I read about Nightfall when it was mentioned in passing in New Scientist magazine. Their description interested me, so I borrowed the book from the library. This is the first Isaac Asimov I have read and I can see why he has such a great reputation. Living on a planet with just one sun, we do tend to take darkness and stars for granted. But what if we had never seen either? How would a people, used to eternal light, cope with their first exposure to night? How would someone who had never seen the night sky deal with all those millions of stars? Nightfall is a riveting account of how one society faced just such a challenge and it is an account that is well worth reading. ( )

This is actually one of my favorite Asimov books - and I liked the short story as well. The psychology of mass hysteria and resulting social chaos and destruction is always ripe for sci-fi and this is no exception. I also felt it was an interesting example of world building based around a fundamental question of what life would be like in a solar system dominated by multiple suns and there was no such thing as night. What sorts of things would be different and what would be the same? What sorts of things would folks in this world be afraid of? ( )

Great engaging story. Sci-fi, yet you almost forget that it is since it doesn't concentrate on strange aliens or technology. What would society do if a cataclysmic event was on its way - and both religion and science knew it was coming? ( )

The first half of this novel was absolutely amazing. ( )

(LibraryThing incorrectly combines the short story collection with the extended novel version).

There are four Asimov books called Nightfall. There is a two volume collection of short stories (Nightfall One and Nightfall Two), a single volume version of this collection, and a novel length version of the short story "Nightfall", which headlines the short story collections. I've previously attempted to explain the list of short stories in the various versions of the collection at http://www.stillhq.com/book/Isaac_Asi... There is also a correlation with previously published Robot short stories at http://www.stillhq.com/book/Isaac_Asi...

I just finished reading the short story collection (in this case in a single volume). I haven't read any Asimov short stories in a few months (since September last year to be exact), and I had forgotten how much I enjoy them. One of the advantages of these short story collections is that you get to cover a lot of ground, and there is a real sense of accomplishment in finishing a short story. I think also that the shorter form keeps the author honest -- there simply isn't room to waste space on long passages which don't progress the plot.

This collection is excellent, much like the others I have read from Asimov. I will note that I particularly enjoyed "The Up-to-date Sorcerer", which isn't something I would expect from a Victorian style humor piece. This book was good reading.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/Isaac_Asi... ( )