Nightfall | Essays and Criticism

  • Similarities Between Earth and Asimov's Alien World

    In this essay, the author examines the similarities to Earth culture that permeate the alien world found in Asimov’s most-admired short story.

  • Byron’s Darkness and Asimov’s Nightfall

    In the following essay, the author explores similarities between Lord Byron’s poem ‘‘Darkness’’ and Asimov’s ‘‘Nightfall,’’ finding both have ‘‘darkness and mankind’s reaction to it’’ as a central theme.

  • The Earliest Asimov

    In the following excerpt, the author discusses Asimov’s ambivalence about the quality of ‘‘Nightfall,’’ and analyzes critically elements Asimov had identified as suspect.