Help Me ID An SF Story (Plot Like 'E.T.'): Asimov?

[Zeke Newbold]

NOTE: This line of discussion was spun off from the Hopkinsville 'Goblins' thread.
-------------------

The story about ET & the goblins. ET is based on the goblins, but Close Encounters is not. It was a separate project after CEOTTK, and I believe the title was Dark Skies. The plot was supposed to follow the the cruel goblins night of destruction, but there was going to be one curious and gentle goblin unlike the rest who befriended and helped some kids during the assault. The screenwriter lost interest in the horror angle, but was interested in the friendly alien storyline, and got permission to work on that... and it became ET.

There's a short story by Isaac Asimov - one of his earlier ones (so probably published in the fifties) - called (if I recall rightly) `The Alien Way`.


In this, a young boy rescues a small alien who crashlands on the earth, befriends him (unknown to his parents) and then helps him return to space. (This is all from memory. I read it when I was about nine and it has stayed in my mind ever since then).

If my recollection is accurate, then I am surprised that no-one else has noticed the remarkable similarity between this story and the plot of `E.T` - and why Asimov didn't try to sue Spielberg!

 

[MrRING]

If they showed the provenance of how the script developed, it likely wouldn't have been considered a copy!

 

[marhawkman]

There's a short story by Isaac Asimov - one of his earlier ones (so probably published in the fifties) - called (if I recall rightly) `The Alien Way`.


In this, a young boy rescues a small alien who crashlands on the earth, befriends him (unknown to his parents) and then helps him return to space. (This is all from memory. I read it when I was about nine and it has stayed in my mind ever since then).

If my recollection is accurate, then I am surprised that no-one else has noticed the remarkable similarity between this story and the plot of `E.T` - and why Asimov didn't try to sue Spielberg!

Having a similar premise isn't adequate to call it a rip-off.

Although.... The Alien Way seems to be neither an Asimov book(Gordon R. Dickson) or a book about friendly aliens.

 

[Zeke Newbold]

Having a similar premise isn't adequate to call it a rip-off.

Although.... The Alien Way seems to be neither an Asimov book(Gordon R. Dickson) or a book about friendly aliens.

But it was a short story by Asimov - and hence not so easy to search for. It may have appeared in an SF anthology, or in a collection of his own writings - the latter is what I seem to remember. And I am pretty damn sure thay it was called `The Alien Way` or maybe `The Alien Ways` or even `The Alien's Way`.

Plus it shared more than just a premise with `E.T` - it had a near identical plot outline.

Someone out there must know.

 

[marhawkman]

But it was a short story by Asimov - and hence not so easy to search for. It may have appeared in an SF anthology, or in a collection of his own writings - the latter is what I seem to remember. And I am pretty damn sure that it was called `The Alien Way` or maybe `The Alien Ways` or even `The Alien's Way`.

Plus it shared more than just a premise with `E.T` - it had a near identical plot outline.

Someone out there must know.

I found one named "Martian way"... but that is about Human space exploration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov_bibliography_(chronological)
Ah, it's not the names of each individual story, just the publications. Also it's only books, not short stories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov_short_stories_bibliography
This has shorts, but again the only similar name is "Martian way".

 

[EnolaGaia]

There's a short story by Isaac Asimov - one of his earlier ones (so probably published in the fifties) - called (if I recall rightly) `The Alien Way`.
In this, a young boy rescues a small alien who crashlands on the earth, befriends him (unknown to his parents) and then helps him return to space. (This is all from memory. I read it when I was about nine and it has stayed in my mind ever since then). ...

The closest match that comes to mind is "Youth" - a short story eventually appearing in the collection The Martian Way and Other Stories.

It concerns a pair of youths who help aliens from a crashed spaceship survive and eventually head home to their own planet.

However ... The closing plot twist makes it notably distinct from E.T.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_(Asimov_short_story)

 

[marhawkman]

The closest match that comes to mind is "Youth" - a short story eventually appearing in the collection The Martian Way and Other Stories.

It concerns a pair of youths who help aliens from a crashed spaceship survive and eventually head home to their own planet.

However ... The closing plot twist makes it notably distinct from E.T.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_(Asimov_short_story)

That summary has it as a post-nuclear war setting apparently. Also the friendly aliens don't get rescued. They make a deal with Humans to get materials they need to repair their ship and start interstellar trade with Humans.

 

[EnolaGaia]

That summary has it as a post-nuclear war setting apparently. Also the friendly aliens don't get rescued. They make a deal with Humans to get materials they need to repair their ship and start interstellar trade with Humans.

You missed the plot twist at the very end ...

Anyway ... It's the closest match I could think of or find. Asimov - compared to his contemporaries - was notable for writing very few stories directly involving aliens. It was something of a running joke in SF circles back when that Asimov never seemed to address aliens.

 

[marhawkman]

You missed the plot twist at the very end ...

Anyway ... It's the closest match I could think of or find. Asimov - compared to his contemporaries - was notable for writing very few stories directly involving aliens. It was something of a running joke in SF circles back when that Asimov never seemed to address aliens.

Yeah Asimov wrote a lot of stuff involving Humans exploring space.

OH! the plot twist is that it was the Humans that were the spaceship pilots and they crash-landed on an alien planet.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

You missed the plot twist at the very end ...

Anyway ... It's the closest match I could think of or find. Asimov - compared to his contemporaries - was notable for writing very few stories directly involving aliens. It was something of a running joke in SF circles back when that Asimov never seemed to address aliens.

Thanks for using the term "SF" to describe science fiction. Not many of us about these days.

 

[Zeke Newbold]

The closest match that comes to mind is "Youth" - a short story eventually appearing in the collection The Martian Way and Other Stories.

It concerns a pair of youths who help aliens from a crashed spaceship survive and eventually head home to their own planet.

However ... The closing plot twist makes it notably distinct from E.T.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_(Asimov_short_story)

Oh. Dear, Now I'm more confused than ever. I was poised to reply that this was a probabale match - but then I read the link with that post and...er, nope. Nyet.Nah. I just don't recognise it at all.

I have obviously had some exposure to that story. But maybe I'm mixing it up with something else. So forget the supposed title and author. The tale I'm thinking of definetly involved a human (terrestrial) boy and a non -human (extraterrestrial) and small, cute alien. It was somewhat whimsical - enough so to make my nine year old self wince a bit. It was a bit like something Bradbury may have done.

One detail I recall is that the alien cries before taking leave - except that it doesn't produce liquid tears, but some sort of alien approximation of them which take the form of small crystals.

(This is off topic, I know. Perhaps the mods can move the discussion concerbing this to another thread? : `E.T` -like story`.)

 

[Mythopoeika]

Thanks for using the term "SF" to describe science fiction. Not many of us about these days.

What about 'scientifiction' then? There can't be many people left who still use that one.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Oh. Dear, Now I'm more confused than ever. I was poised to reply that this was a probabale match - but then I read the link with that post and...er, nope. Nyet.Nah. I just don't recognise it at all.

I have obviously had some exposure to that story. But maybe I'm mixing it up with something else. So forget the supposed title and author. The tale I'm thinking of definetly involved a human (terrestrial) boy and a non -human (extraterrestrial) and small, cute alien. It was somewhat whimsical - enough so to make my nine year old self wince a bit. It was a bit like something Bradbury may have done.

One detail I recall is that the alien cries before taking leave - except that it doesn't produce liquid tears, but some sort of alien approximation of them which take the form of small crystals.

(This is off topic, I know. Perhaps the mods can move the discussion concerbing this to another thread? : `E.T` -like story`.)

This?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nor_Crystal_Tears

 

[Naughty_Felid]

What about 'scientifiction' then? There can't be many people left who still use that one.

SciFi

 

[stu neville]

It's not William Kotzwinkle's The Book Of The Green Planet, which is an ET sequel, is it? Kotzwinkle wrote the novelisation of the ET screenplay and then followed it up.

 

[Lb8535]

It's not I'm sure a great movie called Batteries not included? also about humans helping aliens repair a spaceship, but not kids.

 

[Austin Popper]

I really enjoyed Batteries Not Included. Refreshingly unlike the usual Hollywood, um, stuff.

 

[Ladyloafer]

It's not William Kotzwinkle's The Book Of The Green Planet, which is an ET sequel, is it? Kotzwinkle wrote the novelisation of the ET screenplay and then followed it up.

The novelisation of the film is supposedly quite different too. With more insight into ET himself. I wonder if the OP read it around the same time as reading an asimov and has conflated the two?

 

[Zeke Newbold]

Sorry Mytho, Stu and Loafer - but if you read my OP you will see that I was `about nine` when I encountered the story. Now I'm an old guy - so we're talkiing early to mid-seventies - probably about `73. In short - way, way before `ET had come out or Alan Dean Foster was publishing.

I read S.F voraciously as a kid, but it was all the long established names of that time - Asimov, Clarke, Heinlen,Bradbury, Whyndam and some Ballard - so it'll be from that bunch.

Incidentally, I have never even seen `E.T` - let alone read any of the spin offs! As soon as it came out and I heard the synopsis I just thought `Yuck!` - not for me!

What about 'scientifiction' then? There can't be many people left who still use that one.

I've long thought that the best term for most `S.F` these days would be `Science Fantasy`. It is essentially a subset of the fantasy genre which uses (pseudo)-science as its rationale instead of magic and folklore but otherwise embodies the same escapist- adventure impulse.

There is another, somewhat buried, branch of S.F which is much more related to the Thriller. This uses Science Gone Awry as its starting point instead of espionage or crime - but is otherwise a thriller. Wells, Whyndam,Belyaev and Crichton were all exponents if this. I am tempted to call the genre`Techno-thriller` but that term has already been taken and has a different meaning - so `Frankenstinian S.F` will have to do. The fanbase of this subgenre (and I am part of it) is often rather different from that of Science Fantasy.