Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
the emotional education of man and robot, December 13, 2008
Robots is made up of 10 stories within the anthology:
1.)Itsy Bitsy Spider, by James Patrick Kelly
2.)Robots Don't Cry, by Mike Resnick
3.)London, Paris, Banana, by Howard Waldrop
4.)La Macchina, by Chris Beckett
5.)Warmth, by Geoff Ryman
6.)Ancient Engines, by Michael Swanwick
7.)Jimmy Guang's House of Gladmech, by Alex Irvine
8.)Droplet, by Benjamin Rosenbaum
9.)Counting Cats in Zanzibar, by Gene Wolf
10.)The Birds of Isla Mujeres, by Steven Popkes
I was impressed with most of the stories in this book, and many of them have stuck with me once I finished. Each story in itself revolves around the emotional and/or a societal acceptance journey by either the robots or the humans. A classic theme that these authors pull off very well. Some of the stories are wonderfully touching and poignant. Some make you wonder who is really the machine - man or android. A thought provoking book that has made the leap to my keeper shelf.
My favorites from the lot:
In "Itsy Bitsy Spider" a forty-something woman goes to visit her father who she hasn't seen in many years and discovers that a robot duplica of herself as a child is taking care of him. Her mother has died, and the daughter doesn't feel that daddy deserved any of the money the mother left to him, at least until she realizes that he is senile and that he believes the robot child is HER. He loves and depends on his daughter robot, has no clue she is an android. The daughter realizes he couldn't make it without the robot and has to reform her idea about everything she once thought to be true. An emotionally touching story. Haunting and plausible.
Robots Don't Cry is probably my favorite story from Robots. Two scavengers come to pick over the things left behind when civilization fled a dead planet. On what was once a farm, they find a robot, Sammy, that has stood in a barn for ages. They plan to sell him, and question why he would stay alone on the planet in a barn doing nothing. Sammy takes them to the grave of "Miss Emily", who had been the farm's owner. She had remained behind and begged the robot to stay with her, and he has kept his promise. The robot had been in love with Miss Emily. Sammy makes a deal with the scavengers, however, if they will give him the ability to cry so he can mourn Miss Emily and he will leave with them to be sold. I know I will not forget this touching story anytime soon. Beautifully written.
The Birds of Isla Mujeres is another top notch bit of storytelling. I know this one will stick with me for a long time. A woman buys a robot, and treats it much in the way of a slave, uses it for pleasure and sends it out to earn a living for them while she spends her time tanning on beaches and lives the high life. One night a stranger, a woman, comes up to them at a restaurant and sits with them, talking to the robot. She was the former owner, and she wants him back. However the robot can only be "imprinted on" by one owner at a time. That night, he confesses to his current owner that he is in love with her, but this is the last thing she wants to hear. The robot suffers the most brutal heartbreak imaginable.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes robot stories that deal with classic themes about humanity and machine emotion. There is much to be appreciated about this book: the writing is sharp, the editing very well done. No sloppy stories in this volume. Hats off to Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. They've created a wonderful anthology that I won't soon forget.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Coils and Clicks: The Strangeness of Not-Quite-Man, October 30, 2005
Gosh, I really expected more from this book...9 of the tales are well-crafted but 3 are stiff and humdrum. The offending tales aren't fanciful and sacrifice basic comprehension for unilateral pretension. Dammit!
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