I, Robot

Title: I, Robot

Author: Issac Asimov

Genre: Science Fiction, Short Stories

Series: Robots #1

Pages: 244 pages

Synopsis:

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.

With these three, simple directives, Isaac Asimov changed our perception of robots forever when he formulated the laws governing their behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of the robot through a series of interlinked stories: from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future–a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete.

Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-read robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world–all told with the dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction that has become Asimov’s trademark.

(from Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

I came into this book knowing that this was a Science Fiction Classic, and I was surprised to learn that this was a compilation of short stories rather than one continuous story.

There were a few stories that stood out for me such as “Reason”, in which a Robot gets Philosophical and even goes out to create his own religion with the other robots on the space station. Yes, this happens! “Liar!”, a story about the Robot that can apparently read minds was also a fun short story. The story “Evidence” was about an election between two candidates and one of them is alleged to be a Robot. I was not expecting Politics to be in this compilation of stories but I liked this story quite a bit and it fits in with the progression of Robot Technology as time goes on. My two favourite characters were Powell and Donovan, I liked their dynamic.

I do feel like this is a very accessible book to read as you should have no problem reading this in two or three days. I also found it entertaining and this book hardly feels dated at all, despite it being over 70 years old. It was also interesting how this book covers quite a few big questions such as: How would you feel if a Robot gains sentience?

I do have some issues, however, which is why I am not giving it a higher rating. I felt there Isaac Asimov did poorly at creating or building tension. Even when something bad was happening to our characters, I just wasn’t really worried for them at all. Some of the jargon did go over my head a little bit probably because I’m not a Scientist. While I did like Powell and Donovan (who were reoccurring characters), the characters were pretty flat, as none of the characters really grew as a result of their experiences over time. Some of the jargon also kind of lost me at times.

This made for a nice short read that raises good questions about Artificial Intelligence. It doesn’t really blow me away but it’s still a nice read. I recommend it if you want to have a quick read involving robots.

Rating: