Roderick/Roderick at Random (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: John Sladek
- First Published: 1980
- Type of Work: Novels
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—artificial intelligence
- Time of Work: The late twentieth century
- Setting: The United States
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Twentieth century, Robots or robotics, Artificial intelligence
- Locales: United States
The Plot
Roderick is a robot manufactured at the University of Minnetonka at a time when research into artificial intelligence has been outlawed. The opening chapters depict the efforts of Dr. Lee Fong, the director of the project, to gain funding for his work from the university following withdrawal of his federal funding, which turns out to have been secret and illegal. Meanwhile, two forces threaten Roderick. The government-run Orinoco Institute and a loathsome industrialist named Kratt are both intent on destroying the robot and its creators.
To prevent destruction...
[The entire page is 1524 words long]
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