This review will most likely contain spoilers for any previous books in the series, read at your own risk.
In Renegade, Cordell Scotten describes an alien species far different than that of the wolf-like pack in Book1. I found it a bit hard to relate to this new species as well as I could with the wolf creatures. I think that Scotten might have been trying a bit too hard to come up with complex aliens. Most of the unique mannerisms that were described seemed like they came out of nowhere. One thing that I did like from this book was that the relationship between Derec and Ariel is developed a bit more. Also, we start to understand a bit more about the Key of Perihelion.
2 thoughts on “Isaac Asimov’s Robots and Aliens Book 2: Renegade by Cordell Scotten”
The book left me thinking more about philosophy that the actual story. I suppose that is a good thing. In Asimov’s forward, he brings up the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. In this story, Jesus answers the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The moral of the story is that love and mercy should extend to all people (humans). History in our century shows that we as a society do not treat each other as neighbors. In this fictional future, this does not change much. The central theme of this book is three robots attempting to answer the question, “What is human?” so that the robots would know who they should serve and protect. Further, the programming that only biological humans are important enough to protect is questioned. Wolruf, a wolf-like alien, and the sentient bird-like aliens are included in the programming as ‘human’ so the robots would protect them. The robots had a hard time believing that under the definition that humans are the highest form of being that Derec, Ariel, and Avery were human. I really enjoyed the development of the Robots’ search for the truth.
The line that I will remember most is the answer a philosopher robot gives to the question, “What is a human?” It answers, “That depends on your point of view.” Our society can definitely relate to this…since some groups categorize other groups as sub-human based on race, gender, accent, and dare I say immigrations status.
I am beginning to question why, in this story, robots are only directed to protect humans and not all life…
The Three Laws of Robotics were developed initially to safeguard humans against robots. If I remember correctly, programmers also wanted to ensure that robots were loyal to the humans in case they encountered aliens. In Asimov’s “Robot and Foundation Universe” humans mainly worried about protecting themselves, not respecting all forms of life. They thought that humans were at the top of the food chain and should stay that way.
The Robot City/Aliens books was the first time Asimov allowed other authors to write using the Three Laws of Robotics. He challenged them to approach his work from a fresh angle. It’s been a while since I’ve read these, but from what I remember, these new authors did a pretty good job.
I recently started using Overdrive, a digital library site that my local library participates in. I stumbled across Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction. A Princess of Mars was just the first of dozens of stories, novellas, and novels strung together with commentary on Science Fiction as a genre. I thought it would be interesting to branch out to some older stuff that I normally have not had a chance to get to.
A Princess of Mars was originally published in 1912 in All-Story Magazine under the title “Under the Moons of Mars” by Normal Bean. The story begins with the narrator explaining that he is relaying a manuscript given to him in book form. He goes over a brief biography of the main character, John Carter, known as Captain Jack Carter of Virginia — an American Civil War veteran. John finished the manuscript the shortly before his death in 1886. The manuscript begins normal enough, talking about how John and one of his friends were prospecting for gold out West. They found a good spot, and the friend was going to head back to get proper papers for staking the claim. John happens to notice three dots in the distance in the direction his friend departed, and after investigating is convinced that Apache Indians are pursuing his friend. Not much of a spoiler, but here it goes — he tries to save his friend and fails, then finds himself chased into a cave. This is where the story takes a turn toward science fiction. After a brief series of events that I won’t get into, John finds himself in some type of out of body experience then wakes up on Mars.(more…)
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.
This book was my first experience with writing by Kurt Vonnegut. His writing, at least in this book, is very original and unconventional. The “Timequake” according to the dust jacket is an event where on February 13th, 2001, everyone is thrust back to February 17th, 1991. Vonnegut treats this as a contraction of the Universe, not simply time travel in the traditional sense. In many time travel stories, the characters look for ways “to put right what once went wrong,” a la Quantum Leap. Vonnegut doesn’t give the characters in this story that opportunity. Everyone is forced to live their lives on autopilot, doing the exact same things they did before, but with the knowledge of what was to come. (more…)
The book left me thinking more about philosophy that the actual story. I suppose that is a good thing. In Asimov’s forward, he brings up the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. In this story, Jesus answers the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The moral of the story is that love and mercy should extend to all people (humans). History in our century shows that we as a society do not treat each other as neighbors. In this fictional future, this does not change much. The central theme of this book is three robots attempting to answer the question, “What is human?” so that the robots would know who they should serve and protect. Further, the programming that only biological humans are important enough to protect is questioned. Wolruf, a wolf-like alien, and the sentient bird-like aliens are included in the programming as ‘human’ so the robots would protect them. The robots had a hard time believing that under the definition that humans are the highest form of being that Derec, Ariel, and Avery were human. I really enjoyed the development of the Robots’ search for the truth.
The line that I will remember most is the answer a philosopher robot gives to the question, “What is a human?” It answers, “That depends on your point of view.” Our society can definitely relate to this…since some groups categorize other groups as sub-human based on race, gender, accent, and dare I say immigrations status.
I am beginning to question why, in this story, robots are only directed to protect humans and not all life…
The Three Laws of Robotics were developed initially to safeguard humans against robots. If I remember correctly, programmers also wanted to ensure that robots were loyal to the humans in case they encountered aliens. In Asimov’s “Robot and Foundation Universe” humans mainly worried about protecting themselves, not respecting all forms of life. They thought that humans were at the top of the food chain and should stay that way.
The Robot City/Aliens books was the first time Asimov allowed other authors to write using the Three Laws of Robotics. He challenged them to approach his work from a fresh angle. It’s been a while since I’ve read these, but from what I remember, these new authors did a pretty good job.