Book Review of "To Be Taught, If Fortunate"

“When the world you know is out of reach, nothing is more welcome than a measurable reminder that it still exists.”

“To be taught, If fortunate” is a brilliantly woven love letter to science. Yes, the plot is threadbare and yes, the characters aren’t fleshed-out in the traditional sense. But in this case, it’s not supposed to! Becky Chambers has fused the metaphorical and the SciFi aspects with utmost precision. The discussions about philosophy, morality, and ethics of space exploration and scientific experimentation are center stage as opposed to the usual aliens and “adventures”. The prose is beautiful and the tone is heartfelt and hopeful. It explores some of the most creative and fascinating ideas about SciFi in biology, evolution, and space travel. 

If you are in the mood for a book that reads like sipping a smooth drink in a cozy room feeling philosophical, then this book right here; this is it!

“We have found nothing you can sell. We have found nothing you can put to practical use. We have found no worlds that could be easily or ethically settled, were that end desired. We have satisfied nothing but curiosity and gained nothing but knowledge.”

Book Review of "I, Robot"

First published in the early 1950s, “I, Robot” by the great Isaac Asimov is super-entertaining, thought-provoking & surprisingly prescient. It is a collection of SciFi stories and the movie from the early 2000s looks like was very loosely based on one or two of the stories from this book. 

Compared to the SciFi writings of the 90s and the 2000s, I have always found Asimov’s prose to be dry and somewhat unemotional. But what it lacks in sentimentality, it more than makes up for by having very unique, original, and interesting story premises and conflicts. “I, Robot” is not an exception. A definite 4/5.