The Complete Robot (1982)

This includes I, Robot as well as a bunch of other robot stories. All in all it's an enjoyable collection.

Does it add much to the experience of reading I, Robot? Somewhat. The other stories are much the same thing in many cases and quite different in others. It's a bit jumpier in flow since it's a heavy collection, but there are some gems included here that really stood out: "The Tercentenary Incident", "Victory Unintentional", and "The Bicentennial Man". Aside from that last story, it doesn't add a whole lot to the robot experience, but it does contain some fun stuff. Also included is "Mirror Image," a story about R. Daneel Olivaw and Elijah Baley, of the Robot novels series.

While I did enjoy reading this, I gave it one less star than I, Robot for two reasons. It no longer had the "Mind and Iron" binding narrative that made I, Robot flow smoothly from story to story. Also, by the end of the book I was honestly tired of robots. ( )

Asimov's tales of robots of the future are both disarming and disturbing. There are moments that appear quaint to us; information being fed into computers via punched tapes and huge machines that have less power and fewer functions than a mobile phone. It's these instances that disarm a reader into to feeling a little smug about Asimov's limited view of technilogical potential. You're not allowed to remain secure in that smugness for all that long. The real power of these tales of subserviant robots is the sharp focus on human behavior and all too human flaws.

This total understanding of humanity ensures that Asimov's fiction will be readable for decades to come. These stories highlight the conflict that lies between our desire for advancement and our resistance to anything new. As humans we want to push the boundaries of technoloy, but we are reluctant to engage with anything that is different to what we are used to. In these short stories this reluctance finds expression in distrust of robots.

My favourite story in this collection is Robbie. Robbie is a companion robot to a little girl named Gloria. The bond between child and android is of that complete type that only realy exisits in childhood. The sort of bond that parents can't understand and worry might not be healthy. After much nagging Gloria's mother talks her husband into getting rid of Robbie. Gloria goes into a serious cycle of depression, which frustrated her mother who feels that her little girl should be glad the nasty robot is gone and should be making friends with normal children. On a trip to New York Gloria's father organises events so Gloria finds Robbie again. It's not quite the meeting he had planed as Gloria runs into danger and is saved by Robbie. After this there is no way that they can seperate their daughter from her robot pal, but the worry is still there. Is it safe, healthy or right for Gloria to be so emotional close to a robot?

Don't expect any answers from Asimov. His stories leave you wondering about the state of humanity. The Complete Robot is a great combination of science fiction and human fact and well worth reading. ( )

I read this a long time ago, and I remember really enjoying many of the stories. By today's standards, these wouldn't be considered very sophisticated, but I read them in my late 30s and have an appreciation for the founding fathers of Science Fiction. I really liked the way he would have emotional connections between some of the human characters and some of the robots. This contained The Bicentennial Man and the stories that inspired I Robot. From a movie perspective, I could enjoy them, but they couldn't really capture what Asimov did with his words. ( )

Asimov's strength has always been his short stories, and this strength is best shown here, coupled with his interesting Laws of Robotics. Some would say many of the stories read like logic puzzles, but they are still a fun read. ( )

I actually read this collection of short stories over a period of about two months. While a few were vaguely familiar most were either new to me or read so long ago that I had no memory of them. A good collection of classic SF. The reading of this book was inspired by watching the movie 'I, Robot'.