Asimov Book Review - Earth Is Room Enough

By Lacey Kat

(Copyright 2014 by Author)

Isaac Asimov is best known for his science fiction writing, specifically his Foundation novels and his robot stories. While this would be enough for most of today’s writers, it should be remembered that this was just a smidgeon of Asimov’s literary output. Most of his work was non-fiction, a good amount was not science, and a good amount remains published today.

Even among his science fiction the robots and the Foundation were a distinctive minority. Asimov populated his work with massive computers that ran the world, fantasy creatures that granted wishes, for a price, and aliens who were just looking at what makes man tick. Interspaced with these tales were bad jokes, clever rhymes, and a pull at your heartstrings from time to time.

If you would like to get to know Isaac Asimov, or you would like to introduce a friend to his worlds, I would strongly suggest holding off on “Foundation” and “I Robot,” and instead buy them a copy of “Earth is Room Enough.”

The title comes from a criticism that all of Asimov’s stories took place across the galaxy and that he never brought stories home. To prove these less than educated observers wrong in November of 1956 Asimov took a collection of stories that took place on Earth to Doubleday Publishers who not only agreed to print them but made the book a “Selection of the Month” for the Science Fiction Book Club.

The collection is an entertaining cross section of Asimov’s works including some robot tales, the first Multivac story, some of his poetry, and a pun or two. It is a fine example of why Isaac Asimov is considered one of the giants of the last century.

Here is a brief synopsis of the stories in this volume.

Dead Past - Andrew Potterly, a Professor of Ancient History, is desperate to prove, via "time-viewing," that the object of his research, the ancient Carthaginians, did not practice human sacrifice. In his world, however, intellectual disciplines are not supposed to mingle. He is a history professor and has no reason to contact the advanced physics departments. He cannot get special government permission, and no established physicist will help him, so he pressures a young physicist, Jonas Foster, into making a time-viewing device illegally.

This is the first story in the book and at fifty pages is a little daunting. Other than that, there is very little to criticize about this story. The characters are sharply drawn, and the conflict is vivid. In fact, until the end, you think you know what the conflict is and who the good and bad guys are. Asimov does a very good job of challenging these preconceptions in the end without making the reader feel foolish or used. Asimov also makes the story more complex than many of his novelettes by skillfully bringing in threads from all over the place. Items like the pain of losing a child, frustration over what seems to be an over burdensome system, and even a careless cigarette are all utilized to paint a rich background for what is essentially a simple story.

The Foundation of S F Success – This is a short piece of comic verse that is a mild parody of a poem by William S. Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame). In it, Asimov “answers” the question of how to become a successful Sci-Fi author. It is a whimsical look at Asimov and the Foundation series, and the debt owed to Roman History. It was the first bit of comic verse Asimov ever sold, and he was paid $15 for it.

Franchise – was the first of the “Multivac” stories that Asimov ever wrote and was originally printed in the August 1955 edition of IF magazine. Asimov wrote it after the introduction of the Univac computer in the 1952 Presidential election. In that election, Univac was used to predict the outcome using a small, representative, sample of the voting public. But how small of a sample do you need to make an accurate prediction? That is what “Franchise” is all about.  Seems even more relavant today. 

Gimmicks Three – In this amazing little bit of fantasy (odd for the early Asimov) Isidore Welby sells the soul to the devil. When the devil appears to collect, Welby is given a test to pass. If he passes, he’ll become a demon and have a comparatively comfortable life in hell; if he fails, he’ll just be damned. This contains all of the usual “gimmicks of a pact with the devil,” a locked room mystery, and time travel. Asimov blends all three into an interesting twist that Faust should have thought of.

Kid Stuff – By 1953, Asimov was becoming more interested in writing non-fiction. Science Fiction, no matter the success, was still looked at as less than adult fare. In this story, Jan Prentiss earns his living writing fantasies. This is a source of embarrassment to himself and his family. Then Prentiss meets an elf. An elf from Avalon. An elf that wants to take Prentiss back home. You see the fantasy world is stuck in a rut and this elf is a mutant. He can turn his psychic gifts into practical electronics. He wants Prentiss to help him turn Avalon into a modern industrial civilization, or he will do harm to Prentiss’ family.

The Watery Place - Ambassadors from the planet Venus are mistaken for pesky tourists from Venice and humanity’s future is ruined.

Asimov loved humor and particularly loved puns. As a result, he wrote a number of stories of unequal success to utilize this love. This short-short story appeared in “Satellite Science Fiction” in the fall of 1956. It was the magazine’s first issue and having a big name like Asimov was a plus. The story is cute, but not that cute, and the name was more important than the content at this point.

Living Space – One of Asimov’s talents was to take an overused Science Fiction situation, and look at it in a different light. In “Living Space,” Asimov looks at the concept of “alternate Earths.” The idea that there are an infinite number of parallel dimensions with an infinite number of earths in them. All you have to do is figure out how to go from universe to universe. Most of these stories are used to look at alternate histories. Worlds where Rome never fell or the Germans won WW II. They relieve the author of creating completely new worlds; just change the one you know to fit your story.

In Asimov’s story, Earth is overpopulated so they find alternate Earths which never developed life. There you can put one family in one house and have a world all to yourself. However, what happens if you meet someone from an alternate earth who wants your planet for themselves? Moreover, if they are a colony of Nazis from yet another alternate-Earth, they may have more than one world conquest in mind.

The Message – This is one of the few Asimov stories that have suffered from the passage of time. In it, we find out who “Kilroy,” of “Kilroy was here” really was. It is a cute story that almost falls into the Forest Gump look at history. However, most of today’s reading public does not know about Kilroy or his role in WW II. It would be like writing a science fiction story featuring the Brady Bunch. Today’s youth may know the name but have lost the connection.

Satisfaction Guaranteed – This is one of only two robot stories (not counting the Multivac story) in this collection, and it is one of the better “Susan Calvin” stories. She plays only a minor, but important, role in the story. The major player is a “frumpy” housewife named Claire Belmont, who is asked, by her husband, to “field test” the latest model of the home robot. A robot that looks like a man and is designed to help around the house. Clair is repulsed by the situation, but slowly comes around as the robot, “Tony,” helps her become the wife and hostess she has always wanted to be. In the end, Tony does one more thing to elevate Clair’s social status. Something not meant to be in his personal programming.

Hell-Fire - First published in Fantastic Universe, May 1956, this is an another short-short story reflecting Asimov’s depression on the use of atomic power. He wrote several such stories as he saw the promise of “atomics” turned into the cold war. This one is odd for two reasons. The first is the lack of sedulity in connecting the bomb with the devil. The second interesting footnote is that after the September 11^th attack on the World Trade Center pictures circulated showing Satan’s visage in the smoke emanating from the tower wreckage. It is also worth noting that this story does not seem to appear in his autobiography, “In Joy Still Felt.” Perhaps it was something he would rather forget.

The Last Trump - First published in Fantastic Universe, June 1955, it is a “fantasy story” about the end of the world. An end that is in a more old-testament fashion. The Old Testament’s Sheol. A gray nothingness where everyone walks around without desire, without fulfillment, without death. It is an interesting look at what might happen if we woke to find that the end is as the Bible predicted it. Sort of a “left behind” from a Jewish point of view. None of the characters are of interest, but the story is well written and raises some interesting questions. Not being a total religious zealot, Asimov injects a little reality to solve the mess humanity finds themselves in.

The Fun They Had – This is a quaint little story more along the lines of Ray Bradbury than Isaac Asimov. In it, Margie Jones longs for the “good old days” of education instead of the dull computerized education she is forced to sit through today. The grass, she feels, was greener then.

This was written for a children’s newspaper in 1951 and the technology is a bit off. However, the idea of computerized education is more on the mark and helped establish Asimov as a “futurist.”

Jokester - Noel Meyerhof, the Grand Master of the Multivac “priesthood” asks the giant computer brain why jokes exist. The only logical answer is that humans are being experimented on and that humor is a technique to test our psyches. Once that little fact is discovered, of what use will the experiment be? This is a fun story that raises a few questions on the origins of thought. It was turned into a radio play, quite effectively, in the Science Fiction Anthology series “X Minus One.”

The Immortal Bard - What if you brought William Shakespeare to the present and he took a course in Shakespeare? Gotthard Guenther at the Cambridge Center inspired this story when Asimov attended his lecture on Science Fiction for the Arts. During the lecture, Gotthard explained to the audience the ideas behind “Nightfall,” not knowing that Asimov was a few yards away. After the talk, Asimov proudly went up to the lecturer and declared that his analysis was wrong. Gotthard asked Asimov, “What makes you think, just because you are the author of ‘Nightfall,’ that you have the slightest inkling of what is in it?” A lesser author would have stormed off insulted. Asimov used the incident to write a story of a better author finding himself in a similar situation. I believe this idea was also explored in a “Twilight Zone” episode ten years later.

Someday - Niccolo Mazetti is unhappy with his “Bard,” his story-telling computer. His friend Paul Loeb, who has the latest model of electronic Bard, tries to upgrade Niccolo’s and tells him of all the clever things the new models can do. The upgrade is too little and Paul and Niccolo leave the obsolete machine to play with the newer one at Paul’s house. The Bard manages to overhear this and, after they leave, tells a story to itself of its own pain. The interesting thing about this story is that it is one of the few non-law stories that Asimov wrote, and it deals with a robot’s feelings, not logic.

The Author’s Ordeal – This is another bit of comic verse that Asimov wrote in the style of W. S. Gilbert. In this verse, he laments the distractions a writer must face while working on the plot for a new story. Anyone who is an author, or is trying to be one, will find pathos in this funny tale.

Dreaming is a Private Thing - What if you could record dreams and then play them back for other’s entertainment? Jesse Weill runs a company that does just that. He manufactures "dreamies"—prerecorded dream sequences. Then you can pick and choose your mental fantasies. As with any other industry there are problems and we follow Jesse through the course of the day as he deals with acquiring new talent, fending off the government censors who want to crack down on pornography, and keeping his best talent happy. This idea has been explored several times since in movies such as “Brainstorm” in 1983 and the original “Total Recall” entitled “We can remember it for you wholesale.” It is an interesting look at “new” technology and its effects on society. Which, as Asimov has pointed out, is what science fiction is supposed to be about.

Earth is Room Enough is readily available from Amazon.com (0449241254) in both the paperback and hardback edition. It is a fine addition to any bookshelf and a very good introduction to a very good author. It is seldom that I find a book that is so completely enjoyable.