Annotations for "Isaac et al"

Words and music © 2003 by Paul Estin.

	{Intro:}
I was the smallest kid in seventh grade
Also the smartest; the scars slowly fade...
Each day at school I would pay a harsh price
Even my so-called friends weren't very nice
This description is slightly exaggerated, but not by much. To quote Ellen Kushner, "I've found that everybody worth knowing as an adult says they were hated by other kids. Either every single kid always feels like a reject, or we're onto something." 
	{Verse:}
But... once I got home I could be my true self
Hundreds of friends in the books on my shelf!
Ray had his Martians, and Art brought The Star,
With Isaac and Robert, I'd travel so far...
To start with the obvious: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury were four prominent writers of science fiction and fantasy-- possibly the most prominent-- especially in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. Bradbury's writing tended towards what I'd call fantasy (though often misclassified as science fiction), while the others' works are predominently science fiction (and essays, in the cases of Asimov and Heinlein). All four authors (Isaac et al) remained popular, especially for younger readers, when I read their stories in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Martian Chronicles (1950), by Bradbury, is a collection of linked short stories regarding humans traveling to Mars. More allegory, fantasy, and horror than science fiction, The Martian Chronicles depict humans as the "invaders from outer space" from the perspective of the native Martians.

"The Star" (1955) is a (very) short story by Clarke.

	{Refrain:}
Robots and Rama and rocks from the moon
Open the book and I'm heading there soon!
The worlds of tomorrow I'll visit today,
with Isaac and Arthur and Ro-... bert... and
Ray...
"Robots" refers the stories about robots for which Asimov is best-known.

Rendezvous with Rama (1973) is one of Clarke's best-known novels. It tells the story of a human rendezvous with and attempt to understand an alien object (dubbed "Rama" before its alien nature is realized) that comes into the Earth's solar system. Three sequels followed, co-written with Gentry Lee in the late 1980s and early 1990s, though I've read none of them.

"Rocks from the moon" is from The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966) by Heinlein. The phrase refers to the weapons used by the lunar colonists in their attempt to gain independence from Earth, "thrown" using ballistic launchers intended for grain. This novel includes fascinating ideas about libertarianism, "line marriage," and artificial intelligence, plus popular concepts like "TANSTAAFL" and the "Stilyagi Air Corps," all wrapped in an interesting story line.

Here are a few tales that Isaac told me:
A man, Hari Seldon, predicts history,
A world ends in nightfall, the Last Question awes,
Foundation, Empire, the robots' Three Laws...
"Hari Seldon" is a "psychohistorian" who predicts the course of galactic history for the next 30 millennia, based on larger forces and under the assumption that the resulting basic patterns cannot be altered by mere individuals. Seldon is the key figure at the beginning of Asimov's "Foundation" series of stories. The first four Foundation stories, originally published between 1942 and 1944, are collected in Foundation (1951). Many sequels and one prequel followed.

"A world ends in nightfall" is the quick summary of Asimov's short story "Nightfall" (1941). But it's really so much better than that.

"The Last Question awes" refers to the Asimov short story "The Last Question" (1956). Thanks to Steve Brinich for suggesting this rhyme.

Foundation and Empire (1952) is the first sequel to Foundation. It includes two stories.

"The robots' Three Laws" are the central idea underlying Asimov's robot stories. He was tired of every SF story concerning robots rehashing the same Frankenstein plot-- monster is created, monster destroys his own creator-- and theme-- "there are things (technology, nature of life) man was not meant to know." (And the Frankenstein plot is an overused cliche, frankly, no matter how much Michael Crichton might think he's being original for resuscitating it.) Asimov assumed instead that safety devices would be built into robots, just as they are into other technology, and proposed the "Three Laws of Robotics":

  1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflic with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence so long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Asimov wrote in the introduction to The Rest of the Robots: "There was just enough ambiguity in the Three Laws to provide the conflicts and uncertainties required for new stories, and, to my great relief, it seemed always to be possible to think up a new angle out of the sixty-one words of the Three Laws."

Then came the stories from Arthur C.'s pen:
Alien rendezvous, Childhood's End,
Orbital towers, God's nine billion names,
A sentient computer who likes to play games... ("I'm sorry, Dave.")
"Alien rendezvous" refers again to Rendezvous with Rama (1973).

[TO BE CONTINUED later-- or sooner, perhaps, if I get a request to finish this up :-) A quick draft of other references is printed below:]
Childhood's End

Fountains of Paradise

"The Nine Billion Names of God"

2001

From Robert's mind there came so many notions:
New forms of government and of emotion,
Alien parasites, ships to the stars,
Religion that came from a man raised on Mars...
Starship Troopers

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and others

The Puppet Masters

Rocket Ship Galileo and others

Stranger in a Strange Land

Tattoos that tell tales and others from Ray:
A world in which each person's life lasts eight days,
Martian mindreaders, books are a crime,
Don't step on a bug if you travel through time!
The Illustrated Man

"Frost and Fire"

The Martian Chronicles

Fahrenheit 451

"The Sound of Thunder"

There were other authors I'd read after school
Like Ursula, Madeleine, Orson, and Poul
My dad's old anthologies, from a strange age
'‘Cause short stories had more ideas-per-page!
Ursula K. LeGuin, Madeleine L'Engle, Orson Scott Card, Poul Anderson (though, now that I think about it, I don't recall reading the latter two authors until college).

My dad really did have a shelf of old SF anthologies, and I really did feel that way about short stories. If one assumes (as I do) that SF is at its core the literature of "what if...?" then short stories really are a "purer" form. Novels tend to be full of extraneous bits like, uh, characterization. And series? Strewn with filler. :-)

Later, when older, I'd read books by Barry,
Frederik, and Harlan, and Jerry and Larry,
But it's always the first four of whom I'm most fond
Half of them gone, but their stories live on...
Barry B. Longyear, Frederik Pohl, Harlan Ellison, Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven.

Robert Anson Heinlein died May 8, 1988, at age 80. Isaac Asimov died April 6, 1992, at age 72. As of October 2003, Arthur C. Clarke (age 85) and Ray Bradbury (age 83) are still with us, but, alas, someday I'll have to change the lyric "half" to "three" and then "all". :-( 

Robots and Rama and rocks from the moon
Open the book and WE'RE heading there soon
The worlds of tomorrow WE'LL visit today,
with Isaac and Arthur and Ro... bert... and
Ray!