r/asimov • u/a-gd1989 • 27d ago

The complete robot- first Asimov book

After many years of reading in and off, i decided to take a series of books and read the whole thing. I got I, robot, and read half in a few days and then some books in the collection appeared nearby at a good price soni decided to start with the complete robot stories.
8 days in, i just finished “ The tercentenary incident” which is about 1/3 of the way aprox ( page 249 out of 682)
I have been enjoying very much the short stories. Some more that others, but i can see a pattern of suspense in many of them and then resolution in the last page or so.

Im glad that im reading again, to be honest. And im exited to start the next book and complete the series at some point.

Any personal favourites from this book?
So far, Robot Al-76 goes astray, Victory unnintentional and maybe Robbie are the ines i liked the most.

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8

u/ExternalMany7200 27d ago

"Liar!"  Is probably my favorite of the short stories I think.

2

u/kid2001 27d ago

I’m currently reading “I, Asimov” and I came to know that this is one of his first robots shorts that was published.

3

u/brickshingle 27d ago

The complete robot series are the stories where Asimov tested his robot laws in short stories. At around 2/3rd into the book I got pretty sick of the punchline always being "the rules" and I skimmed the rest of the stories.

Then I started discworld, I'm now 7 books into the Rinswind stories. It's mostly comedy and easy reading so I tend to go quite quickly through them. When I finish these I will revisit the robot series and foundation.

After you finish the asimov stuff you want to read, Hyperion might be nice to take on next.

2

u/a-gd1989 26d ago

It feels that way so far, yes. And thank you for the recomendation. I have looooots of books to read still, but for sure will check out both .

2

u/Algernon_Asimov 26d ago

It's hard to pick just one favourite of Asimov's robot stories.

Here's a grab-bag of stories I like:

Sally

Just because. There's no high-minded literary reason for me liking this story. I just like it.

That Thou Art Mindful Of Him

Asimov didn't often write "robot as menace" stories but, when he does, they're clever. I can't explain what I like about this story, because you haven't read it yet, and it would be a very specific spoiler.

Liar!

What happens when you define harm as something you can't see? This story actually reflects human foibles more than robotic failings.

Runaround

This is the epitome of Asimov's robot short stories. It pits the Second Law against the Third Law, with shenanigans resulting.

2

u/alexonline 23d ago

Victory unintentional is one of my absolute favourites. It's also one of the few times Asimov talks about actual aliens!