I, Robot is at its core, a tale of innocence and morality.  Humans are as gods and create robots, who are the newborn babes that know not what they do.  We gave the robots three rules to follow, but didn’t bother to explain these rules to them.  Instead we programmed these rules into the robots and gave them no choice but to follow them.  What does that say about humans, that we are so insecure in ourselves; in our humanity that we must program what we create?  This might be seen as morality to some, but it is an ugly, dark type of morality.
Many call Pike the Stephen King of young adult fiction for the way he can turn a phrase.   He uses syntax, rhythm, and tone to create a style that is very clearly his.  Christopher Pike is a popular young adult author, and for good reason.  Readers, regardless of age, enjoy reading his work.  He chooses his words carefully, weaving together a tome that is youthful without being childish.  The following is an example: “How fragile we all are.  Time has a permanent hold on us the moment we’re born.  It allows us to grow, to get big.  We go to school, we find jobs, we fall in love, get married, and have children.  Time lets us do all these things.  But in the end, it kills us”.  The syntax in this passage found at the beginning of the book is quite fascinating.  It starts off with these wistful sentences about the hope and joy of life, creating a lovely image, and then you are hit with the last sentence.
Asimov uses the narrative structure, rhythm, syntax, diction, and tone to create a collection of short stories quite unlike anything that had ever been seen before.  Certainly there had been novels about robots, but Asimov created his Three Laws and gave his robots character and dimension.  That is the key to all of the linguistics in I, Robot.  There is depth despite it being a somewhat dry science fiction book.  Asimov’s adoption of the literary conventions of the “Space Age” in which he wrote I, Robot are spot on.  However, as a great a science fiction writer as he was, Isaac Asimov preferred writing about actual non-fiction science affairs.  During his life, he published 205 scientific non-fiction books.
Robotics are always going to be an interesting topic to write about because the author can take the topic in so many different directions.  Here we have time traveling cyborgs and a collection of stories about different robots over the years.  These two books made for a very enjoyable read that got better every time they are read, and you take away something new every time you read them.
If mankind truly knew how to deal with morality or knew what is best for them, then the course of real life would certainly be different.  We could read I, Robot and enjoy the dynamic of the brusque humans versus the innocent robots instead of wondering if we are reading a cautionary tale.  The Eternal Enemy could be read over the weekend without worrying about how long it’s going to take before a cyborg shows up from the future to eliminate humanity for our betterment.  Science fiction is full of cautionary tales, as is life.  Only time will tell if Asimov and Pike actually succeeded in their mission of writing the warning story.
