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Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction
An examination of the science-fiction novels and short stories of Isaac Asimov analyzes his treatment of the effects on humans of advances in technology
250 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
About the author
James E. Gunn
265 books119 followersAmerican science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work from the 1960s and 70s is considered his most significant fiction, and his Road to Science Fiction collections are considered his most important scholarly books. He won a Hugo Award for a non-fiction book in 1983 for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. He was named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.
He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.
Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.
In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.
His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".
Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.
He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.
Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.
In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.
His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 27, 2019
I cracked up when the author declared there certainly would not be any more Robot novels after The Naked Sun. Yeah sure. But this is just a chronological fault—a faultless fault which, nonetheless, betrays a somewhat superficial approach. The book ultimately proves to be a useful introduction to Asimov, but is very, very far from being exhaustive.
January 14, 2026
This is a great overview of the literary career of Isaac Asimov. Throughout the book there are brief discussions on Asimov’s life, but this mostly focuses on his writing. Gunn takes the reader through Asimov’s early writing of short stories under the mentorship of John W. Campbell all the way to Asimov’s best-selling novels, and everything in between. Well researched and written by Gunn, recommended to anyone wanting to learn more about Asimov the author.
May 30, 2018
It is impossible to write a literary critique of Asimov without mapping his development as a writer, which necessitated a substantial insertion of biographical info. For this, Gunn could draw on his personal experiences as well as Asimov's avaliable autobiographies In Memory Yet Green and In Joy Still Felt . The focus remains on the effect events in his life have had on the irregular frequency of his output, such as his spell in the Army or the plain fact that he didn't see fiction as a viable income until this 'hobby' surpassed the earnings of his scientific career in chemistry. His personality traits are more intimately entwined with the stories themselves: the claustrophilia that shapes the Caves of Steel and the humanism that minimizes the presence of alien lifeforms in favour of a galaxy dominated by the human Empire of the Foundation universe.
It's 2016 now, not 1982. What does this book still have to offer ? Conversely, what can it no longer offer ? Let's look at the negatives first. Asimov was still alive, with a decade to go. Allthough his most memorable ideas had already been put to paper, this is still an incomplete critique. Furthermore, a biographical frame during life is a sanitized thing; the autobiographical Asimov who provided it was with fewer flaws than the Asimov revealed in Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grand Master of Science Fiction. For one thing, the green sexuality and stock woman characters in Asimov fiction (apart from the metal-blooded Susan Calvin) can only be understood by looking behind the writer's bedroom door. The wide social sphere which recognition in the field of Science Fiction brought him was not without its friction, nor were his relationships with John Campbell and other editors. You will not find this in any of the bio-pieces that introduce his stories collections.
Contemporary bias apart, the analysis is outstanding. Gunn traces the evolution and main themes of Asimov's work with greater clarity than later chronicers of the man and his typewriter. It is interesting to see how well a "Universe" took shape in the hands of a man who never really aspired to unify his visions of the future into a coherent timeline. They cannot be linked without contradictions, but to the reader, the Asimov history of the next millennia is tangible. The sparseness of his prose (the 'empty stage' as Gunn likes to call it), so devoid of the action that would be expected of a boy raised on pulpy 20's SF, is defended here as the prerogative of the scientific mind which believed in rational paths to solve a problem. Flash Gordon was already fleshed out by laserbeams to preach the gospel of 'aggresive negotations'.
It's a fair point against those who portray Isaac Asimov as a loud-mouthed Smart Alec with more quantity in output than style. He could be all of that - there have to be a few turds in an opus this vast - but 400 books doesn't bestew the recognition of 'one of the great Three of Science Fiction' upon you, with engineers embracing the Three Laws of Robotics as they build their machines to mount the stairs or react to human emotion with the proper facial expression.
If numbers were literary merit, Danielle Steel would be Jane Austen. And I just know somebody will bring up the fact now that Jane Austen in every novel was harping against the "women are who they marry" milieu of her day. She used that emotion to shape a universe that will serve gender debates for another two centuries. And we'll no doubt write our robot's Laws accordingly by then.
WORKS CITED
and
by
Isaac Asimov
by
Michael White
It's 2016 now, not 1982. What does this book still have to offer ? Conversely, what can it no longer offer ? Let's look at the negatives first. Asimov was still alive, with a decade to go. Allthough his most memorable ideas had already been put to paper, this is still an incomplete critique. Furthermore, a biographical frame during life is a sanitized thing; the autobiographical Asimov who provided it was with fewer flaws than the Asimov revealed in Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grand Master of Science Fiction. For one thing, the green sexuality and stock woman characters in Asimov fiction (apart from the metal-blooded Susan Calvin) can only be understood by looking behind the writer's bedroom door. The wide social sphere which recognition in the field of Science Fiction brought him was not without its friction, nor were his relationships with John Campbell and other editors. You will not find this in any of the bio-pieces that introduce his stories collections.
Contemporary bias apart, the analysis is outstanding. Gunn traces the evolution and main themes of Asimov's work with greater clarity than later chronicers of the man and his typewriter. It is interesting to see how well a "Universe" took shape in the hands of a man who never really aspired to unify his visions of the future into a coherent timeline. They cannot be linked without contradictions, but to the reader, the Asimov history of the next millennia is tangible. The sparseness of his prose (the 'empty stage' as Gunn likes to call it), so devoid of the action that would be expected of a boy raised on pulpy 20's SF, is defended here as the prerogative of the scientific mind which believed in rational paths to solve a problem. Flash Gordon was already fleshed out by laserbeams to preach the gospel of 'aggresive negotations'.
It's a fair point against those who portray Isaac Asimov as a loud-mouthed Smart Alec with more quantity in output than style. He could be all of that - there have to be a few turds in an opus this vast - but 400 books doesn't bestew the recognition of 'one of the great Three of Science Fiction' upon you, with engineers embracing the Three Laws of Robotics as they build their machines to mount the stairs or react to human emotion with the proper facial expression.
If numbers were literary merit, Danielle Steel would be Jane Austen. And I just know somebody will bring up the fact now that Jane Austen in every novel was harping against the "women are who they marry" milieu of her day. She used that emotion to shape a universe that will serve gender debates for another two centuries. And we'll no doubt write our robot's Laws accordingly by then.
WORKS CITED
and
by
Isaac Asimov
by
Michael White
February 3, 2025
I just wanted to put the book on another shelf. And then I started to read it - again. And it is quite a good one. Even won a Hugo. The man obviously knew his Asimov. He very competently summarizes all the main short stories (basically the foundation and Robot stories) and the important novels. That is all his SF novels up to 1980 except for the Lucky Starr books and Fantastic Voyage.
If you want to know why Asimov is considered to be one of the Big SF writers just read the books by Asimov. But if you have already done so you might be pleased to be reminded of the stories by reading this book.
7/10
If you want to know why Asimov is considered to be one of the Big SF writers just read the books by Asimov. But if you have already done so you might be pleased to be reminded of the stories by reading this book.
7/10
May 24, 2020
Readable and insightful. The Science Fiction Of Isaac Asimov is the magisterial analysis of Isaac Asimov from this era, but Gunn's book is valuable as well.
August 12, 2021
Author and critic James Gunn takes a detailed look at Asimov's Science Fiction. Sometimes dry, Gunn nevertheless provides a thorough examination of the plot of each novel (and major short stories), and links each individual work to the overall arc of Asimov's future history. Essential to students of the genre.
August 21, 2009
A literary review & critique of The Good Doctor's Science Fiction stories by one of his peers, James Gunn.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews