http://ninecats.org/margaret/blog/2013/06/06/alternate-asimovs-isaac-asimov ( )

Asimov is my favorite Sci-Fi author. This is a collection of some of his short stories with alternate endings. Not necessarily better, just different. I tend thi think that Asimov usually made the right choices. ( )

The title for this books is a little misleading, as you'd think it would be similar to the What If...? series of Marvel Comics, but its not.

As an effort to enlighten readers to the writing process, Asimov contributed some of his manuscripts pre-plot-changing-edits, presenting them in their more original form, as well as providing commentary on things such as which version he liked better.

The three works included are "Grow Old With Me" (which became Pebble in the Sky), the 20k short story "The End of Eternity" (which became a novel by the same name), and the short story "Belief", both Asimov's and the editor's choice.

This book does not have universal appeal to the casual science fiction reader, as it is mostly a collection of stories that later were drastically edited and turned into novels (or in the case of "Belief", another short story).

I would recommend this book, however, to die hard science fiction fans, or aspiring writers interested in the editing process (though make sure to pick up a copy of Pebble in the Sky and The End of Eternity). ( )

Ever wondered how stories came to be in the form that they are. then wonder no more as Asimov goes through a couple of his better known books and a short story to show how they changed between his original conception of the story and what got published.

There's not enough space to include the full texts of both versions but the major differences between the finished version of _The End of Eternity_ and the 'original' version are presented - the published version does win out quite handily!. ( )

ZB7