Geliebter Roboter: Erzählungen (Roboter und Foundation – der Zyklus 2)

by Isaac Asimov, Walter Brumm (Translator)

Ein Blick in die Zukunft


Claire Belmont, Ehefrau eines Angestellten der U. S. Robot Company, soll das Modell TN3, genannt Tony, als Haushaltshilfe testen. Nur widerwillig stimmt sie dem Projekt zu, Robots sind ihr nicht ganz geheuer. Aber Tony ist darauf programmiert, ihr jeden Wunsch zu erfüllen – und er erkennt mehr als nur die offensichtlichen … In insgesamt zehn Kurzgeschichten wirft Isaac Asimov in „Geliebter Roboter“ einen Blick in die Zukunft, deren Grundsteine heute schon gelegt werden. Zusammen mit „Ich, der Roboter“ und „Der Zweihundertjährige“ legt Asimov hier auch den Grundstein zu seiner gigantischen Future History, dem Foundation-Zyklus.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Collections, Science Fiction Fantasy, Anthologies, Classics

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of Asimov's short stories

EARTH IS ROOM ENOUGH is an anthology of Asimov's early short stories centered on the theme that anything can and probably will happen right here on earth. It's likely that Asimov and his editors probably had their collective tongues firmly planted in their cheeks and grins on their faces when they tweaked the noses of Asimov's contemporary authors by proving that you didn't need rocket ships and space opera to write great science fiction.

While he didn't wander too far from home in terms of setting, Asimov used his fertile imagination and probing intellect to weave stories that will touch you in a wide variety of ways. Like all good SF authors, Asimov used his craft to question government, human emotions and fears, our development of and reliance on technology, humour and imagination.

Perhaps a couple of examples will serve to whet the appetite of those who have yet to savour Asimov's talent! What collection of Asimov's short stories would be complete without at least one from his vast repertoire of Susan Calvin's robots? THE DEAD PAST, like most of the stories he wove around his famous three laws of robotics, is a clever logic puzzle but it also probes deeply into the human psyche and our potential interactions with robots. Asimov's MULTIVAC, a computer character he returned to over and over again in an enormous variety of stories, appeared in JOKESTER, a clever tale that probes the very nature of humour and FRANCHISE, which takes a very well-aimed poke at political pundits and pollsters. THE IMMORTAL BARD, undoubtedly drawn from Asimov's well-documented non-fictional study of Shakespeare, is a clever jibe at our modern interpretation of this master playwright's work. And on and on it goes ...

For those that have yet to sample science fiction in general or Asimov's work in particular, this would be a fine place to start. Intellectual, thought-provoking, and deeply questioning yet humorous and lightweight enough to be entirely unintimidating! Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of fifteen stories (and a couple of poems) from the 1950s that first appeared in a very wide range of genre magazines of the time. I was surprised to note that only one was from Campbell's Astounding SF. The loose unifying theme is that all of the stories are all set on Earth, perhaps a sly dig at the space cadet fans. Asimov had not yet adopted his habit of writing chatty introductions and afterwords for his short works, but it's a fun and thought-provoking book even without the egotistic autobiographical humor. None of the stories are classics, but it's a book which should be judged in the light of its time as well as by current standards, and it certainly contains some of the best sf of its time. Susan Calvin of robot fame is represented, and several of the stories are quite amusing; my favorite was The Dead Past. "Happy goldfish bowl to you, to me, to everyone, and may each of you fry in hell forever."

[ابوالفضل نصری · Rating 5 out of 5]

یه مجموعه داستان کوتاه غیرفضایی از آسیموف که واقعا عالی بود.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have very fond memories of Isaac Asimov and especially a number of his more famous works. The reason why is that going back to my early tentative steps in to reading, I stumbled across a small table top sale and there tucked away in one corner a stack of books. The covers instantly caught my eye - and as much as the saying goes "don't judge a book by its cover" I could not help myself.

Now I must point something out - The UK editions of science fiction books of this era had a habit of having garish, eye catching covers often which had no relation to the contents of the book.

This was one such edition - however the cover they chose was from the artist Chris Foss - one of my all time favourite artists who to me captured the impossible and limitless imagination of science fiction. Something that I see only recently is coming back in to the main stream years later.
Now rather than being annoyed that it has no relation I love these covers - as to me they sum up the imagination of the author and if anything once I have read the book I would often look at the cover making up my own stories.

So yes as you can imagine I bought up the books (they were pennies after all) and read them all ravenously - and that is where not only does my fascination with science come from but also my respect for the classic authors of the golden age of science fiction and the love of science fiction artwork.

[Sauerkirsche · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,7 Sterne

Im Vergleich zu "I Robot" wirft diese Kurzgeschichtensammlung eher eine negative Sicht auf die Zukunft. Nicht ganz so schwarzmalerisch wie die meisten Dystopien, aber das Szenario in "I Robot" fand ich deutlich besser plausibler. Die meisten Geschichten waren doch ziemlich klischeehaft und plump, ungewohnt zu den wirklich genial durchdachten Erzählungen in "I Robot".
Einige Geschichten haben den eher schlechten Eindruck glücklicherweise wieder gehoben. Der Zwischenfall in Twin Gulch ist wirklich komisch, ungewohnt humoristisch von Asimov. "The fun they had" oder "Hellfire" bieten ebenfalls bösen Humor der teilweise schon kurz davor ist ins Alberne abzutriften.
Die philosophischen Aspekte in den besser ausgearbeiteten Geschichten haben mir wieder gut gefallen. Das Niveau von I Robot wurde allerdings nur in "Satisfaction Guaranteed" erreicht, auch die einzige Erzählung in der die altbekannte Dr. Calvin auftaucht.
"The fun they had" hat mich durch die notwendige, richtige Befragung des allwissenden Computers Multivac und des Versuchskaninchens Mensch, stark an Deep Thought und die experimentierfreudigen Mäuse (wer es gelesen hat weiß was ich meine) aus dem Anhalter erinnert. Sehr wahrscheinlich dass sich Douglas Adams von dieser Geschichte dazu inspirieren ließ.
Vielleicht hätte ich der Sammlung auch noch 4 oder 3,5 Sterne gegeben, wenn Asimovs Sexismus hier nicht so krass vorgeherrscht hätte. Die Geschlechteransichten der 50er sind zwar in allen Büchern Asimovs vorhanden, aber hier hat es mich sehr genervt da es durch die fehlende Qualität der Geschichten nicht aufgewertet werden konnte. So ganz erschließt sich mir nicht warum Asimov in seiner erstaunlich visionären Vorstellungskraft nicht auf den Gedanken gekommen ist, dass Frauen im 21. Jdh. auch andere Rollen als die klischeehafte Hausfrau einnehmen.
Insgesamt also eher durchwachsen, aufgrund der zwei oder drei wirklich guten Geschichten knappe 3 Sterne.

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

First read – 6 May 2008 - ***. This 1957 collection, including stories that are specifically not about space, made me think of the stories I read as a kid - although I don't think I read this particular collection then. It reminded me that science fiction at that time was a literature primarily of ideas. Characters could be stereotypes, the endings could be cheesey, but that didn't matter so much, because each story explored some novel concept.

That said, I do want to mention the story "Satisfaction Guaranteed", which is an Asimov robot story not collected in I, Robot. The physical description of the robot reminded me closely of Gigolo Joe from the movie "Artificial Intelligence". In a remarkable story concept for the 1950s, an experimental robot deduces that in order to prevent harm to its human master under the first law, it must become her lover. Read this story, even if you skip the rest of the book!

The contents of this collection are:
The Dead Past
The Foundation of S.F. Success
Franchise
Gimmicks Three
Kid Stuff
The Watery Place
Living Space
The Message
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Hell-Fire
The Last Trump
The Fun They Had
Jokester
The Immortal Bard
Someday
The Author's Ordeal
Dreaming is a Private Thing

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short stories, some of the better ones I'd previously experienced in The Complete Robot so the novelty of reading such good stories was worn off and possibly detracted from my overall enjoyment.

The collection also featured some of Asimov's fantasy stories, my first experience of such things, and even though I consider him a good writer of good ideas my eyes just glazed over at the mention of faeries and Avalaon for example. I have Fantasy block even with such a man as Isaac Asimov.

However overall the collection is exactly what you would expect from science fiction of the 1950s and of Asimov short stories in general; a study of humanity with tongue slightly in cheek. Not great, not terrible, merely a good and enjoyable book. And as bonus reading a couple of attempts at humourous poetry about being a science fiction writer.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 2 out of 5]

ENGLISH: This collection of Asimov's short stories and novellas contains 15 titles published in the fifties. The one I liked most was The Dead Past, about seeing the past on a screen, followed by Living Space, one of the first appearances of Everard's Quantum Multiverse in Sci-Fi, Satisfaction guaranteed, little-known story in the Susan Calvin Robot series, and Jokester, an original story about the origin of human humor. The other 11 stories are clearly lower-quality, at least for me.

ESPAÑOL: Esta colección de cuentos y novelas cortas de Asimov contiene 15 títulos publicados en los años cincuenta. El que más me gustó fue El pasado muerto, sobre cómo ver el pasado en una pantalla, seguido por Espacio Vital, una de las primeras apariciones del Multiverso Cuántico de Everard en la ciencia-ficción, Satisfacción garantizada, un cuento poco conocido de la serie de Susan Calvin y los robots, y El chistoso, una historia original sobre el origen del humor humano. Las otras 11 historias tienen claramente menor calidad, al menos para mí.

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The standout in this quite good collection is definitely "Satisfaction Guaranteed", even if it's so 50s that it feels like you need subtitles to understand it. US Robots have developed a housework robot, which they are going to field test in the home of one of their employees. The action focusses on the uneasy relationship that develops between the robot and the bored housewife, who's plagued with general feelings of helplessness and inadequacy; the robot, programmed with the Three Laws and obliged to protect her from anything that might be liable to cause her harm, does its best to address the problem. If someone told me it was an adapted version of a Colette short story, I'd be prepared to believe them.

[Fulya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now, this is the problem with story collections. All the good and bad ones are rolled up together. This book is no exception. "The Dead Past" is a marvellous dystopia example,"The Watery Place"'s wit is almost genius, "Satisfaction Guaranteed" is an old-school artifical intelligence tale. However, the rest is either average or below average. Asimov was a very productive writer but productivity is not always equal with quality.

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first rule of robotics is: you do not talk about the first rule of robotics.

[Xan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno de los títulos más mencionados de Asimov, tanto que pensé que lo había leído hace muchos años. Afortunadamente me equivocaba y no se trata de una relectura. Para mi, que aprendí los conceptos de la robótica de la mano de Susan Calvin y conocí los problemas sociales de un Imperio espacial investigando crímenes violentos con un robot por detective...en fin, que aprendía a disfrutar de la ciencia ficción con Isaac Asimov leer un libro nuevo cuando pensaba solo repasarlo supone un regalo inesperado (aún sabiendo que nunca lograré leer todos los libros que escribió, firmó o colaboró...)
"Con la Tierra nos basta" es una colección de cuentos alrededor de los temas típicos de Asimov: robots, grandes sociedades dominadas por UNIVAC (ordenadores enormenmente complejos y potentes), paradojas del avance de la ciencia, etc. En todos ellos siempre hay un momento para una sonrisa, una broma, un chiste. Ebn algunos todo el cuento es una enorme broma. Es Asimov en sus mejores momentos: ideal para una primera aproximación, perfecto para volver a recuperar el contacto si eres un fan.

[Ben Purintun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m trying to read a bit more science fiction this year so I figured I would pick up some Asimov stories to get a look at the early days of the genre. The tales were fascinating to read from a 2020s perspective into a 1950s sci-fi future.

[Leone Mattheus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het blijft een bijzonder talent om sciencefiction te schrijven die niet in de ruimte speelt en toch grenzeloos voelt, en dat is precies wat Isaac Asimov doet met Earth Is Room Enough. Deze bundel van vijftien korte verhalen bewijst dat de aarde – met al haar technologische, sociale en filosofische uitdagingen – meer dan genoeg inspiratie biedt om de verbeelding te prikkelen.
Het fijne aan Asimovs stijl is zijn humor, die vaak op subtiele wijze een scherpe boodschap overbrengt. Deze luchtigheid biedt een welkom evenwicht in een bundel die anders soms wat zwaar aanvoelt door de onderliggende thema’s.
Wat Earth Is Room Enough zo sterk maakt, is hoe het verhalen combineert die zowel intellectueel stimulerend als vermakelijk zijn. Niet elk verhaal is een meesterwerk, en sommige voelen misschien wat gedateerd aan, maar dat doet weinig af aan de impact van de bundel als geheel. Asimov laat zien dat hij niet alleen een visionair is, maar ook een meesterverteller die de menselijke ervaring weet te vatten in kleine, scherpzinnige observaties.
Voor liefhebbers van sciencefiction, of voor iedereen die nieuwsgierig is naar verhalen die zowel vermakelijk als prikkelend zijn, is dit boek een aanrader. Hoewel het misschien niet altijd de grootsheid van Asimovs bekendere werken haalt, bewijst het dat de aarde een wereld van mogelijkheden biedt – genoeg om ons te laten dromen, nadenken en lachen.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erstmals erschienen sind diese Geschichten Asimovs 1957. Das ist schon eine gewisse Zeit lang her, und das merkt man auch anhand der Umgebung, in welcher sich die Figuren bewegen, und auch durch die sozialen Interaktionen und Gepflogenheiten. Hier sind wir noch immer in den 50er/60ern des letzte Jahrhunderts.

Aber alles, was den technischen Fortschritt und dessen Auswirkungen auf unsere Gesellschaft betrifft, hat man das Gefühl, Asimov hätte mal kurz bei uns reingeschaut und wäre dann wieder in seine Zeit zurückgekehrt. Mit offenen Auge hat er die neuen Möglichkeiten und Unmöglichkeiten betrachtet und weiter gedacht.

Klar und deutlich warnt er vor der zerstörerischen Macht der Atomkraft. Interessiert zeichnet er Bilder, in welche Richtung sich Roboter entwickeln werden. Immer im Hinblick auf seine aufgestellten Regeln, die er auch hier wieder anwendet und auseinandernimmt.

Asimov öffnet auch unsere Augen. Augen, die seine Texte im 21. Jahrhundert lesen. Oftmals war er so akkurat, dass es mich schauderte. Jede Seite war eine Offenbarung. Asimov ist jetzt gefühlt noch aktueller als er es damals schon war.

Manchmal denke ich, dass er an Schulen gelesen werden sollte...

[Andrea Sacchi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah! Questo me lo sono proprio goduto. Ci sono più idee in un racconto breve di Asimov che in una manciata di libri di altri autori. Un vero piacere.
I racconti che più mi hanno affascinato sono Franchise, che racconta un futuro in cui un mega computer è in grado di predire il voto di un'intera nazione basandosi sulla preferenza espressa da un singolo elettore, e Professions in cui il sistema scolastico si basa sull'imprimere nozioni bell'e pronte nella testa dei cittadini.
Credo siano entrambi altamente visionari al punto di essere quasi profetici.
Menzione d'onore a The Dying Night, un giallo fantascientifico come solo Asimov sa scriverne.

[Oleh Bilinkevych · Rating 2 out of 5]

Максимально прохідна збірка. Варто відзначити, що більшість оповідань гумористичного характеру. Можливо тому і якісно гірші за "Дев’ять завтра" та "Прихід ночі". З плюсів - тут таки знайшлися дві досить цікаві оповідки.
"Місце де багато води" - коротка весела розповідь про шерифа, який через свої податкові клопоти не допетрав, що до нього прийшли з візитом інопланетяни.
"Остання сурма" - і сталось так, засурмив Гавриїл і почався день Восресіння всього живого, день, коли всі постали перед Судом. Напевне, одне із найдотепніших оповідань Азімова, яке додав у скарбничку улюблених.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaac Asimovs Liebe zu Robotern ist gemeinhin bekannt. Sie ist die Grundlage für einige seiner Faszinierendsten Romane und Kurzgeschichten. Besonders die Logik hat es ihm dabei angetan, die Grundlage für alle Entscheidungen einer Maschine sein muss. Zwingend.

Trotzdem ist 'Geliebter Roboter' eine Kurzgeschichtensammlung, die sich von vielen anderen des Autors unterscheidet. Vor allem, weil sie sich nicht ausschließlich um Roboter dreht - obwohl der Titel das vermuten lässt.

So ist es hauptsächlich die Idee eines allumfassenden Großrechners ("Multivac"), die von Asimov in den Mittelpunkt seiner Erzählungen gestellt wird. Horror-Visionen von - aus heutiger Sicht - gar nicht abwegiger Natur erzählen dabei zum Beispiel von einer Demokratie, die gar keine sein kann. Ein einziger Wähler bestimmt dabei über das Schicksal der fiktiven USA von 2008; dabei liefert er eigentlich nur ein paar Antworten auf Fragen, die Multivac noch benötigt um zu errechnen, wie die Wahl ausgeht.

Den Namen erhält die Geschichte übrigens von einer Story, in der ein Roboter (hier müsste man ja eigentlich von einem 'Androiden' sprechen) zu Testzwecken für etwa zwei Wochen in das Haus einer unglücklichen Frau einzieht. Er krempelt ihr Leben gehörig um und erweckt sogar, hie und da, den Eindruck echter Gefühle für seine temporäre Besitzerin. Asimov löst das natürlich bravourös auf und erklärt alles mit den Gesetzen der Robotik - und gerade das ist es, was ein wenig Horror in die Geschichte zaubert, wie ich finde.

Das ist aber noch lange nicht alles. Zwei echte Exoten durchbrechen Asimovs Muster nämlich auf recht untypische Art: Sie haben nahezu nichts mit Technologie zu tun. Besonders sticht dabei jene über das Ende der Welt hervor, für die Asimov sogar die christliche Mythologie bemüht: Die Posaune kündigt den jüngsten Tag an und der Planet wandelt sich. Mit ihm die großteils wiederauferstandenen Menschen - auch, wenn der 'zuständige Engel' sich noch so sehr bemüht den Ratschluss des 'Chefs' zu ändern. Besonders unterhaltsam ist dabei übrigens die Art und Weise, wie Asimov die Geschichte erzählt, beginnt sie doch mit einem Fabriksbesitzer und dessen Vater. Und dessen Vater. Und alle wollen herstellen, was keiner mehr braucht.

Zu guter Letzt sei noch eine Geschichte kurz angerissen, die endlich den Ursprung der Witze auf diesem Planeten klärt. Denn jeder kennt Witze - obwohl sie niemand erfunden hat. Die Quelle ist jedenfalls verblüffend und die sie aufdeckende Auflösung erneut ein kleiner Schauer, der uns über den Rücken läuft.

Ja, 'Geliebter Roboter' ist eine wirklich empfehlenswerte Sammlung, die auch mit einigem unerwartetem auftrumpft. Selbst jene, die Asimov sonst meiden, könnten hier fündig werden (auch, wenn ich denen den Kauf des Buchs bloß deshalb nicht raten würde).

[Franco Olcese · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a selection of stories, i don't consider this book a really good one. What i did enjoy a lot were the visions they had in the 50's about the future. Most of the stories happen in the first century of 2000, and the vision of what would be the future (computers, robotics, political systems, values, etc) is interesting and funny. However there are a couple of good ones that i would recommend to read:

The Dead Past · nv Astounding Apr ’56 : I think this one is the best. It is about a machine to see the past, that is controlled by the goverment and it is used to historical purposes.

· The Foundation of Science Fiction Success · pm F&SF Oct ’54 : ???. Poem??

· Franchise · ss If Aug ’55: Bad one. Describe a society that only needs one person who votes, to decide an election. It depends of the calculations of a computer.

· Gimmicks Three [“The Brazen Locked Room”] · ss F&SF Nov ’56 : Worth reading. Mix between science fiction and ... the devil.

· Kid Stuff · ss Beyond Fantasy Fiction Sep ’53 : Fantasy one, more than science fiction. I didn't like it.

· The Watery Place · ss Satellite Oct ’56: It supose to be funny, maybe in the 50's. Not for me, kind of stupid tale about the first contact with venusians.

· Living Space · ss Science Fiction Stories May ’56: Parallel universes. I like it, i found it original and entertaining.

· The Message · vi F&SF Feb ’56: Time travelling. A bad one.

· Satisfaction Guaranteed [Susan Calvin (Robot)] · ss Amazing Apr ’51: Not so interesting. The social and work relationship between a housekeeper and a robot.

· Hell-Fire · vi Fantastic Universe May ’56: Ridiculous. More devil and science.

· The Last Trump · ss Fantastic Universe Jun ’55: No, this is the best one for sure. About the judgement day.

· The Fun They Had · ss The Boys and Girls Page Dec 1 ’51; F&SF Feb ’54: Ridiculous but funny. How they imagine education with computers in the 50's.

· Jokester · ss Infinity Science Fiction Dec ’56: Interesting, at least for the original idea, about the origin of humor.

· The Immortal Bard · vi Universe May ’54: More time travelling. Really bad one, it tries to be funny.

· Someday · ss Infinity Science Fiction Aug ’56. Too naive for me. About the reading capacity or the way to consume contents in the future.

· The Author’s Ordeal · pm Science Fiction Quarterly May ’57: Kind of poem.

· Dreaming Is a Private Thing · ss F&SF Dec ’55 : Dreams as entretaing and commercial product. I consider it original.

[Patrick Nichols · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent collection of Asimov with its usual mix of repressed titillation and shaggy dog stories (e.g an alien delegation is rebuffed by a rube who thought they said they were from "Venice," rather than "Venus." ugh). The unifying gimmicks that all the stories take place on Earth, but this was probably more of a novelty in the 50's than in today's more dystopian genre. Multivac, a grendel among giant computers, is a recurring character, dispensing an omniscience we now know as "Google."

Two stories proved memorable though (mostly for their unsettling creepiness). In "Living Space" the Earth's population problem is solved by marketing real-estate in parallel universes: each homesteader gets their very own uninhabited earth to settle down in. Until, of course, some unexpected visitors show up. I suppose it's the faint whiff of Lovecraftian extra-dimensional horror that appealed to me there.

And then there is the almost existential fable, "The Last Trump," about the end of the world and the return of the dead from their graves. The endless, deathless, futile hordes, marching towards nothing, imprisoned in an eternity of boredom and pointlessness - it's a genuinely disquieting image; though Asimov pulls back before it tumbles into outright horror. But it's one of those nightmares you'd expect to find more in a Disch or Ballard book than from chipper old Isaac.

[Ioana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It should come to no surprise that Asimov doesn't always write the best stories. With a copious share of almost 500 books written or edited and tons of short stories (the SF equivalent of Balzac), how could he?

Oh, a quick mention before I forget, for all you robot series fans, Susan Calvin makes a comeback - in the best story of the collection, naturally. Dead Past and Franchise also stood out to me.

As I was saying, some of the stories in this collection aren't amazing (is this a modern malaise? that we started to think mostly in superlatives), but I enjoyed all of them, nevertheless. I think it's also safe to say that some were written without too much fuss - probably amounting to first drafts, which is terrible in case of you and me but hey, not so bad for guys like our author here. I think it doesn't take much for the average reader to grow fond of Asimov's gimmicks or his style. His characters are so expositional, noble, scientifically worked up, always quick to worry about the faith of the Universe. And I never feel that Asimov is needlessly showy. That'll do.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I meant to pick this up a while ago for a readathon, but the small print put me off. It was a pretty good read though, and I especially liked the final story. Dreaming is a Private Thing. That’s because it’s the story that inspired Bill Holt and his album, Dreamies.

But honestly, all of the stories in here are pretty good, and it’s got me excited about reading more Asimov on the weeks and months to come. I have a few of them sitting around on my TBR shelves just waiting for me to get to them, and now I have my Asimov vibe back. It’s been too long since I read any of his work.

Oh, and for the record, my favourite stories were The Dead Past, An Immortal Bard and Dreaming is a Powerful Thing. But you could pick out any of these stories at random and still enjoy it.

[S.E. Martens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of 15 short stories and 2 poems, all originally published in the 1950s.

My favorites were:

The Dead Past - a history professor obsessed with Ancient Carthage is desperate to book time on the carefully guarded chronoscope. After being rejected numerous times, and finding other historians in the same boat, he begins to believe there is some kind of conspiracy. He recruits a young physics professor and learns that "neutrinics" - which is the basis of time-viewing - is not even being taught at any universities and there are no books on it at the library. They delve into researching the chronoscope, and time-viewing, and things go from there. This one is absolutely fascinating in how Asimov works out all of the implications for this hypothetical technology.

Franchise - what if all elections were decided once a year, by one man? In "the first and greatest Electronic Democracy," the massive supercomputer, Multivac, selects one citizen a year that it decides it can extrapolate the entire voting public's opinions from. As you might expect, this is especially juicy during a presidential election year and that person can expect a degree of fame (or infamy, depending on how the administration turns out.)

Kid Stuff - elves/fairies are a type of insect with strong psychic powers. One appears to a fantasy writer in his study, wanting to control the man's mind and create an industrial age for the elves. The insect/fairy idea is interesting and creepy.

Living Space - what if, to solve the problem of overpopulation, we utilized the infinite number of potential probabilities - of Earths where life never evolved - and set each family up with their own, otherwise barren, world? Everyone still comes to Earth proper to work and socialize, they have an interdimensional gate for that. I've never seen parallel worlds used in quite this way. Though I do wonder if Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter might have been partially inspired by this short story when they created their Long Earth series?

Satisfaction Guaranteed - Claire is a shy, anxious woman who is unappreciated by her husband and views herself as inferior to more glamorous women. Her husband agrees to take part in an experiment involving a prototype for what will be the first housework-oriented robot for the average home. TN-3 "Tony" is a lifelike android who stays with Claire for a couple of weeks and assists with the housework. The robot sees how miserable Claire is and the relationship that develops between them is very interesting. Doctor Susan Calvin from the Robot stories is also in this as a supporting character.

[Francisco M. Juárez · Rating 4 out of 5]

El primer libro que compre y leí de Isaac Asimov.

Una recopilación de cuentos dónde encontramos maravillas como Treta tridimensional... Dónde Asimov hace una de sus divertidas mezclas de ciencia ficción con fantasía, llena de ingenio y lógica como es frecuente con el buen Doctor.

También contiene uno de mis relatos preferidos de Asimov: Cómo se divertían. Acerca de cómo unos niños reciben educación personalizada de un robot profesor pero se aburren muchísimo en ese encierro... Un día encuentran un viejo libro donde se dan cuenta que las cosas no siempre fueron así... (De especial resonancia con la pandemia que acabamos de vivir).

Otro cuento genial es El pasado ha muerto, dónde un descubrimiento tremendo en el campo del estudio del tiempo tiene consecuencias inesperadas debido a los vicios y debilidades de la humanidad.

[Steventhesteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories by earlier science fiction authors is often listed with Asimov's name on the cover if he so much as edited three lines of one of them, but in this case the stories are all Asimov's.

To say that there's an interesting array of ideas here is a bit of an understatement, there's everything from future political theory to time travelling, a resurrected Shakespeare studying his own plays, and a precursor to Pratchett's Long Earth series. Some of them were a little flat to a modern reader, but a lot of the ideas are still sound.

I particularly enjoyed the story that discussed the societal singularity caused by robotic and computerised work automation. The man was always ahead of his time.

[Hadar G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good collection of Asimovs sci fi short stories from the fifties. Love reading stories about supercomputers in the future that work on vacuum tubes and punch cards.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isaac Asimov wrote a vast number of short stories that varied in quality. Earth Is Room Enough is a collection of them from the 1950s. That particular decade was a time when the possibilities of space travel captured the public’s attention so science-fiction writers catered to that interest with a vast output of writing regarding that subject. Asimov, however, was never the kind of guy who tried to keep up with all the hacks and sometimes went his own way by also writing stories that take place here on Earth. Some of these are collected in this short volume. While the location of all of them is our current home planet, there really is not one dominant theme that strings them all together.

The first story, titled “The Dead Past”, is the longest and best of the bunch. A historian hears about an invention that makes it possible to watch the past the way we watch television. He wants to observe the ancient city of Carthage to prove his theory that the Carthaginians did not practice child sacrifice; he believed that the accounts written about this were actually fictional propaganda meant to make the Roman citizens turn against the Carthaginians. (Was this an ancient version of Qanon?) When he contacts the company that owns this technology he only gets turned away. He finds a scientist who agrees to build this machine but they become suspicious that the government is involved in a cover up operation to keep this technology a secret. “The Dead Past” is not so much of a conspiracy theory story as it is a re-examination of the Frankenstein’s Monster complex where technology ends up harming its creators more than it helps them.

“Kid’s Stuff” is another interesting story. An author of pulp fantasy stories is working when a large insect-like creature appears on his desk. Despite its appearance, it claims to be an elf from Avalon then proceeds to dominate the mind and actions of the author. The elf’s plan is to enslave the author and take him to Avalon in order to teach the fairies there how to build a technological society. The author is unwilling to resist the telepathic domination of the elf but his son comes to the rescue at the end. Of course, the story ends with a happy resolution and a nice, neat explanation as to what actually happened, just as we would expect. Asimov did at times explore some radical themes but here we get a good example of how he often stuck to a conventional formula for story-telling.

The third most memorable story is “Dreaming Is a Private Thing”. A technology has been invented in which its user wears a helmet that transplants dreams into their heads, kind of like virtual reality. Since most people have dull imaginations, they hire professional dreamers to create dreams to be transmitted to others through the device. The elderly executive of the most successful dream company is under various kinds of pressure to keep the business at the top. Competitive market forces, new technological innovations, and government intrusions all threaten the company’s stability. On top of it all, his most talented dream-maker wants to quit in order to have a more ordinary life. While the technology sounds interesting, it is actually a gimmicky vehicle that Asimov uses to carry a statement about the need for quality over quantity. The director’s dilemma is whether or not he should sacrifice the quality of their product to stay competitive in the marketplace or not. An intelligent reader should have no trouble guessing what decision is made in the end.

The rest of the stories are somewhat interesting. There is the usual stuff about robots, a couple supernatural fantasies, a story that illustrates the multiverse hypothesis in quantum mechanics, and then there are some short stories that are more like jokes than works of literature. Jokes do not age well and the ones in this collection are just as corny as the ones your grandfather would tell when you were a little kid.

Overall this book is good for a one-time read. The ideas and insights are interesting but Isaac Asimov does a better job with the same themes in other works. Some of these stories could have been expanded and written with more depth but the author was a busy man and obviously had other priorities. Earth Is Room Enough is a collection of odds and ends that don’t really congeal into a unified whole the way I Robot does. But if you manage to pick up an old paperback imprint in nice condition, it is worth going over once as a light diversion.

[Mike Bright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Asimov has always been my favorite science fiction writer. I also like a lot of his non-fiction work. This book is a collection of short stories based on earth (as in not outer space). Each has a clever twist or idea that plays out in the narrative. Dr. Asimov always makes you think.

I enjoyed this for its own sake, but also for the pleasant memories of my teens - reading science fiction story after science fiction story. The stories are clearly dated (all written in the 1940s and 50s), particularly in their portrayal of computers. I find that charming, but some folks may not.

[Jörg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The German version "Geliebter Roboter" only features a selection of the stories.

The dead past ****
Invention: chronoscope, allowing to see the past. Consequence: Loss of all privacy. Interesting thought.

Franchise ****
Original idea: simplify elections, one representative voter identified by the central computer Multivac is enough.

The Watery Place ***
Aliens ask for contact, are satisfied with a 'no' and never come back again. Wrong place, wrong time.

Satisfaction Guaranteed *****
Characteristically Asimov. The problem is not Robots making love but humans falling in love with robots. Modification necessary.

Hell-Fire **
Too short and outdated to be a relevant criticism on the atom bomb.

The Last Trump ****
What really would happen when the last day is there and resurrection comes. Recommended reading for religious fanatics.

The Fun They Had **
In a future like this there will be millions of jobless teachers.

Jokester ****
Did Douglas Adams know this story when he was creating Big Thought?

Someday ***
What are machines dreaming of? Do they have their machine religion?

Dreaming is a Private Thing ***
Replace the dream production industry with modern mass media.

[Pinar Celebi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, like many other Asimov books, is classic. It can be considered as early science fiction. Except for a few anomalies like punch cards, Asimov’s imagination and stories fit in well still today. The technological advances humanity has achieved over time do not affect the impact of these stories. When I was reading it, I forgot the fact that these stories were written in 1950s. I think one can still see the possibilities of some of Asimov’s imagined futures even today.

Like many other reviewers, “Satisfaction Guaranteed” is my favorite from this collection.