Lhasinu are forced to surrender. Reputation "Black Friar of the Flame" has a reputation as Asimov's worst story, based partly on what he described as an "awful" title. However, it serves as a precursor to Asimov's more successful venture into future history, the Foundation Series. The planets Trantor and Santanni make their first appearance in "Black Friar of the Flame". The general situation of an embattled Earth facing a vast empire is similar to that of Pebble in the Sky, which like "Black Friar of the Flame" was based on the conflict between Judea and the Roman Empire. Another historical reference is the modelling of the climactic battle on the Battle of Salamis. The multiple rewrites the story went through turned Asimov off rewrites. Most of Asimov's subsequent stories were published as he wrote them, or after a single revision. After its initial publication in Planet Stories, "Black Friar of the Flame" was reprinted in a 1952 magazine published by Planet Stories called Tops in Science Fiction. References External links "Black Friar of the Flame" on the Internet Archive Short stories by Isaac Asimov 1942 short stories Works originally published in Planet Stories