The behind the eyes thinking was revealed better in Utopia than Inferno, but I would have liked to have seen more time spent behind Prospero's eyes. Prospero was the only New Law Robot you really get to meet, and for all his faults was complex and manipulative, but unlike Caliban, his thinking was rarely revealed except through overt actions. The governor, formerly police chief had serious planet wide dillemas and his tension was felt more. Since he married his one time adversary Fredda, I would have liked to have seen a more complete interaction than was done. The ending was a bit rushed, and I feel that some serious consequences were not dealt with.

This culmination of the robot series by Roger MacBride Allen is the best in the series. There is plenty of action and suspense, as there was in the second book, "Inferno", and there is plenty of depth, as there was in the first book, "Caliban". The Three-Law robots, Four-Law robots, and No-Law robots create confusion in their interactions with human society and, through that confusion, the impact of technology and artificial intelligence on people is put in the spotlight. This is a well-writen, and well-thought-out book, and it wraps up the series nicely.

Asimov's robots have delighted me since I was a boy, so it was a wonderful surprise to find new robot stories written by a capable author. The philosophy and plot lines of the new novels are true to the Good Doctor's vision and make a fine addition to the legacy left by Asimov. Caliban, Inferno and Utopia are all good, but Utopia is the best. Read them all, and enjoy once again being immersed in the wonderful world Isaac Asimov created for us!

Some of the short stories in this collection are very good. "Soft" by F. Paul Wilson and "Metastasis" by Dan Simmons are excellent examples. Others like "The Vaults of Yoh Vombis" and "The man with a thousand legs" (sorry last reviewer) are exceedingly bad. My advice: if you find it on sale or used, pick it up and read a story or two in your spare time between novels.

Most of the stories that were chosen for this anthology were masterpieces of horror and wonder, such as "Colour Out of Space" by H.P. Lovecraft, or "Orange is For Anguish, Blue For Insanity" by David Morrell, and so I must give high praise for this terrifying collection of horror's finest. But there are also some exceptionally bad stories that were included for reasons unknown, like the preposterous "The Man With a Thousand Legs," by Frank Belknap Long, and a so-called Sci-fi story that excludes any real science called "The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis," by Clark Ashton Smith. The inclusion of these two leaves me no choice but to deduct a star from what would otherwise have been a perfect rating. Four Stars. A must read, nonetheless.

I just got done reviewing the "Sceince Fiction Hall of Fame" which I think is the first best anthology of all time. But this even though it's quite a bit newer is a close second. Don't Listen to the first reviwer "man with a thousand legs" was a great storey and "vault of Yoh Vombis" was even better. Most of the stories in this anthology are spectacular including "Hell-fire" which in my opinion is one of the best short fiction storey's I have ever ever ever read. "Nightmare Gang" was another great storey especially since I have NO respect for Koontz but with this storey credit and quite a lot is due to him, a very good piece.

Definitly a must buy!!!

Despite all the comments I have read regarding the accuracy of some of this book's facts, I found this collection to be extremely engrossing and downright fascinating. I enjoy reading such compilations of trivia, and I must say that this is one of the best - if not the best - I have read for two reasons.
First, the format of the book is fantastic. The hundreds of facts, which range from one sentence to around a paragraph, are sorted by topic and presented in a brief and accessible manner by the author. The topic-sorting and compression of the countless facts enable one to read the book selectively, if desired, and they also facilitate the option of reading it all at once or gradually. Second, and more importantly, I found the selection of content to be wonderfully diverse and intriguing, as well as entertaining and even fun. In fact (if you will pardon that expression), I found so many of the entries to be worthy of remembering and future reference that I decided to mark those that struck me as particularly interesting or valuable.
I would highly recommend this collection. However, given the accuracy issues some readers have brought up, it should be read with a skeptical mind (but what book should not be read that way?).

I am fifteen years old and have been reading this book constantly for at least three years. It is massively interesting. I have a copy of this book that was printed in 1981, before some of the facts were disproven. Isaac Asimov is one of the best writers of the twentieth century. I just wish he had lived to release volume two and on.

This book has some of the most bizarre things that I've ever read. Including the story of some medieval ruler who had the eyes of every captured enemy soldier destroyed with hot pokers. One out of 100 soldiers were spared one eye, in order to lead the blind back home.

Some of this ... I don't think is true, but all the same this is a very fun book. Great bathroom material.

So, it may not be the best story ever written, but it does carry on the Asimov Robots storyline. If you can quote the three laws of robotics, you gotta read this whole series. It will not knock your socks off or anything, but you will enjoy it.

A good work. If you are Asimov's fan you will find a new murder investigation involving the 3 robotics laws of Asimov, this time in a new planet inhabited exclusively by robots. There is other interesting themes: New alliens species, a radical tool for stelar traveling (more radical and without technical explanations- or speculations). If you are a new asimovian robots reader, you will enjoy this book and will find a good introduction for the 3 robotics laws.
The more i liked: A amnesiac man interacting with unknown robots who can not lie and with a attractive girl.
Te murder resolution is not so good like in asimov books.

This was the first sci-fi book I read ever, in fact it's the first "real" book I read when I was young. I fall in love with Asimov at this very moment. I love the story. This was my first contact with the three laws of robotics I love so much. I think it's a good book to learn more or introduce you to Asimov style. I lose my original copy of this book 10 years ago al least. I just brought this electronic copy. I start read it and feel the same joy today. A must read.

This compression of Isaac Asimov's earlier autobiographical works will principally be remembered as the book that announced to the world that Asimov died of AIDS. But as a one-volume summary of his life, it enjoys only mixed success.

This book both benefits and suffers from its source material: the best chapters are those on Asimov's early life and career, and were extracted from his first volume of autobiography, In Memory Yet Green, which was strongly narrative and, as a result, stronger; the second volume, In Joy Still Felt, was more anecdotal and quotidian, as Asimov settled into the routine of a workaholic full-time writer, and as a result yielded less insightful material to excerpt.

Like Asimov's third autobiography, I. Asimov: A Memoir, and his collection of letters, Yours, Isaac Asimov, the chapters are topical. While some chapters are solid, others are quite thin: the chapters that simply collect funny anecdotes could have been dispensed with. For example, Chapter 26, "The Bible", includes a couple of not-very-illuminating anecdotes related to Asimov's Guide to the Bible, and could have been folded, along with the chapter on humanism, into a longer chapter on religion and unbelief. I would have preferred fewer, longer chapters that went into more depth. Substantial introductory and connective material to piece Asimov's own work together would have strengthened the book; instead, we're given passages that sometimes look like they were excerpted, word by word, with a razor blade.

On a more mundane level, the proofreading is sometimes surprisingly bad, with several misspelled authors' names and even one book title ("I, Robert"?!?) -- just the sort of thing that Isaac would have found bothersome.

It's been a good life is a good way to describe Asimov's life as he describes it in his own words. An autobiographical account of his life, with inserts by his wife, this book details Asimov's life in a funny and interesting volume.
He starts with his birth and childhood, which is an interesting feat. Not many people can remember their young lives. From there, he describes how he became interested in reading, then writing and finally how he first became published. From there, he describes his academic and writing lives in a clear, paced fasion. Everything blends in perfectly, from birth to death.
I was paticularly fasinated by his writing life, as a fan of his. For most of the book, he describes how he became a novelist, then how he stopped in favor of scientific resources and then how he returned to fiction. Because he wrote this in the first person view, it is entirly too easy to fall right into his head, and see things the way he did. This is expecially true towards the end of the book and his life. I really got the sense that he had too much to do, that he wanted to do and didn't have nearly enough time to accomplish it all.
I have read many of his science fiction novels, and from this book, learned a lot about what drove him to writing the stories I enjoy, but also about his life in general. There was much that I had no idea about. For example, he was in the Army, died of AIDs, due to a blood transfusion, and went through writing cycles.
Paticularly helpful was the editing that his wife did. On almost every section, she inserted references to his life that explained what he was talking about a little better. This book would have been very difficult and/or confusing if they had not been put in.
In addition, this book is an extremely fast read. I finished it in nearly five to six hours and enjoyed every minute of it.
The only complaint that I have with it is that it's too short, almost abridged in sections, that could have had more to it. Other than that, it's a wonderful and entertaining read.

Isaac Asimov can justifably lay claim to having been one of the most prolific writers of modern times, producing science fiction, fantasy, essays and other works. His wife Janet Asimov here edits her husband's personal thoughts about his life and works, including excerpts from his letters and insights into his life experiences throughout the process. Fans of Asimov will find It's Been A Good Life to be a warm and revealing literary biography.

The classic title story of this collection of short fiction, Nightfall, was voted the best science fiction short story of all-time. It is a classic of the field, and a masterpiece of atmosphere. Anyone who calls theirself a science fiction fan and has not read it is merely posing. This book, for most readers, then, is worth picking up for that story alone. That said, despite its classic status, the rest of this collection, though it does have its moments, does not reach the high standards set by the title story. Other winners include the classic and oft-anthologized It's Such A Beautiful Day and the rendering and chilling "Breeds There A Man...?" There are other stories of quality in this book, but, unfortunately, they are not among Asimov's best. Like his contemporary Grand Master, Arthur C. Clarke, as Asimov got further and further into his writing career, though his novels remained excellent, his short stories began to falter: many of them seem infected with an over-eager attempt at cleverness. While this often makes for some amusing stories (Strikebreaker, What If..., What Is This Thing Called Love?), it does not often make for classics. Thus, while this collection is certainly good - and the title story is an absolute must-read - it is not Asimov's best short story collection (try Nine Tomorrows or one of the Robot anthologies for that.) If you are a die-hard Asimov fan, I recommend picking this up; however, if you are a casual reader, or new to the good Doctor, or perhaps just want to read Nightfall, then I suggest you pick up a more wide-ranging collection such as The Complete Stories.

What an incredible book. Filled to the brim with terrific short stories, Asimov completely engrosses you in the lives and situations of the characters in these stories in only 30 pages. Some have twist endings that truly surprise and thrill. Others are good looks at technology and the like in a nutshell, developed too far.
I would absolutely recommend Nightfall & Other stories- Nightfall is the classic about a world who never sees darkness- surrounded by numerous suns, and how it affects its inhabitants. A must read for any science fiction fan- Asimov doesn't disappoint!

In the past century there have been countless anthologies in the field of SF. This one is the paramount. The Grand Master of SF assembeles tales that range from cynical humor to predictions of the future, to just generaly great stories. From the tile story Nightfall to my personal favorite Sally, this book will hold you captivated not just once, but over and over again.

I really can't read this book. The text does not flow like Asimov's books. It reads like something else. It is a littlke too fast paced, with too little dialogue and I think there is not enough reflection on the background and the possibilities.

The basic premise has got something wrong with it. It's not tied in too well to other things.If Asimov would use any of these ideas,he would offer some explanation. Asimov also, by the way,often had some short third person narration interspersed in

his books and this is totally missing.

Robert Silverberg expanded a few Isaac Asimov stories into books and he did it in keeping with Asimov's style. Robert Tiedemann is no Robert Silverberg. If Asimov had been alive, I don't thinmk he would have approved of this, except if he decided not to care

I give it two stars because at least this is a try. Also, I only have this book,not its predecessor.

Tiedemann recently resurfaced with this, his second attempt at new robot mysteries. And again, he's done an impressive job.

Asimov's original robot novels were generally straightforward. While not predictable by any stretch of the imagination, the mysteries themselves were fairly simple. Tiedemann has taken Asimov's "universe" but made the mysteries more complex and expanded the scope of the setting to fully explain political situations, alliances, development of society in settler and spacer worlds...many of the things Asimov himself never fully developed. This all amounts to a fairly complex mystery novel set in Asimov's vision of the future.

The novel is not without problems. One criticism I had of Tiedemann's first novel still holds true - two of the main characters have an extensive past together yet Tiedemann makes no mention of this fact. Some of the ideas in Chimera also come across as a bit far-fetched in the context of the setting that Asimov established.

All-in-all, Chimera is an entertaining read. If you're a fan of Asimov's original robot novels, its definitely worth picking up. If you've not had exposure to the originals, however, start with them.

Sometimes sticking too close to the way something was originally done is a good way to damage a new piece of work. Tiedemann doesn't seem to make that mistake in Chimera. Instead, as in Mirage, he updates the basic material, bringing it more in line with contemporary information about nanotech and AI. He takes what Asimov did and makes it his own.

More than that, though, he's done a thoroughly excellent job of creating fully-fleshed, believable characters, real people with real problems. He places them in a fast-paced thriller plot that flows logically and answers questions both about the action of the story and the larger issues nesting within the Robot universe Asimov created. Rather than do a straight imitation of Asimov's style, he has written his own kind of narrative, matched to the content of his storyline.

The creation of Bogard in Mirage was a masterful twist on the 3-Law scenario. Tiedemann continues to play with the limitations and implicit possibilities in Asimov's original structure in this book.

The Caves of Steel in Chimera are both creepier and more plausible, the psychologies of the various habitues matched against each other in elegant dialogues and plot twists (as in one character's surprise visit to a Spacer party in the open air!). Tiedemann displays a deft hand at depicting the inner realm of the human condition, a trait he displays much more fully in his own original novels.

More! More!

Indeed, there's disagreement as to whether this is the first or second Empire novel chronologically, but it's not important since there are no common characters and Earth is peripheral to the events in either novel.

It is good adventure, and there is a fair mystery as to who's responsible for the primary character's death. Of course there's romance complete with complicating misunderstandings, and more importantly, there's the continual power struggle emphasized in the Empire and Foundation novels. And there's some good old fashioned space opera action as the main characters search for the planet harboring a group of rebels. This is classic science-fiction, but don't let that scare you away. There's nothing stodgy about the good Dr. Asimov's story telling.

It is a great shame that Isaac Asimov's fun, if not exactly profound, Empire series is now entirely out of print. Like the rest of the series, the first of them, The Stars, Like Dust, is an entertaining, fun romp that is a quick read that will keep you glued to your seat. The plot is not Asimov's most original, but it is gripping and suspenseful, and will keep you reading (and guessing) right up until the end. Asimov, in his day, tried his hand at writing just very nearly every type of book there was to write, but I, and I am sure most will agree with me, have always felt that his true bread and butter was science fiction. He brought a touch of the mainstream (Asimov was fond of making a murder mystery or logic puzzle out of his SF stories) to the genre, which, along with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things scientific, made him attractive both to the diehards of the genre as well as to more conventional generally-non-SF readers. The Stars, Like Dust is a fine book that deserves to be back in print and deserves to be read. If you're an Asimov fan, I reccommend picking this book up if you see it.

"The Stars, Like Dust" is either the first or second novel, chronologically, in Asimov's Empire Series, depending on whether you believe the consensus (first) or Asimov's Author's Note in Prelude to Foundation (second). Nonetheless, it probably doesn't matter a great deal, the other contender "The Currents of Space" has Trantor as just another would-be empire, and this novel doesn't see any need to bring Trantor into the story. In all other respects too, there's little to connect either book, no common characters, political forces, no anything, beyond a shared past where Earth is radioactive. So read either book in any order you wish. In case it hasn't been hammered in yet, the Empire books form the middle of Asimov's Robots-Empire-Foundation universe timeline.

Beyond that, this is a nice piece of SF that George Lucas wouldn't have trouble making a film around. It's the old story - Boy loses father in confusing circumstances, boy goes to take what is rightfully his and possibly avenge his father's murder at the same time, boy is being chased by mysterious murderous groups, boy meets girl, boy and girl hate each other, boy and girl fall in love... well, ok, it's not the old story, it's half a dozen old stories in one, but it's a good thriller and mystery with enough twists and turns to please anyone.

It's also mercifully short, the characters are fleshed out in a most unasimovian way, and the science is there but not stupifyingly overbearing. My edition includes an apology at the end from the master about his assumption that a lifeless planet would have an oxygen-rich CO2-free atmosphere, and while I know roughly which part of the book is being refered to, it wasn't a big deal.

In all, I think I prefered The Currents of Space, but there's no reason to read one in favour of the other rather than read both. If you can find a copy, and you're after some intelligent light entertainment, you could do worse than read this.

Isaac Asimov's novels and short stories are among my favourite. The first three FOUNDATION books are better than most contemporary works of science fiction, and I, ROBOT is, in my opinion, the best collection of robot stories ever. Even his stories in THE EARLY ASIMOV are a lot of fun.

It is because Asimov has been so good that this collection of puzzle stories was surprising. Asimov clearly has a passion for puzzles but his ability to incorporate that element into a good story is not demonstrated by this book. As one reviewer mentioned, you'll find out all sorts of interesting trivia by reading these stories but you shouldn't expect to arrive at the solutions to the puzzles through deduction. Simply put, if you want to play along (and who doesn't when reading a mystery?), you'll need to know a lot of throw-away information.

Another quibble I had with the Black Widower stories was that the cast consists of Mastermind champions. No piece of information is too obscure or esoteric for the regulars. The alleged 'dumb one' in the group (Mario Gonzalo) is surely one of the brightest dimwits ever to appear in print. In today's world of dumbed-down entertainment, this is refreshing but it also puts the characters on a different playing field than many of the readers. I, for one, can only dream of knowing as much as Gonzalo does.

I can only recommend the Black Widower stories to die-hard Asimov fans. If you're just a casual fan looking for good Asimov mysteries, try the first three robot novels: THE CAVES OF STEEL, THE NAKED SUN, and ROBOTS OF DAWN.

Happy reading!

The Black Widowers meet once a month at the Milano Restaurant, taking the task of host in rotation. Each month the host brings a guest for grilling, traditionally beginning with 'How do you justify your existence?' and ending with ferreting out some mystery. After the six regular members have cleared the ground, the seventh - Henry, the waiter - always solves the problem.

Most of Asimov's Black Widowers stories first saw the light of day in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (EQMM), except those written to round out collections. EQMM retitled half of them; Asimov has reverted all but one title change. The club is based on the real-life Trap Door Spiders, a stag club created so that the members could meet without involving one friend's disagreeable wife. Asimov, as a member, has based some of the Widowers on fellow club-members.

I find the by-play between the Black Widowers entertaining in itself. Drake is the original reason for the no-women rule. Halstead, high school mathematics teacher, has an ongoing hobby of writing limericks for each chapter of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Trumbull works for an unspecified agency as a code-breaker; when he's not host, he's usually chief griller, and is the most apt to shout down the other members when they stray off-topic. Avalon is dignified, pedantic - good for the odd spot of in-character exposition. At the other extreme, Gonzalo, the youngest, is usually eager for each puzzle to appear. As a professional artist, he caricatures each guest, and enjoys trading insults with Rubin (mystery writer and deputy chief griller). Rubin also finds reason, at least once per book, to libel another writer of his acquaintance: one Isaac Asimov. :)

"The Acquisitive Chuckle" - Host: Avalon. Hanley Bartram believes that, as a private investigator, his clients find his existence justified - when he's successful. He asked Avalon for an invitation because he thought the Widowers might help him settle an old case. Anderson, a grasping character, was sure that his fanatically honest ex-business partner had scored off him by taking *something* from his house - but he couldn't figure out *what*.

"Ph As in Phony" - (EQMM = 'The Phony Ph.D.' to avoid confusion with the Graftonesque titles of another author.) Host: Trumbull, whose guest is a Ph.D. in chemistry at Berry, where Drake did his graduate work. Drake is reminded of a fellow student - mediocre in every way - who somehow scored a 96% from the fire-breathing Professor St. George. How did he manage to cheat?

"Truth to Tell" - (EQMM = 'The Man Who Never Told a Lie') Host: Gonzalo, whose guest (the title character) is chief suspect in a theft from his uncle's firm. His uncle knows he wouldn't lie, but without a plausible scenario of what *did* happen, Sands' career is at a dead end.

"Go, Little Book!" - (EQMM = 'The Matchbook Collector') Host: Rubin, whose guest had lunch with the title character the previous day - someone Trumbull's been after for months, who has an unbroken system of passing coded messages. (Obviously predates ultra-strong encryption.)

"Early Sunday Morning" - (EQMM = 'The Biological Clock') Host: Halstead, who complains that the mysteries of the last 4 sessions have been penny-ante, and tries to drum a murder story out of the other Widowers (he hasn't invited a guest). Gonzalo, as it turns out, blames himself for his twin sister's murder - because his biological clock wakes him at eight every morning.

"The Obvious Factor" - Host: Trumbull. Eldridge, a parapsychological investigator, takes on the Widowers' challenge that *nothing* could convince them of parapsychological phenomena.

"The Pointing Finger" - Host: Avalon. Caroline Levy's grandpa kept his savings in negotiable bonds for safety; living with her and her husband Simon, he hid them in the house (insurance that he'd be looked after). But his fatal stroke deprived him of speech to indicate where he'd left them last...

"Miss What?" - (EQMM = 'A Warning to Miss Earth') Host: Gonzalo, whose guest is a plainclothes detective (it's implied that they met during the murder investigation of 'Early Sunday Morning'). A death threat couched in Biblical phrasing was delivered to the Miss Earth contest - but which girl is the target?

"The Lullaby of Broadway" - Host: Rubin, who as absolute monarch has decreed that this month's meeting will be held in his apartment - including Henry, in his role as club member rather than waiter. Rubin throughout his rather harried serving of the meal dribbles out bits and pieces of a story of being disturbed by random hammering at odd hours - until Henry finally calls him on it and asks to grill *him*. :)

"Yankee Doodle Went to Town" - Host: Avalon, bringing an old army buddy as a guest. Davenheim is trying to crack a ring of 'soldiers' who're stealing - he'd have more respect for outright traitors. But it galls him that one of the suspects keeps humming the same tune during interrogation, and it means *something*, but what?

"The Curious Omission" - Host: Halstead. Jeremy Atwood's late friend Lyon was a board game fiend who wanted to play one last time. Lyon left him $10000 in a safety deposit box - if Jeremy can decipher the accompanying clue to the bank's whereabouts within one year: 'The curious omission in Alice.' (I congratulate Asimov on a believable dying clue/missing legacy scenario).

"Out of Sight" - Host: Trumbull. At the last moment, Waldemar Long had to cancel his lecture during a scientific conference/cruise, since the material was still classified. Somebody, however, got at his lecture notes between his notification at the dinner table and his return to his cabin - and Long's career is over unless he can show how anyone could have had opportunity.

I love Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes, but if every mystery writer wrote in exactly the same way we wouldn't have flavor and variety in our literary world. The value of these mystery-tidbits is not just merely in the case itself, it's in all the silly random facts you can pick up, it's in the wonderful banter and camaraderie between the men at the dinner table (Asimov even mocks himself through one of his characters in one of the B.W. stories: "Oh, you mean Asimov? The one who talks about himself even more than I do?"), and it's in the delighted gasps of "oh!" as you realize how ingenious his fun little solutions are at the end. These are wonderful characters and tasty little puzzles.

In an age where humor is often laced with profanity or based on the ridicule of others, it is very pleasant to find a collection that is largely clean and often cerebral. This book contains a recollection of Isaac Asimov's favorite jokes along with instructions on how to deliver them. While Asimov is well-known as a prolific author, he was also a very funny man, possessing a sense of comedic timing that helped him earn hefty fees as a speaker.
While the jokes are good, it is clear that many of them would have to be delivered in the right manner to be funny. As you read Asimov's commentary, it is not difficult to imagine someone telling the story to maximum effect. Therefore, the book could also be used as a source for material as well as a primer on how to deliver an ice-breaking joke at the start of a public speech.
Isaac Asimov was a very talented man, capable of writing well about anything. His sense of humor was highly developed, something that is obvious from this book. I enjoyed it immensely and have occasionally used some of the jokes in my classes

This not only shows you the great jokes of all time,
but also HOW to tell the jokes, with examples and samples.
Isaac Asimov does it again.
For everyone who loves telling jokes, this is THE book to get.

I have an older edition of this book...it is priceless. I enjoy it whenever I need a break - keep it at work. We all need humor, and Asimov had the kind of quirky sense of humor that enriches our lives....get this book.