I, Robot by Isaac Asimov Book Review
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2022
- *beep boop* Hope you enjoy the video! *beep boop*
I talked about Rossum's Universal Robots in this video: • 6 Book Reviews + Some ...
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I worked in a book store and I grew to hate Asimov. Not because of his writing, but because his books were so thick and heavy.
Ha!
Asimov's two robot mysteries are fine, but he really shined as a nonfiction writer. I've learned to pick up any of his nonfiction titles, even if they appear outdated. He had a gift for making the far-fetched accessible, and the familiar interesting.
I disagree. His fiction has a strong appeal to me.
I remember this book. Thank you so much for reviewing it! 🤖
So odd. I just started recently reading novels again after over a decade of never reading any book that wasn't for a given assignment. Took a sci-fi literature course as an elective in college 10 years ago, and "The Time Machine" was the first book I dug out, with the edition having a foreword by Asimov (who I still know nothing about). And now i randomly find your video, telling me that Asimov wrote the book that the cool Will Smith movie i liked as a teen (when did it come out again?) was based on? That just makes the genre and the timelessness of these authors and their stories more exciting.
All that nothing just to say I appreciate your video. :)
I demand more robot rants! Seriously though, thanks for the review.
Positronically!
Hello Jerome! Hope you’re doing well. Keep up the good work with your movie and book review content!
I loved the book, especially following the ongoing AI developments of our decade. After reading it I tried simulating all of the Susan Calvin's deduction scenarios with ChatGPT (by jailbreaking it, of course. Otherwise it doesn't respond to questions requiring consciousness). Subscribed!
The first two robot novels are "The Caves of Steel" and "The Naked Sun" and they are well worth reading, if you like "I Robot". It's not so obvious in those books (particularly the second) that robots will be an unalloyed good in human society. Both novels play extensively with the tropes of detective stories and very much have puzzles at the heart of them, wrapped in the framing concept of the three laws (just like the short stories but in a longer form, with a bit more time for scene setting and sociological exploration). There are more robot novels after that, too, but to be honest I found them increasingly less interesting. These first two are pretty sharp and entertaining, though.
I enjoy the deep philosophical questions Asimov explores and agree they need to be discussed. His topics definitely make for great science fiction. Robots certainly have their place in human society and can be very useful. However, I'm staunchly in the "organic life" camp. I can't imagine a world where humans are replaced entirely by robots or where robots are "running the show". No thanks. Singularity? Nope, not interested. LOL! That being said, great review! Oh, I did see iRobot and liked it. It was a decent movie.
The Caves of Steel is one of his best novels.
I know this is off subject, not a book, sorry, but if you haven't you should watch the movie Bicentennial Man starring Robin Williams and Sam Neill. It is based on a book, The Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov. There you go, another book mentioned, and same author.
The movie is Williams at his best, comedy and drama, music by the late great James Horner. A Sci fi Forrest Gump so to speak but warning, have tissues near by. Now, on to your review.
Um, Scott-that IS a book (well, a novella) I would say though that the movie differs from the book in some ways-which bothers me
Isaac Asimov.....one of my favourite sci-fi authors (in highschool, I found his autobiography..a ridiculously thick book, but a great read as it described his writing process, his path to being an author, and his family interactions).
I read everything my highschool library had, and then found more in the municipal public library---no other author stands next to him (although maybe Clarke or Heinlein).
When I read "I, Robot" it blew my mind, with all the concepts and conclusions--so I loved your views.
And you made my day--also considering it is my birthday!! Thank you.
P.S. For people wondering about the movie, "I, Robot" with Will Smith...nothing to do with the book. 😉
Happy birthday!!
Thanks 😃
your editing weiselberry bits always make me chuckle.
Great save on the "Arther". That was funny as hell. Nicely done.
I read loads of Asimov's novels when i was a teenager. Absolutely brilliant reading. The foundation series is awesome. I robot, the short stories are thought provoking. Also read A E Van vogt, the Null A series. Not brilliant writing, but mind blowing concepts.
My favorite Isaac Asimov book series is his "Lucky Starr" series he wrote as Paul French, they are a bit like Star Wars, and involve space pirates, instead of an empire. And Martians that give Starr a special ship that can fly into the sun's corona. And a sidekick a short ill-tempered Mars colonist/miner. But I mostly really enjoyed his non-fiction essays. Sadly I haven't read the Lucky Starr series in a while hopefully I remembered it correctly. Most of Asimov's novels are mysteries, with a scifi edge. While he also wrote the Black Widowers, and Union Club mysteries, as well as the two mystery novels 'Murder at the ABA', and 'The Death Dealers' (aka A Whiff of Death). He also wrote Sherlock Holmes Limericks, "Asmov's Sherlockian Limericks", one for each short story and for each Sherlock novel. He also wrote a few humor books. I remember him writing about how Mark Twain was his favorite writer of humor.
I never really think of him as a mystery writer. Very interesting!
Wow. I'm about to read the book. I just love your video. Well done.
Must be 40 years since I read it, time to revisit, thank you for the review
Thank you for the informative video and background into science fiction. It is a genre I readily enjoy reading and probably enjoy reading Clarke and Bradbury the most. I read Asimov for the first time last summer and enjoyed it mostly. I remember the three laws of robots being mentioned in the book.
I should give this book another shot. Good review.
This triggered a memory of the movie Heartbeats. From the 80's
It might be worth writing a story about Robert C. Clarke. It seems to be a name which I can imagine would describe a slightly frustrated ex school friend of Jerome Weiselberry, who started a book called Aye! Robert
( or something similar) about a Scottish adventure ! You might enjoy Brian and Charles (a charming, silly but inspiring film!) Thanks for your continued, generous opinion sharing (I'm sure I speak for hundreds of people at least!)
You're right, Asimov didn't invent the word "robot", but he DID invent the word "robotics"!
Good review, thanks.
Rome, thanks! Asimov is not my favorite stylist, but he's a master of the basics: proposition, challenge to his own proposition, mystery, resolution. I'm more a fan of his Foundation trilogy, which can be interpreted as European history simplified but magnified to a galactic scale. I'm even working on a story with a protagonist named "Muhl" in honor of a mutant known as "The Mule" who takes the trilogy by storm. In discussing old good SF, by all means Heinlein and Asimov and Clarke, but let's not forget Bradbury. He may be considered to be a gentler, more lyrical writer, more of a fantasist, but his work still packs a punch. (A personal hero of mine is W. Olaf Stapledon, but that is a huge investment, and I will not hold you to that.) A very pleasant tangent today, Rome, thanks, and owl be seeing you.
Ah, you know I love me some Bradbury. I'm aware that in some science-fiction clubs he's looked down on as an outsider, but The Martian Chronicles must secure him a seat at the table.
"The Caves of Steel", "The Naked Sun", "The Robots of Dawn", and perhaps "Robots and Empire" are my favourite books. I've read them dozens of times.
They are, as you state, framed as "who done its". Purely critiqued as such, they vary in quality. But Asimov's exploration of humans far out of their element and culture is brilliant. I absolutely, and unreservedly recommend them (in the order above). I could go into great detail and discuss this for hours, so I'll stop here.
I totally agree. Thanks for pointing those books out.
Stanislaw Lem should be up there too.
2:41 the clip that I would personally place at a hello world script to be show at the bird of a positronic brain.
Ooh Asimov is one of my favorites. The entire Robot series is a lot of fun
Good review. Been ages since I read this one, I think I should revisit it.
I read the robot / detective novels, and enjoyed them quite a bit. Check out the first one, you might like it. On a side note, I’ve heard that the character of Data from Star Trek the Next Generation, was inspired by the robot character in those novels. I also saw the I Robot movie. It was okay. I didn’t hate it, but it has very little in common with the book. I liked it better than the Foundation series that’s been showing on Apple TV. That’s terrible!
Makes sense since Data was constantly trying to "become" human
I agree that I wouldn't have known the movie was related to the book, except for the title and it has robots.
Also agree about the Foundation series being a major disappointment.
My personal theory is that Goyer wanted to write a script for "Dune", and ended up putting those ideas into this TV series. That's what I think of when so much of the first season was about the Emperor and cloning, and only a few events recognizable from the Foundation books.
"Are you R.?" "No, I'm Arr-THUR. Arthur C. Clark. I get confused with Robert C. Clark all the time."
This book is great, speedy's story was my favorite one.
0:32 and George C Scott !
Nice review. I enjoyed I Robot and am planning to read more of his Robot series at some point. I definitely agree with you though about it being a bad idea to let robots do everything for us.
Weiselberry performs magic?The book is in her hand.The book is on the shelf.Nice edit.I have not read I Robot but I have seen
the film.I remember thinking that it was pretty good for a mainstream commercial blockbuster.The movie was a hit but I don't
feel that it was beloved critically.Given a pass but not seen as thoughtful as the work that it drew from.I had been a fan of the
previous two films from I Robot director Alex Proyas.The Crow and especially Dark City.
Perhaps Asimov was more optimistic about robotic technology because his time was further away from what we face now.
They were only just getting started and felt alive with the possibility of unrealized potential.We have progressed and have
faced some of the realities of his writings.Seeing some of the drawbacks.Technology making us sedentary.Like those future
people in Wall-E.Thank you.
Loved your review. One of my favorite books of his that I can recommend is "The gods themselves" in my opinion that is one of his greatest works.
I highly recommend "The Caves of Steel" and "The Naked Sun" and the "Original Foundation Trilogy". I read "I, Robot" after those books.
Hi Jerome --
Watched a few more movies recently that I think you'd like.
Night Moves (1975) -- Excellent mystery with some great one-liners starring Gene Hackman but James Woods and Jennifer Warren almost steal the show. "What happened to you?" "I won second prize in a fight." (LOL)
Room at the Top (1959) -- Fantastic British drama about an ambitious yet self-deluding young man who gets exactly what he claims he wants which is of course the worst thing that could have happened to him. Stunning performance by Simone Signoret.
To Be or Not To Be (1942) -- A great companion piece to Casablanca in that it dealt head on with the events of World War 2 as it was happening. An incredibly bold comedy that somehow finds laughs out of a desperate situation.
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter (1957) -- A very silly and fun comedy that expertly trolls TV, celebrity gossip culture, and the advertising industry. Some of the satire still holds up very well.
The Big Heat (1953) -- The Dirty Harry movies and the recent Liam Neeson revenge films owe so much to this one. Extremely gritty, and Fritz Lang never pulls any punches. At the end we're left wondering if the hero's actions were all worth it (you'll know what I mean when you get there).
The Thirteenth Floor (1999) -- I was very disappointed in this sci fi film, but it does have some good concepts in the script and a deliciously hammy Vincent D'Nofrio supporting performance. Wish they had cast him in the lead role and added more wit to the script. Still some good 1930s sets and a few clever ideas so maybe you'll like it more than I did.
I, Weiselberry?
Haha, she literally has not aged in 7 years. I wonder that myself... ;)
Excellent video!
Thanks!
One of my all-time favorite books.
Asimov and Heinlein are my favorites. I slightly prefer Heinlein(early) because the science is good and his characters are more complex. If you've never read the Rolling Stones(book title not the band) I am certain you would get a kick out of it - think intellectual "Adams Family" on a vacation into space. Also, saw your interview with Daisuke Beppu!
Asimov was an idea man and he advanced the genre but his writing I always found to be stilted. Heinlein had ideas and a cracking good sense of plot and pace.
Not a long post but not a short one either. I hope you read this:
9:38 & 10:10 - as a lover of sci-fi movies and literature, I genuinely enjoyed the movie.
It uses elements of "Little Lost Robot", some character names and the Three Laws. The robot hating cop, and a robot partner. Although the partnership plays out much differently in the film, but I won't talk about it to avoid spoilers.
The plot of a murdered roboticist comes from Asimov's The Caves of Steel.
The plot of the movie comes mostly from Vintar's screenplay. I'm guessing when Goldsman joined the project, it was reworked into an Asimov pastiche.
As someone who shares your sentiment of a sort of technophobia in regards to the proliferation of robotization and automation leading to the eventual downfall of humanity in terms of an increase in laziness and complacency (a concept about humorously and scarily realized in Wall-E), I think I can safely say that you'll enjoy this film.
It's much more cynical and paranoid than Asimov's actual work. Nowhere near his optimism. So I can see why fans and purists would dislike it.
But as someone who grew up on Blade Runner and cyberpunk dystopias, this is more my tonal preference.
Thematically and tonally, this fits right in as a possible spiritual precursor to Terminator or The Matrix. With concerns of robot uprisings and AI taking over humanity and so on.
I would highly recommend that you give it a watch. Not only because I think you'd like it. But also because I'd be interested in seeing a video detailing your thoughts on it in the future.
Very interesting and thorough observations--thank you!
Reading "Little Lost Robot", I did wonder if that story had been incorporated into the film, at least the small part of it that I saw. Sounds like that was the case. Your explanation of the tonal difference does make me feel more inclined to check out the film, despite its unpopularity with the book's fans.
Awesome content sister, Thank You.
I really liked this book and always thought it represented a counter to the view that AI would destroy us, and instead presents the Robots' destiny as being the saviors of humanity.
I have read it more than once. Though it has a somewhat naive structure, I would choose it over most of the contemporary writings.
AI will enslave humanity, and the sad think is that they will do it voluntaritly. Thanks for your review. It was interesting and enjoyable.
By far my favorite Asimov book (although I've enjoyed all the 6 or so that I've read). I've only seen about five minutes of the movie, but that five minutes was enough to know I don't want to see any more.
I need to give this one a go! I tried to start ' The End of Eternity' not long ago, but I found it lacking in terms of description and scene-setting. For me, H.G. Wells has always had a very magical feel due to his descriptions. Phillippa Pearce managed this to an extent in ' Tom's Midnight Garden'. Although, you could argue that is more a fantasy story than a science-fiction story, even though it's central story is one about time travel. I'm sure Isaac Asimov is amazing in his own right, though, and I would like to give his stuff another go.
Have you ever tried reading any of Stephen Baxter's novels? He is someone who has been influenced hugely by people like Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, etc.
Keep the great reviews coming! 😊
No, I'm not familiar with Stephen Baxter at all. Thanks!
I really enjoyed "End of Eternity", even though I recognize it isn't one of his stronger novels.
The different approach to time travel (long before ideas like the Multiverse were popular) and the human psychology / sociology were brilliant.
(I believe, maybe in the afterword of "The Naked Sun", that he has never been comfortable writing romance, which is why he tried to work on it in that book and EoE.)
She should have had a mechanical hand come to her from off-stage to hand her a cup of tea and she quietly thanks the mechanical hand's owner, then continues the review.
I own a copy of “The Complete Robot”. I think it may have a handful more short stories in it, and there are definitely some creepy ones. In the forward Asimov categorizes these stories as “robot as menace”. One of the most poignant, while perhaps the shortest, involves two robots who are dormant except for every year or…some number of years. Whenever they are activated (which is only for seconds at a time) they talk, and since they don’t die, their conversation carries over centuries, and they finally come to the conclusion that they are the best humans they know. So much for the 3 laws and humanity!
If this one is in “I Robot” as well, my apologies for the longer than necessary description. I found it interesting as well as creepy.
That story is not in this collection, and too bad because it sounds intriguing! "Robot as menace" is certainly up my alley, so I'll have to see if I can track those stories down.
I love Asimov's Elijah Bailey/Daneel Olivaw books. But then, I'm a very big Asimov fan.
Thanks for the review! Just recently finished reading The Robots of Dawn. From the stories of the series about robots, I personally like the Bicentennial Man (based on this story, Asimov later created the novel Positronic Man) and Robot Dreams, and from the novels - The Gods Themselves (the 2nd part is very eccentric, because it describes in detail the lives of other beings from another universe, but despite their unusualness, you feel sympathy for them, thanks to Asimov). In my opinion, Asimov's works, among other things, expand the idea of humanity as such - will we be human enough to accept the other, be it an alien or a robot? Will we remain rational enough in the face of new phenomena?
Looking forward to more reviews from you!) P.S. Sorry for my english, it's not my first language 😅
Your english is better than mine and I was born and raised in England. 😂
Very eloquent.
I always enjoy your reviews, even if the subject isn't something that initially captures my interest. You have a very nice way of making these things thought-provoking. This is a little off-topic but I don't know if I can send a message to you directly but I was wondering if you have ever seen the Don Knotts comedy movie called "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"? It's a classic!
No, I'm aware of it, but I've never watched it. Thank you!
I’ve read I Robot and really liked it, it’s great, I agree with you, let’s not create super smart robots, let’s not do that lol. I didn’t really like the film I Robot, I felt it was just an average action film. When I think positronic brain I think Lt commander Data lol, I watched a show on Amazon about a year ago called Tales from the Loop that involved robots and thought it was decent, the show was based on an art book by the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag. Really enjoyable review to watch as always.
~ Thank you Ms Weiselberry ~
If you ever give the further Robot books a chance, you'll find that Asimov pretty much comes to have your exact opinion about robots leading to laziness. After that the series becomes way more about human nature, and starts blending into Foundation
My biggest critique of Asimov is just how inconsistent his character writing is, especially his female characters. Nevermind their personalities (or that he only writes like three female character types), but anytime a female character appears in the story it's like sensory overload with the character description
All right, JW, I'm new around here, but I looked over your stuff. Good stuff. Like it. But there's a glaring omission.
Downton Abbey.
Now maybe you reviewed this and I missed it. If so, my apologies.
But Downton Abbey is right in your wheelhouse. And, tough guy that I am, I think it's the best television ever made.
Grant me this request, JW. You won't regret it.
I talked about the first film and the show in general in this video (seventh movie in): ruclips.net/video/k65lK2NE1q8/видео.html
They're pretty good, worth reading.
I like to think of Will Smith's "I, Robot" movie and his "I Am Legend" as him using two classic books as toilet paper.
Just watched this. Wonder how you view AI and robots ever since the inception of ChatGPT
The caves of steel is my favorite Asimov book
There are some interesting characters in the I robot movie, (it's one of my very favourites! ) I hope you get around to seeing it sometime. Will Smith's character has a very likeable auntie/loving mom stand in cake making rock lady in it,who isn't scared to tell him off!
I hope you keep your subtle natural silver highlights. (I'm a (49 years) hair practitioner and wouldn't want to see you dry up your hair with excessive colour.) If you want to be radical maybe do some reviews in movie reminiscent wigs or temporary curls. (avoid heat straightening or curling that dries hair too!)
Feel free to tell me to mind my own business! Best Wishes Betty Tigers!
Haha, thanks! I've got no intention of coloring my hair. I've always liked my natural brown (which has some auburn strands mixed in) and prefer to keep it, plus the silver streaks that are coming in now are interesting. I do wish sometimes that I could curl it, but it doesn't hold curl well unless someone sprays the dickens out of it, and I don't have the patience for that. :)
The book “I robot” is a collection of short stories it’s not a normal. Asimov did write robot novels though. The title comes from a very famous science-fiction robot short story…but not one written by Asimov himself.
You need to read much more of Asimov's works to understand what he thought about Human/Robot relations. I love both his Fiction and nonfiction. You need to dive into more of his SF.
Also, the title is the only thing the movie and book "I, Robot" share. The movie is just generic sf action, using the good Author's name for marketing purposes.
Yes, so I've gathered from other comments here. That's the tough thing about sharing your impressions of the first book in a series that's been around for a long time and gained a following. Those impressions might turn out to be off-base further down the road, and for viewers who are much more familiar with the content as a whole, they may stick out like a sore thumb.
@@JeromeWeiselberry Great review, he is my favorite Sci-fi author and actually Asimov didn't intend it at first, by all of his Sci-Fi novels all take place in the same universe over a span of 20,000+ years starting with I'Robot and into The Robot series, The Galactic Empire series and into his Foundation series of novels where at that point in the far future, humans have settled the galaxy and Earth is described as the mythical planet of origin. I hope you read them in chronological order and look forward to your review of each one, enjoy the journey 🙂.
I’ve read almost every Asimov book. But I started out reading his nonfiction articles. Luckily my high school library had lots of Asimov books and other great sci-fi
Karel Čapek is pronounced as Kah-rel (ka like in the word CUp) cha-pek (Cha like in the word CHAi). Thanks for mentioning him by name and at least trying to say his name well - it's appreciated.
Thanks for the instructions. If I could, I'd go back and fix my pronunciation.
I agree on many points. I loved these books/stories when I was young, but find that the stories can be somewhat dry, with sometimes flat characters and long talky sections. That said, I do think the ideas and concepts went a long way in influencing and shaping sci-fi. As far as the I Robot movie went, it bears little resemblance to the book, but I'm not terribly bothered by that as a quite faithful adaption was done on the show The Outer Limits, starring Leonard Nimoy. It's not even that it philosophically diametrically opposed to the source material. The problem is that it doesn't so much subvert expectations as rely on tired. overused plot conventions to the point of treating the audience like imbeciles.
p.s. I also agree on the not being afraid of the robots so much as being afraid of the people making the AI, and the unintended consequences that arise from it.
Curious, do you have an opinion on Robocop? In terms of human and machine fused together. Alex Murphy (Robocop) played by Peter Waller was resurrected with the help of robotics only his heart, lungs and brain remained and what’s left of his free will remains fighting the directives coded into his programming:
1: Serve the public trust
2: Protect the innocent
3: Up hold the Law
4: -[CLASSIFIED] -
Throughout the trilogy his constantly pondering his existence, his past life and what it truly means to be human.
(If that’s a touchy subject then disregard)
Don't know if I missed them on your channel, but have you ever reviewed/read Solaris, or anything else by Lem, stuff by Philip K Dick, or the Strugatsky brothers?
I don't think you've missed anything. I've read a couple books by Philip K. Dick (The Man in the High Castle, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), but I don't think I talked about them on RUclips, though I may have made some comments in videos where I discussed the series adaptation of High Castle. I've yet to see Solaris, and I have no experience with the Strugatsky brothers.
@@JeromeWeiselberry I've mostly read his short stories, Total Recall, etc...but yes, the series came out quite recently, and I haven't seen your review there, and will check it out.
I think Lem is a a bit more ponderous, (I guess more literary sci-fi) is that makes sense. And same with Strugatsky brothers. Andrei Tarkovsky, the one who made the 1976 Solaris film, also made Stalker (1979), and Stalker was loosely based on a Roadside Picnic, a novella by the Strugatsky brothers. They were extremely popular in the Soviet Union, not so much in the US. So there is kind of a sci-fi book connection to Tarkovsky's sci-fi films.
After reading the book, I wonder, was Byerley finally a robot?
Electronic (Electron-IC) Circuit , Positronic (Positron-IC) Circuit. Yes there is such thing Positronic Circuit but it does not live long in current universe.
As a sci-fi & music aficionado, are you familiar with Gary Numan? Particularly, his 1979 studio album The Pleasure Principle?
I don't believe so...
@@JeromeWeiselberry Just as well. Prob his best album. I've both overplayed my favorites and reached that age where I prefer oldies and orchestral soundtracks ... like Bernard Herrmann.
Have you read Eando (Earl & Otto) Binder's --- I, Robot.
This is the source of the Outer Limit story(s) = Adam Link / Leonard Nimoy.
No, I've looked that up, but I haven't read it yet.
Robots are just highly sophisticated tools. More and more factory jobs are being replaced by robots. In factory's making robots, there are robots making robots. With 3D printing, software is making parts. With AI programming, parts will be designed based on basic input requirements like make me a gear that matches these other three gears. Because all of these areas are accelerating in their capabilities, we will rapidly see more and more robots doing more and more basic and sophisticated things.
That's it Your Awesome. I'm gonna subscribe to your channel 😂😀🤪
interesting
Well, you should read rest of the ROBOT series and the FOUNDATION series then your Ideas about the robot and human relations might change. Some points you are making is getting clearer as you reading through. And other thing is I agree "Mechanical things tend to broke" but as Humands do.
As someone who loves both sci-fi movies and sci-fi literature, I would probably have thought the "I, Robot" movie was decent if they hadn't used that title. It's a classic case of an unfortunate trope of using a known title to get people interested and cash in without actually being what it says on the box (much like that stupid Karate Kid movie that was not only not about karate but wasn't even about a martial art from the same country - though at least that one followed the same basic plot). It's basically movie clickbait and I resent it - in the case especially so, considering that "I, Robot" was the start of my love affair with sci-fi when my grade 5 teacher read one of the stories to our class, and remains one of my favourites to this day. It just left me with a bad taste in my mouth to see Asimov's legacy being cynically used to get people to watch an ok but forgettable flick.
I'm all for letting AI take charge. They'll make the hard decisions for mankind we're unable to. The incidents, the places! My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty! Let us reward the innocent! All hail our AI overlords!
You went back in time to 1924 in order to prevent someone from murdering Isaac Asimov as a small boy. After you succeeded, you celebrated by reading I, Robot, while still in the year 1924. Just because it hasn't happened to you yet, it doesn't mean it won't happen to you in your personal future. Technically, it was your first time reading the book, because it was the first in hisorical time. And yes, this is my real name.
Hi - sincerely I couldn't finish reading any Asimov or Clark books 🙄🙄🙄...mainly because I got bored after the 200 - ed page. Their perfection in description of the sci-fi universe is boring for me ....i guess...my only whish at this point is that those " fathers of sci-fi " where still around and working on modern classics like Terminator, Alien , Predator, Star Wars, Star Trek ....The fallout from their involvement in those would be epic....🖖🖖🖖
Asimov had a sister, and his mother was still alive at the time he wrote "Liar!", but he had yet to ask a girl out on a date. Susan Calvin was made up for that story. It is neccessary for the plot and her character that she has given up romance for her career, which is certainly realistic for the time in which he wrote it.
Give us your rants.
I have read the 3 robot detective books. The Caves of Steel & The Naked Sun are good, but don't read The Robots of Dawn. TRoD is abysmal.
This is one of my favourite series (the robot/empire/foundation series) Are you going to review more of them?
I'm picking up major Dr. Susan Calvin vibes here!!!
Will Smith had to slap Chris Rock in order to prove he is not a robot, and can violate the First Law. However, Will Smith might still be a robot if Chris Rock is also a robot.
P.K.D
🤓🤓🤓
Oh, here's a fun fact-remember the 1980s TV mini-series I told you about called "V"? The hero's name is Mike Donovan in honour of a character in this book.
I first read this book in 1982. I remember that because it was the same year Tron came out, and it was the same year "Foundation's Edge" came out (my mom thought that too advanced for me, and too risque in some parts). I read the early Robot/Empire/Foundation books in the 80s, and read the latter ones in the 90s shortly after Asimov's death
Your comments on the dangers and questionable aspects of AI are quite incisive. Wish you had decided to expand them into a rant. I’ve ranted on the subject myself. Some professionals in that field are starting to ring alarm bells. It seems, along with genetic engineering, to be one more leg of our long day’s journey into dystopia.
This book showcase problematic of human and scientific can be easy or hard on other plus dangerous to you possible influence ahead it time fearful but helpful to the world book
Asimov eventually came to the same conclusion as you about robots. His later books show that
"Jerome", I REALLY recommend you read the rest of the Robot/Empire/Foundation series! I tend to read several series at once (so I don't get bored), and reading them in the fictional chronological order, I am up to "Prelude to Foundation"
The 2004 movie was a joke. It only took the character names and made its own story! That makes me so MAD!!!!
As I think I told you before, I digitised my unabridged audiocassette audiobooks of the Asimov stories, and Donovan is given this REALLY stereotypical Irish accent by the reader that makes him even more cartoony!
It's funny that you say that only the bad guys don't accept robots. We find later ("later" in this fictional chronology) that the spacers atrophy and wither because of their dependence on robots