Paperback, 182 pages
Italian language
Published Jan. 1, 1994 by Mondadori.
Ormai da secoli il pianeta Florina è dominato, con inaudita ferocia, dai crudeli Signori del Sark, bramosi di accaparrarsi il possesso del Kyrt, una delle sostanze più preziose dell'intera Galassia. Improvvisamente però il potere dei Signori viene messo in pericolo. Uno scienziato terrestre, un analista dello spazio stellare, ha scoperto che un cataclisma di natura planetaria sta per colpire Florina. Terrorizzati dall'idea che la spaventosa minaccia possa interferire nella produzione del Kyrt, i Signori tentano di catturare lo scienziato per privarlo della memoria, ma l'intervento di misteriosi emissari di una potenza straniera farà fallire il loro piano. Unendo il fascino di una straordinaria ipotesi scientifica alla grandiosità dei suoi affreschi spaziali, Asimov ha realizzato, con questo romanzo, uno dei più interessanti capitoli dell'epica saga dell'Impero Galattico.
Esta saga es regular, aunque la historia que lleva este libro es entretenida, la verdad no la recomiendo pero si eres fan de Asimov, debes leerla pero ojo no es buena.
The first thing to get out of the way is the movie starring Will Smith. Basically someone negotiated the rights to use Asimov's title, threw out all of his content, and made the movie they had already decided they wanted to make. (This is very similar to the movie Starship Troopers which shares a title and a couple of character names with Heinlein's novel, and nothing else. It would be better if they would just make their own damn movies, but at least some writers got paid, which I am always in favor of. I know a few writers. ).
This book is a collection of short stories originally written for the pulps in the 1940s. At the time, Asimov was always looking for story ideas, and had just read a book also called I, Robot by Eando Binder, and it helped spark an interest. He also has talked about …
The first thing to get out of the way is the movie starring Will Smith. Basically someone negotiated the rights to use Asimov's title, threw out all of his content, and made the movie they had already decided they wanted to make. (This is very similar to the movie Starship Troopers which shares a title and a couple of character names with Heinlein's novel, and nothing else. It would be better if they would just make their own damn movies, but at least some writers got paid, which I am always in favor of. I know a few writers. ).
This book is a collection of short stories originally written for the pulps in the 1940s. At the time, Asimov was always looking for story ideas, and had just read a book also called I, Robot by Eando Binder, and it helped spark an interest. He also has talked about how so many stories about robots took the view that they would turn into killers and would endanger us all. (Very similar to the breathless alarmism over Artificial Intelligence we see currently.) Asimov thought that was not the way things would work, so he wrote stories in which he introduced the Three Laws of Robotics:
First Law
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
These have entered the science fiction world as shared culture by now. And what they allowed Asimov to do was look for ways in which things might still go wrong, and then have his characters try to figure it all out. He later took his robots and the Three Laws into some Science Fiction/Mystery novels: The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn.
BTW, the real company U.S. Robotics took its name from the company in these stories. The real company is known primarily for making modems.
The later stories were the best ones. Unfortunately, you can really tell his early works are his early works. The stories in the second half are great, though.
