It Was the Day of the Robot

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/03/2016 - 16:27
TitleIt Was the Day of the Robot
Year for Search1963
AuthorsLong, Frank Belknap [Jr.](1901-94)
Date Published1963
PublisherBelmont
Place PublishedNew York
KeywordsMale author, US author
Annotation

Computer controlled dystopia. A computer determines whether an individual can marry based on its determination of the genetic characteristics of her or his expected children. It was programmed to ensure that the correct balance of genetic types is born, and the novel focuses on a man whose expected children would upset the balance. A sexual alternative is provided by an artificial woman constructed to any desired specifications but with limited intelligence and emotional range. There is also "emotional illusion therapy" available. The novel follows the man and the woman he thinks is an android to the "ruins" outside the city where the few women are fought over and then to Venus.
Additional Publishers

UK ed. London: Dennis Dobson, 1964.
Info Notes

 Based on the story "Made to Order." Future Science Fiction, no. 32 (Spring 1957): 67-108.
Holding Institutions

L, PSt
Author Note

(1901-94) The author deliberately misstated the date of his birth as 1903, but the correct date has been established as 1901.
Full Text

1963 Long, Frank Belknap, [Jr.] (1901-94). It Was the Day of the Robot. New York: Belmont. UK ed. London: Dennis Dobson, 1964. Based on the story “Made to Order.” Future Science Fiction, no. 32 (Spring 1957): 67-108. L, PSt

Computer controlled dystopia. A computer determines whether an individual can marry based on its determination of the genetic characteristics of her or his expected children. It was programmed to ensure that the correct balance of genetic types is born, and the novel focuses on a man whose expected children would upset the balance. A sexual alternative is provided by an artificial woman constructed to any desired specifications but with limited intelligence and emotional range. There is also “emotional illusion therapy” available. The novel follows the man and the woman he thinks is an android to the “ruins” outside the city where the few women are fought over and then to Venus.