I finally reach the end of this trilogy.

For the most part i’ve enjoyed the whole trilogy, but there are some annoying bits.   Like in this book: how did Cadmium know that Susan and Nate would be walking through that park at that time to set up their ambush?   She’d only just managed to rescue Nate and escape and even Susan had no idea how that was going to happen until, by a freak chance, it did.   So all rather ridiculous if anyone is asking what i think.

And it just so happens that there’s a jogger who saves her who is a super handsome god type who convinces Susan (who knows she’s seriously plain Jane) that he thinks she’s totally beautiful and seduces her into rampant sex.   Well it was obvious from the start what was going on, but super intelligent, genius Susan couldn’t see it until it was basically slammed into her face by Jake.   Once again, ridiculous.

But, if you can overlook the ridiculous it’s not too bad a story and we do get some good history on the beginning of humanoid robots and how Susan Calvin became the world’s first robo-psychologist.

Now, thankfully, i can return to Isaac to read the real stuff.

Bye for now.

Mickey’s Page

#scifi #isaacasimov #mickeyzuckerreichert

Quite an enjoyable read and, for the most part, a well written follow on from To Protect.

Sadly, this book at one point gets dragged down into the gutter by Mickey’s insistence that she use this story to have a go at vegan diets.   This added nothing whatsoever to the story, it’s was very clearly put in to put down vegan diets while promoting the consumption of cooked carrion.   Her, as an M.D. declaring very clearly that eating fatty meat is healthy is utterly sickening: how many people have to die from atherosclerosis and its complications (like dementia and Alzheimer’s, heart disease, diabetes, and many more) before doctors stop pushing this agenda?   It wouldn’t bother me so much if Mickey actually knew what she was talking about, but she very clearly doesn’t: just another ignorant quack thinking they know everything about nutrition when all they know about nutrition is littered with their own cognitive biases and addictions, and an absolute refusal to acknowledge the very clear scientific evidence.   Or maybe it’s not ignorance, maybe quacks promote unhealthy diets because quacks make an absolute fortune promoting bad dietary habits.

Fundamental truth: chronic health care is the biggest scam since organized religion.

Anyway, that dealt with, outside of that, the story itself is really good.

Moving on, it’s the last book in the trilogy, To Preserve.

Mickey’s Page

#scifi #isaacasimov #mickeyzuckerreichert

To be asked to write a trilogy about Susan Calvin’s early years as a fledging psychiatrist would, i imagine, have most writers running for the hills.   You have to know you’re going to annoy the hell out of the die-hard Asimov fans, as well as many others.   But Mickey took it on and, IMHO, didn’t do too bad a job.

Susan’s life and career has to start somewhere, and if you are a die hard Asimov fan who believes that no one should be adding anything to Robots and Foundation then just don’t read it: no one is forcing you to.   This book is not necessary to fully enjoy and appreciate the pure Asimov storyline, it’s just a little extra for anyone wanting a little background on one of Asimov’s characters.

That said, i did enjoy reading it.   At no point did i feel like giving up and reading something else and i have dived straight into the second book in the trilogy.

Some people have criticised the romance bit in this book, but i think it goes to show how Susan is so naive to the real world outside of her studies, and is totally lacking in a lot of social skills.

Anyway, like i said, i enjoyed it, so you might as well.   Just don’t expect Asimov, it isn’t.

And if you do enjoy it, there’s To Obey to read next.

Mickey’s Page

#scifi #isaacasimov #mickeyzuckerreichert