Book: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

[Erudite]

Book: I, Robot
Author: Isaac Asimov
Genre: Science Fiction
Suitable for: anyone over 12

I haven't seen the Will Smith movie called I, Robot, but from the synopsis I read, the movie takes from several of Asimov's books to create characters and situations and then the basis of the plot is in a couple of chapters of the book I, Robot but certainly not the whole book nor even the premise of the whole book.

I, Robot is the first book of the "Robot Novels" of Asimov, but it has no real connection to the other 3 books of the series other than being about the Robot laws: laws that are programmed into all robots to keep them subservient to humanity. All of the robot novels deal with that theme in a slightly different way.

I, Robot covers it in what feels like a series of short stories rather than a cohesive novel. The tying thread is a journalist interviewing a 70 year old woman who has been on the forefront of robot development. She tells the journalist a series of stories of robot development, each describing how they learned about how robots "think" in relation to the 3 laws of robotics.

The stories themselves are fascinating, but I'm glad I'd read the other three novels of the series first (and the Foundation series), because the book made more sense to me than I think it would have if I'd come at it fresh. Asimov has a way of really making you THINK through his stories, consider new ideas that were never there before, and define items in ways that make them more concrete. I, Robot does a great job of adding to that kind of thinking.

While I wouldn't consider it his best novel, it was every bit as good as his other novels and if you like science fiction, I can absolutely recommend it.