Asimov Book Review - Nightfall & Other Stories

by Lacey Kat
(Copyright 2016 by Author)


"If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore: and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God . . .."

Ralph Waldo Emerson 'Nature'

On March 17, 1941, John W. Campbell, Jr., then editor of "Astounding Science Fiction" met with a young Isaac Asimov, one of his stable of young writers. Asimov, who had just turned 21, had an idea for a story. Campbell, being the boss, had a better one. Campbell asked (so the story goes), "What do you think would happen if men were to see the stars for the first time in a thousand years?" Asimov, then quite naive on the ways of man, said, "I don't know." Campbell the said, "I think they would go mad." The two men talked a bit about the how & why of a world without stars, then Campbell sent the young, and only recently published, author out off his office with the orders, "Go home and write the story." And the rest, as they say, is history.

The story that evolved out of that meeting over sixty years ago is known as "Nightfall." It is considered by many to be the best science fiction short story of the twentieth century. It has won the Hugo Award and the Nebula, and readers" polls consistently place it in First place. By 1969 it had appeared in ten anthologies and was translated into Dutch, German, Italian, and even Russian (I say "even" because in 1969 the Cold War was still in full swing and neither Russia nor the U.S. printed much of the other's literary works).

As popular as it was, Asimov never included "Nightfall" in any of his collections until 1969. He also never considered it to be one of his best works. And therein lies a rub. At the "young" age of twenty-one, Asimov wrote a story so powerful that John W. Campbell Jr. actually gave him a bonus. It elevated Asimov to the level of "serious writer," it got him his first "cover," and from that point on he sold everything he wrote. The question was, where do you go from up?

Asimov himself once wrote that he was a little irritated at being told, over and over again, that "Nightfall" was his best story. He felt that time and practice should have made him a more polished writer in the passing years, and surely something else that he wrote should have surpassed this "dated" classic. The price of stardom at a young age.

To capitalize on his point Asimov put together this collection of twenty short stories. They cover the period of 1941 to 1968 and include stories that had not, at that time, appeared in any of his other collections. The stories vary in length and source. Some were published in leading Science Fiction Magazines of the time such as "Galaxy," "Astounding Science Fiction,"" New Tales of Space and Time," and "Fantastic." Others were first published in other sources such as "Scientific American" and the Netherlands medical magazine "Abbottempo." As he grew in fame periodicals of all kinds hoped to broaden their readership by including an "Asimov" story.

The first story, "Nightfall," deals with a planet, in a system of six suns that only sees a night sky once in two thousand and forty-nine years. And today is the day. In the span of thirty-two pages Asimov, using largely a conversation style introduces an alien civilization, gives you a history lesson, a quick look at the problems of astrophysics, examines the role of religion in society, and speculates on what you might do if you knew the world were coming to an end. For most writers, this would take a trilogy. [Note: In 1990 Robert Silverberg did expand the short story into novel length with the aid and approval of Asimov]

Each of the next stories, presented in the order they were published, takes a deferent look at a wide host of subjects. Asimov was never dull. What is particularly interesting in this collection is that Asimov has stories that include "alien" characters. This is unusual for the good Doctor as he usually populated his universes with humans only. However, in this collection, we see various attempts to present alien life with decidedly alien psychologies. In "Green Patches," for example, the alien life is a collective and sees man as too individual to do any good. In "C-Chute," a story that first appeared in "Galaxy" magazine and then was presented on radio, Asimov presents a war with an alien race that breaths chlorine and has a "hive" mentality. In "Hostess" the alien ambassador comes to dinner, much to the chagrin of the Hostess' husband. In "What is this thing called Love?" an alien that reproduces through budding must explain the concept of "sex" to his superior. So he grabs two earthlings off a train platform and asks for a visual aid. After reading these examples you may wonder why aliens are so scarce in Asimov's universe.

There is one robot story in the collection. It is called "Sally" and does not deal with the usual three laws conflicts.

One other story, that I found particularly interesting deals with the idea alternate universes. What would you do if you could see both outcomes of an important decision, and you did not like either one. Current Sci-Fi superstar Larry Niven wrote a host of stories dealing with contact with alternate realities, but that was over a decade after Asimov explored the idea. This story is also interesting as it has "romance" as a driving force. Asimov seldom had female characters in his stories, let alone romantic undertones.

"Nightfall and Other Stories" is a classic example of why Isaac Asimov was considered one of the great authors of the last century. Each story in the book starts with a brief biographical note explaining the history of the story. I have always enjoyed these glimpses into the life of the author and wish more would follow Asimov's example. What the book also shows is that Asimov was wrong. He did not get better with experience. He was a genius from the early stages of his writing. "Nightfall" shows how well developed his talent was at an early age. If you have not read "Nightfall and Other Stories," you have not read Asimov.

WARNING: In an effort to make more profit, I can only suppose, Grafton Books released "Nightfall One" and "Nightfall Two" in 1986. These are simply the original "Nightfall and Other Stories" split into two volumes. There is no new material, in either volume, and they were marketed primarily in England, New Zealand, and Australia. If you have "Nightfall and Other Stories", there is no reason to buy these.