Cover of the 2018 edition by I, Robot published by Voyager GB (left) and the 2016 edition of Foundation sold on Amazon (right)
(1) ISAAC ASIMOV –
ROBOT, GALACTIC EMPIRE & FOUNDATION (1940-1993)
I tend to disagree with Martin Prince’s ABC of the overlords of the science fiction genre – Asimov, Bester, Clarke – and not just because he disses Bradbury for Bester. As much as Ilke Bester (and Bradbury for that matter), I tend to agree with the ‘Big Three’ of science fiction – Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke.
Asimov was incredibly prolific as writer, but it’s his incredibly iconic status as writer that earns him the top spot here – even if he is better known in wider popular culture or consciousness for his concepts rather than his name or works.
Of all SF concepts codified or popularized by him, the holy trinity is the three concepts of this entry – although arguably the last is part of the second.
Perhaps his most iconic series is his Robot series. The core or inner circle of the series are his robot stories, commencing with his short story “Robbie” (alternatively titled “Strange Playfellow”) in 1940 and followed by other short stories which were compiled in his 1950 anthology of linked short stories, “I, Robot” (badly adapted into a film in 2004).
However, his Robot series didn’t end there – like the other series of this entry, the Robot series resembles concentric circles, depending on which works you accept are part of it. The inner or definitive circle are the robot stories compiled in “I, Robot”, but there were six subsequent stories, most of which were compiled in the 1982 anthology collection “The Complete Robot”. There were also four Robot Series novels, featuring the main robot character R. Daneel Olivaw and other backdrops against a background of an overcrowded Earth in conflict with its colonist Spacer planets.
Asimov didn’t originate the concept of robots in science fiction, or even the word robot – which interestingly did originate in fiction, from the 1920 play “R.U.R” or Rossum’s Universal Robots by Karl Capek (albeit for artificial biologically engineered human laborers rather than robots as the concept or word has subsequently been used). However, Asimov might be said to have codified the concept of robots in science fiction – most famously with his Three Laws of Robotics.
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
The original or core robot stories are essentially logical puzzles about the application or operation of the Three Laws – and not much changes about that as the premise of the other stories and novels.
The Galactic Empire series and Foundation series might be regarded as different but overlapping aspects or stages of the one concept of Galactic Empire – particularly after Asimov hammered them and his Robot series into his unified ‘future history’. If Asimov didn’t originate the concept of galactic empire, he at least codified or popularized it.
The Foundation series is the more famous – indeed, probably Asimov’s most famous series, even more than his Robot series. It’s essentially Asimov doing “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” IN SPACE! (And of course the future). It doesn’t get more transparent than naming your analogue of Belisarius as Bel Riose.
Again, the Foundation series might be regarded as a series of concentric circles – there’s the inner circle of the original trilogy, to which might be added Asimov’s subsequent two sequel novels and two prequel novels.
The Galactic Empire series of three novels and a short story chronicles the rise of the Galactic Empire rather than its fall.
RATING: 5 STARS*****
S-TIER (GOD TIER)