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LAST MAN ON EARTH
Stories tell of the last survivor of an alien purge, a time traveler, an immortal who outlives all of his companions, a scientist who tries to postpone the end of his race, and an individual who stays behind when Earth is abandoned
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
2 people are currently reading
407 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,485 books27.4k 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 3, 2014
This is a quite varied selection of short stories based around the theme of being the last man alive. As with most collections, some are good, some less so.
"The Underdweller" by William F Nolan - A man living in the Los Angeles sewer system avoids the city's new inhabitants.
"Flight to Forever" by Poul Anderson - A quite long time travel story.
"Trouble With Ants" by Clifford D Simak - A world mostly populated by dogs and robots (!)
"The Coming of the Ice" by G Peyton Wertenbaker - A man undergoes an experimental surgery and becomes immortal.
"The Most Sentimental Man" by Evelyn E Smith - The Earth is evacuated and a single man deliberately stays behind.
"Eddie For Short" by Wallace West - A woman sings over the radio every day, wondering if anyone is listening.
"Knock" by Frederic Brown - Aliens invade and keep a limited number of animals as specimens when they kill everything else on Earth.
"Original Sin" by S Fowler Wright - Mankind plans its own mass suicide in an orderly manner.
"A Man Spekith" by Richard Wilson - A disc jockey is trapped in space.
"In the World's Dusk" by Edmond Hamilton - A scientist in the future tries to prevent the extinction of mankind.
"Kindness" by Lester Del Rey - The last example of homo sapiens lives among an evolved species.
"Lucifer" by Roger Zelazny - A man revisits a deserted city.
"Resurrection" by A E Van Vogt - Aliens visit Earth and revive dead humans from various ages.
"The Second-Class Citizen" by Damon Knight - A man working with dolphins survives the end of the world.
"Day of Judgement" by Edmond Hamilton - Animals of various species have evolved after the disappearance of humans.
"Continuous Performance" by Gordon Eklund - The last man makes a living by performing magic to settlements of androids.
"The New Reality" by Charles L Harness - A man tries to shape reality itself.
"The Underdweller" by William F Nolan - A man living in the Los Angeles sewer system avoids the city's new inhabitants.
"Flight to Forever" by Poul Anderson - A quite long time travel story.
"Trouble With Ants" by Clifford D Simak - A world mostly populated by dogs and robots (!)
"The Coming of the Ice" by G Peyton Wertenbaker - A man undergoes an experimental surgery and becomes immortal.
"The Most Sentimental Man" by Evelyn E Smith - The Earth is evacuated and a single man deliberately stays behind.
"Eddie For Short" by Wallace West - A woman sings over the radio every day, wondering if anyone is listening.
"Knock" by Frederic Brown - Aliens invade and keep a limited number of animals as specimens when they kill everything else on Earth.
"Original Sin" by S Fowler Wright - Mankind plans its own mass suicide in an orderly manner.
"A Man Spekith" by Richard Wilson - A disc jockey is trapped in space.
"In the World's Dusk" by Edmond Hamilton - A scientist in the future tries to prevent the extinction of mankind.
"Kindness" by Lester Del Rey - The last example of homo sapiens lives among an evolved species.
"Lucifer" by Roger Zelazny - A man revisits a deserted city.
"Resurrection" by A E Van Vogt - Aliens visit Earth and revive dead humans from various ages.
"The Second-Class Citizen" by Damon Knight - A man working with dolphins survives the end of the world.
"Day of Judgement" by Edmond Hamilton - Animals of various species have evolved after the disappearance of humans.
"Continuous Performance" by Gordon Eklund - The last man makes a living by performing magic to settlements of androids.
"The New Reality" by Charles L Harness - A man tries to shape reality itself.
March 2, 2013
My favorite short story collection! All end of the world stories by some really great writers.
I couldn't pick a favorite if you paid me, but I was telling someone quite recently about the first story in the book about a man who lives in the sewers in a world taken over by little monsters. All he is trying to do it get to the library to save important writings and books so they won't be lost to the survivors. In particular he was going for Grey's anatomy, etc. So the knowledge wouldn't be lost.
It brought up an argument about ebooks vs. the real deal. I am on the side of physical books, I think that ebooks have their place, but I love my bookshelf full of books. I still own a dictionary. An atlas (current, no less, at least since 2007)and I worry about a world without those things.
I couldn't pick a favorite if you paid me, but I was telling someone quite recently about the first story in the book about a man who lives in the sewers in a world taken over by little monsters. All he is trying to do it get to the library to save important writings and books so they won't be lost to the survivors. In particular he was going for Grey's anatomy, etc. So the knowledge wouldn't be lost.
It brought up an argument about ebooks vs. the real deal. I am on the side of physical books, I think that ebooks have their place, but I love my bookshelf full of books. I still own a dictionary. An atlas (current, no less, at least since 2007)and I worry about a world without those things.
August 29, 2020
I dunno. Not bad. Usually I'm a sucker for short stories, but there's something about older sci-fi that's sometimes hard to digest. The majority of these stories have protagonists who are all cut from same 50's scientist cloth, all pipes and tweed jackets and dim female secretaries swooning at the idea of heavy thinking. Not as fun as I'd hoped. 5/10 might eat here again, if they changed the menu up, I guess.
November 21, 2023
Like most collections of short stories, this one contains some stories that are quite good and some others that are not so good. I would not get your view of the future from any of them; however, I personally find the concept of being the last man on earth to be fascinating. The story of the time traveling man who can go forward in time but not backward is a gripping tale of being lost in time. Unfortunately, the last story is long and disappointing. It presents the interesting question (at least, interesting in a story) of what would happen if reality was actually changed by our perception, but the author fails to deliver on this premise and even contradicts some of the rules set up earlier in the narrative. So, to conclude, this is a decidedly average collection of sci-fi stories.
January 12, 2019
Favorite compilation of short stories in the end-of-humanity theme.
December 24, 2021
-Gregory Kerkman
January 18, 2011
I saw this book at Skagg's grocery store in College Station, TX. I had recently completed the Foundation trilogy, and was getting into reading science fiction. This was the first anthology of short stories and it hooked me on the short sci-fi! Not all the stories are classics; some are pretty bad, but I loved the format.
December 28, 2023
Long before teen Pseudo-SF came on the scene, there was this little gem.
A wonderful collection of short stories about my favorite topic, the decline and death of mankind. If you can find a used copy of this book, buy it, read it and be amazed.
A wonderful collection of short stories about my favorite topic, the decline and death of mankind. If you can find a used copy of this book, buy it, read it and be amazed.
December 4, 2012
Decent anthology grouping of short stories that are similarly themed. 1982? wow. Anyway, none were really impactful to me, and I think for now I prefer some novels instead of an anthology like this.
December 9, 2010
A collection of short stories about, well, about the last man on earth. Some interesting stories, some suck. Not much a fan of short story collections.
March 18, 2014
The most amazing book of short stories ever
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews