Robot Visions

This was a quick read as only 3 short stories were unique. The bulk of the book had been collected in previous Robot anthologies. The 3 'new' stories were OK, but nothing to get too excited over. The best of them was probably the title story with an interesting look at humanity and time travel.

I was unaware before I purchased the book that there were a collection of essays written by Asimov that were published in various publications mostly in the 1970's and 1980's. These were on the whole very interesting, but there was a large amount of repetition that might only be obvious when they are all collected together and read one after the other. After 5 posts about Robots this blog must seem repetitive too!?

Asimov does delve into the history of 'Robot' so that the reader can understand his influences and motivations and to some extent how he derived at the 3 Laws; for instance the term 'Robot' was first used in 1921 by Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots). He is rightfully proud of the contribution to science through these works and makes repeated reference to the 3 laws and his invention of the work 'Robotics'.

It is not until perhaps you have read this background that you can see that a large amount of popular perception (and fiction) including robots is negative - 'Robot as Enemy' as Asimov would describe.

Asimov on the other hand tried to change that and felt that as Robots were machines then Man - as with all modern machinery - would install safety features to ensure Robots do not cause humans any harm, or to reduce the risk of causing harm.

In the Evitable Conflict, which appears in this collection (as well as I, Robot and The Complete Robot) the possibility of advancements of the Positronic brain (and a pooled resource) are played out on a global scale and some harm does come to some humans for the benefit of the greater good. Asimov is indicating that the Positronic brain or Artificial Intelligence is of great benefit to humanity but it has the potential to grow out of control through increased learning and processing capabilities. Can it ever be fully harnessed? This is a theme that is explored in other stories, some of which I'm fast approaching.

You may be wondering (if there is anybody out there wondering?!) why I am following this particular reading order. Well I use Goodreads as a source of material and to keep track of my Read and To Be Read pile and they had a series link for the Robots.

So I have followed this to the letter so far, but now is where I briefly move away from the path. I have shoehorned in The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories - my next Post - and have left out The Positronic Man. Two reasons why this has been omitted, firstly I have already read the short story from which this extension is based and secondly.... I don't have a copy!

Robot Dreams

The journey through Isaac Aimov's Robot series continues.

As with most books I have purchased recently the search usually begins and ends with ebay. There seems to be less and less opportunity to buy older Science Fiction material from Second Hand shops (there seems to be less and less Second Hand Shops too -maybe there is a relationship here?). And I would love to be able to spend time hunting these books out. Nothing beats stumbling across just the book you want, or finding a gem hidden in the dark corner of a musty smelling old book shop. More of my love of Second Hand book shops in a future post.

It would be fair to say that when you want something, and in this case I needed something, to continue my march through the Robots of Asimov, then ebay was the place to go.

The Illustrations in this copy were a nice touch, and it was interesting to compare my own mental projection with an artists impression (and presumably Asimov's idea) of the Robots. The Dark Tower series by Stephen King was much richer for the illustrations that accompanied those books, particularly the original publications of The Gunslinger and Drawing of the Three.

Robot Dreams collects the title story (written for this collection) and previously published stories from the authors immense back catalogue. Some I had previously encountered in prior Robot collections.

The majority of the stories are very good, and 3 in particular are simply breathtaking.

The Last Question was the best of the bunch, and you can see why Asimov ranks this as his best. The concept is frankly mind boggling and has made me think more than any other story.

The Ugly Little Boy is a beautiful tale capturing the love and bonds that only come with parenthood. I was willing the conclusion to the story to be as it was leading towards its climax, and am not ashamed to admit reading the last few lines through glazed eyes.

The Billiard Ball was very clever and left the reader questioning the motives and actions of the lead character.

Lest We Remember, which completes the book, had more than a passing similarity to a recent film - Limitless. I'm not sure if the film was loosely based on the book, but the central ideas were almost identical.

Robot Visions next...which appears to include all but 3 stories that I have already come accross. The review of that book should be a bit shorter.

Today's Purchase

Found this at a local charity shop today. Rarely find any Sci-fi, but they had loads today, most I already had.

Resounding endorsement from ACC on the cover. Look forward to delving in to this.

The Last Question

Read Asimov's short story 'The Last Question' last night and it blew me away. Brings a whole new meaning to the word forever.

I, Robot and others

A belated second post but I have been engaging in some spring time DIY and spending time with the kids over the Easter holiday which has delayed my reading. I have however completed I, Robot The Rest of the Robots and The Complete Robot, and am currently half way through Robot Dreams.

I am also reading short stories by Arthur C Clarke (Of Time and Stars) when I have a spare half hour.

I rarely read an extended sequence of books from the same author or theme. However I am glad that I have with the Robot books and I intend to carry on through to Robots and Empire.

Asimov was clearly very intelligent. The development of the 3 laws although very simple on their own are a definite exhibition of his capability. The possibilities with their interpretation and the scenarios where conflict occurs are infinite. It is therefore slightly sad that I am more than half way through the series and coming to realise there are less opportunities to read these inventive and humorous tales.

Some stories could be perceived as formulaic, but Asimov lays it all out and each ends with conclusion that leaves little head scratching at what might have happened.

If I had to pick favourites from each they would be:

I, Robot - Reason
The Rest of the Robots - Victory Unintentional
The Complete Robot - True Love

"Breeds there a Man..?" from Robot Dreams has a feel of Philip K Dick about it. Having only read a small portion of Asimov's work this does already feel like a story 'against the norm'. As i enjoy a good PKD story and his bizarre realities this was a very good read.

You can probably already tell that I'm not a writer, but this is about sharing some analysis of my interests and a place to record thoughts on what I'm reading before it disappears.

Until the next time..