What Makes Isaac Write?

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The Foundation Trilogy (Avon, $5.95 paperback). A long time ahead in a galaxy far, far away, an old, decadent empire crumbles into barbarism as a farsighted few struggle, at the risk of their lives, to preserve enough fragments to lay the foundations for a new empire. The plot is familiar to anyone who has waded his way through Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. But it was brought up to date and carried forward into a frightening future in this Asimov trilogy. A collection of pieces originally published serially in the monthly science-fiction magazine Astounding, the trilogy has been honored with the Science Fiction Writers of America's Hugo Award as the best alltime series and read by millions in the quarter-century since it was first published in book form. The appeal is understandable for, like Gibbon's, Asimov's message is universal: ideas may outlive the men who think them, but empires, Roman or galactic, are ephemeral. It is only historians that last.

Asimov's Guide to Science (Basic Books, $17.95 hard-cover). One of the byproducts of scientific advance is the widening chasm between specialists and laymen. Indeed, even those who live in the research laboratory are likely to get lost when they leave their own rooms. This work is a flashlight that can help keep everyone from stumbling around in the dark. The author knows his way around the physical and biological sciences, and he manages to set a pace that will neither intimidate beginners nor cause those with a little knowledge to yawn. Science Authority Asimov's no-nonsense prose style is rarely a thing of beauty, but it conveys facts with a minimum of obfuscation; what is more, his curiosity and enthusiasm are infectious. The term popularizer has attracted some shady connotations, but the Asimov of this book deserves none of them. He is a popularizer in the best sense: someone who brings knowledge to people.

Murder at the ABA (Doubleday, $7.95 hardcover; Fawcett, $1.75 paperback). At a convention of the American Booksellers Association, a bestselling young novelist named Giles Devore is found dead in his hotel room. The only one who suspects foul play is Author Darius Just, and he must work his way through a healthy number of suspects to prove his case. The formula is familiar, and Asimov, wearing his mystery writer's hat, works it out with ease. He also introduces himself as a character and manages to dominate long passages of the novel; when Asimov is not onstage, other characters are talking about him. This amiable megalomania often shoves suspense well into the background. Murder at the ABA, published in 1976, will not keep readers on the edge of their seats; it is a well-worn armchair, overstuffed, shaky at the joints, but a comfortable place to be.