I think you're underestimating Asimov. I agree the final two Foundation books are dire, and not just because of the characters.
The characters in his short stories - which I certainly recommend reading - wouldn't be out of place on an old SF TV show like The Outer Limits, but they're certainly not badly written. He's a very deft, economic writer.
What he doesn't write are the staple chracters of traditional litfic - intellectual/academic, neurotic, possibly violent or latently so, more or less obvious sexually frustrated, middle class people. Or maybe middle class people looking at working class people.
Like a small mammal, a lot of modern litfic has an unexpectedly limited emotional range. It may be cute, but it's not often clever.
The characters in his short stories - which I certainly recommend reading - wouldn't be out of place on an old SF TV show like The Outer Limits, but they're certainly not badly written. He's a very deft, economic writer.
What he doesn't write are the staple chracters of traditional litfic - intellectual/academic, neurotic, possibly violent or latently so, more or less obvious sexually frustrated, middle class people. Or maybe middle class people looking at working class people.
Like a small mammal, a lot of modern litfic has an unexpectedly limited emotional range. It may be cute, but it's not often clever.