I, robot

By Howard S. Smith and Kathy Harestad

A Japanese detective stumbles onto deployment of military robots. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1894689062
• ISBN13: 9781894689069
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Robot Press
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Educational and Fun!!

I am writing the review based on the Advanced Reading Copy which I note has the same page count and cover as the version here. I received this copy at Book Expo America in LA where I was vacationing and got to go to the show with a friend. I,robot is a wonderful read. It's Asimov updated to 2012 technology and it's Asimov's rules (and the problems with these rules) but it's a totally different (and modern) story. I read it in one sitting. The ending makes you think a bit. At then end of the book, a full glossary and discussion questions. Apparently the technology in the book is all real. (Well, that's the impression I get. I dunno... scary if it is...) The setting is our world, albeit in the near future. The book has since made its way among our students, especially the guys. I think a much better read for them than much of the female-oriented fiction that tends to be on the market. Thumbs up. One of the better ARCs I picked up at the show. L.

Is Israel Swapping Nuclear Bombs for Battle-Ready Robots?

Well, currently Israelis are not bartering for Robots (to the best of our knowledge) but in the second decade of the 21st Century that is exactly what's happening! From the first chapter of Howard Smith's version of "I, robot" we have run-away excitement! A ship viewing nuclear tests almost capsizes, murder disguised as suicide leads to a kidnapping with autos crashing through Tokyo streets then into the sea, underwater testing of megaton bombs, an attack on an Israeli kibbutz, and more, much more! This is no 1940s model robot tale, which is why author Howard S. Smith wrote it. Long a Sci-Fi fan, Smith acknowledges the genius of those who preceded him with many short stories, books, and television shows, even recent movies that used a version of that title. None have been as plausible as this. Smith should know, he is an MIT-trained engineer with a practical interest in artificial intelligence - supermarket self-checkout machines are all based on his work - as well as natural intelligence - human thinking. Natural intelligence in this book is found throughout the large cast of brainiacs on both sides of a planned Israeli-Japanese trade - all interesting, believable characters who give credence to, and sympathy for, the needs of both countries. Using secret stores of plutonium, fictional Israelis have created small nuclear weapons with a large payload. Now a trade is underway with, of all countries, Japan! Even though Japan knows first-hand the devastation of a nuclear blast, they are trading their robot army creations for a working nuclear arsenal, after suffering for years while North Korean neighbors lobbed atomic warheads over their country to test them in Pacific waters. There is only one character that does not accept the scenario, then works to stop the trade: Suzuki Haruto, a Tokyo Police Inspector and Karate black belt. Haruto (in Japanese culture the family name is placed first, then the given name) is a man obsessed with rules, either those existing or those he generates to fit the scene. It is against the rules to bring nuclear weapons into his country, certainly without first gaining approval of its people by vote, so he must stop the transaction. His ironclad compulsion has resulted in estrangement from his wife (who calls him "Jinzouningen" - artificial human or robot), as well as difficulties with his co-workers. Haruto's strong belief in rules forces him to act against the rule breaking individuals possessing atomic devices, even after witnessing the results of a robot army defending the Israeli border, and experiencing firsthand attacks assaulting a Kibbutz where he had found temporary refuge. After all, his reliance on "rules" helped save him after being buried in a coffin with hands and feet tied, and even from a shark attack during days he is afloat in the Pacific Ocean. In a sweet side-story with heart-breaking consequences, Haruto is able to love again. This diversion in the midst of non-stop action does not detract.

Awesome

The sci-fi is great -- very believable, with diagrams, references. You'd almost think it was real. Story is awesome, awesome. It ties so well to Asimov's legacy. I'm not going to give away the ending, but you have to ask yourself who's the robot in this story.

Deftly written and will grab you from first page to last

Nuclear North Korea extorts Japan, terrorist rockets rain down on Israel. "I, Robot" is not a retelling of Isaac Asimov's science fiction classic, but a different metaphor entirely, as Tokyo Police Inspector Suzuki Haruto rigidly follows his own internal rules - much like Asimov's own robots. Haruto stumbles upon a massive arms deal and ultimately falls into a situation, clouded by his love, where he will either save our world or destroy it. "I, Robot" is deftly written and will grab you from first page to last while holding links to Asimov's tale. "I, Robot" is highly recommended for science fiction fans and community library collections for the genre.

Great read.

A really fun book to read. Good story. Events take you all around the world. Technology is awesome, ending even better - I wasn't expecting it.