Mirage: The New Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery [Import] [Unbound]

Mark Tiedemann (Author)

Product Details

• Unbound
• Publisher: Ibooks (April 2000)
• ISBN-10: 1588240061
• ISBN-13: 978-1588240064
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I began wanting to be a writer, and veered off into photography in high school. This was probably a good thing, since there were no decent instructors in either in my school, and I was rather bad at the writing. I became fairly good at photography. All my pursuits have had public aspects--art, music, literature. I'm something of a ham when I have an audience, but I'm self-conscious about my abilities. Nevertheless, I love the doing. I attended Clarion in 1988 where I finally learned how to write and also made some of the best friends of my life--Kelley Eskridge, Nicola Griffith, Daryl Gregory, Brooks Caruthers, Peg Kerr--and gained a decade of wisdom in six weeks (at least it feels like that).

I could have done none of this without my partner, Donna, to whom I owe what happiness I have--and I think I have quite a lot.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mirage: Fails to Excite, December 13, 2002

By 

Martin Asiner (jersey city, nj United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Isaac Asimov Robot Mystery: Mirage (Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery) (Paperback)

When a prolific and profitable author like Isaac Asimov dies, his publishers do not believe that his death ought to mark the end of the publishing gravy train. After Asimov's death, his Foundation and Robot universes were novelized again by several writers, most notably David Brin, Gregory Benford, Roger MacBride Allen, and now most recently with Mark Tiedemann with MIRAGE. It is not overly difficult to duplicate the style of Asimov; it is his substance that remains elusive. Tiedemann writes of the robotic future of earth that had not yet morphed into a galactic empire. This empire is staunchly anti-robotic, with much opposition coming from decadent Spacer worlds that require robots to maintain their own self-loathing existences. On earth, a number of humans and Spacers are assassinated by unknown assailants, throwing into jeopardy a major treaty between earth and the Spacer worlds. The problem with Tiedemann is that his characters speak with the Asimovian twang but lack its inner emotional resonance. Tiedemann seems unclear as to who his protagonist should be. Instead he divides center stage between Special Agent Mia Daventri and roboticist Derec Avery, neither of whom is sufficiently interesting to involve the reader. Nowhere in MIRAGE does Tiedemann cause the reader to care about an increasingly volatile symbiotic relationship between man and robot. Roger MacBride Allen was far more successfull in his trilogy of Asimov inspired robot novels. If the reader wants to get further involved in a post Asimovian universe of conflict between man and robot, then this reader has little choice but to hope that writers like Tiedemann learn their craft well enough to make him care about how humans interact with both altered humans and robots. The real test of any novel lies in its ability to cause the reader to think of it long after he closes the flyleaf. Sadly, MIRAGE failed to deliver.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Robot Novel..., April 24, 2000

By 

Chris MB "CMB" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: An Isaac Asimov Robot Mystery: Mirage (Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery) (Paperback)

The Asimov universe has been respectfully added to since his untimely death - first there were the Robot City novels, then came the new Robot novels by Allen and then the Second Foundation Trilogy. And now this, a new Robot novel. In truth, while there have been some dissappointments, most of the new novels set in Asimov's universe have been fairly good. As is this offering.

In Mirage, the author does a very good job capturing the sense of mystery Asimov used in his own novels. He also shows a good grasp of Asimov's ideas and universe.

What is surprising to me is the fact that no history is mentioned about the main characters who spent 6 novels together in the Robot City chronicles. Nor is any indication given as to when this story fits into the Asimov timeline - while the reader can certainly guess, the author could have thrown the reader some sort of lifeline from the original Asimov books to let us know what else was going on.

At any rate, its an interesting read. Very nice to see that the spirit of Asimov is well remembered and appreciated.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SF in the old and new tradition, April 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: An Isaac Asimov Robot Mystery: Mirage (Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery) (Paperback)

Mirage is a great hommage to the golden days of SF but with a modern sensibility. Fast-moving plot and faithful to Asimov's three laws. The writing is fresh and the characters feel modern. Tiedemann delivers a great read.