Nightfall and Other Stories
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Isaac Asimov
- ISBN：0593357469
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Summary
A collection of twenty classic short stories by Isaac Asimov， author of the Foundation series， featuring the definitive and only in-print version of "Nightfall"
From one of history's most influential writers of science fiction comes this collection of twenty short works of fiction， arranged in order of publication from 1941 to 1967。 Compiled by Asimov himself， who prefaced each story with an introduction， it begins with "Nightfall，" the tale of a world with eternal sun that is suddenly plunged into total darkness and utter madness。 "Nightfall，" published when the author was only twenty-one， was arguably his breakout work， making such an impression that， almost thirty years later， the Science Fiction Writers of America voted it the best science-fiction short story ever written
The other stories in the collection span far and wide: A dedicated scientist who whips up his own love potion。 Machines that learn to think for themselves--and direct their thoughts to overturning the establishment。 The discovery that Earthlings are being destroyed by a mysterious kind of psychological virus。 A day when walking outdoors becomes a sign of psychosis。 And many more。
From one of history's most influential writers of science fiction comes this collection of twenty short works of fiction， arranged in order of publication from 1941 to 1967。 Compiled by Asimov himself， who prefaced each story with an introduction， it begins with "Nightfall，" the tale of a world with eternal sun that is suddenly plunged into total darkness and utter madness。 "Nightfall，" published when the author was only twenty-one， was arguably his breakout work， making such an impression that， almost thirty years later， the Science Fiction Writers of America voted it the best science-fiction short story ever written
The other stories in the collection span far and wide: A dedicated scientist who whips up his own love potion。 Machines that learn to think for themselves--and direct their thoughts to overturning the establishment。 The discovery that Earthlings are being destroyed by a mysterious kind of psychological virus。 A day when walking outdoors becomes a sign of psychosis。 And many more。
Reviews
Shaun
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3。5 stars。 The title story， Nightfall， was great as were a couple others。 There were some rather weak ones too though。 Overall a good sampling of Asimov。
Damian Atłasik
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A lot of great short stories。 Very few repeated from other collections of his。 All stories had an introduction as to what motivated Asimov to write them。 Always great to know how he was inspired！
Marco
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All the stories were great， though I personally loved the prefaces Asimov wrote the best。 Give a good insight into his thoughts。
Greg Colosimo
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Nightfall remains one of， if not the best science fiction short story ever told。 The stars above our eads are a gateway to wonder and imagination。
Heath Baron
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Nightfall was a great story。 These are some of the first stories that I have read that include aliens。 The Hostess was my favorite
Margy
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A good writer can write about anything。
Abigail
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As is the case with most story collections， some I really enjoyed while some less so。 I enjoy SFF short stories for the little bites of interesting ideas， and there's no shortage here。 As is the case with most story collections， some I really enjoyed while some less so。 I enjoy SFF short stories for the little bites of interesting ideas， and there's no shortage here。 。。。more
Reveiws by Gabriel
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The writing is very descriptive and as such makes it easy to imagine and step into the scene。 At times， I lost myself to the storyline。
Snodgrass Reviews
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Definitely one for those with a shortstories heart。
Andrea
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Only read to page 93。 I really only got it to read “Nightfall，” which I enjoyed， mostly。 The 2-3 others I read left me less impressed， see m seeing the types of stories we’d read in high school English textbooks - with strange endings - and while I am not opposed to reading more of those， there are so many other things I would much rather read。
D。C。 Stout
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Rightfully declared one of the greatest science fiction stories of all time。
Luffy
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This series of gem like stories， each crafted， seemingly， with loving care， but was probably written for a magazine with a deadline， is the best that American SCI FI literature can offer us。I do consider Nightfall the best short story collection I've ever read。 The second is The Complete Short Stories of Hercule Poirot and the 3rd is the Jungle Books by Kipling。Isaac Asimov never bettered this collection of short stories。 Most of his books are unreadable。 He was prolific but his work ethic and h This series of gem like stories， each crafted， seemingly， with loving care， but was probably written for a magazine with a deadline， is the best that American SCI FI literature can offer us。I do consider Nightfall the best short story collection I've ever read。 The second is The Complete Short Stories of Hercule Poirot and the 3rd is the Jungle Books by Kipling。Isaac Asimov never bettered this collection of short stories。 Most of his books are unreadable。 He was prolific but his work ethic and his upbringing in a nascent Cold War with Russia blunted his longevity in most cases。 But not here。 This is science fiction at its finest。 。。。more
Israeliano
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I have never read Nightfall before， and always heard that it is one of the best sci-fi stories ever。 And indeed， it is。 By some coincidence， a few days before reading Nightfall， I was having a discussion about the stability of the Solar System which is a problem directly related to the one discussed by the scientist of the story。 Anyway， Nightfall is a very smart story and interesting from beginning to end。 Sadly， the same cannot be said about most of the stories in this collection。Besides Night I have never read Nightfall before， and always heard that it is one of the best sci-fi stories ever。 And indeed， it is。 By some coincidence， a few days before reading Nightfall， I was having a discussion about the stability of the Solar System which is a problem directly related to the one discussed by the scientist of the story。 Anyway， Nightfall is a very smart story and interesting from beginning to end。 Sadly， the same cannot be said about most of the stories in this collection。Besides Nightfall， the few other interesting or good stories are:C-ChuteSallyNobody Her But。。。It's Such a Beautiful DayStrikebreakerInsert Knob A in Hole BThe Machine That Won the WarStrikebreaker could have been better， the ending just fell short， and both "Insert Knob A in Hole B" and "The Machine That Won the War" are really fun stories。The eleven remaining stories range between bad to lame。 。。。more
Rohit
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As the title goes， Nightfall is clearly the standout。 The other stories are quite mediocre。 But having said that， it's a glimpse into the great writing mind of Asimov in it's early， rough stage which still produced a diamond that is Nightfall As the title goes， Nightfall is clearly the standout。 The other stories are quite mediocre。 But having said that， it's a glimpse into the great writing mind of Asimov in it's early， rough stage which still produced a diamond that is Nightfall 。。。more
Alger Smythe-Hopkins
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“Nothing ages so quickly as yesterday's vision of the future。” --Richard Corliss Asimov had his good points as a writer。 Some of his non-fiction work provided me with a solid grounding in the sciences as they were in 1960s， and his stolid faith in empiricism and logic conditioned me to welcome post-structuralism。 As a writer of fiction though， Asimov was a supremely influential voice in Sci-Fi for radical equality and inclusion。 This ise true even though he did very little to remedy the sexist w “Nothing ages so quickly as yesterday's vision of the future。” --Richard Corliss Asimov had his good points as a writer。 Some of his non-fiction work provided me with a solid grounding in the sciences as they were in 1960s， and his stolid faith in empiricism and logic conditioned me to welcome post-structuralism。 As a writer of fiction though， Asimov was a supremely influential voice in Sci-Fi for radical equality and inclusion。 This ise true even though he did very little to remedy the sexist white nationalism of his peers， he just presented an alternative vision。 "Nightfall" is an excellent example of how Asimov countered the riptide of pulp conventions。 When "Nightfall" was published in 1941 the John Campbell dominated world of science fiction almost entirely consisted of men with Swedish sounding names landing on a planet， encountering some monster， then subjugating it。 In essence， the Astounding Stories before 1941 were pulpy men's magazine tales where the attacking gorilla was replaced with a BEM。 This was perfectly in keeping with the 19th century imagination of John Campbell。"Nightfall" on the other hand is a signpost to the more complicated world that Science Fiction was helping to create， and plants both feet firmly in the 20th century。 At its heart， "Nightfall" is a simple parable of the conflict between faith and science that preoccupied Asimov for most of his writing career。 More deeply it is a thought experiment testing a world where the mystics have better information than the scientists。 Still， for Asimov faith will always equate to fanaticism and conservatism， while science is beautifully agnostic and the royal road to a perfected humanity。 Even though this is a break with the old fisticuffs and little green men of previous tales， this tale is still an artifact of when it was written。 The entire staff and the mob coming to destroy the heretical observatory is a stag party， and the stage set is a low cost version of Mount Whitney grafted onto a town in the state of Iowa in 1940。 People wear lab coats if they are scientists， and a print journalist has an important role。 There is a landline telephone。 Oddly this helps the story along these days since the premise needs a society that is a little backward since it has to reinvent itself every 2700 years， but really it is just a low fidelity copy of the United States at the end of the Great Depression。Beyond the titular story there is a host of the usual Asmovian space opera， but these are the good ones， where the plots led to someplace unexpected。 Asimov was never short on plot ideas， his limitations were in dialogue and character development， which is why his best stories are built around machines or madness。 The stilted phrasings that are really odd between actual humans serve to accentuate the alien minds of robots and men gone insane。 。。。more
Marsha Valance
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20 early short stories， from 1941 thru 1959， show the author's development。 A Science Fiction Book Club selection。 20 early short stories， from 1941 thru 1959， show the author's development。 A Science Fiction Book Club selection。 。。。more
Harsh
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A good collection of short stories that show the way Asimov thought and wrote and improved。 Useful for aspiring writers。
Craig McMahon
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I think I prefer Asimov as a short story writer than as a novelist， since he's better at conjuring up and then exploring big ideas than he is at characterisation。 This is an outstanding collection！ I think I prefer Asimov as a short story writer than as a novelist， since he's better at conjuring up and then exploring big ideas than he is at characterisation。 This is an outstanding collection！ 。。。more
Lakmus
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Some of the stories were kind of meh， but some were top-notch。 The real interesting part of the book are little notes from the author before every story （at least my edition had them） – I was surprised to find Asimov was a lil' petty queen sometimes （often）， which sheds a whole new light on old sci-fi like the stories themselves never could。To my pleasant surprise， the guy was aware he couldn't write women and avoided writing them whenever possible， and avoided writing romance on similar grounds Some of the stories were kind of meh， but some were top-notch。 The real interesting part of the book are little notes from the author before every story （at least my edition had them） – I was surprised to find Asimov was a lil' petty queen sometimes （often）， which sheds a whole new light on old sci-fi like the stories themselves never could。To my pleasant surprise， the guy was aware he couldn't write women and avoided writing them whenever possible， and avoided writing romance on similar grounds。 For old sci-fi author， that's like a medal right there。 。。。more
Ryan Mahuron
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Nightfall - Very， very cool story。 Fun watching another society come up with science。 Definitely left me wanting more but a very well done short story。 Green Patches - I really liked this one。 Very eerie。 I thought the ending might be a slight cop out， but other than that it was very good。 Fun idea of aliens。Hostess - Excellent。 Maybe the best short story in the entire。 The ending/explanation is so clever。 Definitely re-read。Breeds There a Man 。 。 。 ？ - Very cool story。 Worth re-reading。 I find Nightfall - Very， very cool story。 Fun watching another society come up with science。 Definitely left me wanting more but a very well done short story。 Green Patches - I really liked this one。 Very eerie。 I thought the ending might be a slight cop out， but other than that it was very good。 Fun idea of aliens。Hostess - Excellent。 Maybe the best short story in the entire。 The ending/explanation is so clever。 Definitely re-read。Breeds There a Man 。 。 。 ？ - Very cool story。 Worth re-reading。 I find the premise clever。C-Chute - Somewhat fun。 Humans trapped in a room。 Iffy on whether or not I would need to read again。 In a Good Cause - Eh。 Nothing special for me。What If-- - Very cute story。 Basically 'It's a Wonderful Life'Sally - Cute story also。 Basically predicted a lot of stuff about driverless cars， including a lyft/uber style robo-taxi system。Flies - Really liked this。 Only a page or two， but loved the feeling this short story invoked。Nobody Here But - Weaker story。 Didn't find it funny or ending that special。It's Such a Beautiful Day - Really nice story。 Cliche， but really liked it nonetheless。 Strikebreaker - Pretty good story。 Decently predictable ending， but I thought it still brought up some good issues nonetheless。Insert Knob A in Hole B - Funny， one page little story。 Ending was predictableThe Up-to-date Sorcerer - Was supposed to read 'The Sorcerer' by Gilbert and Sullivan to get a lot of these jokes。 Without it， it was still kind of funny， but not as funny as "What is this Thing Called Love"Unto the Fourth Generation - Pretty dang cool story。 Lots of mystery。 What is this Thing Called Love？ - I actually laughed out loud several times。 Especially the ending。 Definitely， definitely worth rereadng。The Machine that Won the War - Weaker story。 I thought the twist was kind of dumb。My Son， the Physicist - Probably weakest story to me in the anthology。 Eyes Do More than See - Was probably mind blowing at the time。 Interesting read。 Segregationist - Pretty good ending to this story。 Interesting thoughts and probably a good story for the times we're living in 。。。more
Plamen Nenchev
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This is not a very good collection: Nightfall is as awe-inspiring as the first time I read it， 25 years ago， and there are a couple of other stories， mostly older stuff， like Sally， Breeds There a Man or C-Chute whose message is as resonant as ever。 However， most of the stories， especially those written in the 60s， are completely atrocious。 I cannot imagine a reason why any writer would himself include， except under duress （and a gun pointed to his head） stories like Flies， The Up-to-Date Sorcer This is not a very good collection: Nightfall is as awe-inspiring as the first time I read it， 25 years ago， and there are a couple of other stories， mostly older stuff， like Sally， Breeds There a Man or C-Chute whose message is as resonant as ever。 However， most of the stories， especially those written in the 60s， are completely atrocious。 I cannot imagine a reason why any writer would himself include， except under duress （and a gun pointed to his head） stories like Flies， The Up-to-Date Sorcerer or， in particular （！！） Playboy and the Slime God in a collection that supposedly should give a representative look at his work in three entire decades。 Come on， Isaac， you had better stuff than this！ 。。。more
Peter Black
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"There is a penicillin ring on our intellect，" says the author in one of his stories and it seems to indeed be the case。 This collection of short stories chronologically details different influences， interests and ideas the brave and seemingly cold-hearted and calculated legend Isaac Asimov had throughout different periods of his life。 It also shows the influences of outside factors on his general writing。 "There is a penicillin ring on our intellect，" says the author in one of his stories and it seems to indeed be the case。 This collection of short stories chronologically details different influences， interests and ideas the brave and seemingly cold-hearted and calculated legend Isaac Asimov had throughout different periods of his life。 It also shows the influences of outside factors on his general writing。 。。。more
Sean Randall
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"Segregationist" is one of my favourites。 "Nightfall"， as the opening and titular story， is of course hugely well-known。 "C-Shoot" remains a classic， and the dramatised version is still available on Youtube， and "Insert Knob A in Hole B" " delivers a marvellous punch。In all， a great collection with numerous jumping-off points to explore more of Asimov's canon。 "Segregationist" is one of my favourites。 "Nightfall"， as the opening and titular story， is of course hugely well-known。 "C-Shoot" remains a classic， and the dramatised version is still available on Youtube， and "Insert Knob A in Hole B" " delivers a marvellous punch。In all， a great collection with numerous jumping-off points to explore more of Asimov's canon。 。。。more
Red7paulbrennan
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Most of the stories were great but the best part was the anecdotes around them。
Metin Bahar
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Galaksi Şeytanları
Gwenyth Scott
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I got more from this book as a writer than I did as a reader。 There were plenty of short stories in this anthology that just didn’t do it for me。 I was unimpressed by the story， by the writing， it didn’t live up to the hype。。。 whatever the reason was， this was certainly not my favorite anthology collection。HOWEVER， Asimov did have some really interesting and well executed stories in this anthology。 I tended to like the shorter stories that were only a few pages long。 As a writer， I feel I strugg I got more from this book as a writer than I did as a reader。 There were plenty of short stories in this anthology that just didn’t do it for me。 I was unimpressed by the story， by the writing， it didn’t live up to the hype。。。 whatever the reason was， this was certainly not my favorite anthology collection。HOWEVER， Asimov did have some really interesting and well executed stories in this anthology。 I tended to like the shorter stories that were only a few pages long。 As a writer， I feel I struggle the most with an ending， and reading something so short that has a clear timeline or progression from beginning to end was insightful。 Asimov has a brilliant way of making his stories come full circle。 Reading some of these stories was definitely a teachable moment for me。I particularly like his two short stories “Insert Knob A Into Hole B” and “Segregationist。” The first presents two astronauts struggling to assemble all the materials they need。 They request a machine to be sent to them， which will assemble their tools and save them a lot of time and frustration。 But when their solution finally arrives， it too， must be assembled before use。 This short story was only two pages long but I found it to be clever， and I liked that their solution to the problem was as much a problem itself。The second tells the story of a surgeon who is trying to convince a patient prepping for heart replacement surgery， to go with plastic rather than metal。 In this world， injuries， broken bones， failing organs， can all be replaced in order to elongate life。 The patient clearly wants metal because of the aesthetics， but the doctor tries to convince him to use plastic instead， based on the possibility of an electrical breakdown。 The patient refuses and the doctor relents， but makes it clear to the nurse accompanying him for the surgery how he feels about people merging with metal。 The reasoning for his strong， and segregationist talk （hence the title） is revealed at the end of the short story。Both of these short stories taught me the kind of writing needed for short stories， something with which I have not had much experience。 Asimov has several other short stories within this anthology that were thought-provoking， interestingly written， and delightfully scientific。In the future， I plan to pick up more stories from him。 Perhaps a novel that I’m already familiar with would be interesting to see how the writing changes。 。。。more
Tomlikeslife
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Short SF stories from the 1950s。 Some fascinating story lines。
Zeynep
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Such an interesting story。 I am not an expert in science fiction but I’d think this story describes the basic nature of a world after an apocalypse。 While I was reading the scenes from Starwars or more recent movies i。e。 What happened to Monday？came in front my eyes and made all the descriptions more realistic。To be honest， this is the first time I realized the connection and inter disciplinary relations between astronomy and archaeology and to some extend psychology at this level。 This is obvio Such an interesting story。 I am not an expert in science fiction but I’d think this story describes the basic nature of a world after an apocalypse。 While I was reading the scenes from Starwars or more recent movies i。e。 What happened to Monday？came in front my eyes and made all the descriptions more realistic。To be honest， this is the first time I realized the connection and inter disciplinary relations between astronomy and archaeology and to some extend psychology at this level。 This is obviously my mistake， not having this conclusion until this book but I made it at the end， didn’t I？ 。。。more
Andreas Tyrberg
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The short novels in this collection are great and most are actually good stories that lead to reflections even now， more than half a century after its publication。
Edwin Horlings
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