Five Favorite Robot Stories

[Connavar]

! I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you, shocked! You actually expect us to think about these answers!



Hmmm... tentatively:

Yes, I'd have to go for Eando Binder's "I, Robot" -- or, to be more exact, the novel form of the series (which left out a few of the tales) Adam Link, Robot -- as well.

So many good ones by Isaac that he could make up the rest of the list, but... I think I'll pick "The Bicentennial Man" out of that list (though "Escape!" is also extremely tempting there.... Hey, it's not only got the Brain, it's got Susan and Powell and Donovan! )

And I'd go with "Fondly Fahrenheit" as well... brilliant story, from Bester's most fruitful period...

Rod Serling's "The Lonely" (prose version, as he was able to do a few things with that he couldn't do with the broadcast version, which was nonetheless very good)

And Harlan Ellison's screenplay for I, Robot, I think. It was never made into a film, but I've read it, and it's a magnificent thing (and damned well should have been made into a film -- it'd be one of the best sf films around!)

The order is likely to change, but I'd say that's probably my list. "Helen O'Loy" is another I'd add, perhaps; just because it's so well done, and thoroughly ticks people off to this day... And, of course, there are many, many others....

I got this from wiki about I, Robot screenplay.

"I, Robot script by Harlan Ellison , who collaborated with Asimov himself to create a version that captured the spirit of the original. Asimov is quoted as saying that Ellison's screenplay would lead to "the first really adult, complex, worthwhile science fiction movie ever made".


After reading what Assimov himself said about the script and the movie it would make its a real shame it will never become a movie.

 

[Fahim]

My favourites - not in any particular order:

• The Bicentennial Man - Asimov
• All the R. Daneel Olivaw stories - Asimov
• Q.U.R.- Anthony Boucher
• The Proud Robot- Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner - I love the Gallegher stories )
• Helen O' Loy - Lester Del Rey

 

[j d worthington]

I got this from wiki about I, Robot screenplay.

"I, Robot script by Harlan Ellison , who collaborated with Asimov himself to create a version that captured the spirit of the original. Asimov is quoted as saying that Ellison's screenplay would lead to "the first really adult, complex, worthwhile science fiction movie ever made".


After reading what Assimov himself said about the script and the movie it would make its a real shame it will never become a movie.

Yes, it is... and maybe, someday..... However, at least the thing was published in an illustrated trade paperback (as well as serialized in Asimov's magazine), and it's not difficult to find at a good price... and it is very readable (as Ellison's scripts tend to be).

And, just for a bit of irony:

Ellison / I, Robot

 

[Connavar]

Why would i wanna read a screenplay when i havent read the original Robot stories yet .

 

[j d worthington]

Why would i wanna read a screenplay when i havent read the original Robot stories yet .

Intended more for future reference; though it can indeed be read without reference to the stories, as it was intended as a film for general audiences, whether they'd read Asimov's book or not. It is not a strictly literal interpretation, by any means; it is very much its own critter, but if you know Asimov's stories, you can see how it remains true to them, nonetheless...

 

[Connavar]

I will read it prolly later.

But i dont wanna insult the great master by reading the screenplay before i read his famous Robot books.

Also will be more fun to see how the diffrent the screenplay is. Prolly not as usuall hollywood stuff where they keep only the books name and make a movie of thier own.

 

[j d worthington]

By no means. Ellison and Asimov were great friends from the 50s until Isaac's death; and Harlan, while taking his own slant on the stories, was very conscientious about his friend and mentor's work.

 

[HardScienceFan]

"With Folded Hands!" How could I have left that off?!?!?!?!? Definitely one of the best.

To heck with lists. I give up.

I don't
The Humanoids
Dumb Waiter
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Piggy Bank
Brother to the Machine
Into Thy Hands

 

[CatBar]

Anything with Daneel Olivaw in it!

 

[Jeffbert]

Yes, that's how I first encountered Adam, as I recall (though I may have done so when I was even younger, watching the adaptation on The Outer Limits of "I, Robot"). Here's some information on the book:

Adam Link - Robot by Eando Binder

It's gone through multiple printings, and (at least around here) shows up not too infrequently...

I just finished reading it on Kindle. Only the first 1/5 or less of it was adapted into TOL's I, Robot, though obviously, a very different ending to that portion left Adam Link intact. Funny, how I knew of the novel when seeing a reference to it in THE OUTER LIMITS COMPANION, & yet, it did not occur to me to seek it at that time. Rather, I stumbled upon it by chance, when looking at books available on Kindle.

 

[Jeffbert]

Just finished Farewell to The Master: The Day the Earth Stood Still Kindle Edition.

Who'da thunk it would end like that?

 

[BAYLOR]

Just finished Farewell to The Master: The Day the Earth Stood Still Kindle Edition.

Who'da thunk it would end like that?

There is an actual novelization of the 1951 film written by Arthur R Tofte.

 

[Guttersnipe]

"Robbie" by Isaac Asimov touched me
The Naked Sun by Asimov again, I liked
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
"The Ruum" by Arthur Porges is pleasantly scary
"Servant Problem" by Thelma D. Hamm is a very short but darkly hilarious story

Honorable mentions:
"The Joy of Living" by William F. Nolan
"Helen O'Loy" by Lester del Rey