Book Review: Asimov on Science Fiction by Isaac Asimov

Asimov on Science Fiction
by Isaac Asimov

I picked up this book in an AbeBooks order back in 2018.  I don't recall the exact circumstances of why I picked it up.  It might have been because I was reading a similar book of his nonfiction and decided to procure this one to go along with it.

Regardless I started reading this book again not too long ago and have been going through it somewhat slowly, reading a chapter or two a night and I recently finished it so I thought I'd go ahead and review it here.

No one knows science fiction as well as Isaac Asimov, the bestselling author of the FOUNDATION saga and many other classic works. He has taken part in all the significant developments and knows most of the important writers personally. His familiarity with the history of sf is unsurpassed, including UTOPIA, FRANKENSTEIN, the stories of Jules Verne and the concerns of today's writers.

ASIMOV ON SCIENCE FICTION is just that: the Grand Master's views on his subject. There is no other book like it.
--from Goodreads

The book is a series of non-fiction essays that were composed by Isaac Asimov over the course of many years divided into the following sections.

1. Science Fiction in General
2. The Writing of Science Fiction
3. The Predictions of Science Fiction
4. The History of Science Fiction
5. Science Fiction Writers
6. Science fiction Fans
7. Science Fiction Reviews
8. Science Fiction and I

I enjoyed reading through this work, though it is certainly very different from Asimov's science fiction works.  He was a very prolific author, not only of science fiction, but also many non-fiction works.  In addition he frequently wrote essays, columns, or introductions and many of those were the source of this book's chapters.  Each chapter/piece includes an introduction that tells where the piece originally appeared or who commissioned the writing of it.

I enjoyed the insights both into Asimov's life but also the early years of the science fiction community from a man who was an acknowledged "old-timer" and grand master of the genre.  The book is definitely a product of its time and the author.  He was an early member of the science fiction community who didn't live to see many of the changes it has undergone in recent years.  But as a historian I really enjoyed seeing his perspective.  Be aware that while essays are grouped by topic this is a collection of disparate items linked just by the author and general subject matter of science fiction.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary: A series of non-fiction essays on various aspects and subjects of Science Fiction.
Technical: Copyright 1981.  334 pages, hardcover with dust jacket.  Includes an introduction to each of 55 different essays in eight different categories.

~Matt