Asimov novels are 90% stilted expository dialogue punctuated by tepid action. Yet they somehow work. Why? I think sheer conceptual ambition.
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They defined a genre. Similar to Doc Smith earlier. As space opera? It stinks. But it was the first fumblings towards greatness
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It doesn't stink! Psychohistory is still one of the finest operatic plot devices ever!
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Oh, poorly referenced pronoun on my part. Doc Smith and the Skylark/Lensmen. But still, big bold vision. Negaspheres, converting suns...
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I still wish Asimov stayed with the vignette approach from Foundation. It makes sense that The Plan failed over 1000 years... but still
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Hmm. I kinda liked how his style matured. The last-written books (Forward the Foundation and Robots and Empire) are my favorites.
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into novae weapons. Where Asimov went into the mind, Smith took physics to the point of insanity
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God it's fun, but like you said, plot drives characters, stilted language, etc...

