Isaac Asimov's Runaround

1. Campbellesque fiction, named after John Campbell the blending of a good story and correct scientific knowledge, in a way that neither overpowers the other. This type of fiction demonstrates a sort of realism that makes the entirety of the story seem plausible, achievable, and after a decade no longer fictional. According to Isaac Asimov, this was the death of this era of science fiction. Science fiction moved in this direction due to the premium on quality writing placed by John Campbell and his magazine, he set the precedent for strong story writing and scientific backing and demanded it out of other. I believe out of all the short stories we’ve covered in class the one that may fall into Campbellesque fiction is Isaac Asimov’s own Runaround. Runaround was both written well, with two engaging full-fledged characters and a well-developed environment, and entrenched in scientific theories, such as toxic sulfurous environments and positronic brains.
2. The second foreword describes the relationship between Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov, it describes the …show more content…
I believe the story definitely matched what Harlan Ellison wanted from the short stories in his analogy. It came off like a sort of story tale, with ridiculous drawn-out imagery very little character exposition and characterization. And the presence of characters and antagonists as nothing less than monoliths and caricatures. Like the Grim Reaper and a venom spitting succubus. It’s a dangerous vision in that it intricately weaves the traditional fairy tale of bogeyman with the exposition of traditional science fiction in an almost anachronic manner. Traditionally, ghosts, devils, and bogeymen have no place in science fiction, at least in no science fiction I’ve read, but Fritz Lieber manages to tie High Fantasy with traditional science fiction in a masterful way that demonstrates good writing and the ability to challenge the norm with a new and original vision. But, borders on the