The Science Fiction Review Books,Robot and Foundation,Robot City Isaac Asimov’s Robot City Book 3: Cyborg by William F. Wu

Isaac Asimov’s Robot City Book 3: Cyborg by William F. Wu

Robot City 3: Cyborg book cover

This review will most likely contain spoilers for any previous books in the series, read at your own risk.

This book has a nice intro from Asimov talking about cyborgs that is quite interesting. I always like reading these. Derec and Katherine have proven they didn’t commit murder, and stopped the rapid expansion of the city. They still stuck in Robot City though and are still searching for a way out. They are sidetracked by a rogue cyborg that escaped from a medical facility. I like the repercussions that are explored by transplanting a human brain into a robot body. The book goes by really quickly with lots of action and a few tidbits of information to keep the main plotlines going also.

2 thoughts on “Isaac Asimov’s Robot City Book 3: Cyborg by William F. Wu”

  1. I enjoyed the first two books in the series. The problem with this book was the constant repetition of the laws of robotics. I also was annoyed at the humans’ constant manipulation of the laws to get the robots to do what they wanted them to do. Robots never need to be reminded of the laws, they are programmed to follow them. Robots must do what they are told unless it interferes with the first law, so why the manipulation? I think the author needed to state the laws maybe one time and then the humans could have created the situations where the robots would have to follow the laws without the constant reminding.

    I did enjoy the plot line about the cyborg and the mental effects of becoming a combination of man and robot. I am hoping that the writing in the rest of the series goes back to the quality of the first two books.

  2. From what I remember, some of the books in this series are better than others. Since they are all done by different authors, the next one might be better. I think that Prodigy was one of my favorites of the six. Unfortunately, this same author (of Cyborg) is the author of the last book as well.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please prove you are a human * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Post

So I have been a bit behind with my reviewsSo I have been a bit behind with my reviews

I’ve been a bad reviewer lately. I usually try to write my reviews right after viewing or reading but I haven’t had as much time to write them lately. I’ve been playing World in Conflict quite a bit lately, which competes with my reviews here. I should actually do a review for that sometime, since I spend so much time playing it. It takes place in an alternate reality where the Soviets invade the US in 1990. For more information in the meantime just click the link above.

So, here are the things I have watched so far, but have yet to review:

  1. Blade Runner – The Final Cut: (I’ve watched the movie, which was awesome, but I still have to work through the rest of the special features on the last disc)
  2. I am Legend (2007) – I’ve actually watched this twice, once with my Father while on vacation, and again with my wife
  3. Battlestar Galactica: Razor – Unrated Extended Edition

I’m also in the process of reading two books: Children of Dune by Frank Herbert, and The Age of Spiritual machines by Ray Kurzweil. The latter is not really science fiction, but I’m about half way through it and many of the ideas probably seemed like fiction back when it was published in 1999. Many of the predictions Kurzweil makes in the first half are fairly accurate, so I’m interested to see what he will say in the second half.

My next major milestone will be to read Chaos Theory, Asimov’s Foundations and Robots, and Herbert’s Dune: The Fractal Aesthetic of Epic Science Fiction.

That should keep me busy for a little while.

Isaac Asimov’s Caliban by Roger MacBride AllenIsaac Asimov’s Caliban by Roger MacBride Allen

Caliban book cover

I was glad to break into a new series after reading sixteen books with Derec and Ariel as main characters. Roger MacBride Allen brings the robot Caliban to life from “infancy” from when he is first powered up. Caliban awakens with his arm half raised to see the body of a woman laying on the floor, which later turns out to be his creator Fredda Leving. If Caliban was a normal robot he would have sent for help immediately, but unfortunately he was created lacking the infamous Three Laws of Robotics. Instead, Caliban investigates the scene briefly and then ventures out to explore this new unfamiliar world. (more…)

Gold, The Final Science Fiction Collection – Isaac AsimovGold, The Final Science Fiction Collection – Isaac Asimov

Book Cover

In 1992, the year of his death, Isaac Asimov was awarded the Hugo Award for best novella for writing Gold. This story, along with many others was published in 1995. Along with 14 other short stories, there are collections of essays called “On Science Fiction,” and “Writing Science Fiction.” Interestingly enough, I found the essays much more interesting than the stories themselves. I think this is partly because I have read a TON of his fiction, but haven’t got around to reading his non-fiction.  I’ll give a brief overview of the essays, saving the stories for later. (more…)