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Isaac Asimov's History of I-Botics: An Illustrated Novel
Asimov explores one of his most popular and bestselling subjects in this full color illustrated novel of the world of robotics. Based on Asimov's seminal work and on his final robot story, this fast-paced, high-tech adventure is invigorated by illustrations that capture the spirit of this fantastic classic.
- GenresScience Fiction
125 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1997
1 person is currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,342 books27.9k followersWorks 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 23, 2008
First of all, it isn't by Asimov and secondly, it's crap.
April 13, 2017
Great little read very typical of Isaac Asimov; Good Vs Evil, life/ death, the transition from the age of mechanics into the age of computers and as always finding love in the strangest circumstances.
Worth a look see.
Worth a look see.
June 8, 2019
This book was actually three stories" "History of I-Botics", "Prototype" and "Don't Go Near the Panatal". Just FYI, NONE of these stories were written by Asimov, but they all take place in the universe he created in his Robot books.
The first two were fun dieselpunk style stories about a secret Nazi project to build a robot super soldier. Their goal? World conquest of course! The stories were fast paced and I enjoyed the almost James Bondish style of both. However, they weren't too well written. There were a number of times during long passages of dialogue when I had to go back to figure out who was speaking and some of the descriptions of the action or scenes were muddled, as if nobody had bothered to edit these stories before publishing. Mind you, it didn't ruin the fun I had, but it did take me out of the story a number of times. The characterization likewise was not particularly strong and seemed to have been sacrificed for the sake of the action.
The last story was about an intrepid reporter in the 1970s who discovers a secret Nazi research lab in South America where people are being transformed into zombies! Sounds exciting and it was better written then the first two stories, but it kind of fizzed out as the story progressed and finished with a bland resolution.
This was an illustrated novel and I have to say that the illustrations really helped create this book's dieselpunk ambiance. I really I enjoyed them throughout.
All in all, this is an ok batch of adventures and worth a read. Upon finishing though, I can't help but think how much better it could have been if they'd spent a bit more time polishing the stories.
3/5 Stars
The first two were fun dieselpunk style stories about a secret Nazi project to build a robot super soldier. Their goal? World conquest of course! The stories were fast paced and I enjoyed the almost James Bondish style of both. However, they weren't too well written. There were a number of times during long passages of dialogue when I had to go back to figure out who was speaking and some of the descriptions of the action or scenes were muddled, as if nobody had bothered to edit these stories before publishing. Mind you, it didn't ruin the fun I had, but it did take me out of the story a number of times. The characterization likewise was not particularly strong and seemed to have been sacrificed for the sake of the action.
The last story was about an intrepid reporter in the 1970s who discovers a secret Nazi research lab in South America where people are being transformed into zombies! Sounds exciting and it was better written then the first two stories, but it kind of fizzed out as the story progressed and finished with a bland resolution.
This was an illustrated novel and I have to say that the illustrations really helped create this book's dieselpunk ambiance. I really I enjoyed them throughout.
All in all, this is an ok batch of adventures and worth a read. Upon finishing though, I can't help but think how much better it could have been if they'd spent a bit more time polishing the stories.
3/5 Stars
June 5, 2016
This was a fun book to read.. I thought it was written by the sci-fi master Isaac Asimov, but it isn't... it's several short stories written by various authors in homage to Asimov... telling the story of the development of Robots during WWII by both the allies and the axis powers...
December 31, 2019
I picked up this book because Fantastic Fiction listed it as an Asimov novel, but let's be clear: It was not written by the good doctor. The book also carries the sub-title "An Illustrated Novel" which again, seems inaccurate - it's not really a novel, but a collections of short pieces. So now that we have those things out of the way, let me address what the book actually is.
History of I-Botics, edited by James Chambers, collects three stories all set in the same universe. It's an alternative timeline in which the Nazis were attempting to develop a super-soldier robot to win WWII, and the Allies were competing, attempting to come up with a metal man of their own. The first tale, a novella-length piece that shares the collection's title, follows a young man named Zac Robillard who stumbles across the fact that his grandfather was one of the key figures in the robotic "arms race" years before. Some of the work from that era still exists, and a number of shadowy groups are trying to get their hands on it. The second story in the book, "Prototype," travels back in time to describe how one of the earliest robots got built, and the third and final piece, "Don't Go Near the Pantanal" takes place in the 1970's in South America, where a plucky investigative reporter discovers that more horrific experiments in robotics are moving forward.
The book contains illustrations, some of quite high quality. It comes across as a hybrid of a short story collection, a graphic novel, and a picture book. Neither fish nor fowl.
The concept of this book was apparently inspired by some conversation with Isaac Asimov before he died, although why he agreed to put his name on this is beyond me. Killer robots are about as far away from what Asimov's aesthetic as I can imagine; in fact, he seemed to be at odds with those writers who saw robots as something to fear or inherently evil.
On its own merits, this book is OK. Once you get over the shock of the fact that it's antithetical to any vision of robotics Asimov might have condoned, you're left with a creepy tale about human abductions, mad scientists, and super-spies. James Bond meets Frankenstein on the pages of this book. Having said that, the material feels too derivative to be anything more than a passing curiosity. And it's not particularly well written.
Save your time and stick with the truly original Asimov materials. His robot stories are classics. This one is not.
History of I-Botics, edited by James Chambers, collects three stories all set in the same universe. It's an alternative timeline in which the Nazis were attempting to develop a super-soldier robot to win WWII, and the Allies were competing, attempting to come up with a metal man of their own. The first tale, a novella-length piece that shares the collection's title, follows a young man named Zac Robillard who stumbles across the fact that his grandfather was one of the key figures in the robotic "arms race" years before. Some of the work from that era still exists, and a number of shadowy groups are trying to get their hands on it. The second story in the book, "Prototype," travels back in time to describe how one of the earliest robots got built, and the third and final piece, "Don't Go Near the Pantanal" takes place in the 1970's in South America, where a plucky investigative reporter discovers that more horrific experiments in robotics are moving forward.
The book contains illustrations, some of quite high quality. It comes across as a hybrid of a short story collection, a graphic novel, and a picture book. Neither fish nor fowl.
The concept of this book was apparently inspired by some conversation with Isaac Asimov before he died, although why he agreed to put his name on this is beyond me. Killer robots are about as far away from what Asimov's aesthetic as I can imagine; in fact, he seemed to be at odds with those writers who saw robots as something to fear or inherently evil.
On its own merits, this book is OK. Once you get over the shock of the fact that it's antithetical to any vision of robotics Asimov might have condoned, you're left with a creepy tale about human abductions, mad scientists, and super-spies. James Bond meets Frankenstein on the pages of this book. Having said that, the material feels too derivative to be anything more than a passing curiosity. And it's not particularly well written.
Save your time and stick with the truly original Asimov materials. His robot stories are classics. This one is not.
June 5, 2022
Asimov brought me here, and it wasn't a total waste. There is a decent thread of Sci-Fi undercurrent in this book that held merit. However, it isn't Asimov's writing but ideals that are presented here.
Better advertising than writing to be honest.
The three stories revolve around a historic timeline that could have involved robots as part of WW2. Following the World's Fair in 1939, there is a trio of scientists that promote robotics as functional, while the same thing is occurring in Nazi Germany to horrific effect, yet implausible in nature. One can't just stick a brain into a robot and have it work. Not then, not even now.
The main story was engaging as the grandson of one of the original trio plucks the spy-der's web of robotics. Most of the story involved re-writing history to meet the premise and hinting at the next two short stories.
The 2nd story was about the mentioned disappearing actor (and what became of him (not a bad story, actually), and the 3rd story (shortest) followed the migration patterns of actual Nazis to South American, where the robotics experiments resumed and resurfaced at/around Vietnam Era. (garbage story, this one)
The mock Journal that ends the books, encapsulates the tales told within and adds a few more illustrations. Felt obligatory and somewhat filler, but interestingly done.
Overall, not a bad novel of I-botics, but not Asimov.
Thanks for reading.
Better advertising than writing to be honest.
The three stories revolve around a historic timeline that could have involved robots as part of WW2. Following the World's Fair in 1939, there is a trio of scientists that promote robotics as functional, while the same thing is occurring in Nazi Germany to horrific effect, yet implausible in nature. One can't just stick a brain into a robot and have it work. Not then, not even now.
The main story was engaging as the grandson of one of the original trio plucks the spy-der's web of robotics. Most of the story involved re-writing history to meet the premise and hinting at the next two short stories.
The 2nd story was about the mentioned disappearing actor (and what became of him (not a bad story, actually), and the 3rd story (shortest) followed the migration patterns of actual Nazis to South American, where the robotics experiments resumed and resurfaced at/around Vietnam Era. (garbage story, this one)
The mock Journal that ends the books, encapsulates the tales told within and adds a few more illustrations. Felt obligatory and somewhat filler, but interestingly done.
Overall, not a bad novel of I-botics, but not Asimov.
Thanks for reading.
August 2, 2018
This book wasn't all I was hoping it to be. To be honest I was hoping for more of an illustrated history of the events leading up to Asimov's fantastic robot novels and short fiction. What I got instead was sort of a watered down off shoot. Feeling less like classic Asimov and more like some war-time knock-off. The illustration work was good and I liked some of the varied use of text sources. But ultimately the characters and the story were uninteresting. All it really made me want was a nice illustrated copy of Caves of Steel to reread.
December 28, 2024
Just a gripe: the hardcover edition has a few pages where graphics and even some text are obscured in the gutter.
December 11, 2015
This is certainly an interesting experiment in storytelling. And setting these various accounts in an already existing fictional world which exists in another format only lends intrigue to the experiment. The compilation is nonlinear and can be a little hard to follow at times, but I cannot deny that it is entertaining and certainly has me wanting to read the I-Bots comic book series.
March 12, 2020
this was really good. I loved the WWII mixed with robots idea. I was surprisingly well spread out for a short book, nothing happened too quickly and of course illustrations are always fun.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews