Foundation's Friends
Foundation's Friends, Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov is a 1989 book written in honor of science fiction author Isaac Asimov, in the form of an anthology of short stories set in Asimov's universes, particularly the Robot/Empire/Foundation universe. The anthology was edited by Martin H. Greenberg, and contributing authors include Ray Bradbury, Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson, Harry Turtledove, and Orson Scott Card. A "revised and expanded" edition was published in 1997, which added numerous memorials and appreciations written by those who knew him, many of them well-known authors and editors from the science fiction field.
- Hardback: ISBN 0-312-93174-3
- Paperback: ISBN 0-8125-0980-3
- Revised and Expanded Edition (Paperback): ISBN 0-8125-6770-6
Table of contents
| Title | Author | Notes |
|---|
| Preface | Ray Bradbury | A brief overview and praise of Asimov's work |
| The Nonmetallic Isaac or It’s a Wonderful Life | Ben Bova | A look at what the world would be like if Asimov never wrote non-fiction |
| Strip-Runner | Pamela Sargent | Set between The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn; Elijah Baley makes a brief appearance and Ben Baley is mentioned |
| The Asenion Solution | Robert Silverberg | A collection of in-jokes; uses Asimov's fictional thiotimoline substance and ties into The Gods Themselves |
| Murder in the Urth Degree | Edward Wellen | A Wendell Urth story |
| Trantor Falls | Harry Turtledove | Set between the two halves of Foundation and Empire; details the Great Sack of Trantor |
| Dilemma | Connie Willis | Story about an old Asimov in the 21st century meeting robots modeled after his characters |
| Maureen Birnbaum After Dark | George Alec Effinger | A retelling of Nightfall from the view of his Maureen Birnbaum character; also collected in Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson |
| Balance | Mike Resnick | A brief story about Susan Calvin |
| The Present Eternal | Barry N. Malzberg | A sequel to The Dead Past |
| PAPPI | Sheila Finch | An anti-robotics industrialist attempts to assassinate Mayor Stephen Byerly; Susan Calvin also appears |
| The Reunion at the Mile-High | Frederik Pohl | An alternate history where Asimov was drafted into a biological weapons program during World War II and never became an author |
| Plato's Cave | Poul Anderson | Set between Runaround and Stephen Byerly's election to World Coordinator; Susan Calvin, Alfred Lanning, Greg Powell and Mike Donovan appear; Byerly and Speedy are mentioned |
| Foundation's Conscience | George Zebrowski | Set in 1056 FE after the creation of the Second Empire (may conflict with Foundation's Edge/Foundation and Earth, as Gaia is not apparent) |
| Carhunters of the Concrete Prairie | Robert Sheckley | Concerns intelligent robots and the Three Laws of Robotics, it's a reference to Sally, a short story about intelligent cars |
| The Overheard Conversation | Edward D. Hoch | A Black Widowers story |
| Blot | Hal Clement | Plot includes positronic robots, the Three Laws of Robotics, and U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, but also includes the discovery of alien life, which contradicts all but one of Asimov's robot stories |
| The Fourth Law of Robotics | Harry Harrison | A story about an older Mike Donovan and Susan Calvin's grandniece solving a crime with the help of the Stainless Steel Rat |
| The Originist | Orson Scott Card | Set just after the first part of Foundation, deals with Hari Seldon's establishment of the Second Foundation; the story also appears in Card's collection Maps in a Mirror. |
| A Word or Two from Janet | Janet Asimov | Janet Asimov describes what it's like to be Isaac's wife |
| Fifty Years | Isaac Asimov | Isaac Asimov compares his life and career to the greats of science and literature |
|
Contents added to the revised and expanded edition
See also
External links