Tolkien and Asimov

[Aiwendil]

Eorl of Rohan wrote:

Er, to quote Asimov, "I am not sure I can handle a heavily sociological story."

He may have said that, but that doesn't mean it's true. I think he had a real gift for developing interesting and believable futuristic societies, and generating plot through those societies - look at the contrast between Earth and the Spacers. Look at Solaria. Look at Gaia.

Incidentally, here's one similarity that comes to my mind - both Asimov and Tolkien tell stories that stretch over vast time periods, that do not have a single core group of characters but rather encompass many generations. And both effectively tell a very large, somewhat loose, but cohesive story over those time scales.