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"2035: Robotic technology has evolved into the realm of self-aware, sentient mechanical entities. The future of the human race is to be inevitably linked with its most brilliant creation. But there are some who do not want the future to arrive.... Intelligent and driven, Dr. Susan Calvin is beginning her residency in psychiatry at Manhattan Hasbro teaching hospital, where a select group of patients is receiving the latest in diagnostic advancements--nanotechnology. Tiny nanobots injected into the spinal fluid can locate and assess neural pathways and transmitters, unlocking and mapping the physiological workings of the human mind. The possibilities for such groundbreaking technology are almost endless. Soon Susan begins to notice an ominous chain of events surrounding the patients. They begin exhibiting extreme behavior, from shocking violence to baffling self-destructive tendencies. And when she tries to alert her superiors to the situation, she is met with callous disregard by those who want to keep their project far from any controversy or scrutiny for the sake of their own agenda. But what no one knows is that a technology that promised to improve life is now under the control of those who seek to spread only death..."--… (more)
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I enjoyed this book in its own rights. It felt more like a medical mystery thriller with a robot plot element than 'hard' sci-fi. I'm a hard sci-fi fan and huge fan of Asimov (despite his work having stereotypes that make this modern woman cringe), but I'm also a fan of other genres, so I was okay with that. Reichert's portrayal of the children's diagnoses in the PIPU unit were well rounded and credible (and I have enough background to know it). There was a bit of strained credibility about how easily Susan came up with star diagnoses to cure some patients, but I really wanted to learn those things and did NOT want to read through another 200 pages of so of extraneous text just to get to those conclusions.
Which is where I get to my complaints about this book.
1. MORE ROBOTS!!!
2. Nate was far too developed for the timeline in Asimov's universe, but I adored him enough to overlook that defect.
3. The bad guys should have been better developed. Too much of a 'vague bad guy' feeling. Perhaps more confrontations between protestors and staff?
4. [ Susan's romantic interest fell totally flat. I understand she's single and alone in Asimov's later timeline, but if you're going to love somebody so much that you spend the rest of your life alone, at least make it credible! This was doubly disappointing because Reichert's PIPU ward psych patients were so well-rounded. It's like ... sheesh! At least in the Terminator series, you could understand why Reese would travel back in time to save Sarah Connor even though he didn't know HE was to be John Connor's father, or why Sarah Connor was never able to get over Reese even though they only had one night together. C'mon! A little well-written sex (or at least innuendo of sex) in a 'hard' science-fiction novel won't kill the hard-core geek-fans.
I'm rating this 4-stars because the psych-ward patients were so well done and will probably read the next book in the series, but hope to see the things I complained about improve.
Don't bother
Most curious of all, Susan meets Nate, also known as N8-C, a robot so human looking and acting that he could pass for a human. Susan finds him intriguing for many reasons. One of the reasons is that he was produced by the company her father John works for - in a job he doesn't talk about and calls boring. She learns about the three laws of robotics which are designed to keep society safe from robots running amok.
We learn a lot about Susan's work as she treats her first four patients. We also quickly learn that Susan is a genius as she finds fixes for three of her first patients. Two of the fixes were primarily medical but with psychiatric implications. It is the fourth case that is the most difficult. Sharicka Anson is four years old and has juvenile conduct disorder. She has killed her family pet and attempted to kill her sister and other children. She is also cute, charming, witty, extremely intelligent and a champion manipulator of those around her.
Susan, partially because of her father and partially because of her early successes, is invited to take part in a study which will insert nanobots into the brains of people with severe psychiatric issues in the hopes of finding areas for treatment. The project is very secret because of the protesters who are certain that doctors are creating cyborgs that will take over the world or something at least as damaging as that.
When one of the subjects hijacks a bus (which Susan and Remy are on) and detonates a bomb which kills him and damages nearby property, Susan begins to wonder if the experiment has something to do with it. It seems that the subjects are using the three laws of robotics to minimize the damage. The scientists don't want to let the police know because the fear it will set robotics back a hundred years which leaves Susan and Remy trying to find the rest of the subjects. Unfortunately, Sharicka had been chosen as one of the subjects which leaves a sociopath with a bomb on the loose.
This was an intriguing science fiction story the builds on events in the News and suggests a possible future. It is the first of a trilogy and does leave a number of unanswered questions for the next books to answer. I found it compellingly readable and fascinating.