The Norby Chronicles - Janet and Isaac Asimov

I’d never heard of this before I saw it in the bookstore a few weeks ago, which was reason enough to buy it. It’s two short (80-100 pages each) stories about a young space cadet named Jeff Wells, and his barrel-shaped robot, Norby. Jeff came across Norby in his search for a cheap robot that could teach him Martian Colony Swahili, which he had failed miserably in his previous semester at the Academy.

As it turns out, while Norby is quite good a teaching languages, he has quite a few other abilities as well, most of which he attributes to modifications a previous owner, a lone interplanetary explorer named Mac, made to him with parts he found in a spaceship they found crashed onto some asteroid. Norby has antigravity abilities, in a world where that hasn’t been perfected for anything smaller than a six-passenger vehicle. He can travel through hyperspace (and carry passengers), and nothing else in the Solar System can do that.

Unfortunately, Norby’s a bit mixed up. He does these things, but doesn’t know how. He’s drawn to a strange planet with miniature talking dinosaurs named Jamya, but doesn’t know why. But he’s a bit petulant when it’s pointed out he’s a little mixed up, and he’s not really keen on the idea of being a robot who obediently follows orders. Mostly though, he’s just confused about his past, and lonely, because all his owners after Mac didn’t take a shine to his personality. He’s a whinier, less maliciously-inclined version of Bender from Futurama. Or what you’d get if you mixed Bender with Dr. Zoidberg, which would get old in a hurry.

In the first story, Jeff and Norby are quickly thrown into the struggle to keep Ing and his Ingrates from taking over the Solar System, though really, Jeff’s brother, Fargo Wells, and a lady cop named Albany do much of the work. Norby’s not terribly brave, and so those two tend to end up well out of the fray for long periods of time. The second story, Norby’s at risk from a rogue group called the Inventor’s Union, and Space Command, both of whom who like to take him apart to unlock his secrets. The stories are light and silly, Jeff and Norby are constantly stumbling into trouble, but rarely in any true danger. It’s a bit like a Saturday morning cartoon in that way. The story may advance in some respects, but there’s a certain status quo you can tell resets itself. Jeff and Norby are friends. Norby will try to help, screw up, and blame it on someone else. Fargo will be able to charm most any female, regardless of age or species. Admiral Yobo will be thwarted in his attempts to get a big meal. It was fluff, very tongue in cheek, but amusing.

‘Fargo wasn’t paying attention to him. His eyes were shining with excitement. He liked fights and running and risks and danger, while Jeff did not especially like them. He wouldn’t avoid them, but he didn’t like them. In fact, he would avoid them if he could, whereas Fargo usually went out of his way to get into trouble. Jeff wondered again, as he often had, whether it was worth being related to Fargo. All in all, though, he always decided it was.’