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#5 Platform - The Complete Robot
Aug. 22nd, 2007 12:13 amA classic in the good sense of classic.
Book #36: The Complete Robot
Author: Isaac Asimov
Provenance: Bought used off Amazon.com probably about 4 years ago
I'll admit that I took a very long time before I first tried Asimov; even after being given a book of his, it took me eight years or so to read the thing. This one hasn't been waiting around quite that long, but much like the first one, the reading of it raises the question of why it took so long to get here.
This book is, as the title suggests, pretty much all of the Robot stories that Asimov wrote (minus a couple of later ones, it seems). Considering that this is the man that invented the word "robotics," and expounded on it to a great degree, it means there's a lot of stuff in here; it has a few other compilations of his Robot stories enclosed in it, for example. It's pretty well rounded, as well; there are a number of stories focusing on non-humanoid robots, on computers, and then with his signature characters, as well.
The writing style is quite unvarnished, and a bit uneven in places, especially in the stories that were chronologically the earliest. The character development is pretty limited, and he seems largely to be content to have his speakers be at turns upset and inspired. However, if you're willing to do without extensive descriptions, then you get a bunch of very interesting puzzles, laid out in a variety of ways. Really, there's a lot of logic. The author's unifying belief in how a robotic system to work really shines through in a collection of this magnitude, as well.
I very much enjoyed this, and while I don't really think I see more of Asimov's work in my immediate future, I may pick up more of it in the long term.
Next up: Three Bags Full. Like having a sheep thrown at you.
Book #36: The Complete Robot
Author: Isaac Asimov
Provenance: Bought used off Amazon.com probably about 4 years ago
I'll admit that I took a very long time before I first tried Asimov; even after being given a book of his, it took me eight years or so to read the thing. This one hasn't been waiting around quite that long, but much like the first one, the reading of it raises the question of why it took so long to get here.
This book is, as the title suggests, pretty much all of the Robot stories that Asimov wrote (minus a couple of later ones, it seems). Considering that this is the man that invented the word "robotics," and expounded on it to a great degree, it means there's a lot of stuff in here; it has a few other compilations of his Robot stories enclosed in it, for example. It's pretty well rounded, as well; there are a number of stories focusing on non-humanoid robots, on computers, and then with his signature characters, as well.
The writing style is quite unvarnished, and a bit uneven in places, especially in the stories that were chronologically the earliest. The character development is pretty limited, and he seems largely to be content to have his speakers be at turns upset and inspired. However, if you're willing to do without extensive descriptions, then you get a bunch of very interesting puzzles, laid out in a variety of ways. Really, there's a lot of logic. The author's unifying belief in how a robotic system to work really shines through in a collection of this magnitude, as well.
I very much enjoyed this, and while I don't really think I see more of Asimov's work in my immediate future, I may pick up more of it in the long term.
Next up: Three Bags Full. Like having a sheep thrown at you.
