Customer Reviews

Robot Trilogy: The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn

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Isaac Asimov is one of the greatest Science Fiction writer of all time as he brings science to the genre while writing in a very clever and accessable way. Not many SF authors were scientists before they became writers and Asimov clearly knows his science and, more importantly, the level of science the audience knows.

This "Robot Trilogy" is set two thousand years into the future; well after his "I, Robot" short stories which precede it and set up the now-universal Laws of Robotics, and before Asimov's 'Empire' novels. 'The Caves of Steel' (an acronym for the cities of the future) is set on Earth, while 'The Naked Sun' and 'The Robots of Dawn' are set on colonised planets elsewhere in the galaxy. Each story follows the investigations of detective Elijah Baley and his human-looking robot partner (mascarading as a 'Spacer'), Daneel Olivaw, as they solve murder mysteries on each planet.

These stories are well crafted and read like good old-fashioned murder mysteries. The unique aspects of these novels are their off-world settings and robot characters; the robots must obey the three laws of robotics, the first being that a robot cannot harm a human, or through inaction, allow a human to be harmed. But loopholes exist which Asimov explores brilliantly. But what drives these stories is the relationship between Earthmen and Spacers (outer world colonialists). Here, the two are distinctly polar in every way, thus fueling the stereotypical fears between the two groups. For example, Earthmen are considered by 'spacers' as second-class citizens due to their idiosynchratic indoor-only nature and susceptibility to disease, while spacers are considered elitist by Earthmen as they don't allow physical contact. A number of other psychological and social problems are also addressed by Asimov, in particular the "Frankenstein" complex that humans have developed in response to creating robots - other sentient beings. Other themes include community versus the individual, change versus stagnation, and dependance on technology to prolong life.

What is really impressive about Asimov is the fact that he has accomplished what he has without violence. I don't recall in any Asimov novel a gun being fired!

Why buy this book? Each novel can be read individually but are really designed to be read one story after another. So buy this omnibus instead of purchasing three separate books. You will want to read "The Naked Sun" and "The Robots of Dawn" after reading "The Caves of Steel" anyway. Also, read "I, Robot" before venturing into his other novels as Asimov sets up his rules here.

(Asimov began his robot novels with the collection of short stories entitled "I, Robot" which was set in the years 2010 to 2050 roughly and presented for the first time the Three Laws of Robotics. These stories revealed man's distrust of robots which were created to serve man and his occupations, especially in Earth orbit and in the Solar System (the extent of exploration at this point in human history), and importantly, not on Earth.)

In these books, Asimov puts in views and theories and situations that may arise as well as fit in facts about books set in later eras, such as Foundation. Well written, sound bases. Gives a reader the feeling of "This is how it could be."