Nightfall was published by Doubleday in 1990, written in collaboration with Robert Silverberg. It expanded Asimov’s 1941 short story “Nightfall” — voted the best science fiction short story of all time in a 1968 poll by the Science Fiction Writers of America — into a full-length novel.
The planet Lagash orbits in a system of six suns. At least one sun is always visible; the inhabitants have never experienced darkness. Archaeologists discover that civilization on Lagash collapses every 2,049 years — always coinciding with a rare total eclipse. As the eclipse approaches, scientists realize that when darkness falls, the population will see the stars for the first time — and the sight of the vast, empty universe will drive them mad.
The original short story was one of science fiction’s great thought experiments: what would it mean for a species to encounter darkness for the first time? The novel expanded the concept to explore the social, political, and psychological dimensions of the crisis — adding characters, subplots, and a post-eclipse section showing the collapse of civilisation and the first steps toward rebuilding.
The Original Short Story
The 1941 short story “Nightfall,” published in the September issue of Astounding Science Fiction and edited by John W. Campbell, was Asimov’s breakthrough. Campbell suggested the premise, based on a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote: “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God!” Asimov, aged twenty-one, took the idea and inverted Emerson’s optimism: what if the sight of the stars did not inspire awe but terror?
The story’s climactic scene — the eclipse falls, the stars appear, and the scientists watching from their observatory hear the sounds of a civilisation burning itself down in panic — remains one of the most powerful endings in science fiction. It works because Asimov committed to the premise without reservation: the terror is not of monsters or aliens but of the void itself, the vast indifference of the cosmos.
The Collaboration with Silverberg
The novel expansion was Asimov’s idea; he felt the original story deserved a fuller treatment but did not want to write the novel himself (he was seventy and in declining health). Robert Silverberg, one of the most prolific and versatile science fiction writers of the twentieth century, handled the expansion. The collaboration worked well: Silverberg provided character development and prose sophistication that Asimov’s functional style lacked, while Asimov’s concept and structural logic guided the plot.
Critical Reception
The novel received mixed reviews. Many critics felt that the short story’s power lay in its compression — the devastating final image loses impact when surrounded by hundreds of pages of setup. Others appreciated the novel’s world-building and the post-eclipse sections, which explored the consequences of the catastrophe in ways the short story could not. The novel has never achieved the canonical status of the short story, but it remains a readable and intellectually engaging expansion.
Collecting Nightfall
First edition of the novel (1990, Doubleday, New York): Boards with dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine/Fine in dust jacket: $25–$75
- Signed first edition: $50–$150
- Without jacket: $5–$15
The original 1941 short story in Astounding Science Fiction (September 1941) is far more valuable — complete magazine issues in fine condition bring $500–$1,500.
Value trajectory: Minimal for the novel. The short story’s collectibility is vastly higher.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the novel better than the short story? Almost no one thinks so. The short story’s power lies in its compression and its devastating final image. The novel adds context and character but dilutes the impact. Most readers are directed to the short story (available in numerous Asimov collections) rather than the novel.
What drives the madness? Asimov’s Lagashians have never experienced darkness or seen stars. The sudden revelation of the universe’s vastness — millions of stars where they expected nothing — shatters their understanding of reality. The madness is existential: the confrontation with infinity.
Is this really the best science fiction short story ever written? The 1968 SFWA poll placed it first, and it has remained near the top of every subsequent ranking. Whether it deserves that status is debated — Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Star” and Harlan Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” have strong claims — but “Nightfall” is certainly among the most famous and most anthologised science fiction stories in the English language.