In the interest of avoiding redundancy I will not enumerate the three laws of robotics. What I would like to note, however, is the seeming simplicity of these laws. It seems a difficult task to create a rich, believable, and interesting world from such basic premises, but Asimov manages to do this with ease. I could easily see this as a viable (and not necessarily even distant) future for mankind, with a few tweaks here and there. Not only was this book rich, believable, and interesting, but more than anything, it was ironically HUMAN for a book with a focus on robots. This mainly comes in through the character of Susan Calvin and her compassion and identification with the robots she works on. The capacity for emotion in robots is also explored with interesting repercussions.

Given the numerous narratives and storylines involved, a brief plot summary is not entirely feasible. In general, the book as a whole could probably best be described as a foundation upon which Asimov might build with his later novels in the robot series. It gives the reader a groundwork understanding of Asimov’s universe. The book takes the form of disjointed short stories exploring the myriad manipulations the three laws might undergo, but the stories are united in the person of Susan Calvin. Calvin was a major figure in the development of robotics and has reached retirement. She is being interviewed, and at the prompting of the reporter, she digresses into telling these stories, each of which had special meaning for her both in her professional career and in her personal interest and investment in robotics. The stories I especially enjoyed were “Reason” and “Little Lost Robot”, although all were good on the whole. ( )

As it was written in the 1950s, I love the antiquaited futurism. In circa 2040 they are all still smoking, using paper and celluloid film and working with "calculating machines".
A string of short stories told through the eyes of Dr. Calvin who is the world's premier "robopyschologist" and inventor of these intelligen robots.
Very different to the film, so worth reading if you have seen the film first. ( )

This was one of my earliest science fiction reads, and I thoroughly enjoyed it when I received it from the Science Fiction Book Club. It's a classic that has stood up to time. Asimov brings his scientific knowledge to the front in his storytelling. ( )

I've read this book many many times since I was a young child, and it still remains a favorite. Powell and Donovan are still a great double-act, the logic puzzles are second to none, and then there's Susan Calvin. What a masterful character, so complex: the ending of "Liar!" is still one of the most chilling things I've ever read. I find the ending of the book absolutely fascinating, and so unusual: the robots have taken over, no one knows, and that's a good thing. It's so unusual, that the book's own film adaptation undoes it in a heartbeat. It's a weirdly unfocused novel, but I think a lot of things about it make sense if you think of robotics itself as the protagonist and not any of the human characters. By the end, robotics has overcome all obstacles and achieved its biggest desire; with that thought in mind, the novel can't end any other way.

The original "I, Robot" not the movie of the same title, is excellent & is a classic. It set the tone for almost every artificial intelligence novel since it was written. The three laws of robotics first appeared in these stories. There are quite a few stories from humorous to touching to scary. Asimov had a pretty good idea that [b:artificial intelligence|27543|Artificial Intelligence A Modern Approach (2nd Edition)|Stuart J. Russell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167881696s/27543.jpg|1362] was similar to fire - a dangerous servant. He proves it in these pages. ( )