Many already know that it was in this short play R.U.R. that the word Robot first appeared. I wanted to get into the author's books and this work gave me the opportunity to try with a shorter work first, before trying for War with the Newts. I was also really interested to read the novel where Čapek invented the than new word as well as see the sci-fi elements - very slight elements, while ahead of its time in theory and thought, it's still a novel of it's time (for example I would've expected the author to give a better role - or really, at least one that is consistant and makes sense from start to finish - to Helena in a modern play). It was very easy play to read (in one or two sittings) and quite short. It's definitely not the last work I'm going to read by the author. Čapek was, in many ways, ahead of his time and there were a lot of interesting thoughts on society, capitalism, the chase for money, for cheaper products in shortest time, social classes etc. 3.5