Rest of the Robots

Robot, chronological order #0.2

by Isaac Asimov

El Resto de los Robots es una colección de ocho cuentos y dos novelas completas del escritor estadounidense Isaac Asimov , publicada en 1964. Las historias, centradas en robots positrónicos , forman parte de la serie Robot , la mayoría de las cuales tienen lugar en el universo de la Fundación . Otra colección de historias cortas sobre robots, Yo, Robot , se volvió a publicar el año anterior, por lo que Asimov eligió titular la colección como El resto de los robots . Ninguno de los cuentos de esta colección estaba en Yo, Robot , sin embargo, todos se incluyeron más tarde en The Complete Robot y ambas novelas sobre Elijah Baley también se publicaron por separado.

Los textos de la colección se agruparon en 4 capítulos, diferenciando sus temas centrales. El primer capítulo, The Coming of the Robots , incluyó algunas de las primeras historias de robots de Asimov, donde las Tres Leyes de la Robótica aún no estaban explícitamente definidas.

El siguiente capítulo, Las leyes de la robótica , incluyó historias que fueron escritas después de la formulación explícita de las tres leyes, sin embargo, ambas historias incluyen elementos que las colocan fuera del universo de la Fundación. En la historia " Primera Ley ", se describen los extraterrestres y la desobediencia directa de la Primera Ley de la Robótica, mientras que en la otra historia, " Vamos a Reunirnos ", los robots se utilizan como armas en la Guerra Fría . La historia " Victoria involuntaria " en el primer capítulo también cae fuera del canon de la Fundación, debido a la mención de extraterrestres.

El tercer capítulo, Susan Calvin, incluye historias en las que aparece la robopsicóloga Dra. Susan Calvin . Estas cuatro historias son representativas de las historias cortas de robots de Asimov, siguiendo sus temas tradicionales de aversión y desconfianza hacia los robots por parte del público en general y los problemas que surgen de la interpretación de los robots de las Tres Leyes. El capítulo final, titulado Lije Baley , consta de las dos novelas con el detective Elijah Baley , a quien Asimov llama cariñosamente Lije.

Si bien la edición de tapa dura original de este libro incluía las dos novelas, algunas ediciones de bolsillo han incluido solo los ocho cuentos. Algunas de estas ediciones de bolsillo más cortas, pero no todas, se han llamado Ocho historias del resto de los robots .

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Robots, Fantasy, Anthologies

Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robot #0.2: Asimov's 'sequel' of sorts to I, Robot has eight more short stories, some with a surprising touch of humour, and the big hitter like 'Galley Slave' that looks at the anti-Robot movement and some of its drivers through the lens of a court case. More Robot reality world-building via short story telling by Asimov, with a few of the shorts also featuring ace robopsychologist, and his main protagonist in the early Robot books, Susan Calvin. 7.5 out of 12

2021 read

[Hriday · Rating 5 out of 5]

I frankly don't have the capability to review this book or any of Asimov's book any further. I am tired of finding newer adjectives that convey my superlative admiration for the thoughts and works of Asimov. I was carrying on the task of typing out appreciative sentences regarding the plot, characters and ideas so far. No more - i give up.

There are no words to express Asimov's ingenuity or parallels for comparison - Isaac Asimov is simply 'THE BEST'.

[Eggp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robots do it all
they mine, they spy, they proofread,
they flirt with your wife.

[Jan-Maat]

You know exactly what you are going to get from an Isaac Asimov science-fiction story : a locked room mystery. The locked room mystery was to Asimov what the chess puzzle was to Nabokov, fortunately the two never collaborated to write a locked room chess puzzle mystery with robots and sexually active children.

Asimov's robot stories are particularly devilish, as Asimov reasonably imagines that in order to avoid powerful mechanical beings running rampage that they would be programmed with standing orders to protect people, I write no Golem stories you can imagine him saying, arms folded across his chest. Instead using his own three laws of robotics he makes certain scenarios in his world impossible, in a typical story, he explains the laws, tells you that an impossible thing has happened and then invites you to sit back and watch how he makes this possible - literary Houdinism.

The collection I, Robot is the best set of his robot stories this collection The Rest of the Robots are, as the title suggests, the also runs. The book includes a story with a cold war like setting (Lets get together) and a Susan Colvin story on the Moon base or a moon base, perhaps I ought not be narrow minded about the future moon in Asimov's imagination amongst others.

[jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

do i like robots now 🤨

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been called The Rust of the Robots, because these stories were dreadful. Asimov is like Stephen King in that he has an obsession and fondness for a particular character of his that is, in reality, very underwhelming and overrated. In King's case it's Holly Gibney, and in Asimov's it's his sociopathic, emotionless, human-hating roboticist Susan Calvin. Calvin is human, but you'd never know it, as she relentlessly defends robots and touts them as better than mankind in every way as if they were the second coming of Christ.

She's insufferable to read, and unfortunately half this book is composed of Susan Calvin stories. I mean, Holly Gibney is just bland and childish. But Susan Calvin legitimately makes me mad. In the world we live in now, where AI has arrived and is soon to wipe out millions of human jobs, Susan Calvin's character as an extreme robot/AI apologist who hates and has no care for the human race has not aged well at all. But as if Calvin wasn't enough, the stories in this book are just boring. Painfully boring. And they all have a tone of "robots always win out over humans in the end...f*** humanity" which I find despicable in light of where the world is going with AI (nowhere good, I can assure you of that).

This is easily the worst thing I've ever read by Asimov, which is sad, because his Foundation series remains my favourite sci-fi series to this day. Oh well. On to the next one.

Ratings for each story and for the book as a whole are below:

Robot AL-76 Goes Astray: 3/5
Victory Unintentional: 2/5
First Law: 3/5
Let's Get Together: 1.5/5
Satisfaction Guaranteed: 2/5
Risk: 3/5
Lenny: 1.5/5
Galley Slave: 2.5/5

= 18.5/40 = 46.25% = 2.31 stars

(rounded down to 2 stars, because of Susan Calvin, and the anti-human, pro-robot/AI nature of the stories, and how unenjoyable a read this was overall)

[Kadir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evolution of first three rules, nice short stories. How amazing to read Asimov defining AI in such a great way so many years ago when computers were not even in people’s lives. Amazing writer and mind…

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed The Rest of the Robots (Robot, #0.2) much more than I enjoyed I, Robot.

I found parallels to the movie AI in this novel in the form of the robot Tony. A pleasure-bot in the making, that one is.

I found the short story about Jupiter and the Jovians to be quirky and funny and really enjoyed reading it.

I also very much enjoyed the device used to hold the entire set of short stories together. I learned things I never knew about Mary Shelley and Isaac Asimov, and it enabled me to process these stories on a much deeper level than before.

[Barışcan Bozkurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bu sefer Asimov'un gençken kaleme aldığı 8 robot öyküsünü görüyoruz.
 
Öyküler; Ben, Robot'a kıyasla sönük olsalar da okuması keyifliydi. Asimov'un öykü öncesi, öyküsünü tanıtması, yazarken neler düşündüğünü söylemesi de farklı bir tat katmış. Özellikle Faustvari hikâyeler hakkındaki düşüncesi benim için en ilgi çekici kısımdı. Ayrıca bu kitapda da görüyoruz ki Susan Calvin karakterini okuyucuların sevdiği kadar kendisi de sevmiş. Ben de Calvin için şunu söylüyorum; Calvin olsun da ne olursa okurum.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another collection of short stories, listed below along with my rating:

- Robot AL-76 Goes Astray - 2*
- Victory Unintentional - 5* (superbe story, my favorite in this collection)
- First Law - 3.5* (very short)
- Let's Get Together - 4.5*
- Satisfaction Guaranteed - 4.5*
- Risk - 3.5* (although Susan Calvin was, as usual, exquisite)
- Lenny - 4*
- Galley Slave - 4.5*

[Ms. Smartarse · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title says(i.e. "The rest..."), this book contains short stories related to robots that couldn't fit into I Robot. I was initially somewhat reticent about the quality of the stories; the title made me think they'd be more like "discarded stuff" that someone thought they could monetize.

Perhaps it was the stories-in-a-story scenario which ended up changing my mind about these short stories. The book reads sort of like an interview where the author talks about his work, and inspiration for it, only instead of mere snippets we get the entire story. Despite the fact that the book was published 50 years ago, there is barely anything that reads dated about it. Actually, I'm not even sure I could pinpoint something that wouldn't seem "contemporary".

The book starts out with a little back story on Mary Shelley and her novel Frankenstein, whose main idea is then skillfully inserted into Asimov's short stories about robots. After all, a robot is (in a manner) also a type of monster, because a lot people don't understand it.

Once again, we get a lot of incredibly realistic stories about robots, their working mechanisms and the 3 Laws which govern their existence. Reading about Dr. Calvin's work is just basic algorithm analysis, which is right up my (professional) alley.

I loved all these stories, but my absolute favorite must've been the one about the woman asked to beta test a butler robot, which was slated for mass-production.

You see, Peter, machines can't fall in love, but— even when it's hopeless and horrifying— women can.

That excerpt really stayed with me, and in an odd sort of way I can relate to it. I don't build robots myself, but I have found myself getting overly attached to software that I've developed.

I loved this book for all its geekyness and its actuality. Others may, perhaps, find it dull or wouldn't get the point. If you like playing with logical puzzles, and if you like mind-stimulating games (like light Maths), this is just the bedtime book for you.
============================================
review of book 0.1: I, Robot
review of book 1: The Caves of Steel
review of book 2: The Naked Sun
review of book 3: The Robots of Dawn
review of book 4: Robots and Empire

[Jochem Wessel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing sequel to I, Robot. While in some ways very similar to its predecessor, there are enough differences to distinguish The Rest of the Robots and make it an original read.

The most prominent difference is that every story in the book has a short introduction. These introductions give context to the story in the form of inspirations, history, and anecdotes from the author's life. My personal favourite examples include the fact that Asimov invented the (now common) word 'robotics' and him admitting to having no clue how the robot's brains are supposed to work.

The stories themselves were even better than the ones featured in I, Robot. The aspect largely contributing to this is the fact that some stories build on what was already established in the previous entry, by using recurring characters or having direct sequels. The stories which don't have any connection to I, Robot did not need it to be outstanding.

While I think the stories are better than the ones in I, Robot, these stories did not make as much sense as a collection. I, Robot follows an obvious chronological line in the stories, though the stories The Rest of the Robots seem more random and are divided into three vague parts. This resulted in a lack of connection between the stories, but better and less repetitive individual stories.

The last story in the book, Galley Slave, is my favourite Asimov story so far. The story is approximately double the usual length of his short stories and shows what he is capable of as a writer when not limiting himself to ± 25 pages.

I'm excited to find out what Asimov is capable of when writing a full novel not consisting of a framing narrative, but first curious to see what the next entry in the series has to offer.

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Stories About the Mechanical Men
21 February 2019

For those who are interested, I have finally located that list which suggests the order that one should read all of Asimov’s books and short stories, or at least the books that deal with the robot and the empire stories (namely because Asimov decided that he would actually connect the two universes when he returned to writing fiction later on in his life). Mind you, there are a few inconsistencies, but that is not all that surprising considering this was never his original intention back in the days when he was simply writing short stories to appear in magazines and fund his university degree.

Actually, talking about inconsistencies, there is one story in this collection that probably shouldn’t be included in that list (which it isn’t), that being Victory Unintentional, since it deals with robots making first contact with a race of beings who live on the planet Jupiter. The reason I say that is because in the Robot/Empire universe it turns out that the only sentient beings are the humans, and they all came from one planet – Earth. Mind you, the chronological order does have the problem of actually revealing a little too much and spoiling some of the later books in the series, namely because we don’t actually to find out what happened to Earth until Robots and Empire (I believe – it has been a while since I read that one).

Like I, Robot, this is a collection of stories dealing with robots, though it differs from I, Robot, where the stories were linked by an interview with famed robot psychologist Susan Calvin. In this book, which as Asimov points out, contains the remaining stories that weren’t included in the first book, though as it turns out, there are actually quite a lot more robot stories than are included here (and even in the Complete Robot). The story isn’t linked in the same what that the first book is linked, but rather has Asimov commenting on each of his stories beforehand.

Asimov opens the book by pointing out that the word robot came about in the 1920’s when it was coined by an author from Czechia, Karel Capek in his story Rosum’s Universal Robots. He also mentions that it goes back even further than that, to the time of the Ancient Greeks. In the Illiad, we encounter the smith god Hephaestus who has two assistants that he created himself. I also think about the Prague golem, a story from Czechia. Actually, he opens by talking about Mary Shelly, who some have suggested kicked off the whole science fiction genre with her story on Frankenstein.

This is what gets Asimov to an extent, because by the time he started writing, the only stories that appeared to be floating around were stories that were, well, basically like the Terminator – robot goes bad and starts killing humanity, or some crazy and evil scientist tries to take over the world with his latest invention. I can sort of see why Asimov was a little put off by that, considering that he was a scientist himself. So, what he decided to do was write a series of stories that went as far away from that trope as possible, and the result is what we have today.

You can see Asimov’s scientific influences in these stories though, because many of them are actually thought experiments based on how robots would react in certain situations, and even with the three laws hard wired into them, the problems that would be faced. Not surprisingly, through out the stories, there is always this hesitation by the people of Earth towards robots, to the point that they are pretty much banned on Earth. Also of interest is how robots respond to commands, and how an inexperienced users could cause a robot to malfunction.

Another theme is how robots aren’t meant to replace humans, but to compliment them. Not surprisingly, they end up being used mostly off world, especially for mining. As we have since discovered, space is a pretty hostile environment, and the lack of breathable atmosphere is probably the least of our concerns (namely because we can quite easily solve that problem). For instance, Asimov suggests that the major difference between robots and humans is that we need to program robots – they basically can’t think for themselves. In fact, they are incapable of having epiphanies, or solving problems based entirely on hunches – something that we humans are more than capable of doing.

Yet the biggest concern is that robots pretty much take away unskilled labour – we are seeing that happen more and more. Sure, factories are operated by robots, though as we have discovered, it is still cheaper to place factories in developing countries than to build a fully automated plant. In fact, even some customer service roles are being replaced by robots, though I have to admit that I would much rather be served by a real human being than by a cold, emotionless machine.

[Jeremy Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn't give every story here 5 stars, but I love this book (and I Robot before) for being pure science fiction - rewarding the reader intellectually through philosophy and puzzle solving. Asimov creates the Three Laws of Robotics only to generate as many ideas of how a (supposedly) correctly designed robot could seem to defy them. That is creative genius, and it's so much fun, and thankfully it's well-written. All the while he's building questions about the boundary between humans and artificial intelligence and our place in the future we're creating. This is exactly what I expect when I read Ursula K Le Guin's commentary that science fiction should be a thought experiment framing the present, rather than an extrapolation to its extreme. I love these mischievous robots, and I have high hopes for the robot novels ahead, as well as Foundation.

"Your robot would deprive us of all. Soon it, or other robots, would take over the original writing, the searching of sources, the checking and cross-checking, perhaps even the deduction of conclusions. What would that leave the scholar? One thing only - the barren decisions concerning what orders to give the robot next! I want to save the future generations of the world of scholarship from such a final hell.

'You were bound to fail.'

'I was bound to try.'

She turned and left. She did her best to feel no pang of sympathy for the broken man. She did not entirely succeed."

[Tony Calder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second collection of Asimov's robot short stories contains 8 stories that were originally published between 1941 and 1956. Asimov has written and introduction and a short preface to each story. Like I, Robot, this collection is meant to provide an historical background for Asimov's robot novels, which start with The Caves of Steel (followed by The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn, and Robots and Empire).

Certainly some of these stories fit easily into that timeline, particularly the Susan Calvin stories (which make up 4 of the 8 stories), but some of them don't fit so well - most notably "Victory Unintentional" and "Let's Get Together". They really don't seem to fit with the timeline from the other stories.

If this were just an anthology of unrelated (or semi-related) robot stories, I would have given it 4 stars - Asimov is rightly regarded as one of the greats of Golden Age science-fiction, and these stories are good examples of his work. The two stories that don't really fit into his Future History are actually two of the better stories in the book. As a stage setter for what was to follow, it doesn't gel as well as I, Robot did.

[sergevernaillen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk tussendoortje. SF die ondertussen enorm gedateerd is (de meeste verhalen werden in de jaren 1950 geschreven): roken is nog schering en inslag, computers worden nog met ponskaarten geprogrammeerd, vrouwen komen nauwelijks aan bod (behalve dr. Susan Calvin, die als een koel beredeneerde wetenschapper wordt afgeschilderd) en robots zijn vandaag de dag ondertussen overal in alle vormen (behalve misschien de humanoïde versies) ingeburgerd.
Maar het leest wel vlot, de taal is nog niet oubollig en de verhalen zijn goed gestructureerd opgebouwd waardoor ik wel geïnteresseerd bleef tot het einde.

[Amandine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dès la préface je savais que ce second tome allait me plaire tout autant, si ce n est plus, que le premier. Heureusement que le génie de l'auteur ne s'est pas arrêté à ce tome, et qu'il me reste les prochains à lire.
La science fiction qu'il propose va beaucoup plus loin que les communs robots se retournant contre leur créateur, et la finesse dont Asimov fait preuve en jouant avec les différents angles possibles des Trois Lois de la Robotique est absolument remarquable.

[Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short robot stories. My favorite was easily "Robot AL-76 Goes Astray" which had me laughing out loud throughout. The other stories were interesting in their own right, but often played on the same tropes of the three laws of robotics that Asimov is known for.

Recommended for people interested in classic sci-fi.

[Silviu Reuț · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://silviureut.ro/2015/12/09/robo...

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this book 5 stars, however I wish author's that wrote series made it easier to know which book to read next. The edition I have read has 3 different books in the series: The Rest of the Robots #0.2, The Caves of Steel #1, and The Naked Sun #2. This completely skips over #0.3-0.6, so I worry I am reading out of order!

I am still captivated by this series which says a lot about Isaac Asimov's writing abilities; the exploration of robots transcends its genre of sci-fi. As a reader (and a woman) I deeply appreciate Susan Calvin's reappearance. It's refreshing that her character isn't discarded but rather evolves, adding continuity and depth to the narrative. Susan Calvin is the ultimate "it" girl; she is strong and intelligent, persisting through the collective stories. This is not only empowering to me but also breaks away from common trope of disposable female characters. This continuity allows readers to form a deeper connection with her, creating a sense of familiarity and investment in her journey and the book series that I have not found in other series before.

Additionally, the ability to project, personify, and relate to the robots resonated with me on a personal level. The consistent behavior and straightforward logic of the robots can offer a comforting sense of predictability. Also, and more deeply, the exploration of human-robot interactions and the robots' attempts to understand and navigate social nuances resonates with the challenges of social communication that I struggle with.

[Carloesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asimov è stato un grande scrittore. Eccellenti risultati si riscontrano sia nei romanzi che nei racconti. Io però prediligo questi ultimi, forse la forma breve gli era più congegnale. E in questo libro (per quanto sia più consigliabile la raccolta "Tutti i miei robot", che oltre a questi include l'intero ciclo dei Robot ad un prezzo simile)se ne hanno diverse prove. In alcuni ("Vittoria involontaria", "Soddisfazione garantita", e sono tra i miei preferiti) sfodera anche una efficace ironia .
Come non concedere 4 stellette?

[Khalid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robot AL-76 goes astray 🌟🌟🌟
Victory Unintentional 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Let's get together 🌟🌟🌟🌟
First law 🌟🌟
Satisfaction guaranteed 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Lenny 🌟🌟🌟
Galley Slave 🌟🌟🌟
Risk. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Manu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Master class of sci-fi short stories from Asimov. After every Asimov book I am more convinced he was some kind of time traveller or could somehow see the future, incredible imagination.

The one that made me think the most tho was the last one about the EZ-27 robot used for university tasks. It is pretty accurate with what is happening to the academic world with chatGPT. As a student myself in this moment, it made me realise how dependant of this thinking machine I have become and it is not only me, it is something affecting my scholars generation and possible the ones to come.

I’d like to share the quote of Dr. Ninheimer from the “Galley Slave” (1957) Story:

“Soon it, or other robots, would take over the original writing, the searching of the source, the checking and cross-checking of passages, perhaps even the deduction of conclusions. What would that leave the scholar? One thing only - the barren decisions concerning what orders to give the robot next!”

As a tech enthusiast I have been really excited about the AI boom. But it is scary to think how quickly everything is evolving and how dystopian it can turn. Still I remain optimistic we can give it a good use and learn how to deal with the setbacks.

(Disclaimer: I really struggled to fight the urge to make chatGPT check this review before publishing it, but realised how ironic that would be. So this is purely human thinking, perfectly imperfect. I will work on my redaction skills for the next review.)

(P.D. This is the first review I write in this platform and I liked to take a moment to reflect on what I read, instead of going straight to the next lecture and forgetting about the book after a few weeks. If you are not writings reviews yet, I encourage you to do it, because at the end who cares who reads it, if anyone reads it at all, and if they do who cares what they think.)

[Maria Thermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published in Britain in 1963, this collection contains some of the most classic robot stories ever written in science fiction and represents, if you like, the grand-daddy of robot lore from which all other robot stories were begat.

Divided into three parts, The Coming of Robots, The Laws of Robotics, and Susan Calvin, the collection takes the reader from the very beginnings of man versus robot to the topic of robot versus universe. Asimov's stories are either downright hilarious, as mankind grapples with the various issues robotics throw up or highly ethical and moral in outlook, inspecting both his man-made metal creations and his man-made, flesh and bone creatures under the microscope.

Can robots be slaves, can they fall in love or make us fall in love with them? Can they answer a woman's desire for child-rearing, when that woman is about as warm and maternal as an ice cube? Do they have the capacity to do the right thing and be a hero?

Asimov's limitless imagination is also responsible for giving us the 3 elementary robot laws that have ruled robot/human relationships ever since in science fiction, be it in books or on film. He is master of the totally unexpected twist and manages to make us laugh out loud, while deep down we're rather uncomfortable about our own ambiguous feelings towards machines that help us with life, the universe and "everything", as author Douglas Adams might have put it.

My personal favourite is the first story in the book, Robot AL-76 Goes Astray, which was first published in 1941 and deals with an incredibly powerful and intelligent mining robot that has gone missing on its way to the moon. Revealing a considerable amount of incompetence among the human contingent that built it, lunar robot AL-76 uses his positronic brain in totally unforeseen ways, when he accidentally lands on Earth.

SPOILER ALERT: don't read on if you don't want to know the ending!

Designed to function flawlessly on the moon, the robot's brain reacts to Earth's environment differently. Utterly confused as to his purpose on Earth, AL-76 makes the acquaintance of Randolph Payne, a man who likes to live in his shed rather than spend time with his nagging wife. Randolph also likes to tinker with broken down machines, endearing himself instantly to AL-76.

Realising what a prize has wondered into his backyard, Randolph is keen to collect the $50,000 reward for the robot. He takes a picture of the machine-made man, sends it off to he authorities and awaits with bated breath the arrival of his loot. AL-76, however, has other ideas. One garage full of junk later, AL-76 has built his own Disinto machine and, when trying it out for the first time, practically demolishes Hannaford County plus most of the State of Virginia.

Earth's different atmospheric conditions allow AL-76 to make intelligent deductions and connections that will eventually lead to the construction of the greatest Disinto ever built. It's a machine that, as the name so aptly says, disintegrates whatever falls into its path. A sort of mechanical black hole. Displaying far more wisdom than his human creators, AL-76 demolishes the Disinto after he has seen its destructive force, and the reader surmises that the robot deliberately "forgets" how he built the machine of ultimate destruction in the first place. He may have had a helping hand in this "mind-wipe" from the country hick Randolph Payne, who's more afraid of his good lady than the sheriff's department, CIA and FBI put together. Earth is decidedly not ready for the Coming of Robots!

[Mickey Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Issac Asimov is a master of the art of narration. Not even one story in the book is just-ok... In fact all the stories are unique and catchy

[Imogen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was very disappointing after the brilliance of I, Robot. The problem with this short story collection is that it feels like a short story collection. Unlike I, Robot, there was no through-line in this book. I, Robot felt like a novel because we followed the same characters throughout with continuity of time, so it felt like one cohesive story, following the development of robotics. The Rest of the Robots, however, was very random and disjointed, and felt out of place. There were some stories in particular, like "Satisfaction Guaranteed", "Let's Get Together" and "Victory Unintentional" which felt like they didn't match the world Asimov created, and I struggled to understand how and when it fit into the status quo and timeline presented in I, Robot, whilst "First Law" was extremely short. I had especial issue with "Victory Unintentional" as I went into this thinking that Asimov's world was purely humans and robots, and yet, "Victory Unintentional" features tentacled Jovians - what?! Even some of the Susan Calvin stories didn't feel right - "Lenny" springs to mind. I did particularly like "Galley Slave" and "Risk", but it's a shame the book hit its stride in the last few stories. Asimov's wit and humour is still present throughout, but even that is not enough to warrant a higher rating. The end of I, Robot, felt like a great set-up for a continuing plot but this "follow-up" lacks any sense of time or place, and just felt meaningless, random, and superfluous. I think I could have just skipped this and gone straight to The Caves of Steel, which I hope will be a resounding return to form.

[Mukesh Kumar · Rating 2 out of 5]

[2.5 * actually.]
Who would have thought that Mr. Asimov would deliver a dud ? Not me, fur sure!
After reading the wonderful 'I, Robot', my expectations had been raised sky high, so it is rather painful to accept that 'The rest of the robots' is nowhere near its predecessor, in fact is a real disappointment with only the 'Susan Calvin' stories showing some promise.
I guess if someone has written more than 500(!) books, you ought to give him some leeway, for he is bound to falter at some point. And mind you, I sincerely believe that my disappointment with this book is more because of having gone through 'I, Robot' first. I am pretty sure that if this had been my first book in the Robots series, I would have enjoyed it much more. So that is how it stands.
I would suggest anyone willing to start Robots series, to begin with this one only, and then move onto 'I, Robots' and the rest. For that is the best way to enjoy this book, I suppose.
Anyway, hope that the 3rd installment of the Robots series will live up to the expectations.

[Reuben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing but captivating sci-fi to be found here--excellent collection of short stories that are both fun/satisfying and provide a unique perspective on a variety of things. The technical writing, as expected with Asimov, is smooth as silk. Loved how human the robots were and how robotic the humans were, too.

Might do a longer review in the future, but for now here are some quotes I enjoyed:

"Nobody lives in splendid singleness."

"You see, Peter, machines can't fall in love, but--even when it's hopeless and horrifying--women can!"

"Do you suppose the potter is content with mental creation? Do you suppose the idea is enough?"

4/5

[Χρήστος Αζαριάδης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Δεκατοπέμπτο βιβλίο του Ισαάκ (and counting). Νομίζω ότι μια λέξη του ταιριάζει στον Ασίμωφ περισσότερο από κάθε άλλη: Πρωτοπόρος.
Εδώ έχουμε μια νέα οκτάδα διηγημάτων γύρω απο τους 3 νόμους της Ρομποτικής. Άλλα μικρότερα, άλλα εκτενέστερα, όλα, όμως, άκρως ενδιαφέροντα. Ειδικά το "σκλάβος του τυπογραφείου".

Στα θετικά της έκδοσης είναι ότι έχει επιμεληθεί (εν αντιθέσει με άλλες) και ότι κάθε διήγημα προλογίζεται από τον ίδιο τον Ασίμωφ.
Θα έλεγα ότι η συλλογή είναι στο ίδιο μοτίβο με το "Εγώ, το Ρομπότ", απλώς πιο ώριμη σε σκέψη και μηνύματα. Και με χαρά ξανασυνάντησα χαρακτήρες, όπως ο Τόνι και η Δρ. Σούζαν Καλβιν.

[Antonio Fanelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellissimo.
Un racconto più bello dell'altro.
Le prefazioni ai singoli racconti sono deliziose.
Un sollievo per la mente.