Robot Dreams (Masterworks of Science Fiction and Fantasy) [Paperback]

Isaac Asimov (Author)

Book Description

Series: Masterworks of Science Fiction and Fantasy | Publication Date: June 1, 2004

Robot Dreams collects 21 of Isaac Asimov's short stories spanning the body of his fiction from the 1940s to the 1980s----exploring not only the future of technology, but the future of humanity's maturity and growth.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Isaac Asimov authored over 400 books in a career that lasted nearly 50 years. As a leading scientific writer, historian, and futurist, he covered a variety of subjects ranging from mathematics to humor, and won numerous awards for his work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ace Trade (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441011837
• ISBN-13: 978-0441011834
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mostly NON-robot short stories, July 17, 2004

By 

John A. Dodds (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Robot Dreams (Remembering Tomorrow) (Mass Market Paperback)

I expected this to be a collection of robot stories because of the title, but only two are robot stories. They are the first two, and the first one is also a story from _I, Robot_ (which I just re-read). The second one is "Robot Dreams" from which the book takes its title, and it is another Susan Calvin robot story like those from _I, Robot_ but was written in the mid-'80s (_I, Robot_ was written 30 years earlier). It is in the same mold with the earlier stories, but with a nod to advancing technology (small computers, for instance).

Many other stories in this collection center on "Multivac," an immense computer. The name is an obvious derivative of UNIVAC, a large, vacuum-tube based computer of the early 1950s. UNIVAC became famous for predicting that Eisenhower would win the 1952 election based on early returns (against pundit predictions that Stevenson would win). That led directly to one story, "Franchise," which takes the ability to sample a small number of votes to predict a total election outcome and drives the idea to an absurd (but nevertheless interesting) extreme.

There are a variety of other stories, from ones dealing with beings without bodies to one talking about an alien medical investigator who has come to Earth to find out more about a disease. All are worth the read, and some are truly fascinating and end in very unexpected ways.

Ralph McQuarrie provides the cover illustration and several others for individual stories; they are of the style familiar to anyone who has seen original art from "Star Wars" (which he worked on). Asimov's introduction is amusing; he explains what he got right in predicting the future--and what he got spectacularly wrong. He discusses this with respect to both stories in the book (Multivac, for instance) and to other books and stories he had written decades earlier.

All in all, this book was a fun read.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why have I not heard more about this book? It's great!, April 14, 2000

By 

John Petrie (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robot Dreams (Remembering Tomorrow) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a collection of Asimov's probably 20 best short stories. Only three of the stories have anything to do with robots, unless you consider computers and talking cars robots.

This is easily one of the best books I have ever read. I read it in between his robot novels and Foundation novels, and it holds its own quite well against those.

Only one of the stories is in any other collection I know of. "Jokester," "The Billiard Ball," and "The Last Answer" are some excellent ones, but I agree that "The Last Question" (as it is named in my book; not "Final Question") is the best story I have ever read. Anybody remotely interested in science fiction at all should definitely buy this book. Before long you will be an Asimov fan for life.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Robot Dreams: Food of the Gods, August 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Robot Dreams (Remembering Tomorrow) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am generally not one to rant and rave about a book, but Robot Dreams and in particular the story entitled 'The Final Question', is the exception. I ordinarily hesitate to sing the praises of something on the assumption that there might be something out there that I haven't read that is better; however, The Final Question is without any shadow of a doubt, the best short story I have ever read.

Let me elucidate. Starting with the seemingly innocuous question, "Can entropy be reversed?", Asimov proceeds, in a style all his own, to turn the reader's world upside down. When you've finished this story, you can do nothing but close the cover and sit and think for a while. In a piece that is a textbook example of the way a short story should be written, Mr. Asimov somehow manages to address that most basic of all questions, "What is the nature of our Universe, and by extension, what is the nature of ourselves?"

As an avid reader on all subjects, I enjoy being challenged by what I read but, speaking politely, the climax of this story, barely more than 15 pages in length, knocked me flat on my behind. No story I have read, before or since, has managed to turn life's basics quite so much on their ear as did this one.

I read somewhere that Mr. Asimov always felt that this was his favourite piece of writing, and I have no problem understanding why.

Read it...If you thought your world was dark before, I guarantee that "The Final Question", indeed, all of "Robot Dreams", will shed some light on the subject.

Sincerely,

Tony Hoffmann