Scan barcode
A review by sam_mehdi
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
4.0
It's like sci-fi Sherlock Holmes with robots. A sequence of "mystery" short stories that are loosely related, but could each be read independently. I found it very entertaining and easy to read (Asimov himself once described his writing style as evolving around one principle: "to be clear"). There were many very interesting ideas posed in the book; one of my favorites was: "if humans had infallible robots to govern and direct them, would they let the robots do so? Or would human pride and distrust win out?"
I also have to laud Asimov for how convincing his sci-fi is. Each of these stories feels like it could happen in the next few decades. And for writing in 1950, Asimov's foresight is definitely impressive.
Last fun fact: J.R.R. Tolkien, who once said he generally disliked "modern books," made an exception of Asimov. I doubt my recommendation would be of greater value than J.R.R. Tolkien's, so listen to him!
I also have to laud Asimov for how convincing his sci-fi is. Each of these stories feels like it could happen in the next few decades. And for writing in 1950, Asimov's foresight is definitely impressive.
Last fun fact: J.R.R. Tolkien, who once said he generally disliked "modern books," made an exception of Asimov. I doubt my recommendation would be of greater value than J.R.R. Tolkien's, so listen to him!