On My Shelves: The Caves of Steel

       As I mentioned in my general Asimov post, a common accusation towards Asimov was that he didn't really write characters, but more shaped pieces to support his plots or story ideas. In general, this is a fairly accurate descrition, though it's not exactly a negative thing; much of what Asimov wrote didn't need characters as such, because many of his stories were stories of ideas – ranging from SF stories that were nothing but a setup for a bad pun to what-ifs to mysteries based on logic which wouldn't vary much no matter which [ Continue reading... ]

Under the Influence: Isaac Asimov

  The First Law: A robot may not harm, nor through inaction allow to come to harm, a human being. The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders of a human being, where those orders do not conflict with the First Law. The Third Law: A robot must act to protect its own existence, where this will not conflict with the First or Second Laws.        Isaac Asimov was the only one of the Big Three (Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke) that I ever actually saw in person. It was at a talk whose subject I don't even really recall, but I do remember [ Continue reading... ]