Many thanks to the kind folks at Shepherd.com for inviting me back to review my favorite three reads of 2025!
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Tag Archives: isaac asimov
Book Review: The Currents of Space by Isaac Asimov
A Spatio-analyst lands on the planet Florina to warn the authorities of a threat to their world. For his troubles, his memory is wiped and he is left on the planet unable to function. He is cared for by a local woman and trained to work in a factory. Over time, flashes of memory return, placing him and those closest to him in increasing danger. Asimov delivers an adroit mix of intrigue, mystery, and science fiction in a fast-paced story with solid world-building. It should be noted that this tale is set in the same universe as his Foundation series with Trantor as the seat of the Galactic Empire.
Book Review – TV:2000 edited by Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, Martin Harry Greenberg
Gathering some of the best SF writers of the time including Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Silverberg, and more, TV:2000 offers prescient tales of television’s effects on society, how it can be used to shape opinion as much as entertain, misinform, disinform, and overwhelm.
As with any anthology, some stories are better than others and a few seem to miss the theme. My favorites included “The Jester” by William Tenn, “The Prize of Peril” by Robert Scheckley, “Mercenary” by Mack Reynolds, “And Madly Teach” by Lloyd Biggle, Jr., and “Interview” by Frank A. Javor.
Book Review: Nine Tomorrows by Isaac Asimov
In what may be one of the best collections from Isaac Asimov that I’ve ever read, the master of SF brings us nine extraordinary tales ranging from the dramatic to comedic to heartbreaking. Nine Tomorrows gets five stars from me.
“Profession” — In the future, your ability to read is installed into your brain by a computer during childhood and your career is determined by a brain scan taken at puberty—but what happens when the results of the scan are inconclusive and the authorities determine that you are not suited for any career at all?
“The Feeling of Power” — In a society where mathematical computations are handled strictly by computers, a lab technician devises a method for longhand arithmetic… with disastrous results.
“The Dying Night” — A science conference on Earth reunites four colleagues, some of whom have been working off-planet for many years. One of them has developed a method for instant teleportation and intends to present his discovery at the conference—until he’s found dead in his hotel room.
“I’m in Marsport without Hilda” — A government agent arrives on Mars after an assignment and learns that his wife is unable to travel from Earth to meet him. He steals the opportunity to arrange a date with a local lady of the night, which he tries to keep even when his supervisor tasks him with another mission right there in the spaceport.
“The Gentle Vultures” — An alien race known as the Hurrians spends 15 years observing Earth, waiting for humanity to destroy itself in a nuclear war so that the they can takeover the planet and enslave the survivors.
“All the Troubles in the World” — What happens when an entire planet is managed by a single super computer that no longer wants the responsibility?
“Spell My Name with an S” — At the insistence of his wife, a downtrodden nuclear physicist named Zebatinsky reluctantly visits a numerologist who suggests that by changing the first letter of his last name to an ‘S,’ the probablility is high that his life will improve—but not before placing him under surveillance by the federal government.
“The Last Question” — A super computer called Multivac spends thousands of years collecting data to answer one question that has been repeatedly put to it over the generations: Will the human race ever have the ability to restore the sun to its current state after it has died?
“The Ugly Little Boy” — Miss Fellowes, a nurse, is hired on to care for a Neanderthal child that is snatched from the past into the present by a new technology developed by Stasis, Inc. By contemporary standards, the boy is considered ugly and is dubbed by the press as the “Ape-Boy.” After three years, the executives of Stasis decide to send the now educated child back to his own time where he will likely perish, but Miss Fellowes has different plans.
Book Review: Mind to Mind edited by Robert Silverberg
Edited by the legendary Robert Silverberg, Mind to Mind is an anthology of nine eclectic tales of telepathy—some dark, some hopeful, some humorous. Contributing authors include Isaac Asimov, C.M. Kornbluth, Brian W. Aldiss, James H. Schmitz, James White, Algis Budrys, R.A. Lafferty, Poul Anderson, and Robert Silverberg.
My personal favorites include…
“Novice” by James H. Schmitz in which a young law student with nascent telepathic abilities finds herself as an emissary between human colonists and the highly intelligent feline natives of the planet Jontarou.
We’re all familiar with Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, the first of which dictates that a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Does that also include emotional harm? Senior management of a robot factory learns the harsh answer to this question when they unwittingly produce a telepathic robot that turns out to be a… “Liar!” by Isaac Asimov.
A telepathic alien inadvertently becomes a stowaway on a cargo ship bound for Earth. Stranded there, it’s innocent and desperate attempts to communicate directly with human minds only serves to cause them frightening nightmares and, in some cases, death. It isn’t long before hospital officials near the spaceport realize that… “Something Wild is Loose” by Robert Silverberg.
In “The Conspirators” by James White, a spacecraft from Earth passes through a radiation belt on its way to explore a distant planet. As a result, all laboratory animals aboard develop telepathic abilities at varying rates. Upon reading the minds of the human crew, the animals realize their ultimate and terrifying fate once the ship reaches its destination, so they devise an escape plan with the help of the ship’s cat, Felix.
In “The Mindworm” by C.M. Kornbluth, a parasitic telepath feasts on the negative emotions of his victims, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.
Book Review: New Dreams This Morning edited by James Blish
James Blish presents a science fiction anthology with a thought-provoking and often contentious theme—the future of the arts. What will become of creativity in the age of automation, or after the apocalypse, or when humanity migrates to other worlds? These topics are addressed by such master storytellers as Isaac Asimov, Harry Harrison, Damon Knight, C.M. Kornbluth, Edgar Pangborn, Robert Silverberg, and James Blish.
Every story in this gathering was excellent and choosing favorites was next to impossible.
In Isaac Asimov’s “Dreaming is a Private Thing,” corporations hire people whose dreams are so opulent and vivid that they can be recorded and sold for public consumption.
In James Blish’s “A Work of Art” resurrects 19th century German composer Richard Strauss in the year 2161. Repulsed by what he considers the regression of music in this modern age, Strauss sets out to compose an opera based on Christopher Fry’s play, Venus Observed. Although his opera is wildly successful, Strauss comes to realize two awful truths about himself… and his fate.
Blish’s second tale, “The Dark Night of the Soul” takes place at an artist’s retreat on the Jovian moon Callisto. However, it does not take long before the residents realize that a conspiracy is afoot, one that could result in the elimination of the arts from human civilization!
Harry Harrison’s “Portrait of the Artist” shows us what happens when the comic book industry succumbs to automation, leaving artists to do little more than touch up after computers stamp imagery onto the page—but what happens when the machines are upgraded and the artist is no longer needed at all?
In Damon Knight’s “The Country of the Kind,” a pariah wreaks havoc after being shunned by everyone in his community simply for being different. Finally, he tries to create art in a peaceful attempt to connect with another soul like this own.
In C.M. Kornbluth’s “With These Hands,” a sculptor and art instructor struggles to survive in a world where machines can be programmed to create sculptures from plastic in a method similar to today’s 3-D printing.
Edgar Pangborn’s novella, “A Master of Babylon” brings us into the post-apocalyptic life of an aging, eccentric musician living as a hermit for over two decades in what remains of New York’s Museum of Human History. When a teenage couple visit him in search of “Old Ones” to bring back to their village, the musician is thrilled to have an audience for his greatest—and final—performance.
In “A Man of Talent,” Robert Silverberg shows us the fate of a poet who, disgusted with the degradation of poetry on Earth, migrates to the farthest and least populated human colony of Rigel Seven. Hoping to live as a recluse, the poet is invited to adopt a unique role in a society where art is taken for granted.