I think you&#x27;re underestimating Asimov. I agree the final two Foundation books are dire, and not just because of the characters.<p>The characters in his short stories - which I certainly recommend reading - wouldn&#x27;t be out of place on an old SF TV show like The Outer Limits, but they&#x27;re certainly not badly written. He&#x27;s a very deft, economic writer.<p>What he doesn&#x27;t write are the staple chracters of traditional litfic - intellectual&#x2F;academic, neurotic, possibly violent or latently so, more or less obvious sexually frustrated, middle class people. Or maybe middle class people looking at working class people.<p>Like a small mammal, a lot of modern litfic has an unexpectedly limited emotional range. It may be cute, but it&#x27;s not often clever.