Isaac Asimov’s Best Books

Isaac Asimov was a writer whose outstanding work in science fiction changed the genre. Having edited and authored more than 500 books, Isaac is known to be one of the greatest science fiction writers. Before his writing career, Isaac was a chemistry graduate, and he ended up publishing non-fictional books related to physics and chemistry.

The Naked Sun

‘The Naked Sun’ is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov and published in 1957. It tells the story of a society called Solaria, whose traditions and customs created a political rift between it and Earth. However, after the death of Delmarre, a Solarian fetologist, Elijah Baley, is called to investigate the death. With the investigation of Delmarre’s death comes a massive discovery of the repugnant traditions Solaria upholds concerning face-to-face interaction and sex.

With further investigating, Elijah discovers that Delmarre’s neighbor, Jothan Leebig, was working to install a positron brain on spaceships that would enable the spaceships to attack vessels with humans in them. Soon, it gets revealed that Leebig reprogrammed the robots in Delmarre’s house to give his wife, Gladia, an arm, which she uses to kill her husband.

Robot Dreams

‘Robot Dreams’ is a novel by Isaac Asimov which was a collection of 21 short stories. With the stories combined into a book, it got published in November 1986. ‘Robot Dreams’ is the sequel to ‘The Complete Robot.’ It tells the story of a robopsychologist, Doctor Susan Calvin, who discovers that a robot, LVX-1, could dream. In the robot’s dream, robots started a revolution that led to the change of the three laws of robotics. LVX-1 admits that he was the leader of the rebellion. 

Forward The Foundation

‘Forward the Foundation’ is a part of the Foundation series. The novel tells the story of Hari Seldon’s life on Trantor when he first develops the theory of psychohistory. After discovering the practical applications of his theory, Hari gets dragged into galactic politics by Yugo Amaryl’s worry over his friend, Eto Demerzel. With the rise of opposition against Demerzel, he steps down as First Minister.

Cleon, the Emperor, then appoints a reluctant Seldon to become the First Minister, and for ten years, the Empire knows peace. However, an attempted coup leads to the Emperor’s assassination, and Hari steps down from his position. Hari then develops psychohistory to the point where he sees the Empire’s future. Hari loses all those close to him as Dors, his consort, gets killed. Even with his family leaving him, Hari keeps up his struggle to ensure his project stays afloat.

The Gods Themselves

‘The Gods Themselves’ is a science fiction novel published in 1972. The book has three parts; ‘Against Stupidity,’ ‘The Gods Themselves,’ and ‘Contend in Vain?’ The first part tells the story of Radiochemist Frederick Hallam, who discovers that elements can get transmuted from a parallel universe; this leads to the invention of an endless energy source called the Pump. However, a discovery by Lamont showed that the Pump might be dangerous, and though he tries to warn politicians, he gets ignored; this leads to a catastrophe as the Pump goes into overdrive.

The second part of the novel occurs in the parallel universe where nuclear force operates stronger. Because of the atomic difference between the parallel universe and the first one, intelligent beings in the other universe have super abilities. The last part of the novel tells the story of physicist Denison, who taps into a third parallel universe and changes the Pump’s efficiency.

Pebble in the Sky

‘Pebble in the Sky’ is Isaac Asimov’s first novel as it got published in 1950. IT tells the story of Joseph Schwart, a retired tailor, who gets caught in a nuclear accident that transports him 50,000 years into the future. Joseph gets thrown into a society where he does not understand or speak the language. He gets taken in by a couple after wandering into the farm. Thinking he is mentally deficient, the couple uses Joseph as a subject for testing, and the procedure they perform on him enhances his mental ability.

The Earth is part of the Galactic Empire, ruled by a group of religious fanatics whose goal was to unleash a deadly super-virus on the Galactic Empire. However, after saving the couple who enhanced his mental capabilities, Joseph foils the plans of the fanatics.

Foundation Series

The Foundation series is Isaac’s most popular series. The first novel in the series, ‘Foundation,’ tells the story of Hari Seldon, a scientist who creates the theory of psychohistory, a tool he uses to predict the fall of the Galactic empire. With the Empire’s doom at bay, Hari Seldon gets sent to exile along with 100,000 followers to begin the task of gathering and saving every knowledge created and discovered by humans.

However, 50 years later, a recording from Hari Seldon reveals that the Foundation’s true purpose was to serve as the nucleus for the birth of a new Empire, and it would need to scale through a series of crises to become the power in the galaxy. Other novels in the Foundation series include ‘Foundation and Empire,’ ‘Second Foundation,’ ‘Foundation’s Edge,’ ‘Foundation and Earth,’ ‘Prelude to Foundation,’ and ‘Forward the Foundation.’

I, Robot Series

The ‘I, Robot‘ series is Isaac Asimov’s second most popular series. The first novel in the series, ‘I, Robot,’ tells the story of a future human society where robots and humans co-exist. With the creation of intelligent robots, the three laws of robotics get made. 

• First law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
• Second law: A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
• Third Law: A robot must protect its existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.

The remaining novels that make up the I, Robot series include ‘The Complete Robot,’ ‘Robot Dreams,’ ‘Robot Visions,’ and ‘Gold.’

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