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I, Robot (Paperback)
Isaac Asimov
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R316
R228
Discovery Miles 2 280
Save R88 (28%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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Voyager Classics - timeless masterworks of science fiction and
fantasy. The classic collection of robot stories from the master of
the genre. In these stories Isaac Asimov creates the Three Laws of
Robotics and ushers in the Robot Age. Earth is ruled by
master-machines but the Three Laws of Robotics have been designed
to ensure humans maintain the upper hand: 1) A robot may not injure
a human being or allow a human being to come to harm 2) A robot
must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such
orders would conflict with the First Law. 3) A robot must protect
its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with
the First or Second Law. But what happens when a rogue robot's idea
of what is good for society contravenes the Three Laws?
Isaac Asimov's Robot series - from the iconic collection I, Robot
to four classic novels - contains some of the most influential
works in the history of science fiction. Establishing and testing
the Three Laws of Robotics, they continue to shape the
understanding and design of artificial intelligence to this day.
Could a robot ever show true creativity? Is it wise to trust
self-driving cars? Will robotic body parts transform human beings
into machines? Will organic technology allow robots to become
human? The Complete Robot combines the stories in I, Robot and The
Rest of the Robots with many more found only in this collection -
including one of Asimov's masterpieces, the Hugo and Nebula
award-winning novella 'The Bicentennial Man'. Featuring Dr. Susan
Calvin, Donovan and Powell, and the detective Elijah Baley, hero of
the Robot novels, this is the ultimate collection of short stories
from a genius of the genre.
THE SECOND BOOK OF THE GALATIC EMPIRE SERIES A nova-bright
adventure and the spectacular precursor to the classic Foundation
series by a founding father of science fiction. The fate of the
galaxy hangs in the balance. High above the planet Florina, the
Squires of Sark live in unimaginable wealth and comfort. Down in
the eternal spring of its surface, however, the native Florinians
labour ceaselessly for their Sarkite masters. Rebellion is
unthinkable and impossible. But now both worlds are hurtling toward
a cataclysm, and only one man knows the truth; a man without a
memory or a past, unaware of the secret locked inside his own
brain. . . Their world is doomed.
DISCOVER THE SAGA BEHIND THE APPLE TV+ ORIGINAL SERIES From a grand
master of science fiction comes the long awaited final novel of one
of the greatest series ever told. Completed just before his death,
FORWARD THE FOUNDATION is a crowning achievement and stirring
testament to the creative genius of Isaac Asimov. As Hari Seldon
struggles to perfect his revolutionary theory of psychohistory and
ensure a place for humanity among the stars, the once-mighty
Galactic Empire totters on the brink of apocalyptic collapse.
Caught in the maelstrom are Seldon and all he holds dear, pawns in
the struggle for dominance. Whoever can control Seldon will control
psychohistory—and with it the future of the galaxy. Among those
seeking to turn psychohistory into the greatest weapon known to man
are a populist political demagogue, the weak-willed Emperor Cleon
I, and a ruthless militaristic general. In his last act of service
to humankind, Hari Seldon must somehow save his life's work from
their grasp as he searches for his true heirs—a search that
begins with his own granddaughter and the dream of a new
Foundation.
Caught up in an experiment gone wrong, Joseph Schwartz is
transported forward in time from post-war Chicago to the heyday of
the first Galactic Empire. Earth, he soon learns, is a backwater,
despised by the other two hundred million planets of the Empire
because its people dare to claim it as the original home of man.
And Earth is poor, with great areas of radioactivity ruining much
of its soil - so poor that everyone is sentenced to death at the
age of sixty. And Joseph Schwartz is sixty-two. Asimov's Galactic
Empire novels are among the earliest stories by one of the
twentieth century's greatest visionaries. Filled with ideas and
wonders, they are classic adventures from science fiction's Golden
Age.
First published fifteen years ago, shortly after his death, inside
this collection are some of the finest short stories of science
fiction writing from one of the genre's greatest writers, Isaac
Asimov. Isaac Asimov was the Grand Master of the Science Fiction
Writers of America, the founder of robot ethics, and one of the
world's most prolific authors of fiction and non-fiction. The Good
Doctor's short fiction has been enjoyed by millions for more than
half a century. Now the definitive Asimov collection is underway
with Volume One of The Complete Stories. Many of these stories are
classics of the genre, and the last, 'The Last Question', the
absolute personal favourite of Asimov himself. Always entertaining
and thought provoking, these stories display Asimov's mastery of
the short story form. He remains supreme as the thinking person's
science fiction writer.
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation
series is Isaac Asimov's iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the
backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon's
two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary
imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today.
The First Foundation has been defeated, crushed by the formidable
mental powers of the Mule. But whispers of the mysterious Second
Foundation, the only hope of defeating the Mule, are beginning to
spread... Surviving members of the First Foundation also fear the
secret powers of the Second Foundation, vowing to find and destroy
it. However, the location of the Second Foundation remains shrouded
in mystery. Finding it will lead the Foundation to the opposite end
of the Galaxy, where the fate of Seldon's two Foundations awaits.
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Foundation Trilogy (Hardcover)
Isaac Asimov; Introduction by Michael Dirda
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R614
R507
Discovery Miles 5 070
Save R107 (17%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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It is the story of the Galactic Empire, crumbling after twelve
thousand years of rule. And it is the particular story of
psycho-historian Hari Seldon, the only man who can see the horrors
the future has in store: a dark age of ignorance, barbarism and
violence that will last for thirty thousand years. Gathering
together a band of courageous men and women, Seldon leads them to a
hidden location at the edge of the galaxy where he hopes they can
preserve human knowledge and wisdom against all who would destroy
them. Asimov went on to add numerous sequels and prequels to the
trilogy, building up what has become known as the Foundation
series, but it is the original three books, first published in the
Forties and Fifties, which remain the most powerful, imaginative
and breathtaking.
One of Isaac Asimov's SF masterpieces, this stand-alone novel is a
monument of the flowering of SF in the 20th century. It is widely
regarded as Asimov's single best SF novel and one every SF fan
should read.
Andrew Harlan is an Eternal, a member of the elite of the future.
One of the few who live in Eternity, a location outside of place
and time, Harlan's job is to create carefully controlled and
enacted Reality Changes. These Changes are small, exactingly
calculated shifts in the course of history made for the benefit of
humankind. Though each Change has been made for the greater good,
there are always costs.
During one of his assignments, Harlan meets and falls in love with
Noÿs Lambent, a woman who lives in real time and space. Then Harlan
learns that Noÿs will cease to exist after the next change, and
risks everything to sneak her into Eternity.
Unfortunately, they are caught. Harlan's punishment? His next
assignment: kill the woman he loves before the paradox they have
created results in the destruction of Eternity.
For more than forty years, Isaac Asimov thrilled millions of
readers with his bestselling Foundation series, a spellbinding tale
of the future that spans thousands of years and dozens of worlds.
Completed just weeks before his death in April 1992, Forward the
Foundation is the seventh and concluding volume of this masterwork,
which was awarded a Hugo for the 'Best All-Time Science Fiction
Series'. In the earlier Foundation novels, Hari Seldon, the guiding
genius of the Foundation, was a figure of history. By going back to
the great mathmatician's life, in Forward the Foundation, Asimov
fills in the remaining gaps in his epic story. Asimov acknowledged
that he always regarded Seldon as his alter ego, and this novel is
all the more poignant for the fact that he himself died only weeks
after writing about Seldon's death. A resounding tour de force,
Forward the Foundation offers the dramatic climax to the Foundation
series, and perhaps the greatest moment in science fiction to date.
Voyager Classics - timeless masterworks of science fiction and
fantasy. A beautiful clothbound edition of I, Robot, the classic
collection of robot stories from the master of the genre. In these
stories Isaac Asimov creates the Three Laws of Robotics and ushers
in the Robot Age. Earth is ruled by master-machines but the Three
Laws of Robotics have been designed to ensure humans maintain the
upper hand: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or allow a
human being to come to harm 2) A robot must obey orders given to it
by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the
First Law. 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as
such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. But
what happens when a rogue robot's idea of what is good for society
contravenes the Three Laws?
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation
series is Isaac Asimov's iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the
backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon's
two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary
imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today.
In a time before the Foundations, psychohistory's creator Hari
Seldon is made to stand before the Emperor of the crumbling
Galactic Empire to present how his scientific theory of predicting
the future might be applied to the real world. However, Hari
refuses to deploy his theory for political gain, setting off
instead with reporter Chetter Hummin in quest of a place to safely
apply his theory: Earth, the original home of humanity. All records
of Earth have been lost to time. Hari will therefore have to look
back into the past, in order to seal the future of humanity for
ever.
The second volume in an extraordinary collection published shortly
after the author's death. In these twenty-three stories, Asimov's
vivid awareness of the potential of technology is translated into
human dilemmas. The definitive collection of short fiction by Isaac
Asimov, supreme master of the science fiction genre continues with
Volume Two of the Complete Stories. The Good Doctor was always
ahead of his time and his work stands today as the clearest
expression of our collective hopes and fears for the future. But
the ever-expanding popularity of his stories with young and old
readers alike is explained by their wit, zest and human interest.
Within this volume are stories often voted among the best science
fiction stories of all time. In these stories Asimov's vivid
awareness of the potential of technology is translated into human
dilemmas that are more relevant today than ever before.
Isaac Asimov’s Robot series – from the iconic collection I,
Robot to four classic novels – contains some of the most
influential works in the history of science fiction. Establishing
and testing the Three Laws of Robotics, they continue to shape the
understanding and design of artificial intelligence to this day.
What happens when a robot begins to question its creators? What
would be the consequences of creating a robot with a sense of
humour? Or the ability to lie? How do we truly tell the difference
between man and machine? In I, Robot, Asimov sets out the Three
Laws of Robotics – designed to protect humans from their robotic
creations – and pushes them to their limits and beyond. Following
genius robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin and engineers Powell and
Donovan, these short stories helped to transform artificial
intelligence from a dream into a science and changed perceptions of
robots for ever.
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation
series is Isaac Asimov's iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the
backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon's
two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary
imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today.
The First Foundation survived two centuries of barbarism as the
once-mighty Galactic Empire descended into chaos. Now it mist
prepare for war against the remnants of the Empire as the Imperial
fleet advances on their planet, Terminus. Hari Seldon predicted
this war; he even prepared his Foundation for it. But he couldn't
foresee the birth of the mutant Mule. In possession of a power
which reduces fearsome opposition to devoted slaves, the Mule poses
a terrible threat to Seldon's Foundation.
Gold is the final and crowning achievement of the fifty-year career of science fiction's transcendent genius, the world-famous author who defined the field of science fiction for its practitioners, its millions of readers, and the world at large. The first section contains stories that range from the humorous to the profound, at the heart of which is the title story, "Gold," a moving and revealing drama about a writer who gambles everything on a chance at immortality: a gamble Asimov himself made -- and won. The second section contains the grand master's ruminations on the SF genre itself. And the final section is comprised of Asimov's thoughts on the craft and writing of science fiction.
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation
series is Isaac Asimov's iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the
backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon's
two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary
imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today.
Faced with determining the fate of the galaxy, Golan Trevize
hesitantly chose to hand over the rule of the galaxy to planet
Gaia. Two mysteries now remain: who has erased the records of Earth
- and why? Determined to ensure his choice was right, Golan sets
off with Janov Pelorat and Bliss, to answer these questions once
and for all. But nothing could prepare them for the secrets which
await them on Earth. Secrets which predate history as they know it,
and will change its significance forever...
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation
series is Isaac Asimov's iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the
backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon's
two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary
imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today.
After a long war which saw the First Foundation emerge victorious,
the Second Foundation is now believed to be extinct, and all
records of planet Earth's existence have been erased. No one
suspects that the Second Foundation could still exist. None, except
Council member Golan Trevize, who finds himself ordered to leave
Terminus, accompanied by historian Janov Pelorat, in order to find
it. Yet this quest will lead an unsuspecting Golan further than he
could have possibly imagined - closer than ever to Earth, where the
fate of the whole galaxy awaits him.
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Foundation (Paperback)
Isaac Asimov
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R316
R137
Discovery Miles 1 370
Save R179 (57%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation
series is Isaac Asimov's iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the
backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon's
two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary
imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today.
The Galactic Empire has prospered for twelve thousand years. Nobody
suspects that the heart of the thriving Empire is rotten, until
psychohistorian Hari Seldon uses his new science to foresee its
terrible fate. Exiled to the desolate planet Terminus, Seldon
establishes a colony of the greatest minds in the Empire, a
Foundation which holds the key to changing the fate of the galaxy.
However, the death throes of the Empire breed hostile new enemies,
and the young Foundation's fate will be threatened first.
Isaac Asimov’s Robot series – from the iconic collection I,
Robot to four classic novels – contains some of the most
influential works in the history of science fiction. Establishing
and testing the Three Laws of Robotics, they continue to shape the
understanding and design of artificial intelligence to this day.
Two centuries have passed since Elijah Baley’s actions on Aurora
sent settlers from Earth to new worlds all over the galaxy. The
Spacer planet of Solaria has been abandoned by humans, though
countless robots remain. When settlers arrive to salvage them,
something unthinkable happens – the robots attack. Accompanied by
Gladia Delmarre and the robots Daneel and Giskard, a descendant of
Elijah Baley sets out for Solaria to investigate, a quest that will
lead them to a vast, catastrophic conspiracy and a revolution in
the Three Laws of Robotics.
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