Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition) (43 page)
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Authors: James Gunn
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At the end of the first volume of his autobiography, Asimov wrote that in science fiction "I had gone as far as I could. I might do things that were better than `Nightfall,'
The Foundation Trilogy, I, Robot,
or
The Caves of Steel,
but surely not much better." That judgment was sound: he may have done better but not much better. What he did in his chosen field, however, was no small thing. Those works, and other Asimov stories and books, helped to shape science fiction just as Asimov himself was shaped by it. Asimov's presence in the field of science fiction had importance as a reminder not only of the past but of the way in which the past is a foundation for the present, and of the way in which the past can renew itself. Rationality still could be relevant.
The Foundation Trilogy, I, Robot,
or
The Caves of Steel,
but surely not much better." That judgment was sound: he may have done better but not much better. What he did in his chosen field, however, was no small thing. Those works, and other Asimov stories and books, helped to shape science fiction just as Asimov himself was shaped by it. Asimov's presence in the field of science fiction had importance as a reminder not only of the past but of the way in which the past is a foundation for the present, and of the way in which the past can renew itself. Rationality still could be relevant.
8 The Best-Selling Author
On January 15, 1981, Asimov started on a path that would take him where he had never expected to arrive, what 261 earlier books had taught him not to expect, to a place on the nation's best-seller lists. On that date Hugh O'Neill, Asimov's new editor at Doubleday, asked him to see Betty Prashker, an editor higher in the editorial chain of command. Prashker told Asimov that Doubleday wanted him to write a novel. In his memoir Asimov recorded his typical objections, which Prashker brushed aside by saying that Doubleday was going to send him a contract with a large advance, which four days later turned out to be the biggest Asimov had ever received, $50,000, ten times as much as he usually got from Doubleday.
The evening of his conversation with Prashker, Asimov got a telephone call from Pat LoBrutto, the editor in charge of science fiction at Doubleday, who said, "When Betty said `a novel,' she meant `a science-fiction novel'; and when we say `a science-fiction novel' we mean `a Foundation novel.'"
Asimov protested that he didn't know if he could write novels any more (
The Gods Themselves
was almost a decade in the past, and, aside from the novelization of
Fantastic Voyage,
it had come 15 years after his previous novel,
The Naked Sun
). Moreover, he said that Doubleday would lose its shirt with that kind of advance.
The Gods Themselves
was almost a decade in the past, and, aside from the novelization of
Fantastic Voyage,
it had come 15 years after his previous novel,
The Naked Sun
). Moreover, he said that Doubleday would lose its shirt with that kind of advance.
But Doubleday brushed aside his objections and after four months of finishing up other projects, Asimov sat down to come up with an idea by re-reading
The Foundation Trilogy.
He found it a page-turner, having forgotten much of how it was going to turn out. But he also recognized its flaws, particularly its lack of action and over-dependence on dialogue. Although he does not say so in his memoir, in an article for
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,
which later was reprinted as an introduction for the 1982 edition of
The Foundation Trilogy,
he wrote:
The Foundation Trilogy.
He found it a page-turner, having forgotten much of how it was going to turn out. But he also recognized its flaws, particularly its lack of action and over-dependence on dialogue. Although he does not say so in his memoir, in an article for
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,
which later was reprinted as an introduction for the 1982 edition of
The Foundation Trilogy,
he wrote:
I read it [the
Trilogy
] with mounting uneasiness. I kept waiting for something to happen, and nothing ever did. All three volumes, all the nearly quarter of a million words, consisted of thoughts and conversation. No action. No physical suspense.
Trilogy
] with mounting uneasiness. I kept waiting for something to happen, and nothing ever did. All three volumes, all the nearly quarter of a million words, consisted of thoughts and conversation. No action. No physical suspense.
What was all the fuss about, then? Why did everyone want more of that stuff? To be sure, I couldn't help but notice that I was turning the pages eagerly, and that I was upset when I finished the book, and that I wanted more, but I was the
author
for goodness' sake. You couldn't go by me.
author
for goodness' sake. You couldn't go by me.
I was on the edge of deciding it was all a terrible mistake and of insisting on giving back the money when (quite by accident, I swear) I came across some sentences by science-fiction writer and critic James Gunn, who, in connection with the Foundation series said, "Action and romance have little to do with the success of the
Trilogy
virtually all the action takes place offstage, and the romance is invisible but the stories provide a detective-story fascination with the permutations and reversals of ideas."
Trilogy
virtually all the action takes place offstage, and the romance is invisible but the stories provide a detective-story fascination with the permutations and reversals of ideas."
Oh well, if what was needed were "permutations and reversals of ideas," then that I could supply. Panic receded, and on June 10, 1981, I dug out the fourteen pages I had written more than eight years before. . . .
Asimov finished the novel on March 25, 1982, after a difficult nine months for himself and his wife, as his lack of confidence in what he was doing (and his inability to take on large non-fiction projects) left him moody and depressed. His title for the novel was
Lightning Rod,
but Doubleday insisted that it have "Foundation" in the title, and
Foundation's Edge
was published in September. Immediately it appeared in twelfth place on
The New York Times'
best-seller list, rose to third, and spent twenty-five weeks on the list.
Lightning Rod,
but Doubleday insisted that it have "Foundation" in the title, and
Foundation's Edge
was published in September. Immediately it appeared in twelfth place on
The New York Times'
best-seller list, rose to third, and spent twenty-five weeks on the list.
Its success, however, set off a small alarm in Asimov's mind: now Doubleday would never let him stop writing novels. And it never did.
Foundation's Edge
was followed by
The Robots of Dawn
in 1983,
Robots and Empire
in 1985,
Foundation and Earth
in 1986,
Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain
in 1987,
Prelude to Foundation
in 1988,
Nemesis
in 1989, and
Forward the Foundation,
published posthumously in 1993. Meanwhile, his
Norby
collaborations with his wife Janet were also appearing, as well as the expansions of his favorite short stories by Robert Silverberg,
Nightfall
in 1990,
The Ugly Little Boy
in 1992, and
The Positronic Man
("The Bicentennial Man") in 1993.
Foundation's Edge
was followed by
The Robots of Dawn
in 1983,
Robots and Empire
in 1985,
Foundation and Earth
in 1986,
Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain
in 1987,
Prelude to Foundation
in 1988,
Nemesis
in 1989, and
Forward the Foundation,
published posthumously in 1993. Meanwhile, his
Norby
collaborations with his wife Janet were also appearing, as well as the expansions of his favorite short stories by Robert Silverberg,
Nightfall
in 1990,
The Ugly Little Boy
in 1992, and
The Positronic Man
("The Bicentennial Man") in 1993.
The Robots of Dawn
made the best-seller lists, but for fewer weeks than
Foundation's Edge. Robots and Empire
made
Publisher's Weekly's
best-seller list but not that of
The New York Times. Foundation and Earth,
however, returned Asimov to both lists.
Nemesis
also was, in Asimov's words, "quite successful."
made the best-seller lists, but for fewer weeks than
Foundation's Edge. Robots and Empire
made
Publisher's Weekly's
best-seller list but not that of
The New York Times. Foundation and Earth,
however, returned Asimov to both lists.
Nemesis
also was, in Asimov's words, "quite successful."
He still found time for other books. After 1979, he published 21
collections of SF, fantasy, and mystery stories; 105 anthologies, almost all in collaboration with Martin H. Greenberg (and a combination of other editors); two collections of SF essays (from his magazine editorials); 86 books on science; two on history, one on the Bible, three on literature, three humor and satire collections, three volumes of autobiography; and eleven miscellaneous books.
collections of SF, fantasy, and mystery stories; 105 anthologies, almost all in collaboration with Martin H. Greenberg (and a combination of other editors); two collections of SF essays (from his magazine editorials); 86 books on science; two on history, one on the Bible, three on literature, three humor and satire collections, three volumes of autobiography; and eleven miscellaneous books.
How can the autumnal success of Asimov's SF novels be explained? Many theories have been advanced, among them the possibility that Asimov's readership (from his more than 200 non-SF books as well as his still-in-print SF titles) had built itself to the point where the pent-up desire for his novels coincided with a mature audience that could afford to purchase hard-cover editions and was too impatient to wait for the paperback. The same thing happened to Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, the other two of what Asimov liked to call ''the Big Three." Indeed, in 1982 Heinlein produced
Friday
and Clarke produced
2010: Odyssey Two
and both appeared on the best-seller lists at the same time as
Foundation's Edge.
For a time more than half the top ten titles were science-fiction or fantasy titles.
Friday
and Clarke produced
2010: Odyssey Two
and both appeared on the best-seller lists at the same time as
Foundation's Edge.
For a time more than half the top ten titles were science-fiction or fantasy titles.
Doubleday's sense of the marketplace was better than Asimov's. Asimov never concerned himself about the marketplace. He preferred low advances so that publishers would allow him to write whatever he wanted. Doubleday, which had been one of the pioneers of SF in hardcovers, also had helped for some 20 years to put a ceiling on sales of SF hardcovers; now, through Asimov, it was reinforcing the concept of the SF bestseller.
When SF novels began to be published following World War II, publishers' expectations placed a cap on their sales. Publishers expected novels to have a top sale of about 5,000 copies, and printed no more. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. But sales of SF began picking up in the 1970s. All through the 1970s and early 1980s the number of titles had escalated from a few hundred a year to more than a thousand by 1982 (six years later they would reach almost two thousand a year), Heinlein's
Stranger in a Strange Land
(1961) and Frank Herbert's
Dune
(1965) had sold with remarkable persistence in paperback as well as the phenomenal
The Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien, and some hard-cover titles, particularly
The Mote in God's Eye
by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle in 1974 and Herbert's
Children of Dune
in 1976, had demonstrated that SF novels could actually become best sellers. Authors such as Heinlein, Clarke, and Herbert were commanding advances (of a half-million dollars to a million and a half) that made Asimov's advance seem minuscule by comparison.
Stranger in a Strange Land
(1961) and Frank Herbert's
Dune
(1965) had sold with remarkable persistence in paperback as well as the phenomenal
The Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien, and some hard-cover titles, particularly
The Mote in God's Eye
by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle in 1974 and Herbert's
Children of Dune
in 1976, had demonstrated that SF novels could actually become best sellers. Authors such as Heinlein, Clarke, and Herbert were commanding advances (of a half-million dollars to a million and a half) that made Asimov's advance seem minuscule by comparison.
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