Isaac Asimov's Inferno by Roger MacBride Allen

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Synopsis

In a Universe protected by the Three Laws of Robotics, humans are safe. The Second Law states, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. When a key politician is murdered, suspicion falls on Caliban... the only robot without guilt or conscience, with no need to obey or to respect humanity... a robot without the Three Laws. But the stakes go deeper than one man's life. Caliban is challenging long-held ideas of a robot's place in society. Will he lead his New Law robots in a rebellion that threatens all humanity? The sequel to the bestselling Caliban is a searing examination of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, a challenge welcomed and sanctioned by Isaac Asimov, the beloved late genius of science fiction, and written with his cooperation by one of today's hottest talents, Roger MacBride Allen, author of The Modular Man, The Ring of Charon, and Caliban.

Annotation

Based on the late Isaac Asimov's idea of building a safeguard into robots to prevent their becoming a threat to humanity, Asimov proposed a book about a robot without the safeguard. Caliban was the result. Now the adventures of Caliban continue in an electrifying new novel wherein Caliban is challenging a robot's place in society.

BookList

Allen continues the exploration of the ramifications of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics begun in "Caliban". This time, he deals with murder on the planet Inferno, a theoretical milieu of the Earth Settlers and the Spacers from the independent colonies, which he drew from Asimov's robot novels and expanded upon in "Caliban". This novel involves a good theoretical puzzle that will keep readers turning pages but still emerges as mostly a homage to the departed sf master. Allen has emerged during the last 10 years as a versatile and imaginative writer in his own right, and it's hard not to prefer seeing him sail under his own colors, however much he (and we) may justly admire the late Asimov.