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Magical Worlds of Fantasy #8
Devils: Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy 8
From a man too simple for the devil to fool, to a college student taking an honors class in temptation, here are tales of black magic and demonic enchantment--stories of those who heed Satan's siren song and those ready to match wits with this most cunning of opponents. So get ready for some red-hot reading about the age-old battle between humans and their ever-present foe as you settle in for a devilish good time in Isaac Asimov's Devils.
Arthur C. Clarke; Brian Cleeve; Ray Russell; Leo Tolstoy; Winston K. Marks; Cornell Woolrich; Frederic Brown; Robert Bloch; Robert F. Young; Stephen Vincent Benet; Rick Hautala; Philip Jose Farmer; Charles Beaumont; Jerome Bixby; Bruce Elliot; Theodore R. Cogswell; Theodore Sturgeon
Arthur C. Clarke; Brian Cleeve; Ray Russell; Leo Tolstoy; Winston K. Marks; Cornell Woolrich; Frederic Brown; Robert Bloch; Robert F. Young; Stephen Vincent Benet; Rick Hautala; Philip Jose Farmer; Charles Beaumont; Jerome Bixby; Bruce Elliot; Theodore R. Cogswell; Theodore Sturgeon
351 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 2, 1987
2 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,340 books27.7k followersWorks 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 13, 2017
I've been trying to read through many anthologies this year - not doing the best job, but after coming off enjoying Revelations so much, I was excited to try another themed collection. An assortment of different stories featuring the devil through old folklore re-told tales blended with new ideas sounded like it would make sense to continue for the next book to keep the trend.
Usually anthologies put the best foot forward in the beginning, but that sadly wasn't the case here. I had to force myself to keep going with it. Mainly filled with parables tainted by dry humor or stories that embrace the cheesy aspects of the theme, the anthology starts offering its best when the first few stories are passed. There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek irony twists such as The Devil in Exile, The Cage (short but I liked this one), The tale of Ivan the Fool (despite it's reputation, I didn't enjoy it)
A notable exception is Robert Bloch's hellbent yarn centered around a young wanderer named Marvin who is obsessed with trains before he meets a special one that burns on sulphur and brimstone rather than fuel. The story is a nifty twist on waiting for the time to be happy instead of being happy in the here and now. Clever and well-written.
I'm Dangerous Tonight by Cornell Woolrich wasn't bad either, but it was too long for its content (about 90 pages). Rustle of Wings is one of the best stories; it's short and involves gambling. It has a quiet creepiness about it. Added Inducement was one of the slightly cheesy ones that worked. Americans and their TV and popcorn - tsk,tsk! The Devil and Daniel Webster was my third favorite - the ideal length when it shows a sought-after soul fight in court for the soul of a fellow countryman. It continues the common theme of people being foolish to sell their souls permanently for temporary profit. Rick Hautala takes the same common theme but runs with it in a creative way, making the whole thing sickly amusing in Colt 47.
There's a few gems hidden in the anthology but for the most part it's lukewarm. Not the temp you'd expect from this theme. It's not worth hunting down, but a few stories are worth picking up if you have it laying around nearby.
Usually anthologies put the best foot forward in the beginning, but that sadly wasn't the case here. I had to force myself to keep going with it. Mainly filled with parables tainted by dry humor or stories that embrace the cheesy aspects of the theme, the anthology starts offering its best when the first few stories are passed. There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek irony twists such as The Devil in Exile, The Cage (short but I liked this one), The tale of Ivan the Fool (despite it's reputation, I didn't enjoy it)
A notable exception is Robert Bloch's hellbent yarn centered around a young wanderer named Marvin who is obsessed with trains before he meets a special one that burns on sulphur and brimstone rather than fuel. The story is a nifty twist on waiting for the time to be happy instead of being happy in the here and now. Clever and well-written.
I'm Dangerous Tonight by Cornell Woolrich wasn't bad either, but it was too long for its content (about 90 pages). Rustle of Wings is one of the best stories; it's short and involves gambling. It has a quiet creepiness about it. Added Inducement was one of the slightly cheesy ones that worked. Americans and their TV and popcorn - tsk,tsk! The Devil and Daniel Webster was my third favorite - the ideal length when it shows a sought-after soul fight in court for the soul of a fellow countryman. It continues the common theme of people being foolish to sell their souls permanently for temporary profit. Rick Hautala takes the same common theme but runs with it in a creative way, making the whole thing sickly amusing in Colt 47.
There's a few gems hidden in the anthology but for the most part it's lukewarm. Not the temp you'd expect from this theme. It's not worth hunting down, but a few stories are worth picking up if you have it laying around nearby.
December 20, 2015
Another major and significant book from my childhood. I suspect that "Dazed," made less of an impression on me now than it did when I was a kid not only because I've grown older but also because it probably worked a lot better as a story over two decades ago, which is kind of interesting. Also, there's something a little disturbing about the fact that the only two stories with female characters not defined entirely by their sexual or romantic relationship with a man are by two of the oldest stories in the book (and even they are fairly minor characters). Not that that affects my view of the book that much - I still enjoyed the stories I remember enjoying, even if, like "Dazed," maybe a bit less than I used to - this is just something I didn't really notice as a preteen and definitely did notice now.
May 5, 2013
This devilishly comp kicks off with "I'm Dangerous Tonight", an awesome Cornell Woolrich story about a fiendish fashion designer who's possessed by the devil and designs a dress that brings out the demon in every woman who wears it.
Tolstoy's excellent "Ivan The Fool" is also here, and so far I haven't hit a clunker yet. If you ever find this comp at a used book store pick it up. Say The Devil made you do it!
Tolstoy's excellent "Ivan The Fool" is also here, and so far I haven't hit a clunker yet. If you ever find this comp at a used book store pick it up. Say The Devil made you do it!
January 20, 2018
Stories about devils, with about 1/3 being the classic "deal with the devil" style. Contains the classic "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Benet and also "The Tale of Ivan the Fool" by Tolstoy, but overall I wasn't impressed.
March 28, 2020
An anthology from the 80's, with some hits and quite a few misses. An interesting topic though - Devils and The Devil.
I'm Dangerous Tonight - Along one, with a lot of suspense. not bad.
The Devil in Exile - a bit nonsensical. Might have been funny in at a certain period.
The Cage - Spooky/scary, but a bit cliche.
The Tail of Ivan the Fool - Tolstoy! Not a good story, though - reads like a fairy tale, but not a very interesting one.
The Shepherds - A biblical-style bunch of crap.
He Stepped in the Devil's Tail - An okay-ish kind of short. The devils is smarter than people...
Rustle of Wings- A succinct tale, a classic Short Story. Nice.
That Hell-bound Train - Quite well written and fun to read, even though its tack of "the perfect moment in life" has been done many time (since?) it somewhat of a cliche.
Added Inducement - Simply Silly
The Devil and Daniel Webster - I'm probably lacking the cultural background needed to fully enjoy this story, so it's just ok.
Colt .24 - A nice idea, but it was telegraphed and I didn't like the protagonist.
The Making of Revelation, Part 1 - A bewildering idea that feel like a joke stretched far too long.
The Howling Man - A nice spooky central idea, a bit hampered bu the narrating character.
Trace - I don't know what the author was going for, but I will soon forget this short-short.
Guardian Angel - While the surprise ending itself doesn't really pay off, seeing as it is kind of spoiled by being included in an anthology about the Devil, Arthur C Clarke can definitely write...
The Devil Was Sick - I think this is the most original story in this anthology, and it's a quite refreshing take on demonology and human knowledge.
Deal with the D.E.V.I.L - A funny, refreshing twist on the Faustian tale, it;s just way too short to do anything beside that twist.
Dazed - Not a time-travel story, actually. A nice read, though.
I'm Dangerous Tonight - Along one, with a lot of suspense. not bad.
The Devil in Exile - a bit nonsensical. Might have been funny in at a certain period.
The Cage - Spooky/scary, but a bit cliche.
The Tail of Ivan the Fool - Tolstoy! Not a good story, though - reads like a fairy tale, but not a very interesting one.
The Shepherds - A biblical-style bunch of crap.
He Stepped in the Devil's Tail - An okay-ish kind of short. The devils is smarter than people...
Rustle of Wings- A succinct tale, a classic Short Story. Nice.
That Hell-bound Train - Quite well written and fun to read, even though its tack of "the perfect moment in life" has been done many time (since?) it somewhat of a cliche.
Added Inducement - Simply Silly
The Devil and Daniel Webster - I'm probably lacking the cultural background needed to fully enjoy this story, so it's just ok.
Colt .24 - A nice idea, but it was telegraphed and I didn't like the protagonist.
The Making of Revelation, Part 1 - A bewildering idea that feel like a joke stretched far too long.
The Howling Man - A nice spooky central idea, a bit hampered bu the narrating character.
Trace - I don't know what the author was going for, but I will soon forget this short-short.
Guardian Angel - While the surprise ending itself doesn't really pay off, seeing as it is kind of spoiled by being included in an anthology about the Devil, Arthur C Clarke can definitely write...
The Devil Was Sick - I think this is the most original story in this anthology, and it's a quite refreshing take on demonology and human knowledge.
Deal with the D.E.V.I.L - A funny, refreshing twist on the Faustian tale, it;s just way too short to do anything beside that twist.
Dazed - Not a time-travel story, actually. A nice read, though.
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April 14, 2008Anthology,Fantasy
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews