read and maybe some stories I was expecting, that I won’t find. I’m waiting for volume II to arrive in the mail.

This specific book is made of

1. The Callistan Menace — very predictable but sweet
2. Ring Around the Sun — when you hate your manipulative boss but he’s still right; very funny
3. The Magnificent Possession — ownership of something others want a lot is a lot of trouble; a bit dry
4. Trends — when society is on a pendulum between conservative and liberal tendencies towards technological breakthroughs; inspiring
5. The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use — good concept, but bare-bones
6. Black Friar of the Flame — good concept, atrocious pacing
7. Half-Breed - very sweet, probably politically incorrect
8. The Secret Sense — probably one of Asimov’s more genius pieces about perception, beauty and value in life

Of these, the ones I was actually looking for were 2, 5, 7 and 8.

By the way, if you’re in the UK and you like second-hand books, I got this through World of Books, which despite some logistics issues, have a really broad catalogue, even in foreign languages! Whooo!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok - this is a tricky one to rate - these books are wrapped up in as much nostalgia as there is enjoyment in reading the numerous short stories and articles from Isaac Asimov. Yes a lot of the other reviews cover off the fact that these are Asimov's early works and as such he himself critics them as much as anyone. As one other reviewer put it - take then for what they are - early works of an author still practicing his skill and learning his way. An author still finding his way out of cliches and painful dated dialogue - something for the completist and the curious fan.

Ok that aside - why a tricky one for me - well back in the mists of time while I was finding my reading feet as it were - in genres, styles and authors - I came across a market stall with a huge box of books with eye catching artwork - the majority of which were the works of one Isaac Asimov. Well I was fascinated and very much drawn to the fact the books were 20p each or if I could make an offer for the lot - well what do you think happened - yes I got the lot - and even after all these years I still have them. But why so appealing - well I guess for one thing I didn't realise the covers (so atmospherically created by Chris Foss) were nothing to do with the contents of the book - and that for me who really had not experienced science fiction - it was all rather new and shiny - it was something amazing. So yes these books opened my eyes to science fiction - Chris Foss and most importantly to Isaac Asimov who even after all these years I still love to read.

[Artavazdah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witnessing the Progress of Asimov was amazing; the first story was really bad, but the last ones just got much more interesting.

[Max Stolk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, just fun to read about the dawn of science fiction as we know it now and how writers and editors interacted. Also, the stories are crude, but they feel like unpolished gems, worth a read if you have a half-day of nothing and feel like reading something quick.

[Caanan Grall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've actually read little science fiction, at least this kind of 'hard' science fiction, and I found this on a 'take one, leave one' book stand so I grabbed it. Where better to start, right?

It was rather fun to read stories written way back in a time where you could make up the most fanciful, weird nonsense and it was just accepted. Everything has to be so 'plausible' these days. Ugh. It was also interesting to get the notes from the author giving context to their creation and placing them in time - I think I enjoyed seeing behind the curtain the most.

The stories themselves were neat. Some better than others. A pattern of 'joining situations in media res with two characters talking to each other to provide exposition and philosophizing debate' was quickly established though, which made them all seem to have the same - or very similar - structure. I can see how these kinds of things must have been very influential back in the day though and I'll be back for Volume Two to see if it gets better! I'm sure they must.

[Eugene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirty plus years since I read this last - and I loved it. The early pioneering and innocent days of pulp SF ... with a commentary by Asimov himself, covering his struggles to be published.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short stories from the master of science fiction, Isaac Asimov. The works collected in this volume provide insight into the development of Asimov as a writer. These stories were written in the late 1930s and early 1940s, meaning he was in his late teens as many of these stories were written.

Each story is prefaced with introductory commentary from Asimov himself, sharing detail on the development of the story, his writing processes, challenges as an aspiring professional writer and other pertinent anecdotes. These interstitial passages are what make this book a real treat for me as a reader; as a huge fan of Asimov's work, I always love to read anything he's written.

The short stories (include two of novelette length) encompass some of the typical golden age science fiction tropes, such as alien races in the solar system, breathable atmospheres on Mars, and commercial space flight. There are some interesting themes also, including language, atomic energy, and the idea of humanity coming to terms with leaving the Earth. Some of the stories actually deal with some fairly weighty topics, such as the issue of racial injustice. My personal favourite is a story called Half-Breed in which a scientist forges a connection with a "Tweenie", a young man of a social outcast race of human/Martian hybrids.

These stories are exactly what I expected. Lacking the polish, scope and grandeur of Asimov's seminal works, but very enjoyable nevertheless.

[Remo · Rating 2 out of 5]

El maestro Asimov nos castiga en esta ocasión un pack de historias cortas de los 40 (de sus comienzos) que no habían aparecido recopiladas hasta el momento. O sea, las malas. Su única característica común era que nunca habían destacado por sí mismas. A cada una le hace una introducción contándonos qué era de su vida en el momento de publicarla (o en el momento de peregrinar de revista en revista intentando publicarla, porque algunas eran rechazadas). Las historias no son gran cosa y las viñetas de la vida de Asimov son, como lo era él, un poco demasiado hagiográficas. No es un libro de los buenos de Asimov.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting journey - exploration of early Asimov's short stories. Some of them were good ('Ring Around the Sun'), but some rather dull ('Black Friar of the Flame').

Throughout the book, there is an overpowering air of tolerance and to some extent tolerance is idealised. A bit too much for my taste.

[QC Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se trata de un pequeño libro de relatos de un joven, casi adolescente Isaac Asimov. Todos los relatos son de ciencia ficción pura y dura con un estilo bastante similar, muy amenos y entretenidos, pero muy lejos del nivel de los mejores escritos de Asimov. Tras casa relato, el autor nos cuenta una pequeña anécdota sobre cómo y dónde consiguió publicarlos y cuánto le pagaron por ellos.

[Niamh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not where you want to start reading Asimov but a very interesting read if you're already a fan. A couple of the stories (Half-breed and The Secret Sense) are solid engaging reads and others are, self-admittedly by the author, very clunky. Hard to blame him when they were very literally his first attempts at it.

[YRivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

En general las historias de este libro ya no son ciencia, los conceptos no están de acuerdo con lo que se sabe de la ciencia moderna. Sin embargo hay dos relatos a los que le daría 4 estrellas:
1. La amenaza de Calixto.
2. Un anillo alrededor del sol.

[Thevogon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very first stories he had published at the end of the thirties, still in education, still working his parents' store and learning on the job by trial and error, rejection and acceptance and talking to John Campbell.

[Macarena Prediger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fue mucho más entretenido leer los comentarios de asimov entre los relatos que los relatos en sí. Que asco 'Mestizo', él mismo dice que fue la primera vez que salía una mujer en una historia y le salió horrible.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/10

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

De allereerste (gepublikceerde) werken van de grootmeester, met uitgebreide achtergrond en aantekeningen door hemzelf uit zijn dagboeken die hij sinds zijn achttiende bijhield.
Ongelooflijk hoe goed die verhalen al waren, al zijn er die nooit gepubliceerd werden en verloren gingen dus daarmee kunnen we niet vergelijken. Die eerste verhalen zijn soms wetenschappelijk onnauwkeurig, wat Asimov die vooral wetenschapper en dan pas sci-fi schrijver, zelden overkwam. Maar vooral getuigen ze van een fris en nog ietwat naïef talent.
De achtergond info geeft een persoonlijke noot die bolstaat van namen die later ook superhelden van de sci-fi zijn geworden. Erg leuk om weten, maar het gaat natuurlijk in de eerste plaats om de verhalen zelf. En daar kan ik zeggen dat er echt geen enkel "minder" verhaal tussen zit, wat ik slechts erg zelden van een verhalenbundel verkondig.
Spanning, aktie, humor, psychologie, menselijke en alien relaties en zelfs een beetje ruimtevaart nog voor de mens voet op de maan had gezet. Grappig is in die context dat Asimov de start van de echte ruimtevaart onderschat had en zijn eerste ruimtereis bijna 10 jaar later had gepositioneerd.

[Bjorn Roose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laat ons wel wezen, als de naam Isaac Asimov u niets zegt, bent u nooit geïnteresseerd geweest in science fiction. Hoewel de schrijver intussen alweer zesentwintig jaar dood is, moet hij gedurende zijn leven zo'n beetje de meest productieve schrijver ooit geweest zijn (ook in het algemeen, nog los van het feit dat hij het bij lange niet alleen bij science fiction hield) en werd hij algemeen beschouwd als een van de "Grote Drie" van de science fiction, samen met Robert A. Heinlein en Arthur C. Clarke. Onder zijn bekendste werken vallen niet alleen de drie boeken rond de Foundation - Foundation, Foundation and Empire, en Second Foundation -, maar ook de zogenaamde Robot-serie. Die laatste is in het Nederlands gebundeld in De totale Robot en omvat tientallen verhalen waarin vaak de zogenaamde drie wetten van de robotica een hoofdrol spelen.

Over die laatste heb ik het nog in een volgende bespreking, maar van deze bespreking van De Dreiging van Callisto maak ik gebruik om te vertellen dat Asimov, ondanks het feit dat hij behalve schrijver ook professor in de biochemie aan de universiteit van Boston was, meer dan 500 boeken schreef of redigeerde, zo'n 90.000 bekende brieven en postkaarten op zijn palmares heeft, en zijn Robot-verhalen aan de Foundation-verhalen linkte via een andere serie (hoewel niet echt in serie verschenen), zijnde die rond het Galactic Empire, en daarmee een geünifieerde "geschiedenis van de toekomst" schreef, zoals ook Heinlein dat deed. Daarnaast schreef hij echter ook wetenschappelijke werken over onder andere astronomie, wiskunde, geschiedenis, chemie en de werken van William Shakespeare, fantasy-verhalen, detectives (onder andere rond de Black Widowers), en novellen als Nightfall. Dat laatste werd in 1964 door de Science Fiction Writers of America uitgeroepen tot beste science fiction kortverhaal ooit.

En met dat kortverhaal zijn we bij De Dreiging van Callisto aanbeland. Niet dat Nightfall in die bundeling - want dat is het - opgenomen is, maar De Dreiging van Callisto bevat wel de zogenaamde "vroege werken" uit de periode 1939-1940, zijnde de eerste kortverhalen die Asimov gepubliceerd kreeg. Het zijn er acht in totaal: De Dreiging van Callisto (uiteraard), Ring om de Zon, Het luisterrijk Bezit, Trends, Een wapen, te vreselijk om te gebruiken, Zwarte Broeder van de Vlam, Halfbloed, en Het geheime Zintuig. Tussen de verhalen in, lees je de commentaren van Asimov in verband met de publicatie van die verhalen: de afwijzingen (veel), de commentaren van hoofdredacteurs (als ze al de moeite deden), het geld dat hij er voor kreeg (doorgaans weinig), en uitleg over de verhalen die door zoveel hoofdredacteurs afgeschoten werden dat ze nooit meer aan publicatie toekwamen en "verdwenen".

Asimov is zelf verre van ál te positief over zijn eerste gepubliceerde verhalen, maar alle verhalen in deze bundel werden wel als goed genoeg voor publicatie beschouwd. En ze zijn dat in alle eerlijkheid ook. Okee, ze zijn niét zo goed als vele van zijn latere verhalen, maar ze steken nog steeds ver boven de middelmaat uit en ze lezen als een trein, een eigenschap die ook alle latere verhalen van Asimov hadden (zelfs toen het hele romans geworden waren in plaats van kortverhalen).

Zeker een aanrader dus voor liefhebbers van science fiction, deze De Dreiging van Callisto. Met wat geluk (de werken van Asimov werden ook in het Nederlands op vrij grote oplages verspreid) vind je de bundeling bijvoorbeeld nog terug in de uitgave van A.W. Bruna & Zoon uit het jaar 1977. Voor mij is het herlezen van deze bundel alvast aanleiding om ook eens op zoek te gaan naar de twee andere bundels van "vroege werken", zijnde Het Superneutron en De Rode Koningin.

[Chris Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a delight to read for two reasons. First, Asimov's personal reflections on his writing, and his anecdotes about friends and colleagues are as entertaining as his short stories. Secondly, I enjoyed the spirit of optimism in many of his stories. Admittedly, I had just finished an anthology of apocalyptic fiction (a collection that, though absorbing, was unremittingly depressing) so I was primed for a set of stories like this. Asimov admits to naivete in these early works, and he's right, but that didn't stop me from enjoying them.

A few highlights: The first two tales (and the first stories Asimov ever had published) -- The Callistan Menace and Ring Around the Sun -- were perhaps my favourites. Yes, they're unpolished but they're also just plain fun, and in the latter case, funny. Another entry,Trends, was built on an intriguing premise - what if society, rather than embracing space travel, actively protested such research? This one led to a few interesting dinner conversations afterward. The one that takes the cake for wildly naive optimism about human nature is The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use. Asimov's friend Fred Pohl had the exact same reaction I did as soon as I finished this one.

I should mention, this was my first experience reading Asimov. I gather from other reviews that these are far from his best, but they were certainly good enough for me to commit to reading more of his work in the future.

[Rafael Duarte]

Três contos de Isaac Asimov. O primeiro corresponde a metade do livro. Mas eu gostei mais do último, sobre robôs e suas famosas três leis. Ele criou uma situação bastante peculiar e colocou um detetive que não entende nada de psicologia robótica para desvendar um impasse. Dois robôs são testemunhas das descobertas científicas de seus donos. Cada um afirma que foi seu dono quem fez a descoberta e a contou para o outro. Um dos dois está mentindo, o que desafia as leis da robótica. Como decifrar esse enigma? Os outros dois falam da exploração espacial e suas políticas. É uma leitura rápida e mostra bem a genialidade de Asimov na ficção científica.

[gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part about reading these early short stories, is also witnessing Asimov's writing style and stories develop and improve. It is truly exciting to read the stories that helped him become the sci-fi writer that I love.

Having finished the Foundation trilogy and Robot series recently, I really wanted to read more of his stuff and this is just perfect. I also have Volume II and III in possession, I cannot wait to read them.

I also really enjoy the anecdotes that Asimov accompanies his short stories to provide additional context to the stories.

[Esagui · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Y aunque son relatos “trabajados” hasta lograr encontrar espacio (y aceptación) en revistas literarias es obvio que todavía no alcanzaban el nivel del gran Asimov, aunque podemos encontrar las bases y acercamientos a grandes obras como “La fundación” y “Yo, robot“, permitiendo al lector apasionado ver el crecimiento de esa obra que ya disfrutamos."

Reseña completa en: http://contraelpromediomexicano.com/2...

[Bird Lovegod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, enjoyable. Take it for what it is, it's a series of Asimovs short stories, the first ones, each one preceded by an introduction including the publishing attempts. A book of how the stories came to be and be in the public domain. Especially interesting to those considering publishing / authorship as a career / lifestyle.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of the very first stories of Asimov, with commentaries, largely focused on the business side of being a starting scifi author in the 1930s. The stories are mostly pretty bad, but the commentary is entertaining, and I thought it was also fascinating to see how Asimov started with these humble beginnings and became one of the best-known authors in scifi.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of most interest to completist fans, with Asimov himself more than ready to admit to the stories' shortcomings in his afterwords, the majority of these stories take interesting ideas and drown them in cliche and clunky dialogue.

[David Blyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contents:

Page 9 - Introduction
Page 18 - The Callistan Menace
Page 36 - Ring Around the Sun
Page 51 - The Magnificent Possession
Page 54 - Trends
Page 89 - The Weapon to Dreadful to Use
Page 107 - The Black G=Friar of the Flame
Page 152 - Half-Breed
Page 175 - The Secret Sense

[Pieter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Callistan Menace ~ ★★★
Ring Around the Sun ~ ★★★
The Magnificent Possession ~ ★★
Trends ~ ★★★
The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use ~ ★★★
Black Friar of the Flame ~ ★★
Half-Breed ~ ★★★
The Secret Sense ~ ★★★