The first thing that has to be said about Asimov’s I, Robot is that it is not the same story as the new Will Smith movie of the same name. Rather, the movie is “suggested by” the book (quoting IMDB).
I believe I, Robot was the first science fiction book I read, over 20 years ago. I re-read it once in college, and again last week. It hasn’t aged as well as I expected. Or, maybe I haven’t aged as well. In fact that’s certainly the case.
The book isn’t a novel so much as a collection of short stories tied together by a sketchy narrative. The short stories are presented as recollections of famed “robopsychologist” Susan Calvin, in the context of an interview at the end of her career at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. Some of the stories are more successful than others.
Asimov can be credited with one of the great science fiction inventions of all time: the “Three Laws of Robotics.” Three simple sentences outlining a robot’s behaviorial rules gave Asimov a framework for tons of fiction. In this collection, Asimov seems to have sat down with his Three Laws and consciously extrapolated strange situations that would follow from rigidly-logical adherence to them.
In the best of the stories (“Evidence”), a political candidate is accused of being a robot. His opponents’ attempts to prove their case, and the candidate’s responses, provide a master class in political staging and image handling. The story is as relevant today as when it was written in 1946.
All in all, this is an easy and quick read, and serves as a good introduction to the Three Laws of Robotics. Also, it’s a classic. It serves as a good introduction to the genre.
Patronize these links, man:
posted to area: Fiction
updated: 2004-07-18 14:50:53
