Asimov VS Tolkien

[Niffiwan]

Zo, what'z everyone'z opinion on Isaac Asimov?
I zink zat he waz juzt like Tolkien, except in science fiction. You'll have to notice zat zey lived at ze same time, juzt took different pathz and stylez; while Asimov swore to himself zat he would be clear in his writing, no matter what, Tolkien choze to write in complicated wordz. While Tolkien only wrote few bookz (az a result of him redoing hiz bookz over & over), Asimov wrote the bookz almozt on firzt draft, not going through many copies before ze final novel waz published. Az a rezult, he wrote hundredz of bookz.
However, Asimov iz considered ze "father" of science-fiction, and Tolkien iz conzidered ze "father" of fantasy.
Asimov's Foundation series won ze Hugo Award away from LotR, but LotR won "Book of the Century".
Zey were alike and different in many wayz...

[juntel]

Firstly, lose the "z"-talk, you'll be better understood.

I like Asimov. When I was young, ready his SF stories helped me learn english. Then I read his non-fiction, eg science vulgarisations, and that made me love science and learning and to develop my curiosity.

I don't think one can judge someone by the amount of books he/she has written, nor by the style of language used.

Tolkien had his style, Asimov had his own.

[bmilder]

I don't remember if I've read an Asimov story. As for an Asimov book winning the Hugo over LotR, I view it like Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" winning the Oscar for Best Picture instead of "Star Wars" in 1977. Years from now, and even today, no one will remember "Annie Hall" at all (I had never heard of it before learning it took the Oscar from Star Wars) except maybe as one of the Woody Allen movies, but Star Wars will remain a classic :D .

[IronParrot]

I'd say that when gauging the amount of influence the two authors have on our society and our way of thinking today, they're about equal. But they're in two totally different fields, two different aspects of fantasy writing in general. They both have a nearly unsurpassed degree of originality in imagination. While Tolkien is probably the most often copied/referenced/ripped-off author ever, Asimov's height on this scale is also notably astronomical (NPI).

[juntel]

StarWars('77) winning the Oscar for best movie against Annie Hall? No way!
SW could win for Best Music, Best Special FX, Best Costumes, etc...
But it isn't original enough to win, say, Best Script or Best Movie. The story itself isn't that original.
It's a very entertaining movie that I liked a lot, but I would vote for Annie Hall always!

[Brewhaha]

Don't get me wrong, Tolkien and Asimov are great writers, but I think Feist is the greatest fantasy writer there ever was. Not only does he carefully weave complex events, but he does not rush anything and takes page upon page to present his story in the best and clearest way possible. Not to mention his stories are absolutley engulfing and amazing. Go Feist!

[juntel]

I've never read Feist, so I can't comment on that.
What about Heinlein? Shouldn't he deserve some mention too?

In fact, the old friendly war in SF as to who's the "greatest" is among those for Asimov against those for A.C.Clarke. I guess that they are right if greatness in SF has to do with the impact their stories have on real technology (Clarke and satellites, Asimov and robotics).

[bmilder]

Tolkien's advantage is that his stories are set in the past, so they will never be out of date. Science fiction authors present their view of the future, and when that time comes and the thing doesn't happen, the book loses something. The year 2001 will be here sooner than we know it, and we're nowhere near manned missions to the Outer Planets.

[IronParrot]

juntel, I totally agree about Asimov and Clarke...

I'm actually a bigger fan of Clarke, but I'd say they've had equal influence in terms of the kinds of goals they basically set for humankind and the development of technology, simply from their works.

[Niffiwan]

bmilder, yez, some of Asimov'z bookz have already fallen out of date, like zome of hiz firzt robot novelz. However, he set mozt of hiz ztoriez in the FAR future.
Hiz mozt famouz seriez, the 7 Foundation bookz, take place 15 000 yearz from now. Zo it'z ze same az Tolkien in a way; they'll surely have forgotten all about his bookz by ze time that age comez (if humanz are still alive at zat time).

[etherealunicorn]

I like Asimov's stuff. Granted, his material is different in content from Tolkien(duh!), but his developement of long-range topics is, I think, equal to Tolkien in scope, though the developement is certainly different. If one wants to be technical about it, the Foundation books actually begin with the book The End of Eternity, in that later books refer back to this one; then proceeding through the four robot novels; then the three Empire novels before finally picking up with the Foundation books. All together, this covers a massive span of time, even though the groups of books can certainly be read and enjoyed independently of one another. As with Tolkien, I admire the scope of the vision very much.
Also, I admire Asimov's mind. He was a thinker always and the fact that something authored by him can be found in probably every category of the Dewey Decimal System certainly tends to bear that out. I would like to endeavor to find that love of learning, no matter what the subject, in my own life.
Certainly I don't mean to diminish Tolkien when I say that. As has been previously noted, they were two different men, exposed to differing influences in life, so it is to be expected that they had varying views. But I do think that our literature has been enriched tremendously because of the presence of both of them and I am grateful for the gifts they have left to us.
:) :) :) :) :) :)

[emilsson]

I love Asimov´s books and his books were the first scifi I really got into. I think his way of using discussions in his stories are very interesting plus he also brings up a lot of fascinating subjects and thoughts. One that immidiately comes to mind is the difference between murder and homicide. :)

In my opinion a comparison between Asimov and Tolkien is hard to make. As I see it they used different ways to explore certain themes. There is one theme I believe they both write about, humanity, so I guess there is one similarity.

[Wizard of the Secret Fire]

I like Asimov's books but it is a long time since I read them.

This is interesting:

I enjoy the S. F. of Isaac Azimov
J. R. R. Tolkien
Letter 294 (1967)

[cee2lee2]

Wizard, is there an address where I can read the Tolkien letter about Asimov?

I enjoy reading works by both authors and I really wouldn't compare them except to say they are both great and sometimes complex writers.

[Gwaihir]

In terms of sheer popularity I'm bound to say that Tolkien is the better of the two. I haven't really read much of Asimov, since I generally don't go in for science fiction, but from what I've seen Tolkien definitely takes the popularity prize.

David

[Niffiwan]

Asimov was the more popular of the two during his time; Tolkien is more popular now, but Asimov had his own magazine.
BTW where do you place the accent on Asimov? This has been bugging me for some time...

[Razgon]

Did any of you guys know that besides being an author, Asimov actually was a nuclear scientist? He actually wrote an entire book to dispute an argument between him and a fellow scientist as to whether a certain isotop could ever exist or not :)
He also predicted the micro wave oven in some of his short stories, and has been a very big influence in the way robots are percieved by scientists today.
His ideas on the "positronic" brain he uses in his robot stories, and his "the three laws of robotics" are commonly used in the scientific community when disccusing robots.
Certainly he is one of the greater influences even if we don't recognize this always.
As for Tolkien, I feel that his contribution to society was more in the cultural area, and of course he has been a great influnece on modern gaming and fantasy books.
pheew, sorry about the long talk but ... :)

[Grand Admiral Reese]

Similarities between Tolkien and Asimov: they were both professors, and both wrote many inter-connected stories(Asimov's future history, and of course Middle-earth).

They're both great authors, having read a fair amount from both. I can't really say if one is better than the other, as one is a fantasy writer, the other is a sci-fi/science writer.

QUICK FACT: Asimov was afraid of flying, and only flew twice in his life.

[Niffiwan]

So can someone please answer my question?
2 people have replied without answering it. This could mean a few things:

1. They thought it was too stupid a question to answer
2. They don't know the answer themselves
3. They didn't really read my message, but just replied to the whole thread

ok, then, which one is it? ;)

[Razgon]

I read your message, but replied to the whole thread, because I didn't know the answer, and thought it was too stupid a question to answer anyway :)
No, seriously, I don't know. It's something the government has been hiding ever since Mr.Asimovs death. I've tried to contact various officials, but have been told to contact "department 42" but I can't find them. Can anyone?

[Gilthalion]

Try this ---AZ-ih-mahvf

I encountered Asimov first, and thought he was the best I had read, but later found Tolkien to be the superior writer.

Asimov was certainly good, and incredibly prolific.

Alexander Dumas wrote novels that read well today.

Jules Vernes works are dated, and less appreciated. I wonder if they will have more staying power than Asimov's.

The test of time has already rendered its verdict:

Tolkien Rules!