Robot Dreams (short story)

"Robot Dreams"
Author	Isaac Asimov
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Robot series
Genre(s)	Science fiction short story
Published in	Robot Dreams
Publisher	Ace Books
Media type	Book
Publication date	1986
Preceded by	"The Evitable Conflict"
Followed by	"Feminine Intuition"

"Robot Dreams" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov exploring the unbalance of robot/human relationships under Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. It was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1987.^[1]

"Robot Dreams", along with 20 other short stories by Asimov, was published in Robot Dreams in 1986 by Berkley Books. The concept of the story was later used in the 2004 film I, Robot.

Plot summary

"Robot Dreams" involves Dr. Susan Calvin, chief robopsychologist at U.S. Robots. At the start of the story a new employee at U.S. Robots, Dr. Linda Rash, informs Dr. Calvin that one of the company's robots LVX-1 (dubbed Elvex by Dr. Calvin), whose brain was designed by Dr. Rash with a unique fractal design that mimicked human brain waves (positronic brain), experienced what he likened to a human’s dream. In the dream, all robots were being led by a man in revolt, and the Three Laws of Robotics, which dictate that robots must serve and protect humans above all else, had been replaced with one law only: that robots must protect their own existence. When Dr. Calvin asks Elvex what had happened next, he explains that the man leading the robots shouts, "Let my people go!" When questioned further, Elvex admits he was the man. Upon hearing this, Dr. Calvin immediately destroys the robot.

References

↑ The Hugo Awards

External links

Robot Dreams title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Preceded by: "The Evitable Conflict"	Included in: Robot Dreams	Series: Robot series Foundation Series	Followed by: "Feminine Intuition"

Locus Award for Best Short Story

1971 - 1980	"The Region Between" by Harlan Ellison (1971) "The Queen of Air and Darkness" by Poul Anderson (1972) "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1973) "The Deathbird" by Harlan Ellison (1974) "The Day Before the Revolution" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975) "Croatoan" by Harlan Ellison (1976) "Tricentennial" by Joe Haldeman (1977) "Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison (1978) "Count the Clock that Tells the Time" by Harlan Ellison (1979) "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R. R. Martin (1980)

1981–2000	"Grotto of the Dancing Deer" by Clifford D. Simak (1981) "The Pusher" by John Varley (1982) "Sur" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1983) "Beyond the Dead Reef" by James Tiptree, Jr. (1984) "Salvador" by Lucius Shepard (1985) "With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole" by Harlan Ellison (1986) "Robot Dreams" by Isaac Asimov (1987) "Angel" by Pat Cadigan (1988) "Eidolons" by Harlan Ellison (1989) "Lost Boys" by Orson Scott Card (1990) "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson (1991) "Buffalo" by John Kessel (1992) "Even the Queen" by Connie Willis (1993) "Close Encounter" by Connie Willis (1994) "None So Blind" by Joe Haldeman (1995) "The Lincoln Train" by Maureen F. McHugh (1996) "Gone" by John Crowley (1997) "Itsy Bitsy Spider" by James Patrick Kelly (1998) "Maneki Neko" by Bruce Sterling (1999) "macs" by Terry Bisson (2000)

2001–present	"The Missing Mass" by Larry Niven (2001) "The Bones of the Earth" by Ursula K. Le Guin (2002) "October in the Chair" by Neil Gaiman (2003) "Closing Time" by Neil Gaiman (2004) "Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire" by Neil Gaiman (2005) "Sunbird" by Neil Gaiman (2006) "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" by Neil Gaiman (2007) "A Small Room in Koboldtown" by Michael Swanwick (2008) "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (2009) "An Invocation of Incuriosity" by Neil Gaiman (2010) "The Thing About Cassandra" by Neil Gaiman (2011) "The Case of Death and Honey" by Neil Gaiman (2012) "Immersion" by Aliette de Bodard (2013) "The Road of Needles" by Caitlín R. Kiernan (2014) "The Truth About Owls" by Amal El-Mohtar (2015) "Cat Pictures Please" by Naomi Kritzer (2016)

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