Mind Transfer

Using the background of husband Isaac's classic robot stories of the '40s and '50s, Janet Asimov considers the possibilities and problems of the title technique: imprinting human minds on robot brains to give the aging and ill a second life. Naturally, there is a backlash, the rabid conservative movement called biofundamentalism. The novel is structured around the life, death and subsequent robotic existence of Adam Durant, who is born into a dynasty torn between ""bioeffers'' and pioneering roboticists. In a story crowded with incident (settling another star system, terrorist bombings, hyperdrive innovations, alien encounters), the interesting question of a robotic culture that doesn't imitate its human parent is not developed. Also appealing as an idea is the outlined family chronicle with robots as relatives, but the bland characters and rushed, chaotic plot weaken its impact. (April)