Robot City
The Robot City novels begin revolving around a man who has no memory of who he was, but believes he might be called Derec after a name-badge he is wearing. Derec journeys to Robot City, a city of robots, with a handful of transient humans. There, Derec meets another mysterious person calling herself Katherine, whose real name turns out to be Ariel, and together the two disprove their role in the apparent murder of a human whose identity is not known by the robots. Fleeing an increasingly dangerous Robot City, Derec and Ariel journey to Earth to find the city's creator, the insane Dr. Avery and learn their true identities. As the series goes on, Both Ariel and Derec are repeatedly asked to confront more questions as old ones are answered, all of which, no matter how broad, always seem to connect with Robot City.
The series makes much use of the Three Laws of Robotics and their interpretations and interactions when dealing with obscure scenarios, such as levels or priority in conflicting orders, a human brain in a robot body, and do the laws apply to non-human, but sentient beings. It also addresses, in passing, differences in interpretation of the First Law, namely, the difference between physical harm and psychological harm.
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- Odyssey by Michael P. Kube-McDowell (1987)
- Suspicion by Mike McQuay (1987)
- Cyborg by William F. Wu (1987)
- Prodigy by Arthur Byron Cover (1988)
- Refuge by Rob Chilson (1988)
- Perihelion by William F. Wu (1988)
Perihelion ends with a promise to "continue with Robot City # 7", which appears to refer to Changeling, the first volume of Robots and Aliens.
Read more about this topic: Isaac Asimov's Robot City
Famous quotes containing the words robot and/or city:
“Let’s start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics.... We have: one, a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. And three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.”
—Isaac Asimov (1920–1992)
“Do you know what Agelisas said, when he was asked why the great city of Lacedomonie was not girded with walls? Because, pointing out the inhabitants and citizens of the city, so expert in military discipline and so strong and well armed: “Here,” he said, “are the walls of the city,” meaning that there is no wall but of bones, and that towns and cities can have no more secure nor stronger wall than the virtue of their citizens and inhabitants.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)