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The Review

Isaac Asimov's Utopia

by Roger MacBride Allen

Isaac Asimov's Utopia

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Isaac Asimov's Utopia is the closing volume of Roger MacBride Allen's Caliban trilogy, and the book where the planetary terraforming project on Inferno reaches the breaking point that the political plot has been building toward. The Three Laws debate continues. Caliban himself remains the most morally interesting robot in any authorized Foundation/Robots extension.

Allen handles the closing volume with the same careful pacing as the previous two. The terraforming science is treated seriously. The character arcs (Inspector Kresh in particular) earn their resolutions. The closing chapters land in a place that respects the source material without being constrained by it.

Four stars. The Caliban trilogy as a whole is one of the few authorized SF continuations worth taking seriously, and Utopia is a satisfying closer.

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