Prodigy

Isaac Asimov's Robot City #4

by Arthur Byron Cover

Derec, a man without a memory, and Ariel, an enigmatic woman, move through Robot City searching for a dangerous cyborg who has gone insane and trying to root out the cause of a growing epidemic of "roboticide." Reprint.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Robots, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Ebooks

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was painful to read, but it had to be read. The first two books in the Robot City series left me with so many unanswered questions that reading the entire series was a must for me. If you find yourself in a similar predicament and must read this abortion of a book, simply read the first and last two chapters and you'll be able to figure out what's important to the next book in the series without wasting too much of your time.

[Jessica McDermitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I blazed through this in about an hour and a half and I have to say I was a little underwhelmed. And confused. I was confused about who had actually written the story and it took a bit to figure out that it's actually the fourth book in a series. It would have helped if I had read the previous books, but with just reading this one, here's what I thought.

The character motivations were unclear and not compelling. They were just kind of casually dropped, as though I should have already known them, which I probably should have, reading through the first books. But I didn't read the first books, and now I'm supposed to believe that getting medical attention is priority one when you've just casually mentioned it a few times and then spent your time making robots think and go crazy?

I wasn't particularly impressed by the execution of this book, though it has a cool premise. It would probably be better if I had read the first books but I don't know if I really will. I'm sure there's deep symbolic meaning behind the use of Shakespeare and Hamlet but it just didn't grab me. It was weird. And random. Not much insight into thought processes or deepest desires.

The philosophical exploration was interesting, though. This book explores what makes us human, where we came from, how different, really, our creations are from us. That aspect of it is fascinating, though the wrong conclusions are drawn. Otherwise, this was a pretty bland book. Ok, but not great.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to say that at first, this book seems to ɓe going nowhere. As the story begins to add more fantastic characters things develop in a more convincing direction. There's the aspect of can a Robot truly understand humor in a way that humans do? Perhaps... I still am puzzled about this.
There's one part of the human mind that does follow an algorithm. This book begins to delve into the deeper reflection of the meaning of life and what is life.
Over all this book does open that conversation in a very conceivable way.
Just as the poem/story (?) I read in my early years. Before I was even 10 years old my mind was blown, even a little expanded by this simple book.
In essence, to my faint recollection, it read:
The person is in the house, is in the city, is in the state, is in the country is in the..... etc eventually pulling out to the universe.
This was my introduction to transcendental thoughts at such a young age.
This book did give me a little taste of tracendentalism. Something I'd not think possible for a story about Robots.
This is a great story maybe not for all readers what with some crass jokes told by a Robot. That being said, I believe this is a joke I've heard on Mash at which point it has been referenced in a round about sort of way and made it past TV censors for decades.
Interested? Simply read the book, no spoilers here.

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaac Asimov's Robot City Book 4: Prodigy (1988) 164 pages by Arthur Bryan Cover.

Derec and Ariel are stranded in Robot City and suddenly some robot have shown traits that haven't been seen in robots before. A structure appears in Robot City which appears to be art, and created by a robot. Another robot is attempting to become a comedian. Other robots are making intuitive leaps in other areas. Derec seeing what is happening puts on a play, which will have an all robot audience and a cast of himself, Ariel and robots.

Lucias is the robot who builds circuit breaker, when Derec finds him an ebony robot named Canute is arguing with Lucias about whether it is within the parameters of robots to be responsible for the creation of such things or not. Canute makes the point that there is something wrong with Lucias, and the structure should be taken down and Lucias deactivated. Derec gives a direct order to save the structure, and meets with Lucias the next day. He also meets with Harry, Benny and M334 who have developed beyond the normal robot.

The story is very interesting, Cover gives his flavor to the series by adding Shakespeare to the plot.

[Luke Gronemeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book amongst some childhood keepsakes. I have no idea it's origin. Quick & fun read. Some of conversations can be heavy in sci-fi philosophy jargon. While the beging & middle might be a bumpy ride, the ending ties everything up for easy understanding.

[Richard Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac Asimov opens the novels with an introduction to the evolutionary possibility that robots and advanced A.I. may one day, in an effort to better understand the humans that they serve, develop a sense of humor and, as a result, the ability to think creatively. Derec, Arielle, Mandelbrot (formerly Alpha, undergoing the name change after a shift in its positronic brain), and Wolruf are still no closer to escaping Robot City after helping to restore Jeff’s body and fixing the escape pod that Mandelbrot and Wolruf arrived on for his escape. As Robot City continues to grow into a bustling metropolis and hopeful utopia for future human inhabitants, Derec becomes intrigued with an almost infectious evolution in the way more advanced humanoid robots, namely supervisors and designers, think. Derec and the team investigate an amazing, newly constructed, building created by an artistic visionary robot, named Lucius. On the way the team notice that humanoid robots have developed a drive to seek deeper comprehension when they come across three robots named, M334, Benny, and Harry, that have banded in an attempt to understand the phenomenon of music. The three robots form the band, The Three Cracked Cheeks, a 1940’s Jazz revival as they participate in a theatrical rendition of William Shakespeare’s, “Hamlet”, in an attempt to weed out the suspect responsible for the murder of Lucius.

Meanwhile, after the play, Dr. Avery, the designer and mastermind behind Robot City, returns to his experimental world of robots. Using advanced hunter robots, the megalomanic and eccentric, Dr. Avery, apprehends the team who he believes responsible for the odd behavior taking over city’s robots. The team subsequently escape Robot City by commandeering Dr. Avery’s small star seeker spacecraft.

[S.M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series just gets worse and worse with each book it seems, because Prodigy was just terrible. Stupid plot, bad writing, awful characterizations, it's all there. I'm determined to finish the last two books of the series, though, so hopefully the next isn't completely unreadable. ..

[Peter Morell · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a mockery of Asimov. The plot is unbelievably thin, there is far too much idle chatter, too much speculative rambling that leads nowhere and fables about bland dreams. In other words, this book is a complete waste of time.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10. Con el reclamo del nombre "Isaac Asimov" y "robot" en la portada salieron varios libros sobre robots, a ver si se caía. Yo caí con este y con otro.

[Damon]

It

[Logan Streondj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explores interesting concepts of robot autonomy and artistic expression but otherwise is not very immersive.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a good book

[Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The worse book in this series until now. It is not awful, but it adds very little to the story.

[Vivek · Rating 3 out of 5]

What was that?

[Ashleigh Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asimov didn't write this, but his Robot City raises important questions about AI. Cover continues these questions, exploring the ability of robots to create and think for themselves. Eerie and chilling in many places. I less enjoyed the human characters and found the robots most interesting in this book.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the weakest of the series so far, generally a bit blah and with both very silly and rather socially dated elements to the story and writing. Still some interesting discussions about artificial consciousness and such, enough to keep it out of the two-star range.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting series and an interesting book. The book and the series isn't and aren't particularly well plotted or well written. The characters are pretty one dimensional. There's a lot that's left unsaid and untold. But it's an original story and as a result it's interesting reading.

In this, Book Four, of the Robot City series, the robots develop personalities and discover the arts. One robot builds a colorful, artistic building that overwhelms the robots, as well as Derec and Ariel. Unfortunately, one robot isn't very thrilled about it and "murders" the artistic robot. Derec suspects him, and strangely, sets out to prove his guilt by staging the play, Hamlet, with he and Ariel starring, surrounded by robot actors. It's truly bizarre.

Ariel's disease is starting to get to her in this book and she's slowing going mad. She needs to get off planet badly for medical help. Derec, of course, wants to get off planet to help him recover from his amnesia.

They also meet three robots who play music and crack jokes. The music is Duke Ellington and they're initially not that good, but they improve over time. Derec is astounded that robots can evolve into beings with human-type characteristics.

Additionally, the creator of Robot City finally shows up. Dr. Avery is a total asshole and takes them prisoner, with their robot and their alien friend, Wolruf. He uses a truth serum on them, but they don't know what for. He's come in a space ship however and Derec uses robot logic on their robot guard to get him to release Ariel from captivity. She in turn, releases the others. The book ends with their finding the ship and taking off, destination unknown. Oddly, Derec finds that he immediately misses Robot City and wants to return. That makes no sense to me, as he's spent four straight books now trying to escape.

I guess something will happen to their space ship and they'll be forced to return as there are two more books in the series. I don't know what, though, and that'll keep me me reading the next one. The book is fairly creative, and I appreciate that, but like the others, it leaves so much out of the plot and the dialogue is so stilted that it's only a three star book at the most. It definitely could have been improved upon. Recommended, only if you're reading the series.

[Mars · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won't even bother leaving a review for this book, suffice it to say that I made it about an eighth of the way in before giving up.

So here's a review for the series thus far:


Everyone must own the Robot City series! I would make an apt comparison to the ginger on a sushi dish, but ginger is spicy.

This series is bland and tasteless. And while Philip Farmer's Dungeon makes me bring up breakfast, Robot City merely slides around your tongue like a handful of sand.

However, read just a dozen pages, and then you can dive into almost anything else with untold abandon! After seeing the antics of Derec and Mandelbrot (renaming characters in the middle of a story with absolutely no reason behind it! gotta love it!), the budding love story with yet another renamed character, dialogue truly worthy of a tenth-grader, impressive acrobatics to get around various plot holes, character development (literally - Derec actually programs a robot at one point), and more, even Office Space TPS reports read like the most wonderful thing ever written by man.

[Margaret]

I skipped the intro by Isaac Asimov and went straight to the story. While not a bad story, this seemed like just a part of a larger story and I do believe that this is book 4 of 6. There was an explanation of how Derec & Ariel ended up on Robot City so it could somewhat stand alone although I think I would have gotten more out of it if I had read the first 3 books. I did like the "progression" of the robots journey to understanding and becoming more human-like. I did not like the mad-scientist/evil villian characterization of Dr. Avery and I really didn't understand his motives. Overall, this was okay - I've not read any sci-fi in a long time so it was a nice change of pace.

[Iantony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back then during the ups and downs of working on my bachelor final project, I came across this book at a used book store near my campus. I heard about but had not read Isaac Asimov's books before, so I give this book a try. This book had a peculiar style of writing for a science fiction. Some people may or may not enjoy reading this book due to the unique writing style. As for me, I really like this book. I might got the wrong message from reading this book but this book aspires me to be a technocrat.

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is dragging on. The problem is that I was hooked from the first book into wanting to find out how the main character developed amnesia and what his story is. So, I read on and on. It's ok and the books are short and clever, but maybe they would have been more interesting when I was a youngster. I'll read the next book. I have to know the ending.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pequeña mejora en la serie, aquí se basan en la "humanización" de los robots a través del arte y del humor. Tira para atrás esa pasión por Shakespeare que tienen muchos escritores anglosajones, empeñados en hacer un homenaje aunque no pegue ni con cola. Mejora en la parte final, cuando recuerda que es una serie con un hilo conductor y no solo libros enfocados a un aspecto del mundo asimovico

[Mark Baller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great robot book - lots of philosophy - the relationships of human life - alien life - and artificial intelligence - and morality, laws and the governing of such life forms including hybrids cyborgs with robot bodies and human brains -- it is coming and how do we discuss it or begin to understand it but though stories like this -- well written.

[Jamie Sweetland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half felt like a disconnect between the story and the writing style, but it settled out by the end and came to a satisfying conclusion. Probably the weakest entry I've read in the series so far.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

4th book in the Robot City series. Derec & Ariel find themselves marooned in Robot City created by a robotic engineer genius and they seek a way of escaping. Story tells of their efforts to do while dealing with robots that show increasing signs of intelligence and creativity.

[Jeremiah Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off a bit slow, but I liked the way it ended. There is finally some development of the overall story.

[Edwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eigenlijk weinig van te zeggen.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the author's style and his delivery, and loved the concept of potential autonomous creativity in a man-made brain and all the implications it carries with it.

[Paolo Benvenutto]

Me gusta como se desenvuelve la historia de esta saga!!..