This review will most likely contain spoilers for any previous books in the series, read at your own risk.
Derec and Ariel (previously known as Katherine) finally were able to track down the cyborg known as Jeff Leong. The Human Medical Team of robots was able to repair Jeff’s body and place his brain back inside. They let Jeff use the escape pod Mandlebrot and Wolruf landed with to fly home and send for help if possible. Until then, they are all still stuck in Robot City.
This book revolves around a robotic renaissance that has emerged in Robot City. Derec and Ariel spot a huge new building that looks more like artwork than anything else. During their investigation they find robots that wonder what it is like to be human, comedians, artists, etc. In the midst of all this a robot is murdered and Derec must find the killer and figure out why these robots acting so differently. I’d say out of the series this is one of my favorite books because it reminds me a bit of the Bicentennial Man short story by Asimov.
1 thought on “Isaac Asimov’s Robot City Book 4: Prodigy by Byron Cover”
In this fourth book of the Robot City series, the group of stranded travelers make an unlikely family. There is Derec with amnesia, Ariel with a deadly disease, Wolruf the alien, and Mandelbrot the robot made of spare parts. Things in Robot City take an interesting turn when robots start to form their own philosophies and stretch outside of their programmed duties. They start reasoning on their own and create art in many different ways.
This part of the series was brilliantly written, and I loved the way Shakespeare was incorporated into this story. The personalities and struggles of the robots came to life, and at the end of the book I could not wait to start the next book.
This book is great for teens, not for adult readers or die-hard fans. I acquired this book along with about 16 Isaac Asimov classics (Foundation series, Caves of Steel, etc), otherwise I probably never would have purchased it. If you are a die-hard fan like me, you will find this book/series unbearable. The book is written for a young reader according to the author, so my reaction is to be expected. The main characters act out every single 3 law conflict over and over throughout the novel. Every situation is explained in detail with reason why Robot X can or can’t do this or that because of Law X.
For a new reader that isn’t familiar with Asimov this book would probably be very informative. If you are interested in Time travel, buy “The End of Eternity” by Isaac Asimov. If you want to read up on the Three Laws, buy “I, Robot”. If you want a combination of both for a younger reader, buy this book. I would suggest this book for readers around the age of 12-16 after they have read “I, Robot”.
As I sat down to write this review, I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I read an entire physical book. Since 2018, all my novel reading has been on a Kindle Paperwhite. Before that, I used a Kindle Fire but still alternated with physical books. Reading on the Fire was always a bit of a hassle because of the glare. The Paperwhite’s e-paper display is in a completely different league. I like it so much that when I revisited the Foundation novels a few years ago, I borrowed the ebooks from my local library even though I already had the physical copies on my shelf. One nice perk of the Paperwhite is that it’s easier to read while eating because I can flip pages with my knuckle.
Recently I wanted to disconnect from electronics before bed. The best way seemed to be grabbing something from my bookshelf that I hadn’t read yet and didn’t already have digitally. That’s when I noticed Svaha by Charles de Lint. I vaguely remembered seeing a recommendation for it years ago and picking up a copy through Book Mooch, a site where people trade books they’re done with. I’m pretty sure it’s been sitting unread for over ten years.
When I pulled Svaha off the shelf, I could barely remember how or why I got it. The cover, showing a Native American man with a wolf, didn’t ring any bells, and the back-cover description didn’t sound like my usual genre. Most of my reading leans toward science fiction and, more recently, fantasy. Still, I decided to trust my past self and give it a shot.
The story takes place in Canada sometime after 2094. Without spoiling too much, the setup is that in the 1990s a Native American named Daniel Hollow Horn became a music superstar and used his fortune to educate and empower his people. Over time they became world leaders in science, technology, and law, eventually surpassing the rest of the world. After a period of war, they withdrew into self-contained “Enclaves,” kind of like Wakanda from Black Panther, except everyone knows where they are. They managed to protect themselves from the pollution and fallout left behind while the rest of the world fell apart.
At this point if you have not read both The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun, this review will contain plot spoilers for those novels. I highly suggest reading both of those before even reading this review.
The Robots of Dawn takes place 2 years after the events in The Naked Sun. At the conclusion of The Naked Sun Elijah Baley is resolved to push Earth toward space expansion. He must face the open spaces of Earth and encourage others so they can prepare for colonization. His goal is to approach Aurora, the most powerful Spacer planet to petition for approval for expansion. The Outer Worlds have cut off Earth from immigrating to them, so the only solution is to expand to new worlds. This essentially was the goal Dr. Han Falstofe spoke of in The Caves of Steel. The long-lived Spacers haven’t colonized a planet in over two centuries, and according to Falstofe the future of colonization must lie with Earthers. (more…)
In this fourth book of the Robot City series, the group of stranded travelers make an unlikely family. There is Derec with amnesia, Ariel with a deadly disease, Wolruf the alien, and Mandelbrot the robot made of spare parts. Things in Robot City take an interesting turn when robots start to form their own philosophies and stretch outside of their programmed duties. They start reasoning on their own and create art in many different ways.
This part of the series was brilliantly written, and I loved the way Shakespeare was incorporated into this story. The personalities and struggles of the robots came to life, and at the end of the book I could not wait to start the next book.