ŷ������

What a fabulous book! Isaac Asimov is an awesome scientist and writer. I’ve watched a few interviews and he is a very smart man. If only we had more like him in the world. I don’t agree with his views on God, but other than that, I would definitely have driven anywhere in the USA for a book-signing event of his.

I, Robot is my first Asimov book and I'm glad I started here. The book talks about many points when it comes to robots, or just technology in general. It opens with a girl who is attached to her “pet�� robot. It helps her, plays with her, and does anything she wants to do with no objection. The comparison with our world is very sad. I look around and see so many kids and young teens—even adults, so entranced with their iPhones. How many of you have seen the meme with people walking down a street in some big city and all of them are on their iPhones and the caption below says “The Zombie Apocalypse��? I’m sad to say I’ve witnessed a room full of my cousins all talking to each other on their iPhones—texting each other, not actually talking. In the story, the girl’s parents were alarmed by their daughter’s physical and emotional dependence on the robot. The similarities are definitely there. Was Asimov warning us?

The book is not about the girl but about a scientist, Susan Calvin, and her studies on Robotics. Her story is an interesting one. I, Robot is also about our dependence on technology and what happens when that dependence backfires. If/When it backfires was it the robot’s fault? Robots are meant to be useful after all, but so is fire. Fire can be dangerous, too.

If you want to read this book because you’ve seen the movie, well…I’m sorry you’ll be disappointed. The movie was about only one aspect of this book (or rather only one chapter) which was about “what happens when robots find out they can take control.�� WHAT? I thought that was the whole book? No, no it’s not. Like I said, that was only one chapter. The others talk about technological morality and other points. Can a robot be in government? Can a robot be a friend? Can a robot obey an order even if it goes against its programming? And so on.

This book talks about using technology so that it helps and not hinders society. Again, fire is helpful, but if used unwisely—disastrous.

I will warn you though, if you are new to the Sci-fi genre, be prepared for two-dimensional characters and very little to no character growth. Well, why would I want to read a book like that? Well, from what I’ve gathered so far on my galactic journey, Sci-fi is about adventure. Adventure books are about the adventure and not so much the characters. I haven’t read a lot of Sci-fi books yet but from what I’m getting from Isaac Asimov, classic Sci-fi is adventure led. If you’re OK with that then be prepared for an interesting ride!

I loved this book and I hope you will too.

Now I'm off to Asimov's Foundation Series!!!