Book Description
Enter a galaxy of fun and discover how Ricky befriends the Mighty Robot for the first time, before battling such sinister spacemonsters as Mercurian Mosquitoes, Vultures from Venus, and Martian Mecha-Monkeys! Each early chapter book has action-packed Flip-O-Rama and instructions on how to draw each character! Also includes a cool sticker sheet featuring Ricky, his Robot, and all the bad guys! It's a collection that's truly out of this world! "Pilkey fans, science-fiction aficionados, and reluctant readers won't want to miss [this series]."--SLJ
Customer Reviews:
Good content, bad binding.......2007-01-09
My 5-year old daughter loves the Ricky Ricotta books (and so do I); however, the binding on one of the books gave out after two readings. We're left with a handful of loose pages and some Christmas sadness.
My son's first self-read chapter books!.......2006-12-20
My first glance at Ricky Ricotta led me to dismiss these as less-fun items in Dav Pilkey's enormous backlist (he's the author of the humungously fun and kid popular series Captain Underpants, as well as dozens of other titles like Dumb Bunny, Dogzilla, Dragon, etc...) That's not what my kids thought! I was shocked to see my son Ben (age 6) alone on his bed reading Ricky Ricotta all by himself - to himself! It was the first time he ever just sat and read a chapter book by himself. My son loves super heroes and watches shows like Ben10 (about a boy who can become a bunch of alien superheroes). It's that age old subconscious tension between feeling the powerlessness of being a small minor with wanting the world-shifting power they see in adults. Ricky Ricotta is about a little mouse boy who comes into possession (well - maybe it's control over - or maybe just close friendship with...) a super giant powerful robot. They have adventures that involve fighting evil enemies and saving the world. It's handled in a light funny way - like Captain Underpants' style - but without the major scatalogical focus. It's right on the money and little Ben quickly devoured these. Then he read them to his little 3 year old sister. She didn't sit still for all of it (what 3 year old ever sits still for anything?) but she clearly enjoyed them too. I can't recommend them highly enough for kids in the early-reader zone.
My son is actually reading...by choice!.......2006-12-14
My 8 year old loves the Captain Underpants collection by Dav Pilkey that I got him last year. However, my husband and I have done most of the reading to him. I recently got him the entire Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot Collection after reading other reviews that 2nd graders enjoyed reading them. I was skeptical as my son is a slow reader and its a struggle to make him read to us each night. The first night he read Ricky Ricotta I had to make him stop because it was past his bedtime!! He read the first 7 chapters with great enthusiasm. If it hadn't been a school night he would have easily finished the book. The next night he couldn't wait to read again!
Dav Pilkey does a great job of appealing to this age group's sense of humor. My son thinks everything he writes is hilarious and he reads the books over and over rarely tiring of the stories. My son and I highly recommend these books for readers of all levels.
great story, Pages fall out!!!.......2006-10-16
This would be a great book if it wouldn't fall apart. After sitting with it just a little bit and trying to do the flip pages the page just fell out. The story is wonderful and very intertaining for a 4 to 7 year old learning to read, or needing to get interested in reading. I have never had a book that the pages just fall out from the glue.
HMMMM...
I would have given it one star, if it weren't for the fact the story and the cartoon illustration and the flip pages are all wonderful.
My boys love the books but..........2006-02-25
The books are great, my 4 and 7 year old boys both love them. However, the quality of the construction of the books is poor. When you do the flip-o-rama pages, the pages fall out. The pages are being held together with scotch tape.
Average customer rating:
- Not the real/complete version
- If you never read introductions,
- A excellent addition to anybody's library!
- This play speaks to us today.
- I have thought some of Nature's journeymen had made men
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R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (Dover Thrift Editions)
Karel Capek
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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War with the Newts
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We (Twentieth-Century Classics)
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Tales from Two Pockets
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Apocryphal Tales
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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
ASIN: 0486419266 |
Book Description
Great play, that introduced the word "robot" into English, looks to a future in which all workers are automatons. They revolt when they acquire souls (i.e., when they gain the ability to hate) and the resulting catastrophe make for a powerful and deeply moving theatrical experience. Paul Selver translation.
Download Description
AKA Rossum's Universal Robots (first use of the term "robot" in any language). Play translated by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair.
Customer Reviews:
Not the real/complete version.......2007-04-02
This is a very lean version, with some characters being removed or merged with other characters. Whole sections of original dialogue have been removed, or at best, changed. Avoid this version like a robot plague.
If you never read introductions,.......2006-11-05
don't skip this one - it's the best part of the play. "R.U.R.", from the author of "The War with the Newts", is a major disappointment. Thank goodness I didn't buy tickets for and then have to sit through the least believable dialogue I have ever read, nor did I waste a lot of time wondering why Glory accepted the elephantine attentions of Domin. It was like listening to a play in a language I barely understand - I couldn't believe it, and thought I may have had it wrong. But I didn't: it WAS clumsy, stilted, unbelievable. Read "Newts", and get the same message in a novel you'll never forget, by an author who will never be forgotten.
A excellent addition to anybody's library!.......2005-12-08
This is definitely a great read. It's got enough 'depth' despite it's small package to interest just about anybody. It surprised me how much Capek touched upon present day issues in a volume authored over 80 years ago.
This play speaks to us today........2005-09-07
This is a really good play but most reviewers miss the fact that in the play, the robots are not mechanical or androids but genetically engineered from a "protoplasm". I think this really addresses some of the issues today, especially stem cell research.
I have thought some of Nature's journeymen had made men.......2005-04-08
and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abominably. Hamlet, Act iii, scene 2.
The ultimate problem in Karel Capek's extraordinary play, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) is that the robots created by humanity's journeymen imitated humanity so abominably well.
Written in 1920 and first produced in 1921 RUR opened to critical worldwide acclaim. Although RUR is best remembered for introducing the word robot into the lexicon (the word was coined by Karel's brother and some time collaborator Josef Capek) it is more a somber reflection on humanity than on the emergence of robots.
The play opens on an unnamed island at some point in time after 1920 where lifelike robots are being produced by Rossum's Universal Robots. The officers of the corporation meet a young lady, Helena, who has come to the island on behalf of the League of Humanity, determined to help liberate these robots from the inhumane working conditions that confront them. The executives fill Helena in on the history of the company, particularly the father-son team of Rossums that developed the first robots. Capek makes it a point to describe the difference between the father and the son. The father was a "scientific materialist" whose desire to create an imitation of man grew out of his wish to prove that God was unnecessary. The son thought this was both silly and inefficient and sought nothing more than to produce robots capable of working non-stop.
Each of the following scenes takes place at some unspecified point in the future. The millions of robots produced take on all the industrial and agricultural work performed formerly by men and women. This leads to unintended consequences. First, the lack of necessity (the need to work) in everyday life leads to a few worker revolts. This causes various governments to arm the robots to quell the resulting riots. Further, these governments decide that all future wars will be fought by robots. As one might imagine, a well-trained robot-militia is not conducive to the future health and welfare of the human race. Second, the lack of work and the general lack of purposefulness of life render humans incapable of reproducing.
As the play nears its end, the robots have united and have set out to destroy the human race. Clearly, the robots have learned to think for themselves and as such they have taken on (or evolved into) something that more closely resembles the human race. The fact that the robots behave so abominably does not belie this similarity to their human creators. The problem the robots face is that they do not have the inherent capacity to reproduce (they have a shelf-life a bit shorter than is average for humans) and they have inadvertently destroyed those humans that know how to create more robots. They are faced with extinction just as surely as the humans they have destroyed.
As the play concludes the sole remaining human, Alquist, spots two robots whose clear affection for each other indicates that the robots are about find a means to reproduce without the assistance of the humans who gave them life. This pleases Alquist no end and as the play ends, he `anoints' the robots with his blessing. It is a poignant, jumbled mixture of the creation story (and on the sixth day) and the Song of Simeon (Let us now thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.) The rich irony in this biblical blessing of the new, robotic Adam and Eve brings us to a place dramatically different from the elder Rossum's stated desire to create robots to disprove the existence of God. Alquist's benediction shows man at the height of his humanity and speaks directly to Alduous Huxley's dictum that "the humanity of men and women is inversely proportional to their numbers."
R.U.R. was written at a time when the world was still reeling from the horrors of the First World War, which horrors were magnified by technological advancements that made the killing industry far more efficient than it ever had been in the past. Capek's pessimism must be viewed through that prism. However, it must be noted that Èapek's pessimism was not directed at technology itself. I think his concern was with the unchanging human nature of those who think they control the technology and who direct, for good or ill, its use. In some respects this harkens to the political slogan that "guns don't kill people, people kills people". In this instance and in view of the horrors Capek witnessed first hand, it does not seem inappropriate.
It should be noted that R.U.R. was written 85 years ago and the words Capek wrote were meant to be heard by an audience and not read.. As such, some of the dialogue will sound a bit stilted or dated to the reader. However this bit of apparent aging should not diminish the enjoyment to be derived from reading R.U.R. R.U.R. and Capek' other great dystopian work, War With the Newts are a must read for those interested in some of the early 20th century's most compelling fictional looks into the heart of darkness that is mankind. The introduction by Ivan Klima, a biographer of Capek is noteworthy and adds a great deal of illumination for the reader.
Average customer rating:
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Chris Burden: When Robots Ruled the Air
Frances Morris
Manufacturer: Tate
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ASIN: 1854372866 |
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- Isaac Asimov laws down the Three Laws of Robotics
|
I, Robot (The Isaac Asimov Collection)
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0385423047 |
Product Description
The Isaac Asimov Collection Edition. Decorative imitation leather blue Hardcover with gold imprinted spine. Originally available from Doubleday by subscription only.
Customer Reviews:
Isaac Asimov laws down the Three Laws of Robotics.......2005-09-01
The word "robot" comes from Karel Capek's play "R.U.R.," where it refers to automatic laborers of organic origin (i.e., androids). However, the notion of "robot" that exists in the popular consciousness today is due in large part to the writings of Isaac Asimov. Before the short stories that were eventually collected as in this "I, Robot" volume robot stories in Science Fiction pulp magazines in the Frankenstein mode or as ways of delineating the differences between humans and machines. But Asimov reset the genre with his Three Laws of Robotics, and while his work is more recognizable in the positonic brain of Data on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," it is the Three Laws that are much more important.
The stories that followed explored the logical and narrative possibilities inherent in the apparent contradiction of the Three Laws. The ethical question of whether robots are "human" is not central to these stories; they are clearly machines, but they are so inherently ethical that it is hard not to see some sort of superiority to their existence. After all, their prime directive of preserving of human life and limb in ingrained in their positronic brains; most human beings do not have that stricture any where near being firmly entrenched in their cognitive structures.
Rather than following the order in which Asimov originally wrote them, the "I, Robot" stories are arranged in a "chronological" order that traces the development of these robots from their primitive origins to their evolutionary destiny where human beings may well end up being rendered obsolete. Asimov explores the possibilities of his three laws to present us robots that have gone insane, robots that can read minds, and robots that save humanity by taking over to run the world. If you are reading these stories for the second time, which is a fair possibility given that they are Science Fiction classics, then you should pay attention to the subtle differences between the Donovan & Powell stories with those featuring Susan Calvin; it basically comes down to whether Asimov wants to explain things in term of a dialogue or a lecture.
Once you have read "I, Robot" be sure to check out the brilliant unproduced screenplay Harlan Ellison wrote from these stories which has been published along with the Asimov robot novels, "The Caves of Steel," "The Naked Sun," and "Robots of Dawn." Ultimately these stories fit into Asimov's other series, including the Foundation novels, but you do not have to go that far. The important thing is that after you have read this collection of short stories you will understand why fans of Asimov were rolling their eyes at the recent Will Smith movie version of "I, Robot" (to be fair, the movie works as a later Robot story, but as an introduction to the masses to the Three Laws of Robotics it is a miscalculation).
Book Description
In Robots and Aliens, the late science fiction genius Isaac Asimov put forth a challenge to a talented group of science fiction writers: What would happen if the robots of Asimov's universe were to meet alien races? Would the Three Laws of Robotics that protect both humans and robots still apply when dealing with a species that is neither...?
INTRUDER
Derec Avery has at last returned to the original Robot City, only to discover that it has been reprogrammed in ways that do not make sense. Together with his companion, Ariel, and his father, he must find and defeat the Watchful Eye, the strange force that has bent the city to its own ends. Can the trio solve the new mystery of Robot City before it comes tumbling down around them?
ALLIANCE
Robot City has been restored, but can it last? Three shape-changing, renegade robots threaten to destroy the city, but are they really capable of disobeying the Three Laws? Derec and Ariel must convince the renegades that an alliance, not a robot revolution, is in their best interest -- but will they succeed? The futures of mankind and robotkind wait for the answers!
Download Description
A man without memory, tied by blood to a city of robots. At his side, a mysterious woman whose life and memory he saved, whose love he has won for a second time. His name is Derec; hers is Ariel. And their story has only begun to be told. . . In Robot City, the late science fiction genius Isaac Asimov challenged a talented group of science fiction writers to resolve the conundrums he set for them in the context of his famous Three Laws of Robotics. In Robots and Aliens, a new challenge was put forth: What would happen if the robots of Asimov¿Ýs universe were to meet alien races? Would the Three Laws that protect both humans and robots still apply when dealing with a species that is neither . . . ?
Book Description
BEYOND AURORA AWAITS A BRAVE NEW WORLD...OF ROBOTS
A man without memory named Derec, and a mysterious woman known as Ariel are trapped on the confusing, surprising, and sometimes deadly world of Robot City.
Having solved the murder of an unknown human and proven to the robots that they are innocent, Derec and Ariel are faced with ever-growing emergencies. They discover that the City contains a cyborg that is dangerously insane, and learn of a new form of self loathing called roboticide. Derec learns that Ariel is stricken with a disease that leads to fatal madness, and both are startled to learn that the robot's positronic consciousness has given rise to artistic expressions even as the City itself grows ever more deadly to all of its inhabitants.
The late Isaac Asimov challenged a talented group of science-fiction writers to resolve the conundrums he set for them in the complex robot mystery set early in the timeline of his robot and Foundation universes.
Download Description
Beyond Aurora awaits a brave new world of robots
Customer Reviews:
nice to see it back in print.......2000-02-17
lovely treatment of Asimov's robots and a good introduction by Asimov
first-rate traditional Astounding - style sf.
Average customer rating:
- An excellent visionary view into the future!
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Robots, Androids, and Mechanical Oddities: The Science Fiction of Philip K. Dick (Alternatives)
Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Greenberg, Martin H.
| ( G )
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ASIN: 080931178X |
Book Description
What is human? What is a machine? How do they differ? Or do they?
In these 15 stories about robots and androids, Philip K. Dick asks these questions. The answers differ with each story—in the fictional world and in the exploring mind of Dick the only certainty is change—but the author establishes some guidelines: “To be human, one must maintain his intellectual and spiritual freedom at all costs. He must refuse obedience to any ideology; he must remain unpredictable, unfettered by patterns and routines.”
Customer Reviews:
An excellent visionary view into the future!.......1997-01-10
Philip Dick's collection of "android-oid" short stories is an excellent collection
of the demons that haunted not just his mind, but the collective consciousness. Each story
delves into intriguing ways that robots will run amok in the future. There are some precious
gems in this collection which represent Dick at his best. Many of the stories are infused
with his fascination of what makes a human human and a robot not. Two eloquent stories are
"The Little Movement" (my personal favorite), and the short story that the awful "Screamers"
was based on which I believe is called "New Model".
If you love SciFi and have a Bradbury bent towards alternate futures, this is a must read!
If you have never read Philip Dick, this is an excellent introduction!
Bon Apetite!
Book Description
BEYOND AURORA AWAITS A BRAVE NEW WORLD...OF ROBOTS
A man without a memory flees a city of robots gone wild. At his side, a mysterious young woman whose own identity is eroded by an insidious disease. Journeying to Earth, the two must find a way to save her life and learn at last the secret to Robot City, Dr. Avery, and their true identities!
Asimov meets Hitchcock in this fast-paced thriller set in the timeline of his robot and Foundation universes. In Robot City, the late science fiction genius challenged a talented group of science fiction writers to resolve the conundrums he set for them in the context of his famous Three Laws of Robotics.
This pair of robot mysteries, enhanced with a pair of essays by Asimov himself, reflects the colorful world of thinking robots, subterranean Earth dwellers and witty repartee that characterized the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning landscape of the beloved author of The Caves of Steel and Robots and Empire.
Two Complete Novels
Customer Reviews:
A Continuing Saga.......2000-06-16
The saga of Robot is continued in this novel, which can only be described as exellent, with a dose of brilliant, and a side of superlative. The story of Robot City is expressed through the further development of the characters Derec, a man who crash landed in the aptly named Robot City, a city run and inhabited entirely by robots. Having lost his memory in the crash landing, he takes the name of Derec, which is the manufacturer of his jump suit. Throughout his journey, he meets the mysterios Katherine. After a bout of being captured by extraterrestrials, and such other madcap antics, Derec and Katherine are deposited in Robot City together. It is here that the plot begins to thicken, and the character development becomes signifigant. This volume of the series is a perfect book for any science fiction fan, and perfectly expresses the three laws of Robotics and their applications in the real world.
Book Description
For countless millennia the dreadful Berserkerr fleets have ranged across the galaxy in a relentless war against all things living. Their equally relentless opponent has been one of the least evolved of intelligent species, for of all the starfaring races, only mankind still has the heritage and instinct of battle, facing the enemy of all life in battle after battle. Here are four of those battles in the war between humans and the powerful death machines. Berserker's Planet: When a Berserker, severely damaged in a great battle between the fleets of humanity and the exterminating robot ships, hides on a planet whose inhabitants are just entering a period corresponding to the middle ages on Earth, a cult arises dedicated to death and worship of the Berserker's mobile robots. A lone rebel, armed only with medieval weaponry, doesn't stand a chance-or does he? The Berserker Throne: Exiled from the Eight Worlds, a prince discovers an operable Berserker-and the secret code which will give him control over the ancient war machine. With its help, he may return to power-but can a mere human really control a Berserker? Brother Assassin: The Berserkers reach back through time to kill a pivotal scientist in a planet's history, and only Time Operative Derron Odegard has a prayer of stopping them. Berserker Man: Over a century after the Beserkers had suffered an overwhelming defeat, humans have become complacent. But the killer machines have repaired and rebuilt themselves, and this time may succeed in eradicating humanity from the galaxy-unless they can be stopped by a child who is half man and half machine.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic piece of storytelling.......2004-07-30
This was one of the first sci-fi books I read as a kid. I've re-read it many times since then (over the last 20 years) and it always sets my hair on end.
This is more of an "epic" climax than the other beserker books in the series. It has what feels to be an ultimate conclusion that will stay with you for years after reading the book.
A not-too-good book by a god author.......1999-12-10
The book seemed slow and un involving unlike the other books in Saberhagam's Berserker series. It was also hampered by the effect of a bad ending that left you thinking "Huh? um, ok.... Let's go read a half-way decent Star Wars/Trek novel." Sorry, but it just wasn't a good book.
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
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