kwalker314 's review for:

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

2.0

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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dry af (though that seems to be the norm for classic sci-fi) and subtly misogynistic/us-centric in a way that nonetheless grated on me. the stories were alright but so slow and tell-don't-show that it felt boring most of the time. i do ship donovan and powell (though i'm sure that wasn't the intent lmao), and it was fun to see them consistently get into deep shit, almost always as a result of their own actions. the scene where they get stuck on the ship constructed by The Brain and all it has in the pantry is beans and milk, including beans in cans made to look like salmon filet cans or something was really funny, and the scene where they make the interstellar jump and

briefly die and see the gates of hell (???)

was so funny and out-there compared to the rest of the book.

i can see why a lot of people liked this book, and it's certainly full of interesting situations (especially in 2025, where peoples' treatment of AI and their expectations for what it will do for humanity seem to closely parallel peoples' treatment of robots in the book), but i would recommend pretty much any other sci-fi if you're looking for progressive, exciting stories.