"Getting to Know You" is a science fiction short story by American writer David Marusek, published in the March 1998 issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine , after appearing in a privately circulated anthology prepared by Nokia in 1997. [1] This story is also included in Marusek's 2007 short story collection Getting To Know You .
Set the same future (the "Boutique Economy") as Marusek's We Were Out of Our Minds with Joy, the story is about Zoranna – an affluent, attractive journalist who visits her elderly sister Nancy, who is the only other surviving member of her family. Unlicensed procreation has been outlawed to prevent overpopulation; biotechnology has advanced to the point where immortality is possible, but only granted to people who have the means and are considered useful to society. Nancy is one of the people who are considered obsolete, as she was forced out of her teaching career after the Procreation Ban; she now works as a hospice caretaker from her apartment, where she tends to holographic projections of dying patients.
A subplot of the story involves Zoranna's "belt valet", an artificially intelligent accessory that can mentally communicate with its wearer and perform a wide variety of tasks. A representative of the company that gave her the belt valet (which she names "Bug") to field test urges that she return it, due to an unspecified defect; she refuses in spite of her annoyance with it, as she needs it for progressively more tasks.
When she finally visits Nancy, Zoranna finds out that she is living with a man who is using her as a fall guy for a fraud. She forces the man to leave under threat of turning him in, a loss which causes Nancy's condition to deteriorate. Zoranna's attempts to get Nancy to go to a rejuvenation clinic on her dime are rebuffed, until Bug – having unexpectedly changed into a suave, powerful entity named Nicholas that knows every aspect of her life and personality – tricks Nancy into taking Zoranna to the clinic by making it appear as if she were gravely ill. Angered at first, Zoranna at last comes to terms with the machine.
Zoranna and Nicholas are also minor characters in Marusek's first novel, Counting Heads , while Zoranna herself is mentioned in obliquely in "We Were Out of Our Minds With Joy".
I, Robot is a fixup collection made up of science fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950 and were then collected into a 1950 publication Gnome Press in 1950, in an initial edition of 5,000 copies.
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.
Nanotech is a 1998 anthology of science fiction short stories revolving around nanotechnology and its effects. It is edited by American writers Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois.
The Foundation series is a science fiction book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. First published as a series of short stories and novellas in 1942–50, and subsequently in three collections in 1951–53, for nearly thirty years the series was a trilogy: Foundation (1951); Foundation and Empire (1952); and Second Foundation (1953). It won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. Asimov later added new volumes, with two sequels: Foundation's Edge (1982) and Foundation and Earth (1986), and two prequels: Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993).
The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, which were to be followed by robots in several of his stories. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although similar restrictions had been implied in earlier stories.
The Gods Themselves is a 1972 science fiction novel written by Isaac Asimov, and his first original work in the science fiction genre in fifteen years. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1973.
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.
David Marusek is an American author.
"Not Final!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published in the October 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and included in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov. Its sequel, "Victory Unintentional", is a robot story. These are two of the few stories by Asimov to postulate non-human intelligences in the Solar system.
"Obituary" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the August 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and reprinted in Asimov's 1968 collection Asimov's Mysteries.
"The Greatest Asset" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was written as a counterpoint to his story "2430 A.D." with the intention of refuting, rather than illustrating, the same quotation by writer and social commentator J. B. Priestley. It was published in the January 1972 issue of Analog and reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories.
Getting to Know You is a short story collection by American writer David Marusek. It contains all of his published science fiction stories as of its publication. Includes an introduction and a commentary on each story by the author.
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirteenth Annual Collection is a 1996 science fiction anthology edited by Gardner Dozois. It is the 13th in the Year's Best Science Fiction series. It won the Locus Award for best anthology.
Counting Heads is a science fiction novel by American writer David Marusek, published in 2005 by Tor Books.
In a writing career spanning 53 years (1939–1992), science fiction and popular science author Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) wrote and published 40 novels, 383 short stories, over 280 non-fiction books, and edited about 147 others.
Nebula Awards 27 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by James Morrow, the second of three successive volumes under his editorship. It was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by Harcourt Brace in April 1993.
Nightfall is a 1988 American science fiction film written and directed by Paul Mayersberg, based on the 1941 short story of the same name by Isaac Asimov.
"The Wedding Album" is a science fiction short story by David Marusek. It was first published in Asimov's Science Fiction in June 1999.