Magic: The Final Fantasy Collection

Rating:
Summary: Excellent ramblings by the master of science fiction.
Review: "Magic" by Isaac Asimov is truly that. At the start of the book, the short stories are captivating. The second part consists of a collection of stories about a little two-inch demon that all Asimov readers are familiar with. Finally, it wraps up with several insightful musings by the author himself. In one tome, the reader is bathed in Isaac Asimov's best science fiction, fantasy, and thoughts. It is well worth the price just to have in a complete Asimov collection, but it's thoughtful, well planned shifts from one subject to the other seems as if the compiler was led by an expert conductor

Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: Asimov was such a great writer. In this book, he will make you laugh, will make you think, will make you imagine. If you want to get started on SciFi, I think this is a good book to start with. One of the short stories I liked the most was the one telling the real BATMAN story. Overall: good book.

Rating:
Summary: Magic The Final Fantasy Collection Isaac Asimov
Review: Isaac Asimov was always a pioneer in writing. Here is his foray into the then-new area of Fantasy. Azazel, the 2 inch extra-dimesional being, and the well-meaning George star in most of the stories. Like the proverbial genie, George helps his family and friends realize their dreams and wishes which they come to find aren't what they really wanted. Also contains a few of Isaac's witty essays on fantastic creatures and figures. A must read for fantasy readers.

Rating:
Summary: Technically Magic
Review: Like GOLD, the previous "final collection" of Asimov's work from HarperCollins, MAGIC is divided into three separate sections: The Final Fantasy Stories, On Fantasy, and Beyond Fantasy. As a compilation, I found this to be a decent, if not exactly exciting, read. Asimov usually isn't a spectacular writer, but he can be an interesting and engaging one. Even if I didn't fall in love with any of the short pieces presented here, I can't say that I hated any of them either.

The first section contains the fictional content, and is made up of eleven short stories relating to the fantasy genre. Unfortunately, a full eight of these are Asimov's George-and-Azazel tales, which are enjoyable enough, but they dominate the book and are rather formulaic. An entry from Asimov's Black Widowers mystery series (which certainly would certainly seem to fit more under the mystery genre rather than the fantasy) and a couple of delightful fairy tale stories complete this segment. The worst charge that could be leveled at any individual story is that it's a bit dull, and the best ones are fun entertainment. They're amusing diversions, but nothing much more.

The second section contains non-fiction, Asimov's thoughts on various aspects of the fantasy genre. There aren't any earth-shattering revelations, but Asimov had a very enjoyable prose style that quickly and carefully brings his point of view across. Here he writes about Tolkien, applies scientific knowledge to traditional fairy tales (there's a humorous section where he calculates the speed of Seven League Boots, which strongly reminded me of the "how fast does Santa travel on Christmas Eve?" email that now seems to be a holiday staple), and discusses the origins of the genre and many of its staples.

The third section is entitled "Beyond Fantasy", as presumably the title "Things That Have Nothing To Do With Fantasy But We Wanted To Include Anyway" wouldn't fit on the page. That alternate title fairly accurately describes the contents of this section, as it tackles subjects as far ranging as "Ignorance In America" to evolution to translating ancient texts from their various ancient tongues. They aren't exactly the sorts of essays that one might expect to find in a fantasy anthology, but they make for fascinating reading all the same. Asimov's philosophies and beliefs always come across as commonsensical notions that have been explained to you by an expert. There are only seven short entries in this final group, and I wish there had been more, as I found this to be the most interesting section. Of course, as mentioned, the majority of these were so unrelated to the main topic that one should probably just be grateful that they were included in the first place.

No Asimov-completist's library will be whole without this volume, and even people with little interest in fantasy will probably find a few things to enjoy here. I read this book while making a transatlantic journey, and it was a great way to fill those deadening hours of airplane travel. MAGIC isn't a book that demands much from the reader, but it makes for very enjoyable light reading that is still head and shoulders above the average work of most other writers.

Rating:
Summary: Technically Magic
Review: Like GOLD, the previous "final collection" of Asimov's work from HarperCollins, MAGIC is divided into three separate sections: The Final Fantasy Stories, On Fantasy, and Beyond Fantasy. As a compilation, I found this to be a decent, if not exactly exciting, read. Asimov usually isn't a spectacular writer, but he can be an interesting and engaging one. Even if I didn't fall in love with any of the short pieces presented here, I can't say that I hated any of them either.

The first section contains the fictional content, and is made up of eleven short stories relating to the fantasy genre. Unfortunately, a full eight of these are Asimov's George-and-Azazel tales, which are enjoyable enough, but they dominate the book and are rather formulaic. An entry from Asimov's Black Widowers mystery series (which certainly would certainly seem to fit more under the mystery genre rather than the fantasy) and a couple of delightful fairy tale stories complete this segment. The worst charge that could be leveled at any individual story is that it's a bit dull, and the best ones are fun entertainment. They're amusing diversions, but nothing much more.

The second section contains non-fiction, Asimov's thoughts on various aspects of the fantasy genre. There aren't any earth-shattering revelations, but Asimov had a very enjoyable prose style that quickly and carefully brings his point of view across. Here he writes about Tolkien, applies scientific knowledge to traditional fairy tales (there's a humorous section where he calculates the speed of Seven League Boots, which strongly reminded me of the "how fast does Santa travel on Christmas Eve?" email that now seems to be a holiday staple), and discusses the origins of the genre and many of its staples.

The third section is entitled "Beyond Fantasy", as presumably the title "Things That Have Nothing To Do With Fantasy But We Wanted To Include Anyway" wouldn't fit on the page. That alternate title fairly accurately describes the contents of this section, as it tackles subjects as far ranging as "Ignorance In America" to evolution to translating ancient texts from their various ancient tongues. They aren't exactly the sorts of essays that one might expect to find in a fantasy anthology, but they make for fascinating reading all the same. Asimov's philosophies and beliefs always come across as commonsensical notions that have been explained to you by an expert. There are only seven short entries in this final group, and I wish there had been more, as I found this to be the most interesting section. Of course, as mentioned, the majority of these were so unrelated to the main topic that one should probably just be grateful that they were included in the first place.

No Asimov-completist's library will be whole without this volume, and even people with little interest in fantasy will probably find a few things to enjoy here. I read this book while making a transatlantic journey, and it was a great way to fill those deadening hours of airplane travel. MAGIC isn't a book that demands much from the reader, but it makes for very enjoyable light reading that is still head and shoulders above the average work of most other writers.

Rating:
Summary: Technically Magic
Review: Like GOLD, the previous "final collection" of Asimov's work from HarperCollins, MAGIC is divided into three separate sections: The Final Fantasy Stories, On Fantasy, and Beyond Fantasy. As a compilation, I found this to be a decent, if not exactly exciting, read. Asimov usually isn't a spectacular writer, but he can be an interesting and engaging one. Even if I didn't fall in love with any of the short pieces presented here, I can't say that I hated any of them either.

The first section contains the fictional content, and is made up of eleven short stories relating to the fantasy genre. Unfortunately, a full eight of these are Asimov's George-and-Azazel tales, which are enjoyable enough, but they dominate the book and are rather formulaic. An entry from Asimov's Black Widowers mystery series (which certainly would certainly seem to fit more under the mystery genre rather than the fantasy) and a couple of delightful fairy tale stories complete this segment. The worst charge that could be leveled at any individual story is that it's a bit dull, and the best ones are fun entertainment. They're amusing diversions, but nothing much more.

The second section contains non-fiction, Asimov's thoughts on various aspects of the fantasy genre. There aren't any earth-shattering revelations, but Asimov had a very enjoyable prose style that quickly and carefully brings his point of view across. Here he writes about Tolkien, applies scientific knowledge to traditional fairy tales (there's a humorous section where he calculates the speed of Seven League Boots, which strongly reminded me of the "how fast does Santa travel on Christmas Eve?" email that now seems to be a holiday staple), and discusses the origins of the genre and many of its staples.

The third section is entitled "Beyond Fantasy", as presumably the title "Things That Have Nothing To Do With Fantasy But We Wanted To Include Anyway" wouldn't fit on the page. That alternate title fairly accurately describes the contents of this section, as it tackles subjects as far ranging as "Ignorance In America" to evolution to translating ancient texts from their various ancient tongues. They aren't exactly the sorts of essays that one might expect to find in a fantasy anthology, but they make for fascinating reading all the same. Asimov's philosophies and beliefs always come across as commonsensical notions that have been explained to you by an expert. There are only seven short entries in this final group, and I wish there had been more, as I found this to be the most interesting section. Of course, as mentioned, the majority of these were so unrelated to the main topic that one should probably just be grateful that they were included in the first place.

No Asimov-completist's library will be whole without this volume, and even people with little interest in fantasy will probably find a few things to enjoy here. I read this book while making a transatlantic journey, and it was a great way to fill those deadening hours of airplane travel. MAGIC isn't a book that demands much from the reader, but it makes for very enjoyable light reading that is still head and shoulders above the average work of most other writers.