Cal

by Isaac Asimov

Doubleday had a re-issue series going at the time called the "Isaac Asimov Collection" which accepted subscribers to all of the Doubleday Asimov books that were being re-issued at the time. Subscribers to the series received this pamphlet with a new story as a thank you.

Cal is a robot whose master is an author. Cal, under the influence of the latter, decides to learn to write. His master outfits his mind with a dictionary and gives him advice and a few of his own books to read, as well as a grammatical dictionary. Cal tries to write mystery like his master, but is hampered by the Three Laws of Robotics; a robot's aversion to harming a human makes Cal cut out all violence, making the mystery rather inane. Instead, his master decides to give him the knack of recognizing humor. Cal writes a very good story on this new topic: so good, in fact, that his master is afraid of being put in the shade and 'playing second dog to a robot'. He orders the technician to remove Cal's abilities. Cal, hearing this, decides to kill his master, in defiance of the First Law, because apparently his new abilities take precedence: "I want to be a writer.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Robots, Audiobook

25 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1990

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

[Alvaro Zinos-Amaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was headed toward a solid 4 stars. The setup was intriguing and the way *mild spoiler* we get to experience for ourselves firsthand Cal's early literary efforts is ingenious--little stories that illuminate the psychology and abilities of their fictional creator. Unfortunately that went too far for me with Cal's latter story. Yes, Azazel--how cute. But it's too long and kind of obnoxious. A shame, because I love the story's last two lines.

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting how Cal goes from the Three Laws abiding robot to the homicidal one at the end. I loved the the story but I had to deduct a star because of Cal's third attempt at writing; I didn't enjoy that one.

[JJ Hood · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Cal” is a neat little short story wrote by Isaac Asimov. It is quite short, with only 25 pages, but it is also enjoyable. Cal is a sympathetic little robot; I related to his desire to write. Mr. Northrop was also an interesting, well written character. The third story wrote by Cal was overdrawn, but it got better as it went on and I did end up enjoying the story. Overall, if you’re thinking about reading Cal, you’re most likely an avid reader of Asimov. If not, this is a nice introduction to his writing.

[Naznin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so finely written. I could actually feel Cal's longing. Asimov's writing has this beautiful power of inducing emotions at every possible corner of your heart.

I'm not going to talk about the plot or characters here. You'll need to find it out yourself. You must read it and continue admiring Asimov as long as you breathe.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable vintage sci-fi. I am glad that so far it doesn't look like we have to worry much about robots abiding to the laws of robotics. Also, as with other writings of Asimov, the end doesn't give any answers, it raises more questions, ones that are valid even today. And I think that is part of the authors genius.

[Yoglaxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Qué interesante!

Me gustó el guiño con el demonio Azazel de otro libro de Asimov.

Cal es un robot que lleva y trae cosas a su amo. Nada más. Pero un día empieza a pensar que puede llegar a ser algo más, algo mejor. Quiere ser escritor, como lo es su amo.

La historia Cal da mucho que pensar.

Lo recomiendo!

[Kareen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historia muy buena de Asimov sobre un robot doméstico si se puede llamar así, que quiere ser escritor y que su dueño o amo al inicio lo intenta ayudar pero como vé que progresa no quiere convertirse en su sombra entonces intentará resetearlo para que esté como cuando recién vino nuevo, pero el robot Cal tendrá otros planes.

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find this in Gold .

An author has a robot that expresses a desire to become a writer.   So the author gets several upgrades done to the robot in order for it to write stories.

With a good little twist at the end.

Next book is Kid Brother .

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5
That was excellent. One of my new favorites. I like the appearance of Azazel and have ideas of how those stories can be incorporated into the foundation and robot timeline. 🤔

Did Cal break 1st law? I have thoughts on that, too.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read, with a humorous ending.

Also, this story contains the silliest line I've seen in an asimov story yet; "If her pelvis had been full of cream, it would have been butter long since."

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much focus on Cal's stories and not enough on Cal. Otherwise a fairly food story.

[Be Storie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cal, the robot, wants to write like his master. The master installs software to make this possible. Cal surpasses his master and must be disassembled.

[Катерина Майковська]

I hope I won't go that far jn my desire to be a writer.

[Jaxon Charlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on the meaning of art and humanity