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Title: Chimera: Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery by Mark W. Tiedemann ISBN: 0-7434-1297-4 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Updated Robots, Realistic Characters
Comment: Sometimes sticking too close to the way something was originally done is a good way to damage a new piece of work. Tiedemann doesn't seem to make that mistake in Chimera. Instead, as in Mirage, he updates the basic material, bringing it more in line with contemporary information about nanotech and AI. He takes what Asimov did and makes it his own.
More than that, though, he's done a thoroughly excellent job of creating fully-fleshed, believable characters, real people with real problems. He places them in a fast-paced thriller plot that flows logically and answers questions both about the action of the story and the larger issues nesting within the Robot universe Asimov created. Rather than do a straight imitation of Asimov's style, he has written his own kind of narrative, matched to the content of his storyline.
The creation of Bogard in Mirage was a masterful twist on the 3-Law scenario. Tiedemann continues to play with the limitations and implicit possibilities in Asimov's original structure in this book.
The Caves of Steel in Chimera are both creepier and more plausible, the psychologies of the various habitues matched against each other in elegant dialogues and plot twists (as in one character's surprise visit to a Spacer party in the open air!). Tiedemann displays a deft hand at depicting the inner realm of the human condition, a trait he displays much more fully in his own original novels.
More! More!
Rating: 2
Summary: Not like original - Mark Tiedemann is no Robert Silverberg
Comment: I really can't read this book. The text does not flow like Asimov's books. It reads like something else. It is a littlke too fast paced, with too little dialogue and I think there is not enough reflection on the background and the possibilities.
The basic premise has got something wrong with it. It's not tied in too well to other things.If Asimov would use any of these ideas,he would offer some explanation. Asimov also, by the way,often had some short third person narration interspersed in
his books and this is totally missing.
Robert Silverberg expanded a few Isaac Asimov stories into books and he did it in keeping with Asimov's style. Robert Tiedemann is no Robert Silverberg. If Asimov had been alive, I don't thinmk he would have approved of this, except if he decided not to care
I give it two stars because at least this is a try. Also, I only have this book,not its predecessor.
Rating: 4
Summary: Almost As Good As The Originals
Comment: Tiedemann recently resurfaced with this, his second attempt at new robot mysteries. And again, he's done an impressive job.
Asimov's original robot novels were generally straightforward. While not predictable by any stretch of the imagination, the mysteries themselves were fairly simple. Tiedemann has taken Asimov's "universe" but made the mysteries more complex and expanded the scope of the setting to fully explain political situations, alliances, development of society in settler and spacer worlds...many of the things Asimov himself never fully developed. This all amounts to a fairly complex mystery novel set in Asimov's vision of the future.
The novel is not without problems. One criticism I had of Tiedemann's first novel still holds true - two of the main characters have an extensive past together yet Tiedemann makes no mention of this fact. Some of the ideas in Chimera also come across as a bit far-fetched in the context of the setting that Asimov established.
All-in-all, Chimera is an entertaining read. If you're a fan of Asimov's original robot novels, its definitely worth picking up. If you've not had exposure to the originals, however, start with them.
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Title: Mirage: Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery by Mark W. Tiedemann ISBN: 0671039105 Publisher: I Books Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Isaac Asimov's Utopia (Caliban Series , Vol 3) by Roger MacBride Allen, Isaac Asimov ISBN: 0441002455 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: November, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Isaac Asimov's Inferno by Roger MacBride Allen ISBN: 0441005144 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: March, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Isaac Asimov's Robot City Volume 1 by Mike Mcquay, Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell ISBN: 0671038931 Publisher: I Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Isaac Asimov's Caliban by Roger MacBride Allen ISBN: 1857981685 Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Pub. Date: 05 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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