Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Let the discussion begin!

I don't read science fiction very often, but I was glad I decided to read this one. Cleverly constructed and an enjoyable story.

I haven't read this one in a long while so my memories are a bit hazy, but I do remember each short story serves as a foundation of sorts for the succeeding stories.

This has always been a 'must-read' for every science fiction fan, no?

I'm enjoying this one as well. I vaguely remember reading some of The Foundation series as a teen, but this is my first from the Robot series. The comic elements are surprising and keep it much lighter than I expected. Most surprising is how darn close Asimov was in predicting our current relationship with robots and all A.I.

I really loved this. Such a fascinating discussion about the future of technology and our relationship with it. I was also a bit surprised by how funny the stories could be sometimes. I especially enjoyed the Powell and Donovan stories.

I've only read this and the first Foundation story but I am a big fan of Asimov's style based on these 2 books.

I've been lurking on this group for a little while now, and felt the need to finally post, because I loved this book. I knew it was going to get a 5 star review after the first 2 chapters. The "robbie" story was beautiful and heart wrenching, and truly made me feel for Gloria, but the second one "reason" really was too real for me.

I'm a science student (I work in a genetics lab) and my boyfriend is a philosophy student. The arguments between Powell and Cutie about his origins using logical reasoning and Descartian-esque a priori logic versus Powell trying to provide empirical evidence about Cutie's existence was just like the debates we always have,. When Powell pretty much states "you can argue any point with postulates and logic alone without evidence, the truth is I still built you" I actually laughed out loud because I say stuff like that to him all the time. Add in Cutie musing on a metaphysical master and being smug and condescending about it and Powell being an exasperated empiricist who just wants to go to bed already: it was pretty much a chapter out of my life but in space with robots. which is hilarious.

I loved all of the stories really, and was kind of relieved that it was told in vignettes and not a continuous action story like the movie, I found it gave the robots themselves more soul by telling the story this way, by giving them a "slice of life" which is what I'm sure Asimov intended.

Amanda has some great points. I loved a lot of the stories for many of the same reasons - and I wasn't expecting to, because I didn't like Foundation at all. I felt there was a lot more feeling here, and a lot more 'soul' - despite the robots theoretically not having one!

I thought it was just a series of logic puzzles set as robot stories, but that was cool with me

Although I am not typically a science fiction reader, I found the book entertaining. It was interesting that Asimov sets to book in the late 20th to mid 21st centuries, about 50 years after the book was written. He must have thought that our technology would advance more rapidly than it has.

I had this book in my to-read list for some time- I read a good bit of scifi when I was a teen (including his first Foundation book) but not much in recent decades, though I read "2001 A Space Odyssey" earlier this year. I enjoyed this more than I expected to, warming to it more as it went on, as the individual stories connect and build a timeline of sorts. "Reason" was probably the most entertaining, but the last one, don't recall the title, was probably the most thought-provoking, with the "machines" (computers) mostly running the world- we really seem to be moving in that direction.

I haven’t finished the book yet, so I haven't read the discussion to avoid spoilers.

Even though the book is getting old – specially for a science fiction book - it is still worth reading as it touches some interesting issues with intelligent machines. We haven’t really got so far in the real world. Computers are not as powerfull as the "brains" in the books.

I was highly entertained by "Reason" (the religious robot). That discussion is almost like copy-past from the Internet groups or even from the Danish news papers. Here in Denmark we have a minister of science who is religious. Being religious may not hinder him doing his job – but for example he refuses to discus the age of the Earth and claims that he never though about it. (And to some that sounds like a cover for a creationist).

I have just finished "Escape!" (the spaceship story). While I can easily imagine a world where computers/electro brains are rare I have a very hard time imagining human giving over control like that. I have worked with computer designed algorithms and maybe 1/10 of the work was the parameters for the algorithm and the 9/10 was explaining why those were picked by the computer - why they were optimal.

The question of superiority is an in interesting one. What happens the day computers start having some sort of general common sense and self-awareness? At that point they will be superior to use in many ways (they already are – just only in a few specific ways).

I having mixed-feelings about this book. As many others have stated I am not the biggest reader of science fiction and particularly not of Hard Science Fiction.

I find many elements of the stories to be quite interesting. I enjoy some of the philosophical and logical discussions and problems which are produced within each story but I am also finding many of the stories to be a bit dry reading for me.

I was amused by some of the antics of Donovan and Powell.

I have o say that thus far my favorite stories are Robbie and Liar, in part because I find they are the most accessible and relatable stories to read, and also because they deal more with humanity and human emotion than with pure logic and science.

I found Liar to be particularly engaging to read.

I finished this over the weekend. I didn't love it, but I do not really like hard sci fi--which is actually why I have never read Asimov before. It was actually a much easier read than I was expecting, which was good. And now it's done.

I was visiting family while reading this, and my dad and brother are both huge Asimov fans. Yet neither had read this. My dad saw the Will Smith movie (hyped on the cover of my library copy). We were discussing the story. Or, two different stories, because the movie and the book apparently have nothing in common. The line on the cover of my edition said "Only One Man Saw It Coming". In the movie, apparently. That has nothing to do with the book! We had a good laugh.

Amanda wrote: "I've been lurking on this group for a little while now, and felt the need to finally post, because I loved this book. I knew it was going to get a 5 star review after the first 2 chapters. The "rob..."

I really liked the book too. Robbie is heart wrenching. The fear of the unknown and what others think. I just felt horrible. The story just took me right in. Amazing story.

Another one that I like is when the brain made the ship and took the two guys for a ride. How they died and came back. The part that made me laugh most about that is when they saw they only had beans and milk to eat and drink. Could you image just eating beans and drinking milk for days and days? Oh, nightmare!!!

I am going to read his other books. I loved these. I'm going to do his recommended reading for the series.

I just finished this. I don't like hard science fiction. Nor do I like robots but this captured my attention. Loved the story about the child minding robot, the Brain, the one that could read minds and didn't want to hurt the humans. It was touching and interesting.

Done! A very interesting book. Definitely worth reading despite its age.

Number 8 Evidence is more of my favourites of the book. And it is from 1946! Four years before Turing formulated the Turing-test (in his 1950 paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"). Wow!

He does not use the term “Technological singularity” in "The Evitable Conflict" (from 1950) but this story takes place after that point and it is described in great detail. (And the first use of the term singularity in this context was made by Stanislaw Ulam in 1958 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technol... - that is 8 years later),

I finished it a few weeks ago and also enjoyed it. I liked the blending of the physiological with the pure logical, although it did sometimes place a bit of strain on my credulity.

This is my first Asimov and I'm sure I'll read more of him so that is another 'thank you' I owe to the List.

I am not quite half-way through this one right now, and I really am enjoying it. I wasn't sure what to expect because I hadn't ever read Assimov before. Robbie won me over from the very beginning and it has been smooth sailing ever since!

Like some of the other commenters, I preferred the stories that focused on the relationship between humans and robots on a more personal level (Robbie, Reason), and my interest waned somewhat in the later stories where robots were large, impersonal machines.

I loved how the series of short stories flowed together much like a novel though, and allowed Asimov to cover much more ground in time and types of robots than any single continuous story could have done.

Science fiction is usually my usual read, but surprisingly I never have read Asimov before. The back and forth humor at times and philosophical questions regarding human and robotic relations was perfect. I've always had the foundation series on my the list and this has helped bump that up to sooner than later.