I, Robot

[Lacava]

This book is great and I still have so much more to read. I am on page 102 out of 272. I can't wait for more exciting parts in this story. Right now, there are robots that are going crazy trying to take over the human race. For some reason, the robots are being controlled by a single computer mind that tells them all to become violent and to try to eliminate all humans on the planet. Before that, the robots were wondering why they had to follow the laws that the humans put out for them to follow. This is a great book

[Joe]

The whole series is great -- I think that there are 2 or 3 in the series. I loved them all.

[Zora]

i like I.Asimov books,and I am on page 45.Great book like other

[Anna]

This is probably my favourite book by Azimov. The little stories are definitely entertaining and short enough to keep my attention. I liked the one with religious robots most because Azimov accurately shows what people have gone through (mostly scientists) in middle ages(or at least that is what I thought), the irony is brilliant. I am not that big of a fan of Sci-Fi but this book was definitely worth it, focusing more on the characters rather then the robots. The story with the lying robot was cute. I liked it, would recommend it to anyone :)

[[deleted user]]

Definitely agree that this book is definitely meant to shed light on HUMAN behavior more than robotic behavior. This book is filled with irony after irony, absolutely loved it.

[[deleted user]]

Do enjoy, all. Asimov was brilliant. But I have to say, I HATED the movie. Crap.

[Rob]

Greta -- I agree with you. I was fortunate enough to get a copy of I, Robot before the movie came out and read it, cause I had plans to see the movie. There was only 1 scene in the movie that came close to the book. When Will Smtih was looking for the rouge robot, that was the only scene that matched the book.

Tarren, if you want to read some classic sci-fi that sheds light on humanity, read Heinlein. There's irony in all the books that I've read (only 3 so far) and Heinlein definately sheds some light on humanity.

[[deleted user]]

There's the shorts, but the whole robot thing goes much further, starting with the 'Caves of Steel'. 'Robots of Dawn' is brilliant and then it goes on and on until the whole robot series meshes with the Foundation series.

[[deleted user]]

Yeah the book and movie are nothing alike but I'll admit, I enjoyed the movie as well. Pretty much opposites though.

Rob thanks for the advice, I've been trying to figure out where to go next in terms of sci-fi so I'll definitely check that out.

[Msadventure]

If you take the movie as having nothing to do with the book other than the title and the names of the main characters, then they are both great. Just don't expect to be able to correlate them to each other.

[[deleted user]]

@Msadventure, LOL. But absolutely accurate.

[Sorcha94]

The book has some slow parts but on the whole an excellant book that is definatly worth reading.Some of the senerios are a bit creepy, but they also seme likly and beliviable. It is a bit funny though, how they thought that by now we would have these really advanced robots that we don't have.

[[deleted user]]

They're finding out how hard it is to emulate the complex workings of the human brain. There is no computer in existence that can match even a fraction of our brain's complexity. Take playing chess. Computers do that well, but our brains run a fully-functional entity at the same time. Even moving chess pieces takes a lot of manual dexterity.

[Toby]

ahhh asimov, there's a reason he's known as a grand master of science fiction. the man had a truly incredible brain. his non fiction works are also excellent. he writes with such skill.

i loved the robot series, i started with i,robot in the 15 book version of the foundation series which is linked with robots and empire timelines and am up to the 5th in the sequene. i can't wait for more.

i had a tough time with the movie to start with, it was merely suggested by the book and the giant gulf in content upset me but then as msadventure says you realise that they are both entirely seperate entities with the same name and they are both excellent at what they are. i,robot is actually a very smart hollywood action sci-fi movie.

and yes tarren, i can't recommend heinlein enough if you want truly great science fiction. and it's incredibly well written stuff too.

[[deleted user]]

And then, of course, there's Arthur C. Clarke, master of the short story (and some longer stuff).

[Larry]

Greta wrote: "Do enjoy, all. Asimov was brilliant. But I have to say, I HATED the movie. Crap
Oh i loved the film! Nothing like the books and it should have been called something else but I enjoyed it! The Robot books are my favourite side of Asimov.

[Bob]

I'm with you, Larry. The movie, if it had been called almost anything else, would have been fine. It annoyed me immensely to see that title tacked onto that movie... but take the movie by itself, and it's great fun.

[Toby]

I really feel that the movie took the spirit of the robot stories and adhered to them in a difficult hollywood action environment. But to call it I,robot was a bad way to introduce people to asimov.

[Toby]

I really feel that the movie took the spirit of the robot stories and adhered to them in a difficult hollywood action environment. But to call it I,robot was a bad way to introduce people to asimov.

[Larry]

Definitely not a good intro to Asimov! The book yes, definitely!

[Phill]

Asimov is great. And I have to agree, the movie wasn't a great introduction into the books.

[Toby]

I know what isn't a good intro to the world of Asimov and especially his robot sequence. Say what you want about the Will Smith movie but I, Robot: To Protect is an abomination that seems to have only been written to allow for more movies to be made.

[Larry]

Forget asimov when watching this film and enjoy the fun! Remember that word fun?

[Toby]

absolutely perfect larry

[Jeni]

I love seeing the movies of books like this one.

When they were written, the technology they were writing about wasn't even around yet. Now, it's here and I enjoy seeing these stories manifest on screen.

I feel the same way about Philip K. Dick's stories, too. I think these revolutionary authors would be thrilled to see their visions come to life.

My philosophy is always read the book, but don't be afraid to be enthralled by the imagination made real in a movie.

[Harv]

I, ROBOT got me started reading in Junior High. The first story made me cry. Instantly, I was an Isaac Asimov fan; later science fiction fan; later fiction fan; later I discovered that nonfiction could also be enjoyable. Copyright on this is 1950! There is a companion book, also excellent, THE REST OF THE ROBOTS, copyright 1964 that has my favorite all-time Asimov short story: Victory Unintentional. I saw the Will Smith movie, which I found mildly amusing (well, I didn't actually walk out of the theater), but I didn't really get the connection to Asimov. Not sure the screenwriters on that puppy even like science fiction. @hg47

[Harpal]

I Robot a great book to read.

[Scott]

I enjoyed the logic puzzles presented in this collection, and yes, I think "Reason" is a clear allegory for the creationism "debate." That was fun.

As to the movie, from what I understand Alex Proyas, the director, wanted to make something very different, but was pressured by the studio to turn it into an action vehicle for Smith. Unfortunate, but I am going to give it a try anyway.

[Matthew]

Enjoyed the book thoroughly, did not enjoy the movie. Sure, it was a nice action movie with some seriously respectable special effects, but the twist ending was completely lost on me. You can't have VIKI, the central AI that's bound by the 3 Laws of Robotics, suddenly decide that for the good of humanity, she would have to seize control of them.

They tried to explain this by saying she invented a new law (the Zeroth Law) but this makes no sense. A robot can't do anything that would break the first Law of Robotics (i.e. a robot cannot harm a human being, etc.) since its ironclad and the other two refer back to it just to make sure. And if she tried following two contradictory laws, she would have been driven insane by a logical paradox.

Major case of nitpicking, I know, but this completely contradicts the whole premise of Asimov's original novel. Not a good thing for an adaptation to do.

[Scott]

I just watched the movie, and some parts are good and others are bad. You can pretty much tell at exactly which points the studio (or Smith) said "we need an action shot here" or "put some humorous dialogue in here." It's not great, but it's not a total loss. The credits say "suggested by Isaac Asimov's book," so it's not meant to be an adaptation. (The part where the rogue robot is hiding amongst others of the same model did make it in, though.)