Roderick

Roderick #1

by John Sladek

He isn't human; but he isn't all robot either. He started life in a lab, went to Parochial School, was kidnapped by gypsies, chased by roboticidal, and incompetent, hit-men, told fortunes on the Midway, and finally fostered by an elderly couple who gave up writing science fiction when their stories came true. He's Roderick, the first robot programmed to learn and think, and sent out into the world to re-invent it...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Novels, Speculative Fiction, Satire, Science Fiction Fantasy

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1980

About the author

John Thomas Sladek (generally published as John Sladek or John T. Sladek, as well as under the pseudonyms Thom Demijohn, Barry DuBray, Carl Truhacker and others) was an American science fiction author, known for his satirical and surreal novels.

Reviews

[Yasuo Itoh]

人工知能というか意識を持ったロボットが世間に放たれたらどうなるのか、ロデリックの意識とは、人間が人間であることの証明やロボットが人間ではないことの証明など、哲学的なことを考えさせられる。そもそも文体というかストーリ展開が独特で、自分には少々難しかった。続編が未訳であるのだけど、それと合わせて読むのがいいらしいので、続編が翻訳されたら改めて本書に挑戦するかもしれない。