The Science Fiction Review Books,Robot and Foundation,Robots and Aliens Isaac Asimov’s Robots and Aliens Book 4: Alliance by Jerry Oltion

Isaac Asimov’s Robots and Aliens Book 4: Alliance by Jerry Oltion

Robots and Aliens Volume 2 book cover

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

Fairly early in Intruder we saw that there was a third Silverside that had taken over Robot City. After an intense search Derec finally reclaimed control with the help of his friends. Now, Derec is faced with three robots without solid definitions of “human”. I think that this novel is quite a bit more philosophical in the search for what makes someone human. Not too much happens plot-wise, most of the bulk is focused on defining what is human. We do get a slightly better glimpse at the origins of the Silversides and a hint at where the series might end up toward the end.

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Your email address will not be published.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

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…)

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

Utopia book cover

About five years has passed since the New Law robots were put to work at Purgatory to assist with the terraforming effort for Inferno. Alvar Kresh won the election for governor and ended up choosing a dual terraforming system combining a positronics with a super computer. In an unexpected turn, Kresh ended up marrying Fredda Leving. Initially I thought that they made a rather odd couple, but I think Allen did a good job of handling their relationship throughout this book. The main plot Utopia revolves around a plan by a scientist to harness a comet and blow it apart to dig a huge channel from the southern ocean to the frozen northern ice cap which would otherwise be impossible by conventional means. (more…)

Daneel Olivaw, Guardian of HumanityDaneel Olivaw, Guardian of Humanity

R. Daneel Olivaw is my favorite character from the Robot and Foundation Universe created by Isaac Asimov. The R stands for “Robot,” but he became much more than that over the course of the Robot and Foundation series. Hari Seldon from the Foundation Novels ranks a close second, but my heart goes to Daneel and the Three Laws of Robotics. I’m amazed at how many twists can be made based on three relatively simple rules of behavior. Daneel starts as one of the first humaniform robots, but eventually evolves into much more complex being.

The following discussion is filled with spoilers for the entire Robot and Foundation series, so read it with that in mind. (more…)