Some of these stories were collected in Azazel, first published in 1988. The stories take the form of conversations between an unnamed writer (whom Asimov identifies in the collection introduction as himself) and a shiftless friend named George (named in "The Two-Centimeter Demon" as George Bitternut). At these meetings George tells how he is able to conjure up Azazel and their adventures together. George's greatest goal in life is a free lunch (or dinner, or ride, etc.), but Azazel is constrained so that he cannot directly benefit George. George can only call upon Azazel for favors to various friends, which invariably go awry. The stories' theme about a demon or alien that grants wishes echoes an earlier work by Lester del Rey, titled "No Strings Attached"[1] from 1954.
"Getting Even" (1980) was the first story featuring Azazel, and was also the first "Union Club Mystery". Asimov stated that this story was omitted from both The Union Club Mysteries (1983) and the Azazel collection because it did not match the later stories in either series.[2] However, it does appear in another anthology, Tales from the Spaceport Bar.[3][4]
"Perfectly Formal" (1991) was a story within a story, purportedly written by a robot called Cal. It appeared in a story (also called "Cal") about a robot who learns to write stories. "Cal" appeared in the collection Gold.
Short story collection
The introduction of this book describes how Asimov came to create Azazel, with an explanation about how the stories and book came to be published. Stories included are:
"The Two-Centimeter Demon" – Written to introduce this collection, this story describes how the writer and George first met, and supplies information about Azazel. The tale is of George's goddaughter, in love with a mediocre basketball player. Azazel is asked to improve his game.
"One Night of Song" – A man asks revenge on mistress who cruelly dumped him - by giving her one night performing with a perfect voice.
"The Smile That Loses" – A woman asks George to capture her husband's radiantly happy smile in a photograph.
"To the Victor" – A young man is unsuccessful with women, so Azazel boosts his pheromones.
"The Dim Rumble" – A speleologist informs George that he has discovered a sound amplifier underground which, when disturbed, caused rumbles all over the world.
"Saving Humanity" – A man wishes to be cured of being a jinx - but also wants, as compensation, to be able to save humanity.
"A Matter of Principle" – An advertising man wants to write novels, but is unable to get past the first paragraph. George hopes to enrich himself with a share of the man's profit as a novelist.
"The Evil Drink Does" – A beautiful but forceful girl wants to get close to a man but can't overcome her inhibitions, and is extremely sensitive to alcohol.
"Writing Time" – An author is exasperated by the amount of time he must spend waiting everywhere he goes.
"Dashing Through the Snow" – In order to stay at a friend's country retreat during the winter, George arranges for him to be able to fly over snow.
"Logic Is Logic" – An idle rich man loves his snobbish club but makes no friends there, so Azazel gives him the ability to tell jokes.
"He Travels the Fastest" – George's former lover marries a rich man, but he is miserly and will not take her abroad. Azazel gives him the urge to travel.
"The Eye of the Beholder" – Two homely people fall in love and marry each other, but then the girl wishes she could be beautiful for him.
"More Things in Heaven and Earth" – An economist wants to accept a new position, but each person in the post has survived a shorter time period.
"The Mind's Construction" – A young detective believes any story a suspect tells him.
"The Fights of Spring" – An old friend's son at college is actually studying instead of the usual youthful pursuits. George arranges for the 97-pound weakling to beat the college bully.
"Galatea" – A young sculptress is in love with a male statue she has created.
"Flight of Fancy" – A skeptic argues with believers about the Bible, but what he really wants is to fly like an angel.
↑ "Perfectly Formal" is listed as being written by Euphrosyne Durando, a pseudonym of the main story's character, Cal, in the book Gold by Isaac Asimov section 3 of the story "Cal".
Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books. He also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. Best known for his hard science fiction, Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as popular science and other non-fiction.
Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of The Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (1986–2004), garnering multiple Hugo and Locus Awards for those works almost every year. He also won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story twice. He was inducted to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on June 25, 2011.
Asimov's Science Fiction is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac Asimov's consent for the use of his name. It was originally titled Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and was quickly successful, reaching a circulation of over 100,000 within a year, and switching to monthly publication within a couple of years. George H. Scithers, the first editor, published many new writers who went on to be successful in the genre. Scithers favored traditional stories without sex or obscenity; along with frequent humorous stories, this gave Asimov's a reputation for printing juvenile fiction, despite its success. Asimov was not part of the editorial team, but wrote editorials for the magazine.
This is a bibliography of the books written or edited by Isaac Asimov, arranged alphabetically. Asimov was a prolific author, and he engaged in many collaborations with other authors. This list may not yet be complete. The total number of books listed here is over 500. Asimov died in 1992 at age 72; a small number of his books were published posthumously.
The Black Widowers is a fictional men-only dining club created by Isaac Asimov for a series of sixty-six mystery stories that he started writing in 1971. Most of the stories were first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, though a few first appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and the various book collections into which the stories were eventually gathered.
George H. Scithers was an American science fiction fan, author and editor.
This is a list of short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. Asimov is principally known for his science fiction, but he also wrote mystery and fantasy stories.
"Marooned off Vesta" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was the third story he wrote, and the first to be published. Written in July 1938 when Asimov was 18, it was rejected by Astounding Science Fiction in August, then accepted in October by Amazing Stories, appearing in the March 1939 issue. Asimov first included it in his 1968 story collection Asimov's Mysteries, and subsequently in the 1973 collection The Best of Isaac Asimov.
Magic (1996) is a collection of short stories and essays by American writer Isaac Asimov, all within the fantasy genre, collected and released after his death. The first seven stories are part of his Azazel series, while the remainder are three more traditional medieval fantasies and one mystery story from Asimov's Black Widowers series.
Asimov's Mysteries, published in 1968, is a collection of 14 short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov, almost all of them science fiction mysteries. The stories were all originally published in magazines between 1954 and 1967, except for "Marooned off Vesta", Asimov's first published story, which first appeared in 1939.
Pâté de Foie Gras is a 1956 science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published by Astounding Science Fiction.
"Cal" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in 1991, and was included in the 1995 collection Gold.
More Tales of the Black Widowers is a collection of mystery short stories by American author Isaac Asimov, featuring his fictional club of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in October 1976, and in paperback by the Fawcett Crest imprint of Ballantine Books in November 1977. The first British edition was issued by Gollancz in April 1977.
The Union Club Mysteries is a collection of mystery short stories by American author Isaac Asimov featuring his fictional mystery solver Griswold. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1983 and in paperback by the Fawcett Crest imprint of Ballantine Books in 1985.
Science Fiction by Asimov is a collection of six short stories and one poem by American author Isaac Asimov. Published by Davis Publications in 1986, it was given away free to subscribers of Asimov's SF Magazine.
"Getting Even" is a fantasy short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is the first story in his series of Union Club mysteries, and also the first in his Azazel fantasy series. It first appeared in the August 1980 issue of Gallery.
The Asimov Chronicles: Fifty Years of Isaac Asimov is a collection of forty eight short science fiction and mystery stories and two science essays by American writer Isaac Asimov, published by Dark Harvest in May 1989.
"The Ultimate Crime" is a short story by Isaac Asimov, dealing with a minor aspect of one of the Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the 24th of Asimov's Black Widowers mystery stories, and it appeared in his anthology More Tales of the Black Widowers, which collects the second dozen stories of the series. It was written specially for that book. It subsequently appeared again in Sherlock Holmes Through Time and Space, an anthology of stories written by different authors and co-edited by Asimov, and Another Round at the Spaceport Bar.
Depending on the counting convention used, and including all titles, charts, and edited collections, there may be currently over 500 books in Isaac Asimov's bibliography—as well as his individual short stories, individual essays, and criticism. For his 100th, 200th, and 300th books, Asimov published Opus 100 (1969), Opus 200 (1979), and Opus 300 (1984), celebrating his writing.
Opus 300 is a collection by American writer and scientist Isaac Asimov. It was published by Houghton Mifflin in the United States in 1984, and by Robert Hale Ltd in the United Kingdom in 1985. Asimov chose to celebrate the publication of his three hundredth book by writing about his previous 99 books, including excerpts from short stories and novels, as well as nonfiction articles and books. Opus 300 also includes nine complete stories, several complete science essays, and one complete essay never before published, "The Forever Generation," which is not available anywhere else.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
