Robots and Empire (Hardcover)

by Isaac Asimov (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
An addition to Asimov's series of robot-detective novels, and a more convincing effort than The Robot of Dawn (1983). Nearly two centuries after the death of Earth detective Elijah Baley, Settlers - short-lived, disease-ridden, dynamic pioneers from Earth - have begun to colonize the galaxy. By contrast, the long-established, long-lived, aristocratic, robot-dependant Spacers have started to decline. So, Spacer planet Aurora's head-cheese Kelden Amadiro, still smarting from his long-ago defeat by Baley, teams up with unpleasant, ambitious robotics whiz Levular Mandamus to plot Earth's destruction and thus halt Settler expansion. Meanwhile, Baley's old flame Gladia joins D.G., a Baley descendant from the Settler planet Baleyworld, to investigate some lethal goings-on on the recently-abandoned Spacer world, Solaria. Also, ostensibly accompanying Gladia but actually running the show, are robots Giskard (he secretly has the power to read and adjust emotions) and Daneel, the humaniform detective and Baley's former partner. As the plot lines intertwine, the human drama that ensues is decidedly tame and talky, from standard fulminating villains to tepid romancing. However, the real heroes here are Giskard and Daneel, as they grapple with the case and with the restrictions imposed on them by the built-in Three Laws of Robotics - and grope towards a solution that transcends everything. A satisfying plot, then, marred by perfunctory backdrops and fairly mundane human doings - but scintillating and stimulating whenever the robots occupy center stage. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Long after his humiliating defeat at the hands of Earthman Elijah Baley, Keldon Amadiro embarked on a plan to destroy planet Earth. But even after his death, Baley's vision continued to guide his robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw, who had the wisdom of a great man behind him and an indestructable will to win....


From the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 383 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (August 20, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385190921
• ISBN-13: 978-0385190923
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #778,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 6 in The Robot Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The missing link, October 13, 2002

By	VoodooLord7 (Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Robots and Empire (Hardcover)

Asimov, like Heinlein, came, towards the end of his career, to integrate the characters and universes from all of his major works into one huge, interconnected fictional world. This was not his original intention, but it's the way that it worked out. Chronologically, the Robot series is first - which started out in the form of short stories, and then a series of novels, of which this is the fourth - followed by the Empire and then the Foundation series. The third Robot book, The Robots of Dawn, was a sequel for which readers had to wait 25 years for. The next book, this one, came a mere two years after it. Robots and Empire, however, represents a major break from the tradition of the previous Robot books. The three subsequent books were all murder mysteries staring the Earthman Detective Elijah Baley. This book, however, is not a murder mystery, but more of a straightforward story - and Baley has been dead for over 200 years. It picks up where The Robots of Dawn left off, in a slightly different context. This is a fast-moving and quite entertaining book in its own right, and you will certainly want to read it if you enjoyed the previous three novels. It is sometimes painfully obvious, however, that this book was intended solely to provide a smooth transition from the Robot series to the Empire series. Consequently, the book does this job very well, tying up the loose ends from the previous Robot book, and clarifying what would have been several contradictions between the Robot and Empire serieses - the reason for the radioactivity on Earth, the motive behind the immigration of the Earth people, and the fact that there are no robots in the Empire novels, etc. However, this comes with a price: the book is not all that great in and of itself. There is not really that much in the way of plot - certainly not like the great mystery plots in the three previous novels; indeed, even the original robot short stories were more or less mysteries themselves. That said, despite this weakness, the book is still very fast-paced and quite fun and entertaining to read - and, of course, provides the necessary transition between the two serieses. Whatever the book's individual merit, you will want to read it if you plan on going through the series. This vast integration of all these epic stories, this book included, show the visionary and plotting skills of Asimov, and you can not help but marvel at his unquestioned virtuostic abilities. The vast scale of this fictional universe - including also three books by other authors - can be very daunting to the neophyte. I suggest you make use of the several very helpful "Listmania Lists" at Amazon, so that you will know what order in which to read the books, and so that you can start on and enjoy the unparalleled fictional world of Isaac Asimov.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars science fiction detective mystery concludes [no spoilers], February 13, 2004

By	Oscar "DaRK KNighT" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robots and Empire (Mass Market Paperback)

"Robots and Empire" is the conclusion in the awesome science fiction series concerning R. Daneel Olivaw and new partner R. Giskard. Two hundred years have passed and although Elijah Baley has passed away, his influence remains with the technological masterpiece R. Daneel Olivaw and the extraordinarily gifted R. Giskard. Restricted by the Laws of Robotics, Daneel and Giskard must find a way to thwart any plan a certain enemy executes while unable to employ what they consider Elijah's aggressive techniques. Reading about Daneel trying to think like the great detective Elijah is moving and fun. The fond memories the robots and long-lived Spacers elicit make the novel a touching story. The brilliant detective story is a work of art.

Thank you.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful Asimov Story, July 1, 2004

By	Brian (CA) - See all my reviews

Robot and Empire is another entertaining story from the prolific writer Isaac Asimov. Set many decades after Robots of Dawn, when the Earth detective Elijah Bailey has long ago passed, Robots and Empire tells the story of Dr. Kelden Amadiro's nefarious attempt at destroying Earth and the Settlers. The Auroran Gladia, along with the robots Daneel and Giskard, must go to great lengths to protect Earth and countless lives.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the interaction between the robots Daneel and Giskard. As both characters work at deducing and anticipating Amadiro's motives and actions, it's really interesting to watch the relationship between these two as they provide much needed counsel and assistance to one another. It's very entertaining to follow along as the fly all over the galaxy in an attempt thwart Amadiro's plans. It's even more interesting to see them attempt to circumnavigate the famous 3 Laws of Robotics which they often find hinder, rather than help, their attempts at protecting Earth. I don't think I'm revealing too much to say that Daneel even goes so far as to introduce the Zeroth Law of robotics which is basically the need to protect all of humanity. This plays an integral part in the unfolding of the book.

I was pleased that the whole book moves at a speedy pace(I took less than two days to read this), with nothing seeming trivial or overly drawn out.This book is very entertaining and as it's only the fourth work I've read by Asimov, I'm moved to read more of his books. Perhaps the only real complaint about this book is that the ending is slightly anticlimatic, but rather touching and fitting. If you like Asimov's work, particularly his robot books concerning Elijah Bailey, I think you'll really enjoy this book.