Tag: books

John Jenkins

The latest episode of Stars End begins with a short tribute to John Jenkins and his wonderful “Spoiler-Laden Guide to Isaac Asimov,” which I typically refer to as the “Asimov Reviews” site. Asimov Reviews is what the internet should be but only rarely is. If you’re a fan of The Good Doctor it’s a treasure trove of information about everything Asimov within which it’s easy to get lost. If you’re putting together an Asimov podcast like Stars End it’s an invaluable resource. If you have even a passing interest in Asimov and his work you owe it to yourself to check it out. You can find the site here: Asimov Reviews.

We’d been meaning to invite John onto the podcast for a while. Shortly before we recorded this episode I visited the blog portion of his site and learned that John had passed away. We don’t know if it’s possible to miss someone you’ve never met but we regret never having the opportunity to chat with him about Daneel, Hari Seldon, or “The Last Question.” We’ll remain in awe of what he accomplished with Asimov Reviews and be thankful that it exists.

Stars End S5E18

And now we settle in for the second part of the Good Doctor’s second novel! Join us as we dust The Stars, Like Dust— with commentary like powdered sugar on a doughnut! Let’s chat about chapters nine through fourteen!

A 1980s book jacket for The Stars Like Dust—.

“The Podcast Was Located in a Little Niche Just Outside the Cabin”

But first, a quick note: our episode begins with a short tribute to John Jenkins and his wonderful “Spoiler-Laden Guide to Isaac Asimov,” which I typically refer to as the “Asimov Reviews” site. It’s what the internet should be and rarely is. You can read more about that here.

If this novel feels a little non-Asenion for your tastes, this installment might be for you! If you love Golan Treveze or the version of Hari Seldon who inhabits the Foundation Prequels, you’ll like Biron Ferrill better as this installment goes forward. If you think that there is a bit too much buckling and swashing in the first section, there is a bit of action where Biron overpowers a guard, tying him up with a pair of pantyhose. But once Gil and Artemisia help steal a space ship things settle down to storytelling and discussing galactic goings on as opposed to any actual going or actually doing anything story-inspiring. Plus, it’s something that passes for a plot twist!

So, let’s go! Help us bust the stars like dust with the vacuum of space!

Next Time on Stars End

There’s probably an argument to be made that the “Big Three” of Golden Age Science Fiction, rather than Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein, are Astounding, Galaxy, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A quick Duck-Duck-Go search confirms this and reminds me that I should really read more A. E. van Vogt.

We’re not there yet, though; we’re at a place where Galaxy Science Fiction had blasted off a mere five months before. It was largely an auspicious beginning, with the inaugural issue containing Richard Matheson’s “Third from the Sun” which was adapted into an excellent episode of The Twilight Zone ten years later. That reminds me, I should really read more Richard Matheson. That first issue also included Asimov’s “The Darwinian Pool Room” which the Good Doctor said was “among the least satisfactory stories I have ever written” so maybe the lift-off wasn’t flawless.[1]

Our focus here though is the fifth issue cover dated February 1951. It contains the second installment of Isaac Asimov’s Tyrann, and that is the subject of our next episode. Galaxy’s editor, Horace Gold was notorious for retitling stories and we, of course, know Tyrann as The Stars Like Dust ―.

So, how is Isaac’s second novel progressing? Have we defeated “Second Novel Syndrome” yet? And are we observing the protoplasmic form of Asimov’s unlikeable protagonists like Golan Trevize? Plus, what’s up with that infamous subplot? All that and more is in the episode!

By the way, I was surprised to learn that this issue of Galaxy also contained “The Fireman” by Ray Bradbury. That novella eventually grew into Fahrenheit 451, undeniably one of the classics of Science Fiction. Even if the lift-off wasn’t flawless, the launch was impressive and accelerating.

While we wait for our next episode, hopefully coming on Sunday, let’s enjoy the illustrations from this installment once again featuring some interesting use of negative space by John Bunch.

You can find the complete Issue here: Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1951.

The opening Two-page spread of Tyrann.

Resources

Stars End S5E17

Let’s dig into the Great and Glorious Az’s second novel! Join us for The Stars, Like Dust—! In this episode, we sift through chapters one through eight.

“The Podcast Murmured to itself Gently”

The Stars, Like Dust is book #003 in the Asimov canon. That’s a little misleading. Book #002 I, Robot is a fix-up; most of it had been written years before. This was the second time the Good Doctor sat down to write a book and he intended to write a Novel with a capital “N.” He wasn’t having a good time of it. Walter Bradbury, Asimov’s editor, had liked Pebble in the Sky and wanted a follow-up but he also wanted an outline and a couple of sample chapters. Bradbury rejected the first two proposals. John Jenkins of AsimovReviews.net put it this way.

…now that he was a Novelist, Asimov was thinking he needed to write like one and was getting carried away. Rather than his sticking to his usual sparse prose, he was getting distinctly florid, and he needed to tone things down.

That’s what comes from trying to write a Novel with a capital “N” I suppose. To make matters worse, when Galaxy Science Fiction bought the right to serialize the novel Horace Gold insisted on a subplot that Asimov really didn’t care for.

But now it was time to sit down and write, which is what our good friend Isaac does best. Join us to see how the book turned out! This reading coincides with the installment published in the January 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction under the title Tyrann.