Oct 4

Oct 4 Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection. by Isaac Asimov. 1995

GOLD: THE FINAL SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTION

RATED 63% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 3.33 OF 5

15 STORIES : 1 GREAT / 6 GOOD / 5 AVERAGE / 3 POOR / 0 DNF

and 37 ESSAYS ON HIS FICTION AND WRITING

At the risk of this blog getting morbid, here is another posthumous collection by one of the masters of the science fiction genre. This time it is one of “The Big Three,” Isaac Asimov. Gold is exact what it says on the cover: Asimov’s Final Science Fiction Collection. But it is more than that.

Every truly great author gets to a point where editors will publish anything they write. That was certainly true for Asimov. . Nearly every man who is lucky enough to get to old age, sees a decline in the quality of work during the last years. This was also true of Asimov. Many of these stories shouldn’t have been published and wouldn’t have been with a different byline. Even the good stories aren’t innovative in the way his previous thousands of stories had been. Even when he has a cool new idea - and its rare - he doesn’t seem to be able to work it through to the proper conclusion.

It gives me no pleasure to write this, Isaac Asimov continues to be one of my favorite writers.

Yet, I recommend reading this book. Very little of it is actually made up of the short stories. There are 37 brief editorials by Asimov which include essays and thoughts on the craft of science fiction writing. They are crucial to understanding Asimov’s legacy beyond his fiction. His insights into writing are filled with practical advice, historical context, and reflections on the genre's evolution. These sections are especially significant because they capture Asimov’s voice as a mentor and intellectual figurehead within the science fiction community.

It is so rare that science fiction editorials are represented, this is a gem that deserves to stay in print for future generations of sci-fi lovers.

There is also a beautifu defense of Isaac Asimov’s writing style by legendary author Orson Scott Card. Card describes Asmiov’s style as the “American Plain Style.” I quote that introduction at length below for those who think of Asimov as a ‘bad writer’ when compared to today’s MFA influenced fiction style.

The American Plain Style is devilishly hard to bring off well.
Because there is great art in seeming artless; one must grind the lens very smooth indeed to make it perfectly clear. What the American Plain Style celebrates is the democratic ideal. The writer declares, by making his language as clear and accessible as possible, that he values all readers and wishes to invite them to participate in his conversation.
The Plain Style closes no doors, draws no veils across the meaning. Let’s all sit down together and tell our tales, says the Plain Style writer. Let’s put on no airs, nobody’s impressed by that sort of thing. There’s none of us better than any other; only the story itself matters, only the ideas.
When American Plain Style is done well, readers never notice the writer or the writing at all. They are completely immersed in the story or essay, receiving it as if it were unfiltered by any other mind. Of course it is filtered; it was completely created by another mind. But because the reader is never reminded of it, the ideas and events recounted in that style are likelier to be received without doubt. …
But the purest, clearest, most fluid, most effective writer of the American Plain Style, ever, was the man whose stories and essays you now hold in your hand: Isaac Asimov.
— Orson Scott Card

Only One Story In This Collection Makes The All-Time Great List:

Gold • (1991) • novelette by Isaac Asimov
Great. A famous artist is asked to adapt a science fiction story into a multimedia computer-generated play. The story is quite obviously “The Gods Themselves” by Asimov. This artistic transition leads him into a profound exploration of art, technology, and the essence of storytelling. New dimensions of both his work and the future of art are revealed. Another very interesting story in light of 2024’s conversations about A.I. art.