Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Book Review: Buy Jupiter and other stories

I recently finished reading "Buy Jupiter (and other stories)" by Isaac Asimov. I bought it because of the author. I've got 26 of his books on the shelf in front of me and several more on the To-Be-Read shelf. Whenever I see one that I don't have, I grab it. I should have stolen his medical textbook from the college library basement when I had the chance.

In 1974 Asimov was to be the Guest of Honor as a sci-fi convention. They wanted to publish a small collection of his works for the convention. 500 copies only. So he found some stories that had appeared in magazines (or in some cases rejected) and were never printed in a collection by his publishing company. Alas, the printing came in too late for use in the convention. So his editor swooped in, had Isaac fatten the book a bit more, and they published it.

These stories are very short. I've grown used to short stories that are still 10 pages or more. Almost none of these reach that size. Most are only 3 pages long. And, if your familiar with his books. They each have the story behind the story preceding them.

No Foundation stuff here. One story with a robot, but it's not a "Robot" story.

It's worth grabbing if you see it in a used bookstore somewhere.

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