That's actually my favorite Asimov work, and if it didn't have his name on it and if you handed it to me cold today, I would probably love reading it for the first time today, and would never suspect it was one of his works. It's so much unlike anything else he's written.
"It is, structurally, the Bell System with positronic brains."
LOL. I love that. Oddly enough my first software job was in planning the breakup of the ATT phone monopoly.
I've never read the Foundation books, only his robot short stories which I found entertaining. The premise of Foundation always left me cold. I have read some Soviet era science fiction though, and I know exactly what you mean.
In contrast, Jack Williamson's "With Folded Hands" has "humanoids" that operate under the same primary directive as Asimov's robots (Williamson's version is "To serve and obey, and guard men from harm")—and it's a horror story. A classic example of the kind of internal dialogue that science fiction allows.
Ironically, Hollywood grafted the “With Folded Hands” premise onto the Asimov robot world and created the loud and frenetic, but very un-Asimovian “I, Robot” action movie, which is mostly an excuse for Will Smith to crack wise and shoot stuff.
“With Folded Hands” immediately inexorably emerges from Asimov’ian robots when they are written by anyone else other than Asimov. That’s the interesting thing to notice, and the moment you notice, you can’t help but start wondering what was wrong with him. And, that’s the essay.
I also kinda liked the movie. Actually better plotted than anything Issac himself ever wrote.
My wife and I just listened to the core Foundation trilogy on audiobook, and it occurred to me (not for the first time) that the Bad Guys won. His ultimate awful conclusion to the series makes it even worse: collapsing the entire galaxy into a gigantic hive mind. What is ironic is that he wrote a short story that depicted the hive mind as a Bad Thing.
I always like Asimov as a writer, but Heinlein and Poul Anderson were far more emotionally resonant.
The one book of Asimov’s that doesn’t really fit that mold is “The Gods Themselves”
But then he wrote it a lot later than all the more famous ones. It is really the only book that actually questions authority
That's actually my favorite Asimov work, and if it didn't have his name on it and if you handed it to me cold today, I would probably love reading it for the first time today, and would never suspect it was one of his works. It's so much unlike anything else he's written.
My favorite too. Probably because its so unlike everything else
Go back to the white background and black font please. Now that I’ve more time, I’d like to read more of your pieces.
I literally can’t see the words I’m typing now, as sometimes happens in dark background in comboxes.
"It is, structurally, the Bell System with positronic brains."
LOL. I love that. Oddly enough my first software job was in planning the breakup of the ATT phone monopoly.
I've never read the Foundation books, only his robot short stories which I found entertaining. The premise of Foundation always left me cold. I have read some Soviet era science fiction though, and I know exactly what you mean.
In contrast, Jack Williamson's "With Folded Hands" has "humanoids" that operate under the same primary directive as Asimov's robots (Williamson's version is "To serve and obey, and guard men from harm")—and it's a horror story. A classic example of the kind of internal dialogue that science fiction allows.
Ironically, Hollywood grafted the “With Folded Hands” premise onto the Asimov robot world and created the loud and frenetic, but very un-Asimovian “I, Robot” action movie, which is mostly an excuse for Will Smith to crack wise and shoot stuff.
“With Folded Hands” immediately inexorably emerges from Asimov’ian robots when they are written by anyone else other than Asimov. That’s the interesting thing to notice, and the moment you notice, you can’t help but start wondering what was wrong with him. And, that’s the essay.
I also kinda liked the movie. Actually better plotted than anything Issac himself ever wrote.
My wife and I just listened to the core Foundation trilogy on audiobook, and it occurred to me (not for the first time) that the Bad Guys won. His ultimate awful conclusion to the series makes it even worse: collapsing the entire galaxy into a gigantic hive mind. What is ironic is that he wrote a short story that depicted the hive mind as a Bad Thing.
I always like Asimov as a writer, but Heinlein and Poul Anderson were far more emotionally resonant.
If you want to see an ingenious and witty deconstruction of that model, track down Donald Kingsbury’s novel Psychohistorical Crisis.
I found a used copy for $2.16, so I’ll give it a whirl!
I hope you enjoy it!