Customer Reviews

Isaac Asimov's "Utopia"

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading all three of these back-to-back, I must say this third was the best. Allen takes the preposterous idea of purposely crashing a comet into a planet, and makes it into an enthralling story. I literally did not put it down for the last 100 pages. In the wake of 'catasrophy' movies like 'Deep Impact' and 'Armgeddon' (yuck!); Allen's book would've made for a far more entertaining movie. Throw in the new-law robots, old-law robots, no-law robots, insane robots - well its just a massive party at the assembler level! Book is worth the money!

Asimov's robots have delighted me since I was a boy, so it was a wonderful surprise to find new robot stories written by a capable author. The philosophy and plot lines of the new novels are true to the Good Doctor's vision and make a fine addition to the legacy left by Asimov. Caliban, Inferno and Utopia are all good, but Utopia is the best. Read them all, and enjoy once again being immersed in the wonderful world Isaac Asimov created for us!

A very good book. Although I know it's the end of this story I hope it's not the end. The saga concludes with Inferno's enviromental problems being out of control. As a solution, the unthinkable idea of dropping a comet onto the planet is not only suggested but accepted. The idea of Settlers and Spacers working and living together is explored more in this book as it has been in the last two. It's a wonderful addition to the Robot novel's by Asimov. Although it hints at the idea of the two societies merging it does not resolve the issue of what becomes of the Spacer's and Settlers. This leaves room for future novels! I can only hope Allen or someone of his style is chosen to write them.

I enjoyed this series for its imaginative premise and history of the spacer worlds that were not developed by Asimov--except for Robots Of Dawn. I was saddened by Asimov's death and the loss of his 20,000 year future history to humanity. However the additionof these stories from Asimov's estate and Roger MacBride Allen brought new excitement to the Asimov universe. I want more No Law/New Law Robot stories!

The book goes well until the ending. People will be allowed to go on but it looks as though the author plans to get rid of the robots. Robots are the mainstay of a series like this. The author needs to find a way to make both people and robots live on together. Getting rid of the robots will not improve the people. The robots did not make them lazy. They did that to themselves and should accept the blame and allow all the robots to go on -- 3-law -- new-law and caliban. There are ways that this can happen. If this is the last book in this series -- it is a sad sad ending with humans unable to own up to their own problems by blaming then on robots.

This one continues the Asimov Robot tradition and raises even more thought provoking questions about the status and future of robot relations with humanity as well as the distinctions between settlers and spacers. The only downside was an extremely poor editing job, especially toward the end of the book.

The book goes well until the ending. People will be allowed to go on but it looks as though the author plans to get rid of the robots. Robots are the mainstay of a series like this. The author needs to find a way to make both people and robots live on together. Getting rid of the robots will not improve the people. The robots did not make them lazy. They did that to themselves and should accept the blame and allow all the robots to go on -- 3-law -- new-law and caliban. There are ways that this can happen. If this is the last book in this series -- it is a sad sad ending with humans unable to own up to their own problems by blaming them on robots.

The behind the eyes thinking was revealed better in Utopia than Inferno, but I would have liked to have seen more time spent behind Prospero's eyes. Prospero was the only New Law Robot you really get to meet, and for all his faults was complex and manipulative, but unlike Caliban, his thinking was rarely revealed except through overt actions. The governor, formerly police chief had serious planet wide dillemas and his tension was felt more. Since he married his one time adversary Fredda, I would have liked to have seen a more complete interaction than was done. The ending was a bit rushed, and I feel that some serious consequences were not dealt with.

I have enjoyed Isaac Asimov's works for 28 years and was delighted when Roger MacBride took up the challenge of the Caliban series. I've only read part one of Utopia so far and find the content is riveting robot reading as always. However, I have found well over 20 gramatical and typographical errors so far. Take page 48, third paragraph; "The govenrment seems to moving with unseemly haste." A be is missing. And another on page 185 second paragraph; "Wouldn't 'Good morning' would be a trifle more accurate." Too many woulds. The book reads like it was written by a robot experiencing a first law conflict disorder.