Lately, we have been inundated with science fiction narratives that have been exploring our collective love/fear obsession with technology in a new light. “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Battlestar Galactica,” and (a little ways back) “The Matrix” trilogy of films all envision a world in which humans and machines — as distinct races — attempt to find a harmonious balance.

While sf has long pondered humanity’s relationship to robots or cyborgs — and has offered individual cases in which they win our hearts (C-3PO or R2D2, anyone?) — it rarely has dwelled on machines as a distinct race, and, when it has, they are the very image of horror: a Cold War nightmare, crushing human individuality and freedom (the Borg, anyone?)

One great exception might be the inventor of the modern robot narrative — Isaac Asimov. The more he wrote about robots — and he wrote a lot — the more complex they became. But especially in his early short stories, such as “The Bicentennial Man,” the sympathetic, feeling robots were the exception.

The most thought-provoking and engaging of the new narratives is the “Terminator” TV series, which just ended its second season last week. I’m a big fan of “Battlestar,” and I still think the first “Matrix” was close to cinematic perfection. But only “Terminator” has built a truly diverse community of machines — with multiple agendas, multiple desires — without resorting to some type of spiritual mythology to explain their existence.

Unlike “Battlestar,” in particular, which kept the origins of the “cylons” a mystery to the very end and hinted that their evolution was rather human-like, “Terminator” builds its robot world — its history, its rules — as a convincing extension of reality.

“Terminator,” especially as it began to hit its stride at the end of its first season, just keeps adding layers to the relationships between humans and machines, relentlessly challenging us to negotiate our preconceived notions about the nature of humanity and intelligence. The allegorical resonance of the narrative keeps the mind humming.

It’s really good. I mean, really good.

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