I, Robot (Issac Asimov)

The 1st Edition cover.

Except for a few short stories in my Middle/High school English classes, I'd never read anything written by Issac Asimov, considered to be the master of science fiction. With that in mind, I finally picked up a copy of I, Robot earlier this summer, and I've finally now finished reading it (Unfortunately, the only version of the book at Barnes and Noble had Will Smith on the cover. I like Will Smith as an actor, but I dislike owning the 'movie cover' versions of books).

When the 2004 Will Smith 'I, Robot' movie came out, I saw reviews for it online that said it was "nothing like the book." At the time, I thought that meant it was dissimilar to the book in the same way that all the Harry Potter movies were dissimilar to the books, and years later I figured the I, Robot movie was probably just like the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time movie (which gave a totally different set of characters in a different setting the same items and ultimate goal from the original game).

Having finally read the book, I can say knowingly that the movie is truly nothing like the book.

I, Robot, the book, is actually an anthology. It's made up of nine different short stories, all telling a piece of the chronological history of robotics in Asimov's fictional future, and tied together by Dr. Susan Calvin, a robopsychologist who's telling these stories to a reporter

Though nothing I'm seeing online backs me up, it seems to me that the Will Smith movie I, Robot is more closely based on the other books in Asimov's Robot series. Those books are sci-fi mysteries, starring a police detective from Earth who distrusts robots, and who's forced to work alongside one when he's sent to another colonized planet to solve a crime.

A few of the stories from I, Robot have been made in the sci-fi TV episodes and so on, but it doesn't really make sense to make the entire anthology into a movie (though someone did try once, with the blessing and help of Issac Asimov himself. It was never made, because the screenwriter refused to make the changes suggested by the producers).

On the one hand, I can see why the creators of the 2003 I, Robot movie wouldn't have chosen to try to recreate the anthology on film, but on the other hand, why did they chose to use the name I, Robot in the first place? Except for the themes and motifs that are pulled straight from his writing, the movie has little to do with Asimov's original.

This reminds me of the 1983 arcade game, also titled 'I, Robot', which I briefly mentioned in a previous blog post. The arcade game, one of the first to utilize 3D polygon graphics, seemed to have nothing to do with the Asimov anthology either (except that you played as a little polygon robot).

Now that I've finished reading the anthology, I can truthfully say that I really enjoyed it. Asimov's writing style is easy to read (something which always surprises me about writers from over forty years ago, for some reason), and the stories are very interesting. They chronicle advancements in robotics over time, as humans try to come to terms with the changes they bring to their lifestyles. Without giving any spoilers, most of the stories highlight a problem that seems to arise in the machines; after trying to solve the problem, the engineers realize that the robots were only ever doing what they were programed to do, using unexpected methods.

I think I'm beginning to understand what people mean when they call Asimov the master of Science Fiction; if I, Robot is any indication, he's a great writer with believable stories even when they're set in the distant future. I'm definitely adding his other Robot series books to my 'to read' list (though, I still have ten other books on my 'to read' shelf; why is it that, no matter how many books I read, that section on the shelf doesn't get smaller?)