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Early Asimov #2 of 2
The Early Asimov: Book Two
A ghost sues for the legal right to haunt a house...a new world is discovered, inhabited by robots, & only by robots...& the author of the famous Reginald de Meister detective series finds he has a new rival in Reginald de Meister.Contents9 Introduction (The Early Asimov Volume 2) (1973) essay by Isaac Asimov13 Homo Sol [Homo Sol 1] (1940) short story by Isaac Asimov35 Half-Breeds on Venus [Half-Breed 2] (1940) novelette by Isaac Asimov61 The Imaginary [Homo Sol 2] (1942) short story by Isaac Asimov79 Heredity (1941) novelette by Isaac Asimov105 History (1941) short story by Isaac Asimov119 Christmas on Ganymede (1942) short story by Isaac Asimov135 The Little Man on the Subway (1950) short story by Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl [as by Isaac Asimov and James MacCreigh]148 The Hazing [Homo Sol 3] (1942) short story by Isaac Asimov165 Super-Neutron (1941) short story by Isaac Asimov180 Not Final! (1941) short story by Isaac Asimov199 Legal Rites (1950) novelette by Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl [as by Isaac Asimov and James MacCreigh]231 Time Pussy [Probability Zero] (1942) short story by Isaac Asimov235 Appendix -- The Sixty Stories of the Campbell Years (1973) essay by uncredited
301 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 21, 1974
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About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,368 books28.2k 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 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 24, 2019
Asimov’s Road to Fame and Fortune
23 October 2019
To be honest, I actually preferred the interludes on how Asimov became a famous writer, and his adventures navigating the world of publishing houses, than the stories themselves. Look, while I would suggest, as the title implies, that these are his earlier works, that isn’t quite the case. The reason being is that during the period that this book covers, he writes the award-winning short story Nightfall, and also begins his Robot and Foundation series. Since these works are pretty much his seminal works, the title ‘Early Asimov’ doesn’t quite cut it any more.
The thing is that the stories that appear in this book seem to be the stories that haven’t made it into any of the other anthologies, probably because they aren’t linked with either the robot or the Foundation universes. Then again, there are a number of other works, such as Nightfall, that have found themselves in other collections.
Mind you, the other reason that I wouldn’t quite write these stories off is not just because they were published, but that they were also published by John W Campbell, who is notorious for being incredibly picky with what he published (and apparently not paying all that much either). Mind you, while he wasn’t the only publisher around at the time, he was pretty much the most influential, in that Asimov would submit to him first, and if he rejected it, well, he would then look around for others, such as Frederick Pohl (another famous name in the sci-fi world).
It is actually quite interesting to follow his journey and to experience a number of the stories that ended up making it into print. I guess the thing was that at first it is a long, slow, hard slog, to actually become published, and then once one gets their first publication, it sort of becomes easier after that. Though, I do note that in the first volume, that while his first attempt was rejected, Campbell did write quite an encouraging letter. Actually, it turns out that his first publication was his third short story. The interesting thing is that these days the rejection letters don’t seem to be anywhere near as kind, even if they have the decency of actually sending you one.
However, by the end of this book, Asimov had decided that he would not discard any more of his writings – a number of them that were rejected have now been forever lost, though whether that is a good, or bad, thing is something to be determined. The thing is, that if he is anything like me when I look back at the stuff that I wrote when I was a teenager, or even in my twenties, they are so horrible, that I certainly wouldn’t want them to see the light of day. Then again, in these days of self-publishing, any old rubbish can see print, or at least be thrown up onto some webpage, with no editing (with, maybe, the exception of the algorithm at Grammarly), no feedback, and really nothing that makes it all that engaging.
23 October 2019
To be honest, I actually preferred the interludes on how Asimov became a famous writer, and his adventures navigating the world of publishing houses, than the stories themselves. Look, while I would suggest, as the title implies, that these are his earlier works, that isn’t quite the case. The reason being is that during the period that this book covers, he writes the award-winning short story Nightfall, and also begins his Robot and Foundation series. Since these works are pretty much his seminal works, the title ‘Early Asimov’ doesn’t quite cut it any more.
The thing is that the stories that appear in this book seem to be the stories that haven’t made it into any of the other anthologies, probably because they aren’t linked with either the robot or the Foundation universes. Then again, there are a number of other works, such as Nightfall, that have found themselves in other collections.
Mind you, the other reason that I wouldn’t quite write these stories off is not just because they were published, but that they were also published by John W Campbell, who is notorious for being incredibly picky with what he published (and apparently not paying all that much either). Mind you, while he wasn’t the only publisher around at the time, he was pretty much the most influential, in that Asimov would submit to him first, and if he rejected it, well, he would then look around for others, such as Frederick Pohl (another famous name in the sci-fi world).
It is actually quite interesting to follow his journey and to experience a number of the stories that ended up making it into print. I guess the thing was that at first it is a long, slow, hard slog, to actually become published, and then once one gets their first publication, it sort of becomes easier after that. Though, I do note that in the first volume, that while his first attempt was rejected, Campbell did write quite an encouraging letter. Actually, it turns out that his first publication was his third short story. The interesting thing is that these days the rejection letters don’t seem to be anywhere near as kind, even if they have the decency of actually sending you one.
However, by the end of this book, Asimov had decided that he would not discard any more of his writings – a number of them that were rejected have now been forever lost, though whether that is a good, or bad, thing is something to be determined. The thing is, that if he is anything like me when I look back at the stuff that I wrote when I was a teenager, or even in my twenties, they are so horrible, that I certainly wouldn’t want them to see the light of day. Then again, in these days of self-publishing, any old rubbish can see print, or at least be thrown up onto some webpage, with no editing (with, maybe, the exception of the algorithm at Grammarly), no feedback, and really nothing that makes it all that engaging.
January 25, 2025
Classic Asimov. Clever writing.
December 30, 2015
A Quickie Review
Though mostly fun, this set of classic stories was a bit harder-edged, especially in the language department, than I was expecting. Also, one "story" read like a chapter from a textbook. It was still good for what it was, though.
Score: 3/5
Though mostly fun, this set of classic stories was a bit harder-edged, especially in the language department, than I was expecting. Also, one "story" read like a chapter from a textbook. It was still good for what it was, though.
Score: 3/5
April 11, 2023
This book (along with "Early Asmov: Book One", which I read a mere 40 or so years ago) collects Asimov's earliest stories which have not already been collected elsewhere. As such, it does not represent his best work, but much of it is still quite good; after all, the stories were written in the same time span in which he did write much of his best work. For fans, the more interesting part might be the autobiographical sections between the stories telling, step by step, how he became a full-time writer.
July 18, 2019
This is the successor to The Early Asimov, Book I which covered a much shorter period of time, publication-wise - in part because much of the material that Isaac Asimov wrote in his earliest days hadn't been collected in book form yet. By 1941-42 when this volume picks up, he had started his "Robot" stories and was about to start on the work that he is still best-known for, his "Foundation" series. Obviously those have all been collected, as have many of his more famous singletons such as "Nightfall". And there was the war, and his ongoing studies in chemistry, which slowed his output significantly. Thus the first volume covers a period of just three years or so (1938-41) while this one takes us up through the end of the 40s, by which point Isaac was now Dr. Asimov and embarking on both his teaching career and getting his first books published. Though he continued to write short stories through most of the rest of his life, they would generally be collected every few years, making further EARLY ASIMOV entries unnecessary.
As with the first volume, the stories are presented in order of writing, which doesn't always correspond to publication order. Here's the list:
"Christmas on Ganymede" (STARTLING STORIES January 1942)
"The Little Man on the Subway" (FANTASY BOOK Vol 1 No. 6)
"The Hazing" (THRILLING WONDER STORIES October 1942)
"Super-Neutron" (ASTONISHING STORIES September 1941)
"Not Final! (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION October 1941)
"Legal Rites" (WEIRD TALES September 1950)
"Time Pussy" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION April 1942)
"Author! Author!" (no previous magazine publication; original book publication in THE UNKNOWN #5, 1964)
"Death Sentence" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION November 1943)
"Blind Alley" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION March 1945)
"No Connection" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION June 1948)
"The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" ( ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION March 1948)
"The Red Queen's Race" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION January 1949)
"Mother Earth" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION May 1949)
Certainly the average quality of the stories here has improved over those in the first volume, and we find Asimov working on a larger scale at times, going for more philosophically and intellectually complex ideas (see "Blind Alley" in particular); and we also find more of his talent for humor coming to the fore in such tales as "Christmas on Ganymede", "Time Pussy" and "The Endochronic Properties..." - the last of which you probably have to be a chemist to find really hilarious. I'd probably pick "Blind Alley" as the gem of the collection, though truth be told little here holds a candle to the Foundation stories or the best of the robot tales. Still, well worth reading as much for Asimov's reminiscences of life as a struggling writer during wartime, and his fond reminiscences of John W. Campbell Jr., his mentor and principal editor.
As with the first volume, the stories are presented in order of writing, which doesn't always correspond to publication order. Here's the list:
"Christmas on Ganymede" (STARTLING STORIES January 1942)
"The Little Man on the Subway" (FANTASY BOOK Vol 1 No. 6)
"The Hazing" (THRILLING WONDER STORIES October 1942)
"Super-Neutron" (ASTONISHING STORIES September 1941)
"Not Final! (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION October 1941)
"Legal Rites" (WEIRD TALES September 1950)
"Time Pussy" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION April 1942)
"Author! Author!" (no previous magazine publication; original book publication in THE UNKNOWN #5, 1964)
"Death Sentence" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION November 1943)
"Blind Alley" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION March 1945)
"No Connection" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION June 1948)
"The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" ( ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION March 1948)
"The Red Queen's Race" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION January 1949)
"Mother Earth" (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION May 1949)
Certainly the average quality of the stories here has improved over those in the first volume, and we find Asimov working on a larger scale at times, going for more philosophically and intellectually complex ideas (see "Blind Alley" in particular); and we also find more of his talent for humor coming to the fore in such tales as "Christmas on Ganymede", "Time Pussy" and "The Endochronic Properties..." - the last of which you probably have to be a chemist to find really hilarious. I'd probably pick "Blind Alley" as the gem of the collection, though truth be told little here holds a candle to the Foundation stories or the best of the robot tales. Still, well worth reading as much for Asimov's reminiscences of life as a struggling writer during wartime, and his fond reminiscences of John W. Campbell Jr., his mentor and principal editor.
December 30, 2016
I love these collections of Asimov's stories because he always gives prefaces to all of them describing how they came about and other hilarious tidbits of his life. They can sometimes be more enjoyable than the stories themselves! But this is a pretty good collection, not a lot of his best work, but good. (Minus the one about Christmas in Ganymede. Really sometimes Asimov's humor was cringeworthy, his adherence to puns makes one groan! Not just me, Asimov once tried to "flirt" with a lady by turning her name into a pun in his hitting on her. She chased him down the street! Probably much to his glee...)
Top stories of this collection:
- Author! Author!: A fictional detective comes to life and starts making demands of his author! Hilarious satire and weird Asimovian hijinks.
- Blind Alley: Classic Asimov. Sharply clever with an introspective look at what drives mankind. This one was my favorite!
- The Red Queen's Race: I think I really love Asimov's time travel stories. He always has an unique way of using it. This has an Alice Through the Looking Glass reference! ^_^
- Mother Earth: Similar to what he did in the Foundation novels, but to a smaller scale. Not anything new necessarily, but it is always fun to see Asimov set the board and have it all come to pass!
Top stories of this collection:
- Author! Author!: A fictional detective comes to life and starts making demands of his author! Hilarious satire and weird Asimovian hijinks.
- Blind Alley: Classic Asimov. Sharply clever with an introspective look at what drives mankind. This one was my favorite!
- The Red Queen's Race: I think I really love Asimov's time travel stories. He always has an unique way of using it. This has an Alice Through the Looking Glass reference! ^_^
- Mother Earth: Similar to what he did in the Foundation novels, but to a smaller scale. Not anything new necessarily, but it is always fun to see Asimov set the board and have it all come to pass!
August 27, 2009
Title: "The Early Asimov or ,Eleven Years of Trying - Book 2"
1972
Dutch Title: "Vroege Werken 1 - 1940-1941 : Het Superneutron"
The Early Asimov series contains short stories written by Isaac Asimov that didn't got bundled before (1972) in other books. None of the stories are part of this Robot or Foundation universe. Most of them he sold to the sci-fi magazine 'Astounding', lead by John Campbell; others were published by other magazines of that era. Asimov follows each story with a history and details.
The Dutch version of this second book contains the following short stories:
1) Homo Sol
2) Half-Breeds on Venus (Halfbloeden op Venus)
3) The Imaginary (De imaginaire grootheid)
4) Heredity (Erfelijkheid)
5) History (Geschiedenis)
6) Christmas on Ganymede (Kerstmis op Ganymedes)
7) The Little Man on the Subway (De kleine man in de ondergrondse)
8) The Hazing (De ontgroening)
9) Super-Neutron
10) Not Final (Niet Definitief)
11) Legal Rites (Wettige Riten)
1972
Dutch Title: "Vroege Werken 1 - 1940-1941 : Het Superneutron"
The Early Asimov series contains short stories written by Isaac Asimov that didn't got bundled before (1972) in other books. None of the stories are part of this Robot or Foundation universe. Most of them he sold to the sci-fi magazine 'Astounding', lead by John Campbell; others were published by other magazines of that era. Asimov follows each story with a history and details.
The Dutch version of this second book contains the following short stories:
1) Homo Sol
2) Half-Breeds on Venus (Halfbloeden op Venus)
3) The Imaginary (De imaginaire grootheid)
4) Heredity (Erfelijkheid)
5) History (Geschiedenis)
6) Christmas on Ganymede (Kerstmis op Ganymedes)
7) The Little Man on the Subway (De kleine man in de ondergrondse)
8) The Hazing (De ontgroening)
9) Super-Neutron
10) Not Final (Niet Definitief)
11) Legal Rites (Wettige Riten)
January 2, 2013
Es una lectura fácil de asimilar, con sus relatos cortos te permite a llevar la lectura un poco relajada.
Si bien no contiene lo mejor de la ciencia ficción las notas de autor al final de cada relato son oro puro. Se muestra al escritor detrás de la pluma.
Relatos que mas me gustaron y que en consecuencia recomiendo (Bajo orden de gusto):
1-Ritos legales, cuento que no guarda relación con la ciencia. Un buen cuento de fantasmas
2-Super neutrón, muchos datos técnicos pero de gran composición
3-El numero imaginario, falla en algunas partes y se vuelve un poco tedioso pero funciona matemáticamente hablando
4-El hombrecillo del metro, se apega a la fantasía, con una narración mal planteada pero con una gran enseñanza. Se puede ver como una metáfora teológica.
5-¡No tan definitivo!, Segunda vez que lo leo, y me gusto igual que la primera vez
6-Novatada, vuelve aparecer y lo volví a leer, me causa cierta simpatía. Es bueno
Si bien no contiene lo mejor de la ciencia ficción las notas de autor al final de cada relato son oro puro. Se muestra al escritor detrás de la pluma.
Relatos que mas me gustaron y que en consecuencia recomiendo (Bajo orden de gusto):
1-Ritos legales, cuento que no guarda relación con la ciencia. Un buen cuento de fantasmas
2-Super neutrón, muchos datos técnicos pero de gran composición
3-El numero imaginario, falla en algunas partes y se vuelve un poco tedioso pero funciona matemáticamente hablando
4-El hombrecillo del metro, se apega a la fantasía, con una narración mal planteada pero con una gran enseñanza. Se puede ver como una metáfora teológica.
5-¡No tan definitivo!, Segunda vez que lo leo, y me gusto igual que la primera vez
6-Novatada, vuelve aparecer y lo volví a leer, me causa cierta simpatía. Es bueno
November 20, 2016
Hay libros que cuestan un montón de leer. Este ha sido el caso, no ya por lo "difícil" de la lectura ya que algunos cuentos son verdaderos truños y otros han envejecido bastante mal. Además, está la fijación de Asimov por la psicología barata. Los últimos cuentos recogidos aquí, coetáneos de la Serie de la Fundación y de los Robots, tienen como trama central y desarrollo, conceptos psicológicos bastante trasnochados.
June 21, 2015
It was just as entertaining to read the stories about his stories as it was to read the stories themselves. I did find my mind wandering at times, though. Still, Asimov is a wellspring of unique ideas.
July 10, 2008
Short stories. Some very good; others not so. But in general he's an interesting writer with a good imagination.
December 10, 2010
These fourteen science fiction stories were composed by Asimov during the period 1941 through 1950. Some I had already read at the time I picked up this collection during a break from school.
February 20, 2011
Grade B+. Short stories. Book Ea2.
April 30, 2011
Good at the time
October 11, 2013
Cuentos de Asimov, redacción básica. Como van avanzando los cuentos, mejora la historia.
September 2, 2013
If you enjoy courtroom drama, read "Legal Rites" in this anthology.
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March 9, 2018A collection of fourteen of Asimov's short stories, originally published from 1942 to 1949. This work was originally published in one hardback volume along with 'The Early Asimov: Book One', but the paperback edition required it being split into two tomes. Dedicated to John Campbell, the editor at Astounding Stories, Asimov's glossary lists his 'Stories of the Campbell Years', the title of which indicates the debt he felt he owed to this editor and advisor. Not remembered at all.
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