Search Worlds Without End

The story came about when, in 1988, Marty Greenberg suggested Asimov find someone who would take his forty-seven year old short story, "Nightfall", and - keeping the story essentially as written - add a detailed beginning and a detailed ending to it. This resulted in the 1990 publication of the novel, Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg. As Asimov relates in the Robert Silverberg chapter of his autobiography, "...Eventually, I received the extended Nightfall manuscript from Bob [Silverberg]... Bob did a wonderful job and I could almost believe I had written the whole thing myself. He remained absolutely faithful to the original story and I had very little to argue with.

These two renowned writers have invented a world not unlike our own--a world on the edge of chaos, torn between the madness of religious fanaticism and the stubborn denial of scientists. Only a handful of people on the planet Lagash are prepared to face the truth--that their six suns are setting all at once for the first time in 2,000 years, signaling the end of civilization!

This collection contains a subset of the stories previously published in Nightfall and Other Stories (1969).

Contains:

• Nightfall
• Green Patches
• Hostess
• Breeds There a Man...
• C_Chute

This collection contains the remainder of the stories previously published in Nightfall and Other Stories (1969) not already published in Nightfall One.

Contains:

• "In a Good Cause -"
• "What If -"
• Sally
• Flies
• "Nobody Here But -"
• It's Such a Beautiful Day
• Strikebreaker
• Insert Knob A in Hole B
• The Up-to-Date Sorcerer
• Unto the Fourth Generation
• What Is This Thing Called Love?
• The Machine That Won the War
• My Son, The Physicist
• Eyes Do More Than See
• Segregationist

A collection of twenty classic short stories by Isaac Asimov, author of the Foundation series, featuring the definitive version of "Nightfall"

From one of history’s most influential writers of science fiction comes this collection of twenty short works of fiction, arranged in order of publication from 1941 to 1967. Compiled by Asimov himself, who prefaced each story with an introduction, it begins with "Nightfall," the tale of a world with eternal sun that is suddenly plunged into total darkness and utter madness. "Nightfall," published when the author was only twenty-one, was arguably his breakout work, making such an impression that, almost thirty years later, the Science Fiction Writers of America voted it the best science-fiction short story ever written.

The other stories in the collection span far and wide: A dedicated scientist who whips up his own love potion. Machines that learn to think for themselves—and direct their thoughts to overturning the establishment. The discovery that Earthlings are being destroyed by a mysterious kind of psychological virus. A day when walking outdoors becomes a sign of psychosis. And many more.

Table of Contents:

• What Is This Thing Called Love? - (1961)
• Strikebreaker - (1957)
• Sally - (1953)
• Nightfall - (1941)
• Segregationist - (1967)
• Eyes Do More Than See - (1965)
• Green Patches - (1950)
• Hostess - (1951)
• Breeds There a Man...? - (1951)
• Flies - (1953)
• The Up-to-Date Sorcerer - (1958)
• Unto the Fourth Generation - (1959)
• The Machine That Won the War - (1961)
• My Son, the Physicist! - (1962)
• It's Such a Beautiful Day - (1955)
• Insert Knob A in Hole B - (1957)
• "In a Good Cause--" - (1951)
• The C-Chute - (1951)
• Biographical Comments in "Nightfall and Other Stories" - essay by Isaac Asimov
• "Nobody Here But--" - (1953)
• What If-- - (1952)