Publishing's enthusiasm for the undead – which has already this autumn seen posthumous sequels published to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dracula, Winnie the Pooh and Noddy – is set to bring one of Isaac Asimov's most enduring creations, Dr Susan Calvin, back to life. A new series of authorised sequels to Asimov's I, Robot books, which introduced the cynical, workaholic "robopsychologist", is to be penned by the fantasy author Mickey Zucker Reichert.
The first of three books, Robots and Chaos, will follow Calvin as she goes through a medical internship while coming to terms with what it means to be human in a near-future world populated by robots.
Reichert is expected to increase the temperature of Asimov's cerebral investigations into the interactions between intelligent robots and humanity, with the website Publishers Marketplace describing the prequels as "a blend of sci-fi and medical thriller like Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain" with Calvin "in a high-stakes, suspenseful chase to save society as we know it".
But the Penguin US imprint Berkley Books, which struck the deal with Asimov's estate earlier this week, will be hoping to satisfy Asimov's many fans, who bought more than 300,000 copies of his books in the last 10 years.
Asimov, who died in 1992, wrote or edited more than 500 books over the course of his lifetime. He has been called the father of the modern robot, with Calvin described by some as the fictional mother. Asimov's I, Robot stories, which lay out the Three Laws of Robotics, were originally published in the 1940s, and collected in a volume in the 1950s.
Reichert is best known for the Renshai books, a six-volume series based on Norse mythology. She is the first woman to take on Asimov's mantle; authorised follow-ups to his Foundation series have been written by the authors Gregory Benford, Greg Bear and David Brin.
Susan Allison, editorial director at Berkley, said that "the most interesting thing about Mickey Reichert's take on the Susan Calvin character is that Reichert herself is a doctor, and brings a great sense of reality to the material". The first novel, she said, would introduce Calvin as she begins her psychiatry residency at a big New York teaching hospital, "so we'll see the character's interest in 'robot psychiatry' develop from its beginnings", as well as a "witty and innovative" take on Asimov's Laws of Robotics.