Nightfall (Asimov Short Story and Novel) - Allusions and References in Other Literature

Allusions and References in Other Literature

Asimov collaborated with author Robert Silverberg on a novel-length revision of the original story in 1990. The novel significantly expanded upon and updated the original premise.

Dean McLaughlin's novel Dawn (serialized in the April–July 1981 issues of Analog magazine and republished in book form 25 years later as ISBN 978-1-59414-350-2) had been in several ways an answer to Asimov's short story. It posited a similar society on a similar planet surrounded by similarly named stars. But, as its title suggested, Dawn was a more optimistic story, wherein society advanced rather than collapsed. McLaughlin paid homage to Asimov by naming the protagonist "Isak" and naming another character "Lagash" (the name of the planet in Nightfall). George Alec Effinger wrote a spoof of Nightfall involving his Maureen Birnbaum character. The story, Maureen Birnbaum After Dark, appeared in both Foundation's Friends and Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson.

In 2010, the journal Nature published a short story by Eric James Stone called The Greatest Science-Fiction Story Ever Written, which referred to Nightfall.