Robby the Robot robot designed to care for children. In "Tom Swift on The Phantom Satellite" (1956), it is also the name given to a small four-foot robot designed by Tom Swift Jr., the boy inventor in the "Tom Swift Jr." science fiction novel series by Victor Appleton II. Robby the Robot originated as a character in the 1956 MGM science fiction film "Forbidden Planet". The story centers on a crew of space explorers from Earth who land their starship, the C57-D, on the planet Altair IV, ruled by the mysterious Dr. Morbius. Robby is a mechanical servant that Morbius has designed, built,
The Soul of the Robot in John Sladek's "Roderick". Brian Stableford's review compared Bayley's absurd stylings with that of Alfred Jarry, concluding that the book was "thoroughly likeable." Alastair Reynolds remembered the "massive enjoyment" he had reading the book and mentioned that Jasperodus had formed part of the inspiration for the character of Hesperus in "House of Suns". The Soul of the Robot The Soul of the Robot is the sixth science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley, featuring the character Jasperodus from his 1956 story "Fugitive". The book tells of Jasperodus, the only robot with a soul, as he attempts to prove that he