Isaac Asimov - I, Robot -8
Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:14 pm
<img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0553803700.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left">
I,Robot by Isaac Asimov is the first book in the Robot Series.
I have found that this book is almost always labeled as a collection of short stories about robots. This is a sad misconception in my opinion. The novel is written from the point of view of Dr. Susan Calvin, a "Robosychologis" for U.S. Robotics who is being interviewed by a young reporter. The "collection of stories" is actually her accounts of several problems concerning the development of new robots throughout her carrier.
I found the book quite enjoyable. Like most of his works, Asimov poses problems and then walks the reader through the solution. In many ways I would say this book follows much of the same form as the first book of the original foundation trilogy. The only downside I found was a lack of character development and action. Like other works I have read by Asimov, he is more concerned with the logic and science behind his writing than any amount of story telling. Therefore, he leaves out a lot of information about the characters in his books. For one, the identity of the interviewer is never revealed to the reader so he is merely used to link the stories together. Personal information about most of the other characters is quite sparse as well. As far as action goes, he seems to enjoy telling stories with least amount of this actually occurring as possible. Most of the book is spent explaining and working through problems, through dialog or experiments. In short, his characters pose a problem they are dealing with, gather information, run tests and experiments, discuss everything in great detail and then present their solution. This could be tedious and boring to some readers but all in all I would still suggest this book for those who are ready for something stimulating to read.
Have you read this book? Click Here to Rate it!
Review also posted at the IBLIST
I,Robot by Isaac Asimov is the first book in the Robot Series.
I have found that this book is almost always labeled as a collection of short stories about robots. This is a sad misconception in my opinion. The novel is written from the point of view of Dr. Susan Calvin, a "Robosychologis" for U.S. Robotics who is being interviewed by a young reporter. The "collection of stories" is actually her accounts of several problems concerning the development of new robots throughout her carrier.
I found the book quite enjoyable. Like most of his works, Asimov poses problems and then walks the reader through the solution. In many ways I would say this book follows much of the same form as the first book of the original foundation trilogy. The only downside I found was a lack of character development and action. Like other works I have read by Asimov, he is more concerned with the logic and science behind his writing than any amount of story telling. Therefore, he leaves out a lot of information about the characters in his books. For one, the identity of the interviewer is never revealed to the reader so he is merely used to link the stories together. Personal information about most of the other characters is quite sparse as well. As far as action goes, he seems to enjoy telling stories with least amount of this actually occurring as possible. Most of the book is spent explaining and working through problems, through dialog or experiments. In short, his characters pose a problem they are dealing with, gather information, run tests and experiments, discuss everything in great detail and then present their solution. This could be tedious and boring to some readers but all in all I would still suggest this book for those who are ready for something stimulating to read.
Have you read this book? Click Here to Rate it!
Review also posted at the IBLIST
