Tag: Novel

Isaac Asimov – The Stars Like Dust | Review

Title: The Stars Like Dust

Author: Isaac Asimov

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 192

Rating: 4/5

This book is pretty cool because it’s home to an interesting little mix of genres. It’s basically a cross between a science fiction novel and a political thriller, but with little bits of a detective novel thrown in. Asimov’s at his best like that, because he’s really good at using technology as a worldbuilding device and to ask questions about the worlds that he creates.

It was a pretty short but sweet read and I’m glad that I picked it up, but it also has a hell of a lot to offer considering how short it is. I read it over the space of a couple of days, but many of the ideas are going to weigh on my mind for the weeks and months to come. That’s the sign of a good book, and it seems to happen a lot when I read Asimov.

This one’s far from his most famous book and so perhaps you’ll want to start somewhere else, but definitely get to it if you can.

Learn more about The Stars Like Dust.


Isaac Asimov – The Bicentennial Man | Review

Title: The Bicentennial Man

Author: Isaac Asimov

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 256

Rating: 4.5/5

What we have here is another cracking little collection of Isaac Asimov’s short stories, along with Asimov’s introductions to the stories for a little additional context. There were actually one or two here that I’d already read and so I skipped past those, although I did read the introductory essays as they were different.

I’ve also read a full length novel that Asimov co-wrote with Robert Silverberg and which is based on the titular short story here, but it was nice to go back to the original. I also heard that Asimov wasn’t really involved in the novel, which I can believe because it was published not long before he died.

Asimov’s short story collections are always a lot of fun, and while I’m still yet to find one that’s as good as I Robot, I can’t exactly be mad about it because that book is a masterpiece. I love Asimov’s work and I love the way that he sets up his three laws of robotics only to knock them down again by looking at the different ways in which they can be subverted.

That means reading Asimov feels like so much more than simply enjoying a little science fiction escapism. It’s almost philosophical, and it asks the reader a lot of questions about what it means to be human, as well as what it means to be a robot. I’d definitely recommend picking it up.

Learn more about The Bicentennial Man.