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Robot Dreams (Remembering Tomorrow) Mass Market Paperback – June 1, 1990

by Isaac Asimov (Author)

56 customer reviews

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Robot Dreams spans the body of Asimov's fiction from the 1940s to the mid-80s, and features classic Asimovian themes, from the scientific puzzle to the extraterrestrial thriller, all introduced in an exclusive essay written especially for this collection. TP: Ace.

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Product Details

Series: Remembering Tomorrow
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Ace (June 1, 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0441731546
ISBN-13: 978-0441731541
Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This collection gathers 20 of Asimov's greatest (with Asimov, the word 'great' is no mere hyperbole), older short stories, plus one tale written especially for this book, and an important essay... represents the top picks from a 40-year career...some rarely seen." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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.

Customer Reviews

(56)

4.7 out of 5 stars

5 star		45
4 star		7
3 star		2
2 star		2
1 star		0

See all 56 customer reviews

The few Robot and Multivac stories in it were great.

John Nguyen

His short stories in this volume are just as compelling and make for good nightstand reading.

Amazon Customer

Another fine collection of some of Asimov's best short stories.

Joshua M. Conyer

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful

Mostly NON-robot short stories

By John A. Dodds on July 17, 2004

Format: Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase

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.

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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

Why have I not heard more about this book? It's great!

By John Petrie on April 14, 2000

Format: 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.

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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

Robot Dreams: Food of the Gods

By A Customer on August 14, 1997

Format: 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

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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful

Avoid the Kindle edition

By Gustav Bertram on July 10, 2012

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

The text is classic, but the Kindle edition of this book is full of OCR errors.

The publishers should spend a bit more time proof-reading the text to ensure it matches the paper version. There are numerous instances of "Ralson" being mistakenly written as "RaIson", and in some cases "F.B.I." being written as "EB.I.".

It distracts from the reading a lot.

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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

A fine collection

By John S. Ryan on September 12, 2003

Format: Mass Market Paperback

This is a fine collection of the Good Doctor's tales. It's partly an excuse to publish a book with Ralph McQuarrie's haunting illustrations, but it's also a collection no Asimov fan should be without.
Most of the stories have nothing to do with robots. However, there _is_ a story written just for the collection, and it's the title piece -- a short and haunting Susan Calvin tale that introduces some _very_ deep ethical ambiguities. You'll want to let this one roll around in your mind for a while.
The rest are selected (and selected quite well) from the Good Doctor's lifelong output. Some of them are indifferent, but two of Asimov's own favorites are here: "The Last Question" (my own choice for his very best short story ever) and "The Ugly Little Boy". The usual cliche applies here: these two alone are worth the price of the book.
This volume was originally conceived as a companion to _Robot Visions_, and Asimov fen will want the other one too.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

A classsic

Asimov at its best

Published 1 month ago by Federico

Short Story Lover

Asimov Reader: I love his stories, which still ring true today. The "Marching Morons" is a favorite.

Published 2 months ago by T. Malella

Five Stars

sploosh

Published 3 months ago by Jules

Top notch SciFi

Robot Dreams (Remembering Tomorrow) is a collection of several of Asimov's outstanding short stories. The title is a bit of a stretch, since non-robot stories dominate. Read more

Published 3 months ago by William C. Mead

Great collection of short stories

Great collection of short stories, I would give it 5 but there are lot's and lot's and lot's of typos.

Published 3 months ago by jeff norman

Classic shorts - quick and fun to read

This is a collection of short stories that are classic Asimov style. They are fun to read and some are easy to breeze through in a single session.

Published 3 months ago by Amazon Customer

I loved it.

What can you say. If Asimov is your bag then these stories will trill you with their diversity and the insight that is so Asimov. I loved it.

Published 3 months ago by Magyar Gastronome

Three Stars

was not his best work.