Book Review: Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov

If you've ever wondered why I do things like write book reviews that hardly anybody reads every time I finish a book, here's a reason: As a kid, I loved Isaac Asimov's writing. I read his books about science, his book about religion, his book about Shakespeare, but mostly I loved his science fiction. When I was in seventh grade, I decided to write a fan letter to him. I don't remember much about what I wrote him except to tell him how much his work meant to me. Weeks later, living up to the insanely voracious writer he was portrayed to be on that second season episode of Mythic Quest, he wrote me back. He sent me a typed postcard and signed his name. He told me to keep reading and to keep writing. Well, I've kept up with the reading, and by doing these book reviews I take care of the writing. Thank you Mr. Asimov!

With that in mind, we'll move closer to the actual review; but first, one more aside. I recently read something online that started with a quote from the late comedian Mitch Hedburg. In the quote, Mitch was saying that a comedy set has to make people excited at the start and excited at the end; it can't be like pancakes, where you're excited at the beginning and sick of them at the end. Keep that close to you.

Nightfall and Other Stories stars the short story "Nightfall", which was not the first story Asimov had published, but was the first story that pricked up the ears of the science fiction community. And that is well-deserved - even now, 80 years after its publication (note: I once received a postcard from someone who published a story 80 years ago), this story is amazing. Taking place on a planet that has not seen darkness for 2,500 years, and knowing that the few hours of upcoming nightfall will inevitably lead to the destruction of their civilization, this story is transcendent - except for giving a newspaper writer a position of prominence, it could have been written today (especially when the populace learns that their religion won't protect them from the dangers pointed out by the scientists in the planetarium - and then go to destroy the planetarium).

While "Nightfall" is an absolute classic, other stories also stand out. "Green Patches" is a smart tale reminiscent of The Thing; "Hostess" effectively mixes several disparate elements into a twisted ending; "C-Chute" was a rare action story that fired on all cylinders.

So what's the problem, and why bring up the Mitch Hedburg quote? It's because all of the above stories are in the first half of the book. The stories are arranged chronologically, and the ones at the beginning are the ones he wrote when he was young, scrappy, and hungry (sorry, just saw Hamilton this weekend), focused on his short stories being published in sci-fi magazines; by the time the book gets to his stories from the 60s, he's a professor of biochemistry who mainly writes novels and only writes short fiction when spurred (like the story he wrote based on a picture he was sent, or the one he wrote up on live TV). Now, none of these stories are BAD (they are written by Isaac Asimov, after all), and only a few of them are throw-aways, but they do make the book feel like there's a bunch of worthwhile stories up front followed by filler.

Still, this is a fascinating collection overall. For one thing, none of Asimov's most famous novels feature aliens; for someone seemingly so averse to non-human (or -robotic) characters, it's intriguing to watch 20-something making-it Asimov coming up with different kinds of aliens for 40s and 50s sci-fi stories. For another, it's interesting to note the references to positronic brains (even, in one story, within cars).

"Nightfall" is an absolute classic, and most of the other tales here range from outstanding to pretty good, with a handful of meh towards the end. Recommended - eight out of ten hot dogs!