johnlog/books

Asimov: Robots and Empire

The last book in the Robot series, and my favorite. There were some payoffs from the previous storylines, great connection to the Foundation series, and a satisfying twist and reveal at the end. Good read.

SPOILERS Fast forward several decades from the previous one. Elijah is dead now, but a few other characters from the previous books are still around, especially the robots. Naturally I followed them with the most interest. It made me much more sympathetic to them, especially Giskard (the psychic robot), which I didn't care about so much before. This time there is much more politics. Asimov explores the relationship between Earth and the other Spacer worlds. There are several factions, some demanding expansion using robots and only limiting it to Spacers, some want Earth involved as well. A few extremists seek the total destruction of Earth. Eventually they succeed and the two robots allow it despite being able to stop it. They justify it by the zeroth law of robotics: the good of humanity overall takes precedence over the good of a single person. They think that when Earth is destroyed, Earthpeople will finally start expanding more. They are correct, as we know these settlers will eventually build the empire described in the Foundation saga. The political intrigues, philosophical debates between the robots, and the twists were great. The explanation of how the Galactic Empire came about was satisfying too. I enjoyed this one and made me want more of the Robot series.