The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories

Arthur C. Clarke said that science fiction done well at the least can give the pleasure of a "good puzzle" and entertain. Asimov is always science fiction done well, and this collection is no exception. I don't think Asimov has a strong prose style, and his characters are rarely memorable. But in the best stories by him I've read, such as "The Dead Past" or "Nightfall" he can stun me by making me see the world in a whole new way.

I don't think any of the stories here are of that order--with the possible exception of "The Bicentennial Man." Asimov rarely pulls at my heartstrings--the short stories "The Dead Past" and "The Ugly Little Boy" are exceptions. This is another one--I had a lump in my throat by the end. And it's so well show more done--the whole passing of different generations in the lifetime of this robot. Oh, yeah, it's a robot story--an Asimov specialty. As are two of my other favorites outings in the book, "Feminine Intuition" and "That Thou Art Mindful of Him." I do love the point Asimov made in the first story mentioned, and how... subversive the other one is of his own robot lore. Both "The Lives and Times of Multivac" and "The Winnowing" have wicked good twists. And I liked the undersea setting of "Waterclap."

There wasn't any of the 12 stories I didn't like. Those were just the ones I found standouts. I can't imagine a science fiction fan not enjoying these. show less

Um belo caso em que o filme é tão bom quanto o livro. O filme tem um viés romântico, enquanto que o livro foca na questão da humanidade. Ambas as visões fazem o homem bicentenário uma ótima história.

The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories is a collection of eleven Asimov stories. Two of these stories are top notch: The Bicentennial Man (later made into a very mediocre movie that loosely followed the story), and The Life and Times of Multivac, which is probably Asimov's most widely read story due to the fact that it was originally published in New York Times Magazine.

Most of the other stories are not nearly as good as those two, and the bulk of them were written to order for various outlets. The most interesting thing about many of the stories in this collection is the commentary provided by Asimov concerning the commissioning of several of the works. Placed in conjunction with the stories, I found it fascinating to see how he took show more odd requests for stories about a specific subject, and transformed them into a finished product.

While this collection is not up the standards set by Asimov's best compilations, it is still better than average. Several of the stories develop the underpinnings of the Three Laws of Robotics in interesting ways, and the others are all decent tales as well. show less

I had the strangest feeling as I was reading this book, back in (when was it?) 2001. "They should make this into a film!" I thought. And then they did, less than a year later. What an incredible coincidence - but then think of all the other times when my unspoken advice went unheard; consider all the other books I think should be movies that aren't.

The story itself is true Asimov, bringing robots to life, but it never strays too far into sentimentality, and never into schmalz. Thank goodness!

I've always enjoyed Asimov's style. So easy to read.
Many of the stories were predictable in how they would end, but they are nearly 50 years old.

Bicentennial Man was the best of the stories by a fair way.

Isaac Asimov truly was one of the best science fiction writers of the last century and shall remain so hopefully for many future generations to come, for his writings and his works are truly phenomenal, truly amazing, and truly extraordinary, and deserve to be read not just for many years to come but for an eternity. I can still remember how amazed I was by it when I was going through Foundation series, and this book's or this story's truly is no different, such a wonderful and such a magnificent story that brought tears to my eyes, even more tears than an actual movie, which was also good and comes highly recommendable. I have no other words to say, I can only hope that you shall see and read this masterpiece and that you shall not show more only learn the true meaning behind loyalty and the true meaning behind caring and everlasting love. show less

As with any Asmivo short story collection, the strong ones are strong and weak ones are week. "Bicentennial Man" is by far the best one of this collection. "Life and Times of Multivac" is also strong. And although it's only a cameo, love seeing Susan Calvin in "Feminine Intuition."