ISBN: 978-0008279554. Copyright Harper Collins. Cover by Mike Topping.

Informal reivew originally posted on goodreads.

A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Isaac Asimov, I, Robot.

As one of the most seminal sci-fi books of the last century, this collection of Asimov's short stories has influenced the way people think about the ethics of robots ever since.

It is therefore quite difficult to review fairly. The writing is over 70 years old, and as I just said, very influential in its usage of Asimov's three laws of robotics.

The eight short stories of I, Robot are framed by an interview with robopsychologist Dr Susan Calvin, who herself appears in most of them. As with many of the best short stories, they are limited in scope and are very much "Idea" plots, focusing on the three laws of robotics and the implications and dilemmas these restrictions places on the robots.

There are some duller ones, e.g. Runaround, Catch that Rabbit that take place near the beginning, but the later stories are truly thought-provoking.

One final thought: this book came out in 1950 and therefore its "future" overlaps with our current past in a few of the stories. One quote jumps out as somewhat disheartening, given how hopeful people must have felt in the aftermath of WW2:

'When I was born, young man, we had just gone through the last World War. It was a low point in history - but it was the end of nationalism.'

You had high hopes for us Asimov, but unfortunately, nationalism still lives.

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