Negative Criticism of Asimov's Stories and Laws |
Though Isaac Asimov has many fans throughout the world, he also has many negative critics, both of his writing and his Laws. Many people find his writing style lacks action and description even while it is full of science and dialogue. James Gunn complains that “virtually all plot develops in conversation” (qtd, in “Isaac Asimov” Wikipedia). Asimov favored dialogue over narration in many stories, and he liked to complicate his stories by rearranging the events in non-chronological ways. He could and did provide character develop when the need arose, as is evidenced by robopyschologist Susan Calvin in the robot stories. Asimov’s stories have very little of the sex and aliens prevalent throughout much science fiction literature. Some criticize him for this deviation from typical science fiction archetypes, but his strength clearly lies in robotics. Along with the lack of sex, Asimov’s early works are often criticized for their lack of strong female characters. However, this is due to his admitted lack of experience with strong women (“Isaac Asimov” Wikipedia) and also to the time in which he wrote many of those early stories. Strong women were not as easy to find then as they are today, especially in works of science fiction. Overall, much of the criticism surrounding Asimov’s work is there because his works are old and show their age in today’s society.
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The following websites contain negatively critical articles about the Three Laws:
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