I, Robot
I, Robot by Isaac Asimovby Isaac Asimov
Shares rank 56 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
People recommend Asimov's short story collection for its thoughtful mapping of robot issues and subtleties, and for being a great read as a teenager. Critics mostly object to the 2004 film adaptation rather than the book.
People recommend Asimov's short story collection for its thoughtful mapping of robot issues and subtleties, and for being a great read as a teenager. Critics mostly object to the 2004 film adaptation rather than the book.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
2004 Will Smith film criticized
“We would need bots of the level of that awful I Robot movie with Will Smith.”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Tesla ending Models S and X production” “tripe like Will Smith's _I, Robot_ or the Matrix sequels”
Comment from 17 May 2026 in “Colossus: The Forbin Project”
Other science fiction novels people recommend
The four most recommended other science fiction novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Hail Maryby Andy Weir | 117 | 24 | 83% | 12 | — | Approved |
| There Is No Antimemetics Divisionby qntm | 98 | 34 | 74% | 9 | 1.5 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Blindsightby Peter Watts | 96 | 27 | 78% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Duneby Frank Herbert | 82 | 25 | 77% | 12 | — | Approved |
| I, Robotby Isaac AsimovThis page | 8 | 2 | 80% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“we all need to collectively read I, Robot yet again”
“They're still good though, I loved the Robot series when I was a teenager.”
“tripe like Will Smith's _I, Robot_ or the Matrix sequels”
“The film version of I Robot had this right”
“it's a great movie to watch and gives some interesting perspectives on both sides”
“We would need bots of the level of that awful I Robot movie with Will Smith.”
“the issues and subtleties of it has been very thoughtfully mapped out in Asimovs short story collection”
“his production values were so obviously in a class of their own”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.