Customer Reviews

Perihelion (Isaac Asimov's Robot City, No. 6)

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The series is worth the money. It is not out-of-print - pitty because wished they continued the collaboration of writers. A new author: S.G. Rainbolt (author of Dear Sun, I Am Real) flirts with the other aspect of the Laws of Robots, this time it is inside the actual digital mind (the webbing between the human mind and the computer world). That too is worth the read.

I just finished the entire Robot City series (book 1 thru 6) so this review will be about the series as a whole. As a brief recap, young Derec wakes up with amnesia after crash-landing on a myserious planet filled with busy robots. He acquires a few companions and has many adventures as he tries to solve mysteries, deal with the not-so-friendly robots, find a cure for his and his girlfriend's condition, and find out who is behind Robot City.

Now that I have summed up the series, how would I rate it? It is a series done by several different authors and as such, its quality and style is uneven. Some scenes were great...others just rambled on pointlessly. Having this series spread out over 6 books made it definitely lose focus. It felt like a soap opera on TV where characters fade away and plot elements get lost in the shuffle.

I enjoyed some parts of the series. There are clever scenes where Derec and his friends have to play head-games with the robots using the Three Laws, in order to further their aims. It takes some inventive writing to keep things happening (how interesting can robots be, anyway?).

On the other hand this series dragged on way too long. The pacing was poor: I got tired of the pointless arguments between Derec and his companion Ariel. Their characterization was not that well done. There were many irritating details about this series, starting with Derec's amnesia. Why is it necessary for the protagonist to have no identity or past? Then there are the sloppy mistakes in writing. There were several different authors in this series, and it looks as if the editors just didn't try to fix the inconsistencies. Derec is stranded along with "Kate", who mysteriously changes names and becomes "Ariel". He has a robot friend whose name changes from Alpha to Mandelbrot. Why?? Ariel "ran off with a Spacer", but I thought ALL the characters were Spacers. At one point the narrative mentions 55 Spacer planets. Everyone who has read Asimov knows there are only 50 Spacer planets. Picky details, I know...but a good book must sustain the illusion that it is a world, not a sloppy fanzine.

As to this book in particular: it is supposed to be the climax of the series. The protagonists spend most of the book running away from the Hunter Robots who are under the command of the evil genius Dr. Avery, while at the same time trying to find this same Avery. They ride transports, hide in ducts, and in general spend way too much time running, lying around sick, or bemoaning their condition. There are a few clever moments but in general it is just not that engaging. When they do finally find the great genius who designed Robot City, the climax is hasty and disappointing.

How dull was this book? I found myself going back and re-reading Asimov's Caves of Steel, Naked Sun and Robots of Dawn. What a contrast! Every page of Asimov's books is filled with clever dialog, witty plot points and most of all, engaging characters. Sigh...how I miss Asimov! The Robot City series dares to display Asimov's name on the cover... but alas, Robot City is no Asimov.