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Robots and Empire (Panther science fiction)
 
 

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Robots and Empire (Panther science fiction) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Isaac Asimov (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Collins; Re-issue edition (10 Jan 1994)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0586062009
  • ISBN-13: 978-0586062005
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 25,583 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #12 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > A > Asimov, Isaac

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Product Description

Review
An addition to Asimov's series of robot-detective novels, and a more convincing effort than The Robot of Dawn (1983). Nearly two centuries after the death of Earth detective Elijah Baley, Settlers - short-lived, disease-ridden, dynamic pioneers from Earth - have begun to colonize the galaxy. By contrast, the long-established, long-lived, aristocratic, robot-dependant Spacers have started to decline. So, Spacer planet Aurora's head-cheese Kelden Amadiro, still smarting from his long-ago defeat by Baley, teams up with unpleasant, ambitious robotics whiz Levular Mandamus to plot Earth's destruction and thus halt Settler expansion. Meanwhile, Baley's old flame Gladia joins D.G., a Baley descendant from the Settler planet Baleyworld, to investigate some lethal goings-on on the recently-abandoned Spacer world, Solaria. Also, ostensibly accompanying Gladia but actually running the show, are robots Giskard (he secretly has the power to read and adjust emotions) and Daneel, the humaniform detective and Baley's former partner. As the plot lines intertwine, the human drama that ensues is decidedly tame and talky, from standard fulminating villains to tepid romancing. However, the real heroes here are Giskard and Daneel, as they grapple with the case and with the restrictions imposed on them by the built-in Three Laws of Robotics - and grope towards a solution that transcends everything. A satisfying plot, then, marred by perfunctory backdrops and fairly mundane human doings - but scintillating and stimulating whenever the robots occupy center stage. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
Though Elijah Baley is long dead, his name is enshrined in the foremost Settler planet - Baleyworld. And Earthmen who now trade amongst the stars watch hypervision cubes re-enacting his story; he freed Earth of its Spacer overlords.

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Customer Reviews

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A bridge from the Robot novels to Empire to Foundation....., 23 May 2003
By Neal C. Reynolds (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
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.

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Asimov is as good as he ever was., 24 Jul 2000
By A Customer
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.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The three laws of robotics, 4 April 2006
By Stuart Bell (Edinburgh, UK) - See all my reviews
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.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Asimove still does it
One of the greatest sf writers ever still manages to give a good readable story!
Published on 27 Feb 2005 by bookwormoncrete

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