Author | Isaac Asimov |
---|---|
Genre | Science fiction |
Publisher | Doubleday |
The Alternate Asimovs (1986) is a collection of early science fiction drafts by American writer Isaac Asimov. [1] Asimov mostly threw away early drafts. Just a few survived and were included in this anthology.
It consists of three items:
This is a shorter and less refined version of the book Pebble in the Sky; set in the very early days of the Trantorian Empire whose eventual decline had been described in the Foundation novels. The plot is largely the same, though the chief villain is less developed.
Asimov also explained how he began with the idea that Earth was radioactive from an atomic war. As he learned more, he became unhappy with the notion, reckoning that a war would not make the crust radioactive without also wiping out all life, hence the revised notion in Robots and Empire .
A 25,000 word novella that was extensively changed for the book-length The End of Eternity , it tells of an organisation of time travellers dedicated to the betterment of humanity by tampering with history. However, control brings problems, sometimes tragedies.
Elements of the later novel are there. But 'Andrew Harlan' was a merger of two different characters from the short story. The ending is quite different, and Asimov himself called it weak.
The biggest difference with the novel is that Eternity does not end; it is heroically saved. The original story has Anders Horemm the technician who does the damage, and then Genro Manfield the historian who sets things right again. These were combined into 'Andrew Harlan' for the novel.
Anders Horemm has much the same relationship with Nöys Lambent, but she is no more than she seems. The reality-change removes the belief that 'Eternals' can grant eternal life. As a regrettable side-effect, Nöys Lambent vanishes. Horemm has a breakdown, comes back as Twissell's technician. Like Harlan, he sabotages the trip into the past, but that is the end of his role.
Manfield also has a bad experience – the unhappy liaison that is transferred to Twissell in the book version. But he stays loyal to Eternity, completing his mission to the past.
The history that Manfield's Eternity grew out of matches our own history, with an atomic bomb in 1945. It is also a different future from that of the Galactic Empire, with humans remaining on Earth until the 'two hundred thousandth century' – 20 million years. The eventual fate of humans is left uncertain.
Dave Langford reviewed The Alternate Asimovs for White Dwarf #93, and stated that "Keep your dreadful unsaleable manuscripts for 40 years, goes the encouraging message, and Grafton will give you big money for them..." [2]
Timothy Thomas Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. His first major novel was The Drawing of the Dark (1979), but the novel that earned him wide praise was The Anubis Gates (1983), which won the Philip K. Dick Award, and has since been published in many other languages. His other written work include Dinner at Deviant's Palace (1985), Last Call (1992), Expiration Date (1996), Earthquake Weather (1997), Declare (2000), and Three Days to Never (2006). Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare. His 1987 novel On Stranger Tides served as inspiration for the Monkey Island franchise of video games and was partly adapted into the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.
Foundation and Earth is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, the fifth novel of the Foundation series and chronologically the last in the series. It was published in 1986, four years after the first sequel to the Foundation trilogy, which is titled Foundation's Edge.
The Galactic Empire series is a science fiction sequence of three of Isaac Asimov's earliest novels, and extended by one short story. They are connected by their early place in his published works and chronological placement within his overarching Foundation universe, set around the rise of Asimov's Galactic Empire, between the Robot and Foundation series to which they were linked in Asimov's later novels.
Dangerous Visions is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by American writer Harlan Ellison and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. It was published in 1967 and contained 33 stories, none of which had been previously published.
The End of Eternity is a 1955 science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov with mystery and thriller elements on the subjects of time travel and social engineering. Its ultimate premise is that of a causal loop, a type of temporal paradox in which events and their causes form a loop. The novel was shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Pebble in the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1950. This work is his first novel — parts of the Foundation series had appeared from 1942 onwards in magazines, but Foundation was not published in book form until 1951. The original Foundation books are also a string of linked episodes, whereas this is a complete story involving a single group of characters.
Robots and Empire is a science fiction novel by the American author Isaac Asimov, published by Doubleday Books in 1985. It is part of Asimov's Robot series, which consists of many short stories and five novels.
Gilgamesh the King is a 1984 historical novel by American writer Robert Silverberg, presenting the Epic of Gilgamesh as a novel. In the afterword the author wrote "at all times I have attempted to interpret the fanciful and fantastic events of these poems in a realistic way, that is, to tell the story of Gilgamesh as though he were writing his own memoirs, and to that end I have introduced many interpretations of my own devising which for better or for worse are in no way to be ascribed to the scholars".
The Stars, Like Dust is a 1951 science fiction mystery book by American writer Isaac Asimov.
Tik-Tok is a 1983 science fiction novel by American writer John Sladek. It received a 1983 British Science Fiction Association Award.
Majipoor Chronicles is a collection of ten stories by Robert Silverberg, published in 1982. The stories are all part of the Majipoor series.
The Mirror of Her Dreams is a novel by Stephen R. Donaldson published in 1986.
Terry Carr's Best Science Fiction of the Year is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the fourteenth volume in a series of sixteen. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in July 1985, and in hardcover and trade paperback by Gollancz in October of the same year, under the alternate title Best SF of the Year #14.
Terry Carr's Best Science Fiction of the Year #15 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the fifteenth volume in a series of sixteen. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in August 1986 and in hardcover and paperback by Gollancz in October of the same year, under the alternate title Best SF of the Year #15.
The Foundation universe is the future history of humanity's colonization of the galaxy, spanning nearly 25,000 years, created through the gradual fusion of the Robot, Galactic Empire, and Foundation book series written by American author Isaac Asimov.
Two Complete Science-Adventure Books was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Fiction House, which lasted for eleven issues between 1950 and 1954 as a companion to Planet Stories. Each issue carried two novels or long novellas. It was initially intended to carry only reprints, but soon began to publish original stories. Contributors included Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Poul Anderson, John Brunner, and James Blish. The magazine folded in 1954, almost at the end of the pulp era.
The End of Eternity is a 1987 Soviet science fiction film directed by Andrei Yermash based on the eponymous 1955 novel by Isaac Asimov.
Empire of the East is a novel by Fred Saberhagen published in 1979.
Starburst is a science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl, published in 1982. It is an expansion of his 1972 novella The Gold at the Starbow's End.
Welcome, Chaos is a novel by Kate Wilhelm published in 1983.