It’s hard to think of Isaac Asimov and fantasy at the same time. But Azazel proves he can write light fantasy quite well.

Azazel is a collection of short stories about a man named George and his two-inch tall demon, Azazel. Azazel isn’t the usual soul-collecting demon one might usually find in fantasy, but he can grant wishes. Trouble is, by the end of it, the one receiving the wish would rather not have gotten it.

Asimov himself appears in these stories, as the person George is telling the Azazel stories to. He isn’t there by name, but explains this in the introduction.

George is a deadbeat, but an overall nice person. He doesn’t understand why the wishes go wrong or even always realize that they have. He has a fine contempt for any sort of work.

These stories are good when you need something easy and fun to read. Each is pretty short, so you can get through each in a short sitting. But they may leave you ready to read more too.