From the Bookshelf of Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die…

I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)

Isaac Asimov

Start date: December 15, 2015

Finish date: January 15, 2016

Discussion: 1001 Monthly Group Read

Why we're reading this: December 2015 Group Read
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What Members Thought

Mar 25, 2009 Otis Chandler rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi

As an engineer I couldn't help but love this book. It's full of logic games! The 3 rules of robotics are a very rich medium for lots of fun puzzles, and I very much enjoyed reading them. I think the book originally came out in serial form, as it was broken down into short stories or capers. Kind of reminded me of Sherlock Holmes - another favorite of mine.

Examining robots also gave a canvas for defining what it is to be human. I loved the robot religion story. Robots with a superiority complexes ...more

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Nov 17, 2010 Michelle rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, short-stories, 1001-books, book_club, ebook, grand_masters

this old chestnut of the genre is as unevenly a mixed bag as most multiple-author short story anthologies usually are. though there are plenty of interesting ideas and not a few literary gems stashed in here, time isn't being kind to this collection. stories get rather repetitive if read back-to-back: I don't actually need an explanation of the laws of robotics in each one, and many characters' voices sound very much the same. female characters are few and far between, and when one has a positio ...more

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Jul 17, 2013 M rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, library, read-in-2013

I, Robot was first published in 1950, and it shows. These stories were written during the Atomic Age, when the atomic bomb and nuclear power plants were all the rage. The eventual shortage of energy sources wasn't even a problem, but nuclear power would be the solution. In fact, it would be the solution to every problem. We only needed more time, more knowledge about the atom. We are talking about a time when the URSS was a reality, and a scary one for us, capitalist countries. The stories, then I, Robot was first published in 1950, and it shows. These stories were written during the Atomic Age, when the atomic bomb and nuclear power plants were all the rage. The eventual shortage of energy sources wasn't even a problem, but nuclear power would be the solution. In fact, it would be the solution to every problem. We only needed more time, more knowledge about the atom. We are talking about a time when the URSS was a reality, and a scary one for us, capitalist countries. The stories, then, are a bit dated. Asimov is said to have mixed science fact and science fiction - but older science facts are more similar to fiction nowadays. The language is also a potential barrier to the modern reader. It isn't hard or difficult as the language usually employed in classics is perceived to be, but the slang is so retro it induces a sort of disrespect for the story. However, if you can read past these obstacles, the content of the stories is really good.

The link between the nine short stories, Dr. Susan Calvin, is a robopsychologist and a person of great power inside US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc, the main manufacturer of robots - actually the only manufacturer of positronic robots, which are the only ones that are advanced enough. But Susan Calvin is something else - she's the only woman working for this corporation. And she is intelligent, cold and emotionally distant. She prefers robots to humans, as evidenced by this exchange of opinions:

"Are robots so different from men?" She replies, "Worlds different. Robots are essentially decent."

Although she might be a strange main character (and I'm still debating whether I'm okay with this portrayal of science women as cold, heartless and asexual entities), I rather liked her, and liked her role as link and narrator of this short story collection. I also understand her personality is part of what makes her connect so well with robots.

I, Robot is not so much a science fiction short story collection as a philosophical collection of intellectual exercises. Examining whether a sentient robot could have the same civil rights as a human is an interesting exercise, and Asimov did it while telling a riveting story. I couldn't stop thinking this would be a great book to teach concepts such as free-will, conscience, individuality and moral code in a Philosophy class. How awesome is that? And how much more awesome is that compared to many of the sci-fi stories published around the same time? That is what makes Asimov stories classics.

Robots aren't such a strange concept nowadays and, although they differ greatly in shape and conscience from the ones imagined by Asimov, the tendency in robotics is towards sentient machines - or rather, sentient-like machines. In addition, Asimov's robots have a built-in anti-Matrix safeguard: the three laws of robotics, which are three logical postulates to try to avoid a robot revolution. The nine stories revolve around a situation in conflict with one or more laws, an explanation of the conflict and a possible solution. At the same time, they advance this futuristic world history, since they are Susan Calvin's reflections on the past of robotics. And they never fail to entertain. ...more

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Feb 27, 2009 Robin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: made-into-a-movie, sci-fi-or-fantasy

Although this was nothing like what I expected (its totally different than the movie), I really liked it. It was a sort of exploration of "what ifs" given the three laws of robotics as well as a look into how people and robots would interact in different scenarios. This book is more of a series of short stories than a continuous plotline. Well worth the read; but you have to keep in mind that since it was written back in the 1950's the dates in the book seem silly today. ...more

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Dec 20, 2007 Wouter rated it liked it

A fun collection of smart science fiction stories involving the Three Laws of Robotics (involving logic) and human emotions (involving drama, absurdness, humor, etc.).

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