I, ROBOT by Isaac Asimov: book review of science fiction classic highlights the prose, storytelling, and stark differences in views regarding this premiere work about robots and AI, aka artificial intelligence.
In Asimov’s I, Robot, Dr. Susan Calvin (robo-pyschologist for U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men Inc.) describes the development of robots, through nine short stories, to a reporter in the 21st century.
The Following book review of I, Robot by Isaac Asimov is a Spoiler-ful WARNING Level YELLOW: it contains mild spoilers for the novel, but not detailed plot.
When read from beginning to end I, Robot can be seen as an evolution of Asimov’s Robots. Each story shares an interaction between humans and robots and often hints upon the unease of a growing artificial intelligence.
Here is the story synopsis, and the review continues below it.
Paperback Released April 29, 2008 | ISBN 9780553382563
About I, Robot
This classic science fiction masterwork by Isaac Asimov weaves stories about robots, humanity, and the deep questions of existence into a novel of shocking intelligence and heart.
“A must-read for science-fiction buffs and literature enjoyers alike.”—The Guardian
I, Robot, the first and most widely read book in Asimov’s Robot series, forever changed the world’s perception of artificial intelligence. Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-reading 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.
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 formulated the laws governing robots’ behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of the robot 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.
“Tremendously exciting and entertaining . . . Asimov dramatizes an interesting question: How can we live with machines that, generation by generation, grow more intelligent than their creators and not eventually clash with our own invention?”—The Chicago Tribune
Each story in the book shares an interaction between humans and robots and often hints upon the unease of a growing artificial intelligence.
Asimov’s future (actually our past as his first short story is set in 2015) includes mining stations on asteroids and Mercury, spaceships with hyperdrive, and super computers along with robots taking over simple jobs like farming, while also running for office and even secretly running the world.
Although nine stories follow Asimov Three Laws of Robotics, many stories describe robots having difficulty with these laws (either by manufacturing defect or meta-cognitive awareness) leading to their eventual interpretation of them – even a so called religion. His infamous laws governing robotic behavior have changed our perception of robots forever.
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.
Despite the name Hollywood gave the film, I, Robot, starring Will Smith, the book is far from the film in terms of actual story elements, though the film is fun and captures some of the spirit, as well as a couple specific uses of the book.
Spoiler Alert: If you were a fan of the 2004 science fiction action film I, Robot directed by Alex Proyas do not expect many similarities with Isaac Asimov’s 1940-1950 short story collection of the same name. The 2004 film is much more closely based on Jeff Vintar’s original screenplay Hardwired. That film adopts Asimov’s creation of “the three laws of robotics,” shares two similar characters, and borrows one scene from his works.
Overall I, Robot is a thought provoking read, blended well with science-fact and science fiction.
If you have not read the novel, expect a vastly different story than the film with the exception of the chapter titled “Little Lost Rabbit.”
Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born, American author, a professor of biochemistry, and a highly successful writer, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books.
Professor Asimov is generally considered one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He has works published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (lacking only an entry in the 100s category of Philosophy).
Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the “Big Three” science-fiction writers during his lifetime.
P.S. If You Want To Know A Little More About How The Forgotten Fiction Is Different & Our Mission . . .
We are really trying to achieve two main goals here:
To bolster every author who puts out a work of fiction long after the initial buzz that accompanied its release. This is something that is usually left to an expensive public relations manager or company and even with all of their powers of marketing / PR are limited in where they can place the book months after its launch. This includes limited edition and small press publications, like Suntup Editions, that are also reviewed for their physical beauty, as well as the work’s literary art and often illustrations, so long as the initial work has been out 60 days.
We love books of fiction! And as readers we have too little time to read ALL of the books that fall onto our tentative To-Read List. The Forgotten Fiction hopes that with our Yea or Nay stamp, we can definitively give our unbiased opinion to you as a recommendation that may or may not move a book from the stack to your Must-Read List.
Hard Case Crime’s QUARRY by Max Allan Collins hits hard, and that is whether you use the large paperback to ‘interrogate,’ or merely to read the first brilliant tale of the assassin Quarry.
Max Allan Collins is the author of The Road To Perdition, and has many brilliant series, including two of my personal favorites: the Nathan Heller series of hard boiled historical fiction and the Quarry series.
In Quarry, the writing is truly inspired in both the visceral characters, the phenomenal pacing, and the sharp-edged language.
The flat-out villainous protagonist might have a little of the ‘hero’ in anti-hero in him . . . or he might not.
The innovative character and story make for something special, which is why Hard Case Crime decided to republish the series, after 30 years, in a gorgeous large paperback small press edition with a painted cover by legendary artist Robert McGinnis.
The following book review will feature both an in-depth look at the book, Quarry, and then an examination of the Hard Case Crime treatment of Collins’ tale.
Quarry: the following book review will be *Spoiler-free, as the plot reveals are vital to the story, so we omitted them.
Here is the story synopsis, and the review continues below it.
Paperback Published in October 2015 by Hard Case Crime
THIS IS IT—WHERE QUARRY’S STORY ALL BEGAN.
AND ANOTHER LIFE ENDED.
The assignment was simple: stake out the man’s home and kill him. Easy work for a professional like Quarry. But when things go horribly wrong, Quarry finds himself with a new mission: learn who hired him, and make the bastard pay.
NOW A CINEMAX TELEVISION SERIES!
The longest-running series from Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition, and the first ever to feature a hitman as the main character, the Quarry novels tell the story of a paid assassin with a rebellious streak and an unlikely taste for justice. Once a Marine sniper, Quarry found a new home stateside with a group of contract killers. But some men aren’t made for taking orders—and when Quarry strikes off on his own, god help the man on the other side of his nine-millimeter…
QUARRY comes to Cinemax in Fall 2015
The original Quarry novels return to bookstores for the first time in 30 years
Featuring cover paintings by the legendary Robert McGinnis
Quarry’s tale is truly ground-breaking.
To Quarry, his work with contract killers, and especially dealing with a man called the Broker who he has relied on for finding him work and payment is all just part of a “pain-in-the-ass job.”
Quarry was a sniper in the Vietnam War who has become a hit-man for hire as he continues to try to acclimate to the country he has returned home to.
What this does is make for someone with possible PTSD who does not like to play with others, unless she is lonely for a night, and his inability to interact with others has limited his scope of work.
He sees the killing, lying, and all that comes with it, and acting without the least bit of empathy, as part of his journey.
He wants to go on living, to go on making money killing, and to not be screwed over, because someone is always trying to screw him over, jeopardizing his money or his life.
The pace is furiously frantic at the start of the book and in a few pages there is the heinous threatening to murder a priest at an airport, or is he really a priest, and it makes its mark on the reader immediately.
The pacing will vary as the present situation of betrayal slows things down, and Quarry thinks out his next moves.
So as a reader you get to catch your breath and become a part of the observations and thoughts of Quarry.
The only gripe I have with the novel, if you can call it a gripe, is that the characters are so interesting I wish there were a few more of them.
Quarry, his too often sauced part-time partner in crime, the Broker, and of course, the dames, are all written so well … I want more.
But I guess that is why there are sequels!
Quarry’s boss the Broker’s webs of crime, and a change in protocol for Quarry’s job make for an interesting bit of mystery.
The world is utterly real and grimy, as is the rough speech of the man known only as Quarry, and even the women he tries to consume for a night’s pleasure do not get much sympathy from him.
The psychopath in Quarry and the morals that jump out when you least expect them are just as mysterious and engrossing as the story itself.
It is easy to get lost in Quarry’s world and the pages leap bye as your stomach does somersaults.
All of the hard-boiled noir in Quarry cuts the reader deep, as Quarry the man is tortured by his brain and throes of violence throughout the book.
This kicks off a truly remarkable series brilliantly.
Hard Case Crime brings back Quarry in a big badass paperback.
The dime paperbacks of pulp fiction, hard-boiled detective fiction, great sci-fi and fantasy and horror spawned so many incredible tales and all for an affordable price and in a format that was easily taken anywhere.
Hard Case Crime was created by Charles Ardai and Max Phillips, and their vision was to relaunch another golden paperback era with great tales, but in a slightly bigger format to make great use of the cover art that has been fantastic for at least eighty years of mass market books.
So, the small press Hard Case Crime was founded and for the Quarry series, for example, the great Robert McGinnis of James Bond art infamy was brought in to make stunning cover portraits that grace the 5+ inches x 8+ inches books.
Sometimes Hard Case Crime creates hardcovers and limited editions as well.
At their core, they have a unique vision, and I will let them tell it:
From World War II through the 1960s, paperback crime novels were one of the fastest-selling categories in book publishing. Millions of readers snapped up hundreds of millions of books by well-known authors like Erle Stanley Gardner and Mickey Spillane, as well as by promising young newcomers like Lawrence Block and Donald Westlake. These inexpensive, pocket-sized novels captured the public’s imagination with jaw-dropping cover paintings and bare-knuckled prose that grabbed you by the collar with the first sentence and held you until the last page. No one had published books like that in years.
Unlike the often a quarter inch of thick paperbacks of yesteryear, Quarry has 271 pages and weight to it – not a phonebook’s heft, but it feels good in the hand.
The old-fashioned design of HCC’s Quarry is truly perfect!
The alluring bombshell on the bed looks through you from the cover.
Max Allan Collins’ weather-beaten killer of killers, Quarry is even added to the cover in black and white adding the right feel to the embodied noir.
From the font, the blurb on the back cover, and the feel of the paper, the quality of the Hard Case Crime publication of Quarry is enough to make one fall in love . . . with pain.
MAX ALLAN COLLINS was hailed in 2004 by Publisher’s Weekly as “a new breed of writer.” A frequent Mystery Writers of America “Edgar” nominee in both fiction and non-fiction categories, he has earned an unprecedented eighteen Private Eye Writers of America “Shamus” nominations, winning for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective (1983) and Stolen Away (1991), receiving the PWA life achievement award, the Eye, in 2007. The first Heller in almost a decade, the Marilyn Monroe-oriented Bye Bye, Baby (2011), will be followed in 2012 by Target Lancer, the long-promised JFK Heller novel.
His graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) is the basis of the Academy Award-winning 2002 film starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Daniel Craig, directed by Sam Mendes. It was followed by two acclaimed prose sequels, Road to Purgatory (2004) and Road to Paradise (2005), and a graphic novel sequel, Return to Perdition (2011). He has written a number of innovative suspense series, including Nolan (the author’s first series, about a professional thief), Quarry (the first series about a hired killer), and Eliot Ness (four novels about the famous real-life Untouchable’s Cleveland years). He is completing a number of “Mike Hammer” novels begun by the late Mickey Spillane, with whom Collins did many projects; the fourth of these, Lady Go, Die!, was published in 2012.
[http://www.maxallancollins.com/max/]
P.S. If You Want To Know A Little More About How The Forgotten Fiction Is Different & Our Mission . . .
We are really trying to achieve two main goals here:
To bolster every author who puts out a work of fiction long after the initial buzz that accompanied its release. This is something that is usually left to an expensive public relations manager or company and even with all of their powers of marketing / PR are limited in where they can place the book months after its launch. This includes limited edition and small press publications, like Suntup Editions, that are also reviewed for their physical beauty, as well as the work’s literary art and often illustrations, so long as the initial work has been out 60 days.
We love books of fiction! And as readers we have too little time to read ALL of the books that fall onto our tentative To-Read List. The Forgotten Fiction hopes that with our Yea or Nay stamp, we can definitively give our unbiased opinion to you as a recommendation that may or may not move a book from the stack to your Must-Read List.
