Caliban

Asimov's robot novels are my favorite novels by any author. Therefore Allen had a tough road ahead of him in my mind when writing additional material for that universe and he succeed completely. I very much enjoyed Caliban. It faithfully followed the "historical" course started in Asimov's books. Something I consider essential when writing in another author's universe. It provided a wonderful example of the Spacer/Settler struggle and how it may have played out through the centuries until the complete decline of the Spacer worlds. It was very interesting to witness a Spacer world in decline, not just culturally but also in the enviromental sense given that the idea of the Spacer worlds degenerating enviromentally was a theme touched on by Asimov in Foundation and Earth. Also, the idea that at least some of the Spacer worlds may have been adbandonned due to enviromental neglect as opposed to the neglect setting in after they had left is thought provoking. The spirit of cooperation represented by the Spacer/Settler union was also a nice theme. It could have only been better if Gladia Delmarre had made an appearance as liaison between Inferno and the Settlers but you can't have everything now that the Master himself has gone. I highly recommend this book.

This was my first time reading a sci fi book..i wasn't really looking forward to it, for fear of high-tech robotic jargon....but did i get proved wrong! i read this book cover to cover in a day, and it was great! i never knew that sci-fi books cover so many other aspects of society like political corruption, moral dilemmas, philosophy, and so much more. it was a great book....it raised an interesting question about if we have robots whose primary goal is to keep humans from being injured..what about pursuing things that could be perilous? since life is about taking chances, in this society it would not be possible to pursue something 'risky' because a robot's natural instinct would be to protect the human being. all it all, it was a great book, that stimulated my mind in all directions...i think i will try out this whole sci-fi deal now!

Let me start by saying that I have read all of Asimov's Robot series and enjoyed them tremendously. To me, this book represents a major achievement in the understanding of robots in Asimov's Universe. I completely enjoyed this book from cover to cover, reading it in one night. But the most important part (I think), was how Caliban developed. Never before have we had a look into a robots mind like this, regardless of the Three Laws. The way Allen described the development of the robot was amazing. I hope to see more of his development in Inferno, which I will definitely purchase. In addition, I thank Mr. Allen for leaving Asimov's Universe intact, not changing any of his fundamentals (Except for the Three Laws obviously), and for helping to fill a blank in Asimov's future history between the Spacer and Settler era, and Trantor's rise.

Caliban is a fresh look on well known Three Laws. There were hints in Robot Series (The Naked Sun, The Robots Of Dawn), that the Laws aren't perfect. But only this book showed the main errors, and the price Spacers must pay is terrible... This book is great addition to Dr.Asimov's robots (even through it's a sad one). I suggest also re-read the whole Robot Series after reading that book.

Roger MacBride Allen has written a novel that could perhaps only be equaled by the Grandmaster of Science-fiction the late, Isaac Asimov. This novel is based on the three laws of Robotics, that previous readers of Asimov's robot novels, should be quite familiar with. In the beginning, of the novel, Allen makes Caliban,the main character of the book and a no-law robot appear like a Frankenstein-type character, however, as the book progresses you learn that Caliban is, in fact, more human than any other robot in the Asimov universe. Due to the absence of the three laws Caliban is blessed with something no Asimov robot ever had before, his own free-will