I've never been an Asimov reader

[lookout123]

This weekend i finally watched I, Robot (yeah, i know a little behind the times) and i thought it was a pretty good flick. my question to you all is if i liked the movie, should i read the book? Most decent movies are forever ruined by reading the book. the written word is so much more descriptive than film can be. Clancy, King, Rice, Crichton, and Grisham are fine examples writers whose work doesn't carry over well to the screen.

So, with that in mind should i read the I, Robot series? How many are in the series? Do they each have the same characters? should they be read in the order they were written?

[Troubleshooter]

I've read the book several times. I heartily recommend it.

[lookout123]

what did you think of the movie?

[Troubleshooter]

I didn't see it.

But from all accounts it's only a surface telling of the story.

[Happy Monkey]

The movie is hardly even a surface telling of the story. There are, other than a few character names, no shared characters. I, Robot is only one book, but it is a book of short stories about odd problems that arise when intelligent robots have to apply the 3 laws in tricky situations.

I, Robot is only one book, but Asimov connected most of his science fiction into one shared universe. His better robot murder-mysteries are the Elijah Bailey books.

[Happy Monkey]

Oh, yeah - your enjoyment of the movie probably doesn't say much about whether you'd like the book, depending on precisely what about the movie you liked, but I do reccommend the book.

[lookout123]

that's fair. if the books and movie are as unrelated as you suggest then i should be just fine. what i find disappointing in other books-turned-movies are that they completely change characters personality and motives to make them more neat and packaged for the box office.

the movie I, Robot was pretty predictable. obviously Smith was going to be robotic (it turns out only partially) i figured that the human head of the corporation was involved in a global takeover, but it turns out that it was VIKI. that was a nicely executed twist. otherwise, i just thought the movie was a well done action flick. nothing great, just a good movie.

i'll have to check out the books though.

[Elspode]

Read the book. It doesn't detract from the movie, and I, as a huge, life-long Asimov fan, enjoyed the film tremendously.

In fact, read everything you can Asimov ever wrote. He was probably the closest thing to a Renaissance Man the 20th Century had to offer.

[lookout123]

ok, els - i'll take that into consideration. i generally read a book a week and i've been on a fiction kick for a month or two now. i'll have to put asimov into the lineup.

if you don't mind, could you throw out 5 or 6 suggestions in the order that i should read them? (if chronology matters)

[Happy Monkey]

Here's a small chronology of the most important books.

(in the Robot universe, not to denigrate the other books)

[lookout123]

thanks, HM. i didn't realize that most of what we are talking about are collections of short stories, not full length novels. things are starting to make a little more sense.

[Happy Monkey]

I tend to think Asimov was at his best in short stories exploring interesting ideas. His characterization can be a bit sparse. But the Elijah Bailey books are full length novels, and are very good.

[jaguar]

The Robot books are excellent but pale in comparison to the first foundation trilogy. Those books are incredible, sadly the second 3 go rapidly downhill.

[Happy Monkey]

And, actually, the Foundation series starts out as short stories, which progressively get longer.

[wolf]

I was actually surprised by how much the I Robot movie actually owed to the Asimov stories* ... there was a least one bit in the movie that was left unstated ... the scene in the dead guy's house ... before the "action sequences" ... did anyone else notice about the abstract paintings and wonder if they were made by the main robot character?

* moreso than Total Recall owed Phillip K Dick's stories, anyway.