I, Robot - Isaac Asimov

[Jen]

I'm glad you liked this one. I also gave it 4 stars (surprise, surprise).

[Judith]

I gave it **** also. Very original.

[Kristel]

November 10, 2010 – Finished Reading
Rating: 4
Review: Loosely connected short stories about robots set over several years around 2052. I enjoyed this work by Isaac Asimov. He is a good writer. I kept asking how much of what he is writing as fiction has a foundation in science.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads]

Anyone who follows my reviews knows that I rarely like science fiction but am willing to try and can appreciate and admire that these stories were written far ahead of the knowledge of their day. These books are often prescient and this one is no exception. It was written in 1950 and felt as though it could have been written today.

3.5 stars!

I, Robot is a collection of short stories written by Isaac Asimov. The stories are tied together by the focus on robotics and the three rules that Asimov created:

The three laws of Robotics:
1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

In the book, a young journalist spends three days interviewing a robopsychologist named Susan Calvin. Each story that Dr. Calvin relates is about the evolution of robots and reflects a mishap or problem that occurred when there was a misunderstanding of the three laws of robotics.

The book is short and entertaining and I found myself thinking it was written in a more contemporary time. I liked how each story reflected a progression in the story and that the problems were mostly due to the way the humans misunderstood the robots rather than the other way around. It is a clever, smart book. I did wish for a deeper connection to the characters, and in particular I wanted to know much more about Dr. Calvin. I think I would have rated it much higher if that was present.

[Leni]

I read the second or third robot book many years ago, and it was a murder mystery. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this first book (except for the three Laws of robotics), but I did think that maybe it would revolve around a robot. You know, because of the title. Instead it was a series of interconnected short stories, mostly about how humans fear robots and have their egos bruised if a machine can make calculations faster than them. The book is rather dated, but it has still aged somewhat better than the Foundation series. The stories were entertaining enough, but only the last couple were actually interesting - dealing with how and if it is possible (or even always desirable) to distinguish between robots and humans, and who is really in charge - the "masters" or the robot servants. But while the machines might have personalities, the question of their personhood remains underdeveloped.

3 stars, important for its influence on the science fiction genre.

[Gail]

I have not read science fiction in some time and this was an interesting welcome back to a genre that I have not found compelling for awhile. I found this to be a true foundation for much of science fiction literature and it was a quick, fun and easy read with enough philosophical testing and teasing to keep me engaged. The character sketches of the humans were straight out of the 1950's with men with super sized ego's and language use that was almost out of Mad Men. However, the very fast evolution of robots that the reader sees through the eyes of Dr. Calvin's retrospective stories did make one consider the nature of humanity, what is unique about humans and the place of robots in human evolution. As Dr. Calvin says, "robots are like humans only nicer". Ultimately the Machines take over the world in order to better serve humans under the assumption that a stress free environment where the social, economic and political forces are all guided by master robots is better for all.
The originality of the ideas, especially as they come from 1950 and not today, gives it a 4 star rating from me although the actual story telling is only a 3.

[Patrick]

Pre-2016 review:

****

A pioneering classic of science fiction, this novel tracks the imaginary development of robotics from its infancy through to the middle of the 21st century, from short stories around its turning points involving robopsychologist Dr Susan Calvin. All the stories are knit around applications of the Three Laws of Robotics and make for interesting situations from a logical and sometimes ethical point of view. Asimov was truly a visionary and, despite most of his visions having not yet morphed into reality (we have half-a-mile buildings nowadays, but we are far from mining on other planets), his book truly offers food for thought about some of the future directions humanity can take, robots or not. For example, I felt that the last chapter (The Evitable Conflict) really mirrors the current evolution of the political and economic landscape of the 21st century, with the rise of Asia/China, the gradual decline of North America and the eventual emergence of Africa. This is the kind of book one needs to re-read every ten to fifteen years, then to reflect on how the world has progressed compared to Asimov's.