F/SF

Robot fiction from the early age of Sci Fi is a weakness of mine, and this book turned out to be a gold mine of just the sort of story I enjoy. Every 'era' in the evolution of the robot is represented here, and stories run the gamut from horror, to humor, to classic sci-fi mind play.

A few stories depended too much on their plot twists, and others did not age well, but all in all this collection provided for excellent robot reading.

A quick rundown of each story, with spoilers avoided as much as possible:

"The Tunnel Under the World" - Scientists learn how to transfer human thought patters onto machine circuitry, to profitable results. Aims for horror, hits unsettling. This story asks the classic robotics question, "Are -we- robots in some way?"

"Brother Robot" - A man builds a son. The robot child's relationship with his father compared to that of the biological son provides for great contrast.

"The Lifeboat Mutiny" - A parable against purchasing used vehicles. Lighthearted and fanciful. I ended up feeling bad for the boat.

"The Warm Space" - Man finds his place again. This was one of my favorite stories in the anthology. Many sci-fi authors like to play with the idea of man becoming obsolete. "The Warm Space" tries to take that a little further.

"How-2" - One of those stories that plays the the idea of man becoming obsolete. The title and the setting remind me of the Make:Magazine culture of the internet nowadays. Prophetic? Will the Arduino start self replicating and demanding rights?

"Too Robot to Marry" - This story is barely two pages and consists entirely of the punchline. It's a semi-amusing punchline.

"The Education of Tigress McCardle" - I can't remember a thing about this story, which is not a particularly good sign. I'll fill this in with something useful when I get my hands on the book again.

"Sally" - Asimov's contribution to this anthology. Compared to some of his masterpieces ("Robot Dreams" is my favorite robot short) this one left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It's a great story until the last few lines, where the tone veers the corner from action to foreboding unease.

"Breakfast of Champions" - Another story I can't remember the details of.

"Sun Up" - A research satellite finds out that it has been sent to a star on the verge of nova. Surprisingly moving. This is one of the few stories in the anthology where man and machine are not directly at odds.

"Second Variety" - The cold war has been prolonged to eternity, and the US et. al. have decided to create man killing machines to wipe the soviets out. You can see where this is heading, and the twist of this story is evident almost immediately. For the last few pages I was simply waiting for the protagonist to realize what I knew so that I could get to the next story.

"The Problem Was Lubrication" - An oiling machine gets angry when a new model shows up on the block. Another humorous story that anthropomorphizes machines.

"First to Serve" - Scientists are charged to create the perfect warrior, but no one is happy with the results. Interesting, but the PoV reminds me of a badly executed Algernon.

"Though Dreamers Die" - Mankind flees from a plague but is unable to escape. All that is left are their robots. I don't understand the appeal of memory erasure, but the concept of sentient robots inheriting mankind's racial instinct to colonize and explore is an interesting one.

"Soldier Boy" - Something is threatening colonies and a soldier who has never shot a gun in his life is the one to save them. Out of all of the stories in this anthology, this one has the last to do with robots. It has more to do with coming into 'manhood' than anything else.

"Farewell to the Master" - Another story that relies on a twist. A space-time traveler and his machine-like companion arrive on earth. Museums and nighttime hijinks ensue. My copy of the book was torn up at the last page, and I'm missing a paragraph, but as frustrating as that is, it would have been more painful to have lost the last sentence, where the 'revelation' of this story lies. ( )