Robots and Empire

View other editions of Robots and Empire.
View books by Isaac Asimov.

The three laws of robotics - Rated
This book is one of Asimov's most enjoyable and I am currently re-reading it for the second time in 9 years.

Particularly the ruminations between Giskard and Daneel. Daneel maybe the humanform, but it is Giskard that is the more powerful robot and between the two of them they surmise quite amazing insights on the human mind and how that plays off their own robotic laws.

Their eventual discussions lead them to the development of a three laws of humanics and the possibility of predicting human behaviour on a mass scale and tying this in to Hari Seldon's psychohistory from the foundation series.

Buy this book and really get into the positronic heads of the two robots, it won't disappoint and it is a perfect precursor to the later foundation series. I read Foundation first and then this and the related robot stories and I think this works best as the robot books do unleash a lot of hidden information that is only alluded to in the Foundation series.

Asimove still does it - Rated
One of the greatest sf writers ever still manages to give a good readable story!

A bridge from the Robot novels to Empire to Foundation..... - Rated
Ah yes, this might not be the very best Asimov, but it is good reading and prepares the reader first for the three Empire novels and then the Foundation series.

This takes up 200 years after ROBOTS OF DAWN and Elijah Bailey is long dead. However, R. Daneel Olivaw and Giscard continue and are actually the primary movers in this novel, although Gladia, a villainous descendent of hers, a descendent of Elijah's and a continuing villain from the earlier book are all important characters.

There's a lot of rather philosophical dialog between the two robots which slows down the story quite a bit, as they ponder over the ramifications of the three robotic laws and come up the the zeroth law which will in time enable R. Daneel Olivaw to return in later books.

It helps explain how Earth's descendents gain the edge over the spacers in their expansion in the galaxy. It also explains Earth's radioactivity which is referred to in later volumes.

This is straight science fiction without any of the mystery subplotting of the previous novels. There are hints of the types of power struggle which permeate the following books. Also, one must realize that this book and the preceding robot novel were written after the three Empire novels and the Foundation Trilogy.

All in all, a satisfying enough read best enjoyed when read in chronological sequence.

Asimov is as good as he ever was. - Rated
The later 'Daneel'novels (of which this is one) are as convincing and worth reading as the early ones.

Here we seen the birth of a dynamic galactic culture and its interaction with the ossified spacers culture.

Asimov's capcity for weaving lots of ideas into a fast moving story is undiminished. This is a worthy addition to the 'robot' stories.