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The Caves of Steel: Robot
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The Caves of Steel: Robot
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The Caves of Steel: Robot
Audiobook7 hours

The Caves of Steel: Robot

Written by Isaac Asimov

Narrated by William Dufris

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history:  the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain.  Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together.  Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions.  But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer.  The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start.  Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner:  R. Daneel Olivaw.  Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot--and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 15, 2014
ISBN9780804191203
Unavailable
The Caves of Steel: Robot
Author

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was the Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America, the founder of robot ethics, the world’s most prolific author of fiction and non-fiction. The Good Doctor’s fiction has been enjoyed by millions for more than half a century.

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Reviews for The Caves of Steel

Rating: 3.975375906687403 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'd wanted to read this again for the first time in ~30 years and, finding a remaindered copy, decided it was a good time to do it. My vague memory was of it being a mystery with SF elements - humanity living in giant cities underground, a human cop with a robot partner, etc. But really it's more about Asimov's worldbuilding. As a mystery, it's subpar. The mystery elements really do take a backseat to the worldbuilding. What really struck me this time around is how limited the vision of the future is - a world population of 8 billion (which perhaps seemed unbelievably huge at the time), human workers made obsolete by machines, a strange obsession with the bible. I'm planning to reread the later books in the series and hope they hold up better than this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a re-read after many years. I'm less impressed by Asimov now then when in my teens. His books are solid reads and I still enjoy them. This one is not my favorite of the Robot detective novels but it is the first and a good place to start. Like all his books I can't give it five stars but I admire his SF innovations.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the far future, humanity has long since colonized many worlds beyond our solar system with the help of positronic robots. During those years, an expanding philosophical and cultural schism has formed between the people of Earth and the “Spacers.” Colonists regard Earth—with its enclosed and overcrowded Cities, agoraphobic citizens, and abhorrence of robots—as a backward planet rife with filth, ignorance, and disease. Just outside of New York City, Spacetown keeps its borders closed to citizens of Earth except by appointment and even then, visitors are required to shower and submit to a medical exam before being permitted to enter. After the murder of a prominent “Spacer” roboticist, Doctor Sarton, Spacetown authorities engage NYC police to investigate. Enter plainclothesman Elijah “Lije” Bailey, assigned to the case by his agitated supervisor, Police Commissioner Julius Enderby, who seems more concerned about maintaining an amicable relationship with the Spacers than about solving the murder. More, Spacetown authorities insisted on assigning one of their own detectives to the investigation, Daneel Olivaw—a robot indistinguishable from a human, configured with a special “justice” circuit.To make matters worse, members a subversive group called the Medievalists—whose goal is to see Earth return to a time reminiscent of the 20th century—somehow discover Olivaw’s true nature and begin conspiring against the two detectives, hampering their investigation. Bailey is well aware that if the citizens of New York learn that an advanced humanoid robot walks among them, their paranoia and outrage could easily spark a destructive riot…The Caves of Steel, referring to Earth’s enclosed cities, is the first in a trilogy of SF detective novels starring Elijah “Lije” Bailey and his android partner R. Daneel Olivaw (all robots in this trilogy are designated by the first initial of “R”). While the murder of Doctor Sarton is the catalyst that brings these two characters together, their investigation soon becomes secondary in favor of developing their partnership and to Olivaw’s full range of capabilities as a robot but lack of human cultural experience, as well as Bailey’s relationship with his wife, Jessie, and to a lesser extent, his son, Bentley. Yet Asimov adroitly ties all of these elements together for a neatly packaged and satisfying ending. There is little doubt as to why The Caves of Steel, and its two sequels (The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn) are counted among Asimov’s best works of science fiction. Asimov pays more attention to character development here than in many of his other novels, save perhaps for the Foundation series, in which Olivaw is also a fairly prominent character.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Caves of Steel is the first, and best of Asimov's Robot mysteries. Essentially an exploration in novel length of the ideas introduced by Asimov in his various Robot short stories, the novel details human detective Elijah Baley, and Earth native and his partner, spacer robot R. Daneel Olivaw (the "R." stands for robot) as they try to solve the politically sensitive murder of a spacer ambassador.While the mystery (more or less a classic closed-door mystery) is well-written, the book mostly revolves around showing an overpopulated impovershed Earth in which everyone lives in giant underground cities (the titular Caves of Steel of the title) and the arrogant wealthy spacer culture that contrasts it. The book, as with most Asimov books featuring Robots, is concerned with the affects of the Three Laws of Robotics, which, of course, prove to be the key to unraveling the murder.The book is the first introduction of R. Daneel Olivaw, a character who, I believe, appears in more Asimov books than any other - although his apperances in later books are somewhat of a disappointment. The book also introduces a fairly common theme in Asimovian fiction - the poverty of those on Earth compared to those who have ventured out into space. This is one of my favorite Asimov books - the mystery is good, the characters interesting (although a bit too much time is spent obsessing over bodily functions), and the competing cultures described are both plausible and frightening.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    After seeing the film, I Robot, I had very high expectations for this book, the first in his robot series. It is good, but I was a little disappointed. The idea of a human robot is present, with the positronic brain and the author has taken it a step further by making it look human. However, there is no desire to understand or explore human emotions compared to I Robot (the film). The book does make a good distinction between the way Baley speaks and the robot Daneel. You can tell the thought processes are different and there is a desire to learn and fit in with human society.I like the idea of Medievalists who oppose the spread of robots and technology in general. The commissioner's use of a disguised window is one example. I found the idea of Spacers a little unclear. At first, I wondered if they were robots, but they just use robots as useful tools. They are in fact the original descendants of earth. They are the ruling elite who keep the new settlers in megacities, ration food and enforce a classification linked to privileges. These people fear robots will come and take their jobs away resulting in de-classification. The murder mystery element of the book is a little forced in the sense that it does not flow smoothly. The clues to the identity of the murderer and their motives are in the book and there is a logical revelation at the end, but it lacks the sophistication readers may expect.I think Asimov, like Huxley, is a brilliant scientist but lacks literary technique in the modern sense of the word. His novels will be read for their insightful ideas, not for their literary brilliance.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I enjoyed listening to this audiobook which I had read long ago. The book was written in 1954 and really hits on our problems in today's world concerning population and worries over robotics. I'm set to go through the series again.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "There were infinite lights, the luminous walls and ceilings that seemed to drip cool, even phosphorescence; the flashing advertisements screaming for attention; the harsh, steady gleam of the 'lightworms' that directed:THIS WAY TO JERSEY SECTIONS, FOLLOW ARROWS TO EAST RIVER SHUTTLE, UPPER LEVEL FOR ALL WAYS TI LONG ISLAND SECTIONS.Most of all, there was the noise that was inseparable from life. The sound of millions talking, laughing, coughing, calling, humming, breathing."In "The Caves of Steel" by Isaac AsimovSet 2,000 years in the future, "The Caves of Steel" shows us contrasting pictures of Earth and the Outer Worlds - colonized planets throughout the Galaxy. Although the inhabitants of the Outer Worlds trace their origins to Earth, they are separated from it by much more than mere distance, now calling themselves Spacers and ruling the decaying mother planet as benevolent despots. In his earlier novels, Asimov mastered the translation of speech into its written equivalent; but to recreate the speech of a human being is a problem every novelist faces. Credible robotic speech is a much less common challenge, and in "The Caves of Steel" Asimov developed a form of dialogue for Daneel that is completely believable. Daneel's speech, while possessing the rather formal lilt one might expect from a machine, also possesses a gentle, tempered quality that allows him to pass for human. I was always conscious of a slight mechanical flavour as well.No zeroth law yet here...it'd have made allowed some interesting variations. In "Robots and Empire", Asimov's robots do indeed find a cunning way around the three laws - they invent a Zeroth Law which states that "no robot can injure humanity or through inaction allow humanity to come to harm" which doesn't directly contradict the First Law, so their brains will accept it, but has the interesting effect in moral philosophical terms of turning them from Kantians to utilitarians. So rather than being guided by an absolute "thou shalt not kill" imperative they become able to kill or harm humans if and only if they have calculated it's for the greater good. Rather than becoming brutal overlords because of this (as the other laws still apply) they end up guiding the development of humanity quietly from the shadows, taking on a role not a billion miles from Banks's AIs. As I say, it was a billion years since I read Asimov but I had hell of a blast re-reading this first volume in the Robot Series.I always thought Asimov's setup with the Three Laws of Robotics had a bit of a problem when it came to defining 'injure'. Is psychological damage also injury? Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies but don't tell me the truth if my feelings are going to be impacted. The ignorance and avoidance of truth causes a lot of harm in this world. Asimov's laws would clearly not cope with that. You would need to resolve the inherent conflict in the first law and it strikes me that’s when you have to include a decision made regarding relative good (i.e., five lives = better than one life). But then you have to include other factors (e.g., are children 'better' than old people) which becomes subjective. And this is in a simple situation where the "knowns" are all there, not the unknown consequences.How can we give robots morals? What is our best guide to morality in practical affairs? Cicero's "De Officiis”, surely. Throw in his "Academica", "De Finibus" and "De Natura Deorum", and the robots might have a better sense of what it is to be human, and what it means to be a good person, absent life after death. These are ideas that have stuck fast in the history of European literature and philosophy, and I reckon Cicero's practical style of philosophy is a better guide to acting morally than any work of fiction. But the whole point of AI surely is to create an intelligence which surpasses human capabilities. What could ethics, applied or otherwise, possibly mean at this level of cognition...? AI is meant to make in-roads into the 'paradoxes' of philosophy; paradoxes which we 'resolve' in practical affairs with the virtue of prudence, or practical wisdom. Asimov's robot collapses into a heap of motionless metal when confronted with such paradoxes, but it seems to me that AI might be capable, at one point, of dealing with them. The big question is how...? Would we be willing to cede moral judgments to a non-human intelligence, if it could not adequately convey its 'prudence' to us in our own language?Obviously, we enter into the realm of speculation here. But I think it behooves us to speculate...Bottom-line: One of Asimov's best novels. I'd be content with politicians having some morals actually too. It's not the robots we have to worry about...I'd also add that rather than teach robots to read literature so that they can become more human, we should teach literature students to read texts as featuring not 'ethical dilemmas' but concurrency or race hazard problems so that they can become less robotic when they in turn become pedagogues...It's important, however, that those Sex Robots coming off Japanese production lines are also kept well away from feminist stuff, though, I would have thought. I suppose that Fighter Robots might be programmed with only war stories. Obviously stuff about muskets and canon balls and stuff like that would need to be excluded from the reading lists as well. What would happen if Daneel started reading Enid Blyton? I think it's just encourage Daneel to wander about all day trying to solve mysteries, being beastly to travellers, having high tea and picnics with lashings of strawberry jam (which probably wouldn't be good for him).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A detective story set in Asimov’s future, where humans have started to spread across the galaxy but billions are still stuck on an overcrowded earth and rarely leave the fully enclosed mega-cities - the caves of steel. It’s the first story pairing Detective Elija Baley with Robot Daneel Olivaw. I love all Asimov’s robot stories, including this series. It’s interesting how crowded Asimov thinks earth will be at 8 billion, living on cultured yeast and never seeing the sun - when we are 7.6 billion now!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Updated rating on this based on a current re-read of this series. This was a much better story than I previously remembered and really enjoyed the story line presented. Please be aware if you pick this one up that the terminology and vocabulary used are pretty well out of date but for me this didn't deter from the story told.

    Recommended for any fan if Isaac Asimov...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Now we're talking! While I, Robot set the stage, this was a full on production of a fantastic show. Loved every minute of this - amazing how this was written 64 years ago and still feels fresh and prophetic. The general population's anxiety towards automation and technology, the longing to return to our past and the "good old days", the idea of fixing society being easier than fixing yourself first, all of it is filled with well written, if dated, dialogue, characters and motivations. Sets up the next book (or the next 13!) and I can't wait to read them. Late to the party on this one, but I couldn't be more impressed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "What I hold is not a neuronic whip, nor is it a tickler. It is a blaster and very deadly. I will use it and I will not aim over your heads. I will kill many of you before you seize me, perhaps most of you. I am serious. I look serious, do I not?"The wonderful thing about Isaac Asimov is that he's just so readable. A person can pick up one of his books and just dive in with little or no preparation, and yet Asimov is still able to open up different worlds and distant futures. Asimov also has a way of making one think about the issues that society will face in the future. These are just a few reasons why Asimov is rightly regarded as one of the real giants of science fiction.The Caves of Steel is a mystery story. It is also a science fiction story. The title refers to how populated Earth has become in the distant future. There are so many people that our planet has become one gigantic city. Every piece of ground is covered with buildings that not only rise high into the air but also descend deep under the surface--like caves of steel. In this future, a murder has been committed, and police detective Elijah Bailey has been given the task of finding the killer. He is also forced to take on a new partner: Robot Daneel Olivaw.For me, the pleasure of reading The Caves of Steel comes more from watching Bailey and Olivaw interact than from trying to solve the mystery. The mystery story is fairly interesting, but what I enjoyed more was trying to imagine what it would be like to live in a world populated by robots. Asimov does a very good job of showing the kinds of issues humanity would have to deal with if we ever got to the point of making intelligent, humanoid robots.The Caves of Steel is an easy-to-read, entertaining book that asks important questions about the future. It's a great introduction to science fiction, especially for those who don't think that they like science fiction, and it's also great for mystery fans looking for something different.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This combination of science fiction and mystery has long been a favorite of mine. I love Elijah stumbling his way to the truth -- when I read it, I imagined Columbo (and it remains my image of Elijah to this day). I liked Daneel, his robotic partner, who is so patient and understanding. Through the partnership's interactions, I learned more about both cultures. It didn't hurt that the mystery was a good one, too.If you like science fiction and mysteries and haven't read this, then what are you waiting for? Get this now! If it has been a while since you read it, it holds up fairly well. And I'm off to read The Naked Sun.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A murder has happened in Spacetown and Earther Policeman Elijah ("Lije") Baley is given a robot for a partner when he begins his investigation. The Spacers want Earthers to be more like them, accepting robots into society, but Earthers want to protect their jobs from automation (sound familiar?) and keep from being "declassified" (basically put on welfare, but probably worse). Lije is rather suspicious of robots at the beginning of the book, but his partnership with R. Daneel changes his mind. The murder investigation is almost secondary to this character study. This is a very interesting world Asimov has built and I am glad to know there is much more to read about it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A amazing science fiction and detective story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As Asimov stories go, this one isn't too bad. Dialogue is a bit weak but the ideas and descriptions are first rate. The story is really a detective story, but set in a far distant time when most of the population on Earth live in large, overcrowded cities and have limited personal space. The higher you are up the hierarchy, the more little luxuries the State gives you, but money doesn't really feature as most people eat, wash, work and sometimes sleep communally. The major exception are the folk staying on Earth from the Outer Worlds - ex-colonies of Earth now gone their own way. Its the murder of a Outer World scientist that is the core of the main story, but Asimov uses this to look at how people may relate to robots, how robots could be a force for good or ill in society and different ideals of "progress".There's some really good ideas in the book, and the Three Laws of robotics gets a showing as well. Population control, resource starvation and foreign intervention in domestic politics are also touched upon, so its nearly always going to be able to relate it to current events.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "The Caves Of Steel" was Asimov's first SF/crime/mystery crossover novel and shows Earth suppressed by the long-lived superior "Spacers". When the spacer ambassador to Earth is killed an investigation by a mismatched pair of investigators, one from Earth and the other a Spacer must find the killer and avoid an interstellar incident. Well crafted characters and thoroughly plotted this is an excellent book for fans of either genre.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is my second Asimov read (I, Robot was the first) and it again surprises me how accessible his stories actually are. My initial impression was that he was hard sci-fi that would involve A LOT of science, given his background as a professor of Biochemistry, that would be difficult to understand, or boring. Far from it! What I have read so far is full of personality and addresses questions that we would have about the interaction between humans and robots.

    Caves of Steel is a murder mystery, where Elijah Baley, policeman, must work with a robotic partner in order to solve it. He has serious misgivings about working with a robot, like many people in this future time were privacy is at a premium and robots are viewed with skepticism, fear and dislike. Lije must confront his own feelings to work with R. Daneel Olivaw, and soon finds himself reassuring others that Daneel is okay, he's safe, don't be afraid.

    During discussion with a robotics expert that Lije is trying to gain info from for the investigation, he asks one of the questions I've had before, why make robots in human form? Why not make them more functional to their purpose, surely it doesn't require them to look like humans, this being one of the features that causes us to feel uncomfortable around them. I won't answer that question here, but let you find it by reading the book, which I recommend!

    Asimov is good at presenting these questions of ideology regarding robots and artificial intelligence succinctly, cutting to the heart of the issue presented. His robot characters are full of personality, within their laws, and there is plenty of action and food for thought. There is no doubt in my mind why he is considered to have been one of the giants in Sci-Fi, a pioneer and pillar of robot fiction.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Better than I thought it would be and surprisingly with vision, given the short stories that preceded and wrapped around it. I won't dread the next Robot novel now on my way to Foundation and Earth.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Again, another book that I found enjoyable as both entertainment but as a tool to provoke thought. The brilliance of the author comes through in a manuscript over 50 years old but with many amazing insights. It is ready to pick apart things he got wrong about the future but I found his foresight great. Only weakness, the dialog at times seems a bit, well, unnatural. I know it is a future book, maybe awkward is a better word?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    While a good story and one of the first mega hits of sci fi from one of the best writers of sci fi; it was none the less just so so as actual reading; plot was a little thim at points and the characters in my opinion were really lacking but still something every sci fi fan should read
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I know I read this when I was quite young -- ten or so -- but I found I remembered very, very little of it. I used to read Isaac Asimov obsessively, at that age: the library wouldn't let me take the books out myself, so my mother did it. I racked up an amazing fine for her by keeping The Positronic Man for months.

    Anyway, so it's partially nostalgia that makes me love The Caves of Steel so much. And partially my new appreciation for crime novels. Asimov's short mystery stories were very easy to guess; The Caves of Steel, not so much. I had a feeling about the culprit, after a while, but mostly because his innocence kept going unquestioned.

    I'm really quite fond of Elijah and Daneel. There's enough of characterisation and personal investment there for that, and for me to be eager to read more of their adventures. I got quite embarrassed for Elijah when he kept getting things wrong -- but it led to the eventual conclusion, so that was nice. Asimov's pretty good at pulling everything together like that.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was skeptical when my book club selected this book. I don't consider myself a huge fan of science fiction, but I like to consider myself an open-minded reader, so I checked out a copy. With the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, I finally cracked the cover a couple of days ago. And almost immediately I was hooked. This is a science-fiction mystery. An editor that Asimov frequently worked with once suggested that a science-fiction mystery was a contradiction in terms. He was afraid that technoloy would be exploited to solve the mystery too easily. But Asimov took on the challenge. The result is an extremely well-developed future world in which Earth's population of 8 billion people are clustered in domed cities and are dangerously close to using up the planet's resources. Spacers (people from outer space) have figured out how to interact peacefully with robots, but the people of Earth are scared that robots will take their jobs. In fact, many of Earth's residents are Medievalists, people who want to leave the cities and return to old ways of life. The details of this future world alone make this book worth reading. But in this setting, Asimov places a murder. Plainclothes policeman Lije Bailey is assigned to work with R. Daneel Olivaw, a robot, to solve the mystery. The plot is well-developed, with several twists and turns and a satisfying ending. This book is the first of a trilogy, and the other two are definitely on my TBR list.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Rereading an Asimov book is like catching up with an old friend. This book (his first "novel") is actually pretty incredible. In it he invented a new society, enlarged his notion of the 3 laws of Robotics (first delineated in a short story), and set into place a universe he would go on to populate with a better, yet still cohesive, history of the future. Wow, now isn't that a catchy phrase?Is it the best book ever? No, but good enough to read again, and again. I wonder how many times I have read it? At any rate, now I own it on my kindle app, so I fully intend to read it again in the next decade!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    For a guy that writes great Science fiction, this is an amazing mystery story. A good yarn, great dialog, fantastic ideas.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    While to my mind this is not as good other books of Asimov that I have read, this is still an enjoying read. The mystery is not as complete as some of his other works, and the logic puzzles not as complete or profound. This is the start of the second Earth emigration to other worlds, following the earlier settlement of the "Spacer" worlds. This introduces the characters that continue the series and the ideas that are the central theme. I do not think this is the best book of the series, but it is a solid foundation.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my classics that I seem to always enjoy rereading. I love seeing the view of the future that Asimov presents. The concept of the Cities still feels possible, even at this point in time. To me, the plot is secondary, less important than the descriptions of the environment.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Asimov wrote in the introduction Campbell claimed to him that a good science fiction mystery wasn't possible because the author would and could use advanced technology to solve the crime. Asimov stated he "sat down to write a story that would be a classic mystery that would not cheat the reader--and yet would be a true science fiction story." In this story New York City detective Elijah "Lije" Baley teams up with a robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw. On the whole, the world Asimov creates seems harder for me to credit rereading this as a mature adult then when I was a teen. Partly that's because the tech as well as its gender depictions and relations date the book, but there are other aspects of Asimov's world I find hard to believe. The title alludes to the cities of Asimov's far future overpopulated earth, where 8 billion people live in semi-starvation and can only be sustained in carefully controlled supercities with tight rationing. When Asimov wrote this novel in 1953, the world population was near two and a half billion. It's now close to 7 billion, and it is estimated it will reach 8 billion in 15 years. Yet industrial societies hardly can be said to hover at the edge of famine as in his scenario, so it's hard to credit the world will be so transformed by population pressures not much higher than of today. However, I rather liked how he depicted social and psychological consequences such as Lije's agoraphobia. Asimov also posits a world where there is great anti-robot sentiment because they are supposedly taking away jobs from humans--a strangely Luddite take from the usually pro-technology Asimov. But then, look at the tensions about immigration today. Fears don't have to be based on reality to have life in a society, and on that level the robot/human tensions seem if anything more relevant today than when this was written. I do rather like how through the development of Daneel and Lije's partnership Asimov explores how differences can ultimately be enriching and prejudices overcome. I quite liked Daneel. He reminds me quite a bit of Star Trek's robot character Data. And I think Asimov succeeded in what he set out to do in creating a solid science fiction mystery.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A great beginning to all of the Robot/Foundation books. While technically the second book , it's the first novel in the series given that the first book is short stories. It's dated in a classic 50's scifi kind of way. People a thousand years from now still wearing Fedoras and smoking pipes. That sort of thing. But it really doesn't affect how well this story reads. You get a bit of a Sam Spade kind of feel as well with the team of Bailey and Olivaw.Glad I picked this up. I had forgotten what a great writer Asimov was.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first of the Elijah Baley trilogy, in which New York City detective Lije Baley must deal with the culture of the spacers -- humans whose ancestors abandoned earth to form a galactic empire, who have become much more powerful than the crowded millions who remain on Earth. A spacer has been killed on Earth, and Baley must cooperate with the spacers' robot detective, R. Daneel Olivaw. The characters (even the robot's) are engaging, and the world that Asimov creates is fascinating.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A very good science fiction mystery from the 1950s. Plainclothesman Elijah Baley is assigned by his boss to investigate the murder of a Spacer in their guarded enclave located near New York. Spacers are citizens of the other (than Earth) inhabited planets. They control space travel and are resented by the Earth folk. Solving the murder could lead to a promotion for Baley in the highly stratified society of New York but Baley must work with a human like robot and robots are perhaps disliked as much as Spacers. The mystery part is good even with Baley being misled several times by his animosity for the Spacers and robots. Where Asimov really shines however is in exploring the world of the future enclosed city of New York showing us how people live, travel, dress, what and how they eat, and even how they perform their personal functions (no talking, please). A classic story that holds up almost 60 years later.