Review: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Mass market paperback, 272 pages
Published 2004 (contents: 1940-50)
Acquired and read September 2009
Reread June 2012

I, Robot
by Isaac Asimov

I taught this book for the second time this summer; I don't think it went as well as it did last time, but I can't really point at a reason for that. My students did cause me to reevaluate the ostensibly triumphal ending of "Robbie" to an extent that I had not done prior. On the other hand, rereading it to teach it has consolidated my belief that "The Evitable Conflict" is one of Asimov's best stories, and indeed, one of the best sf short stories ever published. An underrated inclusion in a book of standouts.

Archival Review: The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

Mass market paperback, 270 pages
Published 1986 (originally 1956)
Acquired March 2007
Read December 2007

The Naked Sun
by Isaac Asimov

Apparently, I'm on a bit of an Asimov kick these past few months.  Or rather, I was when I acquired all these books last spring.  This isn't one I loaned and lost, though; rather, I never owned it at all for some reason!  Still, I'd borrowed the library's copy several times, so it wasn't unfamiliar.  But acquiring means reading, and so I did.  I enjoyed it as much as ever-- it's a typical Asimov mystery, though not as good as The Caves of Steel.  Asimov gets in some of his best world-building with Solarian civilization, the mystery is fairly decent, and a visit from R. Daneel Olivaw is always a treat, even if Elijah Bailey is rather cruel to him at times.

Archival Review: The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg

Hardcover, 204 pages
Published 1993
Acquired March 2007
Read December 2007

The Positronic Man
by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg

This is another of those Asimov books I loaned off six years ago and never got back.  Like Nightfall and The Ugly Little Boy, this is Silverberg expanding an Asimov short story into a novel, and this is the most successful of the lot.  Unlike Nightfall, where the extra bits felt extraneous, Silverberg's expansions onto the already-excellent "The Bicentennial Man" just make a good story even better, providing detail where Asimov skimped-- it is, after all, a story that has to cover two centuries!  One of my favorite Asimov stories, and it was even made into a decent Asimov movie.

Archival Review: I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay by Harlan Ellison with Isaac Asimov

Trade paperback, 288 pages
Published 2004 (originally 1974)
Acquired March 2007
Read November 2007

I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay

by Harlan Ellison with Isaac Asimov

This isn't the script of the dreadful Will Smith film from a few years ago, but rather Ellison's 1970s straight adaptation of the Asimov "story-cycle", which never got produced because Ellison doesn't know when it pays to be polite to people.  It's an interesting thought experiment, though-- visually, it would have made a magnificent film, as the gorgeous illustrations show, though it's hard to imagine it satisfactorily being pulled off in the 1970s.  Nowadays, though... 

The adaptation of the chosen short stories is handled quite well-- inserting Calvin into "Robbie" is an obvious but excellent choice; I was surprised but happy to see "Runaround" included, as it's one of the best "Law problem" stories, and the addition of Calvin works; "Liar!" is adapted almost exactly, which makes sense, as it's probably the best Calvin story Asimov ever wrote; and "Lenny" might not actually be in the original book, but its method of inclusion here is inspired.  All in all, it makes for an excellent (and ultimately much more optimistic than Asimov's own) vision of the future of mankind.  The world is clearly not a Asimov one, though, but rather an Ellison one, and though that bothered me at times, it's the nature of adaptations.  If there's any substantial flaw, it's that the frame story is a little too long and involved; not everything that that happens in it is particularly relevant to the story Ellison is trying to tell.  But as for Calvin, Byerley, Powell, Donavan, and the rest, this is the cinematic treatment they deserved.

Archival Review: Norby Through Time and Space by Janet and Isaac Asimov

Mass market paperback, 202 pages
Published 1988 (content: 1986-87)
Acquired March 2007
Read November 2007

Norby Through Time and Space

by Janet and Isaac Asimov

This YA series about Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot, was one of my favorite reads as a child, not to mention my introduction to Isaac Asimov (even if Janet actually did do all the writing). Occasionally, I come upon paperback versions in used bookstores that collect two of them together, and I snatch them up instantly. This one collects Norby and the Queen's Necklace (what I remembered as my favorite) and Norby Finds a Villain.

It's excellent YA literature, with a decent breadth of imagination on display in just these two stories. Jeff and Norby and a variety of other characters find themselves in the near future, pre-Revolutionary France, Roman times, prehistoric times, far-future utopias, far-future dystopias, hyperspace, aberrant future versions of Mars, and dangerous alternate realities just within the confines of these two short tales! Norby himself is as fun as ever, and the supporting cast doesn't disappoint. The Queen's Necklace isn't quite as good as I remember (not all of the temporal shenanigans actually work out in the end), but it's solid fun, as is Finds a Villain.