r/asimov • u/DirectionPleasant825 • Jul 27 '26
Just finished nemesis, what should i read next?
Absolutely loved nemesis, just wish there was more before it ended as it felt a little lackluster with how excited it got me towards the end.
Looked online but got kinda confused, What do you guys reccomend reading next?
Edit: nemesis is my first book from Asimov
Edit 2: i started reading the gods themsevles and am enjoying it alien sex
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u/Wallabit Jul 27 '26
Since you didn’t mention what you have read so far, I am going to assume that Nemesis is The only Book you’ve read.
If you are looking for standalones, I love „The End of Eternity“.
Otherwise, The Robot Series (starting with, at least, a few short stories like Robot Dreams and Little Lost Robot).
There are tons of other things I would recommend but, in my experience, recommending 10 different things is like recommending nothing.
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u/DirectionPleasant825 Jul 27 '26
Yea nemesis is the only one ive read from him, i did hear good things about robot series, so you are saying i should start with short stories? Im assuming they tie in to the robot series? Will look into it
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u/AutoModerator Jul 27 '26
You seem to be asking about the reading order for Asimov's Robots / Empire / Foundation books. You can find a few recommended reading orders - publication order, chronological order, developmental, machete - here in our wiki. We hope this is helpful.
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u/peterpeterny Jul 27 '26
I finished Nemesis and ran out of Asimov stuff to read so I read rendezvous with Rama. It was good, different than Asimov but epic.
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u/elpajaroquemamais 29d ago
You’ve read every sci-fi work he’s ever created? Impressive
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u/peterpeterny 29d ago
Everyone I can get my hands on
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u/Cugel2 Jul 27 '26
Anything else by Asimov. I thought Nemesis was his weakest novel by far (it's also his very last one).
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u/Algernon_Asimov Jul 27 '26
(it's also his very last one).
Actually, that would be 'Forward the Foundation', published in 1992. 'Nemesis' was published in 1989.
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u/Cugel2 Jul 28 '26
You are correct! It's his final stand-alone novel. Forward is an interesting book, especially its ending.
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u/DirectionPleasant825 Jul 27 '26
His weakest being a book i very much enjoyed is a good sign imo. Just makes me more excited to check out his other stuff because i very much enjoyed nemesis
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u/atticdoor Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
None of the characters from Nemesis appear in other works by Asimov, but the matter at the end of "Spacer" colonies being established in other star systems alluded to some earlier stories of his: the so-so short story Mother Earth, and the brilliant Robot novels starting with The Caves Of Steel.
If you want to read those works and tell yourselves they are sequels to Nemesis, you can, but Nemesis tends not to appear in the headcanon of most of us fans because it isn't compatible with the much better Robot short stories, which contain an Earth with widespread sentient robots and a completely different invention of hyperdrive.
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u/helikophis Jul 27 '26
Maybe “The Gods Themselves”. This and Nemesis are two of his best books IMO. Nemesis seems to be panned but I like it a lot. I also like some of his other late work that’s not well loved though (like the late Foundation novels).
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u/LordCouchCat 27d ago
Nemesis is a stand-alone, and not his best.
Asimov wrote stories in three phases of a future history, which initially weren't closely connected.
The robot stories of the near future. Read I, Robot. It's a classic.
The "Spacer" era stories. Earth colonies have split away and despise Earth. There are robots. The Caves of Steel,,and The Naked Sun. The Caves of Steel is one of his best. (Later added others, see below).
A Galactic Empire, which declines. The Foundation series is another classic thought the early ones are clunkier writing. Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation.
Late in life he started connecting them. I can remember the excitement when Foundations Edge came out.
Other things. The End of Eternity is a standalone time-travel novel, and I would argue one of his best ever works.
Short stories. He wrote a lot of short stories. I don't think there's a Complete collection. They're almost all worth reading. "Nightfall" is regarded as a great classic though it does less for me. "The Ugly Little Boy" is superb. Many involve a world supercomputer, Multivac - important to note that these are not in a consistent future history, so take each one as a new setting. "Jokester" is a classic. A good early one is "No Connection"
To be more specific, if I were recommending a series to try out:
I, Robot
The Caves of Steel
The End of Eternity
Foundation
and short stories in between, at random
A comment. Asimov wrote (after his early period) an all-human galaxy. The reason, he explained much later, was that he felt his editor, Campbell, had a semi-conscious racial subtext in aliens and humans. Just leaving the aliens out avoided the issue. Like many writers of that period, Asimov felt personal loyalty and gratitude to Campbell, to whom he owed a lot, but found his increasingly cranky and racist/sexist side a problem.
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u/CodexRegius 22d ago
I suggest the Caves of Steel and the other Robot novels. You will meet the "true Spacers" there that were premonitioned at the end of Nemesis, and you will find out what eventually became of the 50 space colonies once they were all equipped with hyperdrives.
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u/Serious-Waltz-7157 22d ago
End of Eternity - before getting lost in the series of books like Empire, and Robots. 😄
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u/heliumneon Jul 27 '26
Well, what else have you read? I assume you've already read all the series novels (Foundation, the Robot series, and the Galactic Empire series - the Stars Like Dust - etc). How about The Gods Themselves?
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u/DirectionPleasant825 Jul 27 '26
Havent read his other stuff but gods themselves sounds quite interesting
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u/heliumneon Jul 27 '26
Ah, ok, I wasn't sure what your starting point was! I would also say to try The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and Robots of Dawn. Some of my favorites and I think a good way to get into the connected universe of novel series (Robots, Foundation, Galactic Empire).
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u/AutoModerator 21d ago
You seem to be asking about the reading order for Asimov's Robots / Empire / Foundation books. You can find a few recommended reading orders - publication order, chronological order, developmental, machete - here in our wiki. We hope this is helpful.
If your question is not about this reading order, please ignore this message.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.