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First published in ''Magazine/TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction'' (July 1958 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov. This ShortStory is [[FixFic his take]] on Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', with a SettingUpdate to 1950s America. The magazine republished it in ''Literature/TheBestFromFantasyAndScienceFiction, Eighth Series'' (1959).
The story starts with a FramingDevice where one of the principle characters, Justice of the Peace Nicholas Nitely, is speaking to an unnamed character (an AuthorAvatar for Dr Asimov) in a gentleman's club and their discussion turns to why Nitely (named in [[NightAndDayDuo contrast]] to the original's Dr Daly, a vicar) chooses to remain a bachelor. Nitely tells the story about how he was (temporarily) married...
Alice and Alex, students of Professor Johns, have just learned about his amatogenic cortical principle (which Alice immediately calls a [[LovePotion love-philtre]]). Alex, excited about the idea of sharing their true love with all of their friends, convince the Professor to mix it into the punch bowl during the Senior Dance. Suggesting that they need to drink it as well upsets Alice, who storms off, not to be seen again until the party.
During the party, Alice (as well as numerous background characters) drink the amatogenic principle, causing her to fall in love with Nitely. Alex is devastated to learn that their love is no stronger than mere hormones, and Professor Johns starts working with Nitely to find a way to break the "spell". They discuss Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', and Nitely claims that the ending, where the sorcerer (Johns in this case) commits suicide, is badly written and not nearly as good an ending as usually attributed to Sir Gilbert. Instead, Nitely proposes a new ending, where all affected couples marry each other.
Returning to the FramingDevice, Nitely admits that it worked just as expected, since the up-to-date love philtre had no effect on married couples. As soon as he and Alice were married, she agreed to an annulment. However, another gorgeous woman has entered the gentleman's club, causing Nitely to flee the room [[SuperWindowJump through the window]].
"The Up-to-Date Sorcerer" has been republished several times;
''{{Magazine/Fiction}}'' (issue #70, September 1959), ''Magazine/VentureScienceFiction'' (April 1965 issue, UK distribution), ''Literature/NightfallAndOtherStories'' (1969), ''{{Magazine/Urania}}'' (issue #570, July 1971), ''{{Magazine/Sirius}}'' (issue #14, August 1977), ''Literature/ThePenguinBookOfWitchesAndWarlocks'' (1990), and ''Literature/TheCompleteStories, Volume 1'' (1990).
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!!"The Up-to-Date Sorcerer" contains examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation: Because of Dr Asimov's tendency towards BeigeProse, many of the characters from the original Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'' are absent, reduced to only four named characters and a much shorter length, set inside a FramingDevice.
* AdaptationNameChange: The original story, Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', had a large cast. In this ShortStory, only [[AdaptationDistillation four characters are retained]]. Alexis Poindexter is changed to Alexander Dexter, Aline Sangazure is changed to Alice Sanger, John Wellington Wells is changed to Professor Wellington Johns, and Dr Daly is changed to judge Nicholas Nitely (creating a NightAndDayDuo contrast).
* AuthorAvatar: In the FramingDevice, the narration is [[PaintingTheMedium in italics]] and a different character from Nitely, who is the other person in the dialogue. It is implied to be Dr Asimov, at one of the many gentleman clubs he was a member of.
* FeaturelessPlaneOfDisembodiedDialogue: As usual, Dr Asimov writes dialogue and internal narration to the exclusion of action and scenery. The most involved descriptions of action are while Alice is so enamoured of Nitely that he can't use his right arm due to her holding on so tightly and while a woman comes into the club intent on chasing him with amorous intent.
* FixFic: This ShortStory is a chance for Dr Asimov to modify the ending of the Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer''. The title itself refers to the SettingUpdate of modern times/people. After the similarity to the opera is identified, the characters discard the solution used in the play as unworkable and come up with a better way to resolve the dilemma; marry the characters as the love philter doesn't work on married couples. References to this alternative ending have made their way into ''TheCompleteAnnotatedGilbertAndSullivan'' by Creator/IanBradley (1996).
* LovePotion: The so-called sorcerer is an [[SettingUpdate endocrinologist]] who has figured out how "true love" (not lust/sexual attraction) occurs as a biological phenomenon. As in the Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', the amatogenic cortical principle ("Call it a love-philtre, Professor," said Alice, with a melting sigh.) only affects unmarried couples. Naturally mishaps happen, causing one of the love interests to fall in love with the elderly Justice of the Peace. In order to eliminate the artificial infatuation, the affected couples are married (which negates the hormones) and then their marriages are annulled.
* NightAndDayDuo: A subtle contrast is played, as Nitely's character is based on Dr Daly from Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheSorcerer''. Both are broadly similar, as they are determined bachelors who help couples marry. The contrast is chosen as a pun; Night-ly and Day-ly.
* SettingUpdate: The original, a Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operetta named ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', was created in the 19th century and took place in their modern times. This story, having been created in 1958, is created in its modern times, and this is reflected in the title; an "up-to-date" retelling of the story. The two young love interests are college students, the sorcerer is a college professor of endocrinology, and the priest is now a judge.
* ShoutOut: Made as a {{Homage}} to Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', it and ''{{Theatre/Ruddigore}}'' are mentioned by name, and Dr Asimov has a character say "Sir William Schwenck Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan wrote, respectively, the words and music of the greatest musical comedies the world has ever seen."
* SuperWindowJump: At the end of the story, in the FramingDevice, Nitely is chased out of the room by a woman, and the most efficacious way out was through the nearest window.
-->"He rose and, with an agility remarkable in one so advanced in years and weight, made his way through a window."
----
The story starts with a FramingDevice where one of the principle characters, Justice of the Peace Nicholas Nitely, is speaking to an unnamed character (an AuthorAvatar for Dr Asimov) in a gentleman's club and their discussion turns to why Nitely (named in [[NightAndDayDuo contrast]] to the original's Dr Daly, a vicar) chooses to remain a bachelor. Nitely tells the story about how he was (temporarily) married...
Alice and Alex, students of Professor Johns, have just learned about his amatogenic cortical principle (which Alice immediately calls a [[LovePotion love-philtre]]). Alex, excited about the idea of sharing their true love with all of their friends, convince the Professor to mix it into the punch bowl during the Senior Dance. Suggesting that they need to drink it as well upsets Alice, who storms off, not to be seen again until the party.
During the party, Alice (as well as numerous background characters) drink the amatogenic principle, causing her to fall in love with Nitely. Alex is devastated to learn that their love is no stronger than mere hormones, and Professor Johns starts working with Nitely to find a way to break the "spell". They discuss Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', and Nitely claims that the ending, where the sorcerer (Johns in this case) commits suicide, is badly written and not nearly as good an ending as usually attributed to Sir Gilbert. Instead, Nitely proposes a new ending, where all affected couples marry each other.
Returning to the FramingDevice, Nitely admits that it worked just as expected, since the up-to-date love philtre had no effect on married couples. As soon as he and Alice were married, she agreed to an annulment. However, another gorgeous woman has entered the gentleman's club, causing Nitely to flee the room [[SuperWindowJump through the window]].
"The Up-to-Date Sorcerer" has been republished several times;
''{{Magazine/Fiction}}'' (issue #70, September 1959), ''Magazine/VentureScienceFiction'' (April 1965 issue, UK distribution), ''Literature/NightfallAndOtherStories'' (1969), ''{{Magazine/Urania}}'' (issue #570, July 1971), ''{{Magazine/Sirius}}'' (issue #14, August 1977), ''Literature/ThePenguinBookOfWitchesAndWarlocks'' (1990), and ''Literature/TheCompleteStories, Volume 1'' (1990).
----
!!"The Up-to-Date Sorcerer" contains examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation: Because of Dr Asimov's tendency towards BeigeProse, many of the characters from the original Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'' are absent, reduced to only four named characters and a much shorter length, set inside a FramingDevice.
* AdaptationNameChange: The original story, Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', had a large cast. In this ShortStory, only [[AdaptationDistillation four characters are retained]]. Alexis Poindexter is changed to Alexander Dexter, Aline Sangazure is changed to Alice Sanger, John Wellington Wells is changed to Professor Wellington Johns, and Dr Daly is changed to judge Nicholas Nitely (creating a NightAndDayDuo contrast).
* AuthorAvatar: In the FramingDevice, the narration is [[PaintingTheMedium in italics]] and a different character from Nitely, who is the other person in the dialogue. It is implied to be Dr Asimov, at one of the many gentleman clubs he was a member of.
* FeaturelessPlaneOfDisembodiedDialogue: As usual, Dr Asimov writes dialogue and internal narration to the exclusion of action and scenery. The most involved descriptions of action are while Alice is so enamoured of Nitely that he can't use his right arm due to her holding on so tightly and while a woman comes into the club intent on chasing him with amorous intent.
* FixFic: This ShortStory is a chance for Dr Asimov to modify the ending of the Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer''. The title itself refers to the SettingUpdate of modern times/people. After the similarity to the opera is identified, the characters discard the solution used in the play as unworkable and come up with a better way to resolve the dilemma; marry the characters as the love philter doesn't work on married couples. References to this alternative ending have made their way into ''TheCompleteAnnotatedGilbertAndSullivan'' by Creator/IanBradley (1996).
* LovePotion: The so-called sorcerer is an [[SettingUpdate endocrinologist]] who has figured out how "true love" (not lust/sexual attraction) occurs as a biological phenomenon. As in the Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', the amatogenic cortical principle ("Call it a love-philtre, Professor," said Alice, with a melting sigh.) only affects unmarried couples. Naturally mishaps happen, causing one of the love interests to fall in love with the elderly Justice of the Peace. In order to eliminate the artificial infatuation, the affected couples are married (which negates the hormones) and then their marriages are annulled.
* NightAndDayDuo: A subtle contrast is played, as Nitely's character is based on Dr Daly from Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheSorcerer''. Both are broadly similar, as they are determined bachelors who help couples marry. The contrast is chosen as a pun; Night-ly and Day-ly.
* SettingUpdate: The original, a Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operetta named ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', was created in the 19th century and took place in their modern times. This story, having been created in 1958, is created in its modern times, and this is reflected in the title; an "up-to-date" retelling of the story. The two young love interests are college students, the sorcerer is a college professor of endocrinology, and the priest is now a judge.
* ShoutOut: Made as a {{Homage}} to Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's operetta, ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', it and ''{{Theatre/Ruddigore}}'' are mentioned by name, and Dr Asimov has a character say "Sir William Schwenck Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan wrote, respectively, the words and music of the greatest musical comedies the world has ever seen."
* SuperWindowJump: At the end of the story, in the FramingDevice, Nitely is chased out of the room by a woman, and the most efficacious way out was through the nearest window.
-->"He rose and, with an agility remarkable in one so advanced in years and weight, made his way through a window."
----
