An eccentric robot with an artistic bent, its eccentric owner, and a frustrated robotics engineer come together to create a truly unexpected murder.
This is a terrific story, easily the best item in Buy Jupiter and Other Stories for all its brevity. The idea of a robot with a flair for art would also be turned to serious use in "The Bicentennial Man,” one of Asimov’s best robot stories ever. (It also borrows the idea of light sculpture from The Naked Sun.) The two human characters are actually well-drawn, if a bit on the stereotypical side, and one can certainly imagine and appreciate the frustration of somebody who realizes that they themselves have forever destroyed any hope they have of fulfilling their life’s ambitions.
Found In
Buy Jupiter and Other Stories | ||
Opus 200 | ||
The Complete Robot | ||
Robot Dreams | ||
The Asimov Chronicles | ||
Complete Stories, The, Vol. 2 | ||