Have Robot, Will Travel: The New Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery [Paperback]

Alexander C. Irvine (Author)

Book Description

Series: Isaac Asimovs Robot Mystery | Publication Date: November 1, 2005

A human has been murdered on Kopernik and the clues point toward a robot as the killer. But how can that be, when robots are programmed to never bring harm to humans? Before long, roboticist Derec Avery is on his way to Kopernik to investigate. Former Auroran ambassador Ariel Burgess, meanwhile, has a mystery of her own to unravel: Citizens of the Nova Levis colony have been disappearing in greater numbers, while the cyborg population has suddenly started growing at a dramatic rate. With the help of old friends—and potentially new enemies—Derec searches for the identity of a killer, unaware that Ariel is walking directly into the center of the web of intrigue.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The characterization is nearly as accomplished as the historiography, and the two together make the book an exceedingly solid achievement, with a great deal of promise for the author's future." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Ibooks, Inc. (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596871512
• ISBN-13: 978-1596871519
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Native of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Writer of books, comics, games etc. Fan of Detroit sports, any and all soccer. PhD, former professor. Father of three. Resident of Maine. Favorite writers, in no particular order: Cervantes, Borges, Murakami, Dick, Pynchon, Herriman, Chaucer, Kelly. Ask me again tomorrow, the list would be slightly different.

Some favorite books, not written by people on the previous list (but all written by people who might have been on the list on a different day), and again in no particular order: Sarah Canary, Gould's Book of Fish, Geek Love, Midnight's Children, Song of Solomon...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not part of a series!!!, October 27, 2009

By 

Laura Todd (Oaks, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Have Robot, Will Travel: The New Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery (Paperback)

This book picks up where Tiedemann's series (Mirage, Chimera, Aurora) left off. Do not read this until you have read Tiedemann's or it will make no sense. That said, I liked this book more than Tiedemann's. It actually tells an interesting story. Yes there is one plot strand that should have been dispensed with completely... I refer to the "a Robot has killed a human!" plotline. How many times have we seen this same plot line? I've lost count. The other story line is about the cyborgs who want human rights, while the nefarious crew responsible for cyborgs have their own sick agenda. This deserved to be the sole plotline of the book. It actually evoked some pathos with its portrayal of an aptly-named cyborg village, "Gernika".

Anyway, I was prepared to be frustrated at the end of this book, because it showed all the signs of becoming a series. However I was very pleasantly surprised: the author actually killed off a bunch of bad guys and wrapped the whole storyline up in 10 or 15 pages! YAYY!!! These days it is hard to find an honest-to-god self-contained novel!

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Universe Expands, January 30, 2005

By 

Lane D. Callahan (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Isaac Asimov's, Have Robot, Will Travel (Hardcover)

I am always glad to see new books in the asimovian universe. This is a continuation of Mark W. Tiedemann's trilogy featuring Derec Avery and Ariel Burgess from the Robot City series. This one adds a few new twists and turns that not only expands the robot conspiracy started by Daneel Olivaw, but also adds more to the cyborg aspect. This is book that needs to be in your Asmiov collection.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, February 19, 2006

By 

Alice E. Hadley (Barrigada, GU USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Have Robot, Will Travel: The New Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery (Paperback)

Pleasant addition to the series. Good use of known characters. Interesting situations. Ending too tidy and killed off too many characters if he was planning to broaden the series as the "Star Wars" crowd has done so well.