Another gem from the master of science fiction (I, Robot - Isaac Asimov)

Member Name: Chaos-Theory

Product:	I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
Date:	20/07/08 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic collection of short stories

Disadvantages: I miss the autobiographical comments usually set in between Asimov's short stories

Another gem from the master of science fiction! This is a collection of short stories that were originally printed in various science fiction magazines in the 1940s and 1950s. This one is a little different from Asimov's other short story collections. In the vast majority of Asimov's short story collections he includes little snippets of autobiographical details in between the stories, things like how he came to get the story published, and what was going on in his life at the time. It is through these snippets that I came to think of him as an old and valued friend. However, in this book, the snippets in between the stories take the form of an interview given to a journalist by Susan Calvin - the famed US Robots' robopsychologist.

Susan Calvin must be one of the best known of Asimov's characters - fiercely intelligent and totally dedicated to her work with the robots. She does not relate well to humans at all and is often seen as somewhat robot-like herself. Perhaps one of the most poignant of the short stories in this collection is Liar!, which gives a rare glimpse into Susan Calvin's vulnerability, which she hides so well in most of the stories.

At the end of the book Susan Calvin is reported to have died at a very advanced age - but Asimov later confessed he loved the character so much he couldn't resist bringing her back for more, and she appeared many times in his stories - most notably in The Rest of the Robots which was actually a follow up to this book.

The stories included here are:
Robbie
Runaround
Reason
Catch That Rabbit
Liar!
Little Lost Robot
Escape!
Evidence
The Evitable Conflict

Summary: A must-have for any sci-fi fan!