Asimovian adj. 1

of, relating to, or characteristic of the writing of Isaac Asimov

SF Criticism

  • 1942 M. Lesser Letter in Planet Stories Summer 128/2 page image Milton Lesser

    ‘Black Friar of the Flame’ was an Asimovian masterpiece. Better, all kibitzers please note, than his very good letters. The best part, I guess, was his climaxing space battle.

  • 1951 V. Gerson Review in Astounding Science-Fiction July 156/1 page image Villiers Gerson bibliography

    The solution to their individual problems and to those of the civilization for which they are fighting comes in an intricate twist which, to this reader at least, was unexpected and wholly Asimovian.

  • 1965 R. Silverberg Spectroscope in Amazing Stories Mar. 125/2 page image Robert Silverberg

    Others [sc. short stories]…have been dusted off because they deal with robots. Most of these are pretty minor jobs by Asimovian standards, and a couple of them are minor by anybody’s standards.

  • 1978 J. Bartelt Mumbles from Minneapolis in Janus (#11) Spring 26/1 page image John Bartelt bibliography

    Some of Varley’s stories have a similar flavor, with respect to the science and such, but Varley has much better characters and more style than Niven. The end of ‘Phantom’ made me wonder if there was any Asimovian influence.

  • 1984 P. Anderson Discovery of Past in Past Times 197 Poul Anderson bibliography

    Of course, many scholars have tried to find patterns in recorded events, a deeper meaning or rhythm. The best known of these may be Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee, but one can name any number of others—as well as colleagues who scoff at all of them. Whether or not such efforts will eventually lead to an Asimovian science of ‘psychohistory’™ remains to be seen.

  • 1995 Extrapolation Spring 3/2

    Clute seemed to me, in fact, extremely Asimovian in his acceptance speech.

  • 2012 N.Y. Times Magazine 20 May 11/1

    Ullman reflected on the looming Asimovian problem of telling people from machines.


Research requirements

antedating 1942

Earliest cite

Milton Lesser, in a letter to Planet Stories

Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a 1987 cite from Thomas R. McDonough's "The Architects of Hyperspace".
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1984 version of Poul Anderson's essay "The Discovery of the Past".
We would like to check the cite in the 1977 version of this essay in "Profanity" magazine.

Last modified 2022-03-04 15:41:58
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.