The Robot Novels: The Caves of Steel / The Naked Sun

Robot #1-2

by Isaac Asimov

This is an omnibus edition that contains the first two novels in Asimov's Robots series. (The first book in the series is the collection of short stories I, Robot or the expanded collection The Complete Robot.)

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Robots, Novels, Classics, Collections

404 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great series. I decided to read it after reading a review on Goodreads. I do not read a lot of fiction and read even less science fiction. Once upon a time, it was my favorite genre. I still enjoy it, but I am extremely picky. I like science in my science fiction.

Asimov is a writer of classic science fiction. He is undoubtedly one of the greats. I purchased the book as a hardcover volume that included both stories and hence am reviewing them together. Each can be purchased as individual publications.

In searching through my recollection of science fiction that I have read, I think that these two science fiction stories that I have read that were also classic murder mysteries. I am sure there are others out there and I have certainly read thrillers that involved solving a mystery, but nothing quite like this. It has a Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meet science fiction feel to it. I had a good time with these two stories.

Both of these books involved the "murder in a locked room" scenario. In the first, Caves of Steel, we have Baley, a humble detective solving a mystery of who killed an off-world scientist in an Earth spaceport that apparently could be accessed by no one. Baley is aided by a very human appearing robot named R. Daneel Olivaw from an off-world planet known as Aurora. He must overcome his distaste for robots and work with Olivaw to solve the crime. The ending was a bit of a surprise for me. I will say no more other than that the title refers to Earthmen living in underground cities.

The Naked Sun refers to the setting of the next novel, which takes place on a world called Solaria. Murder is unknown there yet one has been committed. Detective Baley is called to investigate and is once again aided by R. Daneel Olivaw. This time the robot takes on a more "Dr. Watson" type role to Baley's "Holmes". Once again, the murder appears to be unlikely and point to one person. This one i had figured out much of the outcome prior to the big reveal at the end. Nonetheless, there was a twist I did not foresee in the last few pages.

Who should read this book? Anyone who loves a good classic mystery like those written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie would probably appreciate the story even though they occur in the distant future. Also, anyone who loves the science in classic science fiction will enjoy the books. Asimov is truly one of the greats. Finally, good science fiction is prescient. Think of the works of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Robert Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. Asimov is one of the greats. These novels deal with nearly sentient robots and the human fears of their misuse or replacement. This is directly relevant to discussions on Artificial Intelligence today. No matter which of these reasons cause you to read the book, it is a classic worth reading.

[Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was probably around 1977 that I became fully aware that this specific edition of this novel had sat on my dad's bookshelf, probably since before I was born. It's strange to say, but that freakish cover with the vacuum-cleaner robot was a fixture in my house, as I said, likely from before I was born, to the day of my father's death in 2018. The stranger thing, I suppose, is that I have not read it until now. When my parents passed away (both within two months of each other - but that heartbreaking story is for another day), we got rid of most of their books. Many I had already read or owned, and most of the rest I wasn't terribly interested in. Dad had purged his collection back in the '90s or so, and, well, mom read romance novels almost exclusively, so . . .

But this one I kept. I can't look at the book without thinking about my dad. He was a huge fan of science fiction and of Isaac Asimov in particular. I gave some of the Foundation material a go some time ago, but wasn't floored by it. It was . . . good. But didn't strike me as amazing. But I had read many other books that my dad had (or had recommended to me) and he read some that I gave to him.

And what did my dad see in The Robot Novels? I can't tell you, but I can tell you what I saw.

First off, I'm convinced that Asimov wasn't really a science fiction author. At least not with this book. Sure, it's got all the trappings - robots (obviously), enclosed cities cut off from nature (the "Steel Caves" referred to in the first novel), spaceships, and blasters. But really, this is a noir novel along the lines of The Maltese Falcon or The Big Sleep.

Secondly, Asimov was a product of his time. The use of the term "boy" for robots, the undercurrent of sexism, etc. While these things are not as blatant as, say, Lovecraft's racism or the sexism of E.E. Smith's Triplanetary, you can sense that Asimov was writing at a time when society was starting to "deal" with these subjects.

Lastly, Asimov is a good, solid writer. But don't expect anything fancy. Like its noir predecessors, The Robot Novels are a working-man's prose work. I'm not sure if this was an intentional choice by Asimov or the next step in science fiction writerly-ness, one step removed from the pulps. But there seems to be a neo-Hemingway sensibility to the prose itself. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. And the job, as they say, needs doing.

Overall, I really enjoyed the read. The plot was a twisty as you'd expect from a quasi-noir novel in a science fiction setting. The characters, while showing their "age," were interesting and while not three-dimensional, they were also not two-dimensional, filling some fractal character space in between. Will I read it again? Probably not. But I might be convinced to dip into another Asimov down the road, who knows?

To tie this one off, one of my proudest moments as a writer came when I was able to tell my dad that my story "The Auctioneer and the Antiquarian, or, 1962" was to appear in Asimov's magazine. He was effusive in his praise, something that was counter to his demeanor most of the time. It really is one of my happiest memories of my dad. Little did I know that ten years later, he would be gone and I would be collecting from his belongings the copy of the magazine that I had sent to him.

Folks, ten years can slip away very, very quickly.

Hold on.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Роботите могат да съществуват редом с хората: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/s...

Да преразказвам и анализирам ”Стоманените пещери” и “Голото слънце” смисъл няма. И двете са класически творби от зората на най-доброто време на научната фантастика, което май приключи някъде през 90-те, макар че проблясъци безспорно има – “Слепоглед” на Уотс, “Битие” на Брин, “Бъдеще” на Глуховски, “Посланическото градче” на Миевил, “Марсианецът” на Уеър, “Момиче на пружина” на Бачигалупи, “Илион” и “Олимп” на Дан Симънс и други. И в двете има сериозни криминални загадки, които нюйорският полицай Илайджа Бейли, типичен жител на огромните затворени мегаполиси, в които земляните са се самозатворили, трябва да разследва, неохотно сътруднчиейки си с робота Данийл Оливо. Традиции, предубеждения, страхове – всичко е наяве, а силните и слабите страни на хората и роботите са обследвани внимателно от Азимов. Възможни сценарии за бъдещето? Отчасти поне със сигурност.

Издателска къща БАРД
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/s...

[Joshua Wetenkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent. That’s what each of the stars that I gave this book represents. Actually, it kind of bothers me that I found this old “book club” edition, which contains the first two books in the series, because I can’t review them separately. So at least for now, this review pertains to the first book only, The Caves of Steel.

Lets start with the name: terrible. But who cares.

I will start by saying, prior to this, the only Asimov I had read was the first Foundation which I didn’t really like. Then two books ago I read a collection of his short stories which really piqued my interest in giving him another shot. This book has had such an impression on me that I am seriously considering reading Foundation over again! It’s been a long while, and my palate might have changed since.

Ok, this book had me hooked from beginning to end. I’ve seen the Will Smith movie which this book apparently wasn’t based on but it didn’t matter, I couldn’t separate the two in my mind (anyway there are plenty of similarities between them and movie was definitely at least inspired by this book). So given that I, Robot was contained completely on Earth, Asimov’s world building took me by surprise. And I love a good world building. He did it right too: give bits and pieces of the state of the universe to paint a background for the beautiful work of art that is the plot.

Here’s a granular point: I liked how Lije’s motive to solve this case (this book is a detective story if you didn’t know) wasn’t a righteous one in the beginning it made it feel more original; it added depth to the main character and didn’t ask you to like him right away.

The novel is short and not difficult to read (it is a page turner for sure - bombs drop at every close of a chapter). But don’t let that fool you: it is expertly written! Asimov will go off on what you think are unimportant tangents only to come back to them later and you realize every single thing he wrote was carefully, meticulously chosen and worded. And that’s not to say it’s superficial either; this book has depth and is rife with symbolism and meaning. Environmentalism, racism, religion (especially religion!) are themes the author tackles in this seemingly simple book.

Not really a spoiler at all: the only shortcoming of this book is that the perp was basically who I thought it was all along. I guess I didn’t expect to be able to guess it cause I’m usually bad at guessing endings (especially because I don’t try; I prefer to just be along for the ride). But this is actually not a point against because I wanted it to be who I thought it was too. It’s so perfect a conclusion.

Speaking of conclusions, the last paragraph or so is an ending for the ages. Mic drop, game over, this book goes down as one of the best I have ever read and I don’t hand statements out like that liberally.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are amazing science-fiction. I am not a big fan of most science-fiction, but Asimov's goal was to take conventional genres and place them in a sci-fi setting. He also did not believe in fancy, elaborate writing, but instead preferred a concisely descriptive, direct approach. Despite this, his writing style is one of my favorites and will not confuse readers like other sci-fi novels will.

Both novels are detective stories in a futuristic setting, which gives rise to new complications. Even the future situation on earth is totally feasible. Moreover, the novels are not at all dated even though they were written in the 1950s.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another from my S-F Book Club collection from the 1970’s, this one a reread. From experience, I’d recommend reading “I, Robot” (see my review) before tackling these novels, gives you a very helpful background; I hadn’t done that the first time around, ‘nuff said. While these two novels do stand alone (the Three Laws of Robotics are mentioned but largely implied throughout). The events of these two novels take place some three thousand years after those of “I, Robot.”
This book consists of the first two Robot Novels; “The Caves of Steel” (originally published 1954) and “The Naked Sun “1957). Both have as their protagonists human/Earthian detective Elijah (“Lije”) Baley and R. (for “Robot”) Daneel Olivaw, very human-looking android, from the Outer Worlds, planets which have been settled for millenia by humans, with very sophisticated Robots as helpers (on Earth the Robots are more mechanical in appearance and are more limited in their functions; Earth people have great restrictions on Robots and there are movements to eliminate them altogether, called the Medievalists). The residents of the Outer Worlds have established a small colony near New York, called “Spacetown.” There is a great deal of animosity and distrust between Earthians, who have largely developed domes encompassing great areas, connected by underground caves (hence the first book’s title) and the more adventurous “Spacers.” The Outer Worlds are less populated, with more resources; Earth has a population of eight billion, with limited resources and a toxic atmosphere, hence the domes. Thus, these works have a sociological background, similar to, for example, Ursula K. LeGuin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness.”
With all this as background, the plot is essentially a murder mystery; Roj Sarton, an ambassador from the Spacers, who is attempting to influence Earthians to be more tolerant and accepting of Robots, and was also R. Daneel’s designer, is found murdered. Elijah is assigned by his Police Commissioner Julius Enderby to the case and is paired with R. Daneel, so this is also sort of a “culture clash which turns into a cop-buddy” story (similar to “Collision Course,” the “Rush Hour” movies and “Red Dawn.”). The investigation uncovers a complex plot amongst the Spacers and even the Mediavalists, with several characters (including Elijah’s wife Jezebel (Jessie) not being entirely who they initially appear to be. The story, then, is heavy on background description and lighter on the murder mystery, but the conclusion is quite satisfying and somewhat of a surprise.
In “The Naked Sun, Elijah is assigned to travel to Solaris, oldest and most isolated of the outer worlds, which is hostile to Earth. Rikaine Dilmarre, a “fetologist,” has been murdered. Dilmarre had been heading up the “birthing program” on Solaris, which entails very strict population control; the robots are heavily relied on and outnumber the people by the tens of thousands. Elijah is requested to assist with the investigation, largely because murder is unknown on Solaris, such that the Solarians feel they could use the help of one who has solved murders before. Elijah is again paired with R. Daneel Olivaw, who is from another outer planet, Aurora. Despite their highly developed positronic brains and their helpfulness, robots are seen as inferior to humans (indeed, Elijah refers to most of the robots on Solaris as “boy,” an obvious racist reference to America’s treatment of African-Americans). Much of the underlying aspects of the story relate to a prohibition on physical presence (“seeing”), much less touching (save with one’s spouse), with the preferred mode of interaction being well-developed holographic representation (“viewing”). Additionally. Elijah has a great deal of trouble with the wide-open cities and outdoor spaces, as well as exposure to “the naked sun,” hence the title. This is very difficult for Elijah, who is used to living in domed areas away from the toxic air on Earth, with its overpopulated underground cities.
The prime suspect for this murder is Dilmarre’s wife Gladia, who was in his physical presence when he was killed, supposedly with a blunt instrument, which cannot be located. A robot who had also been in the area is supposedly rendered nonfunctional because it had allowed harm to come to a human, in violation of the First Law of Robotics. Elijah’s investigational methods are met with resistance, as his method is to interview relevant personally in their direct presence, which he manages to be able to do with a few people, but again “viewing” is the preference. One who is more amenable to “seeing” is Gladia, who denies guilt but admits that she and Rikaine had not been getting along. Another murder, that of Soliara’s Security Chief, while dining with Elijah. Another major player is Jothan Leebig, prominent roboticist, who is secretly planning to use the robots’ positronic brains to – well, don’t want to give it all away, now. The solution to the murder is given through getting all the suspects in a room and exploring all the motives, possible weapons and hopefully a confession from the “real” murderer, a la Charlie Chan/Miss Marple/Hercule Poirot/The Thin Man, etc. But there’s a twist to the whole thing after Elijah returns to Earth.

Overall, I found these tales quite enjoyable, and I plan to read “The Robots of Dawn,” the final novel in the series, as well as the short story, “Mirror Image.” Four stars.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieses Buch vereint beide Bücher der Stahlhöhlen-Duologie in einem Band und ich gestehe, das ist gut so. Ich bin wirklich glücklich darüber, diesen Band im Bücher-Brocky entdeckt zu haben, denn es stellte sich heraus, dass diese Geschichten meine liebsten von Asimov sind.

Auch hier bedient sich der Autor wieder seinen drei berühmten Regeln, untersucht jedoch, wie weit man diese strecken und interpretieren kann. Asimov stellt sozusagen seine eigenen Ideen auf den Prüfstand. Nur schon dies ist eine enorm interessante Lektüre. Vor allem, da wir uns unterdessen wirklich der Frage nach der Künstlichen Intelligenz stellen müssen.

Dazu kommen zwei Kriminalfälle, die auf oben genannten Thesen basieren. Bei der ersten Geschichte habe ich noch mitgeraten (und richtig gelegen), bei der zweiten liess ich mich einfach treiben und liess die Handlung auf mich wirken.

Der zweite Band ist der in meinen Augen intensivere und dichtere. Der Kriminalfall tritt zugunsten Charakterentwicklung und Fragen zur modernen Technologie etwas in den Hintergrund; was dem Buch aber sehr gut tut.

Ein grandioses Stück Sci-Fi-Literatur, das so aktuell ist, als wäre es eben erst erschienen.

[Elizabeth R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Especially in contrast against the Foundation books, these are a faster read, with stronger characters, and were just more fun.

You don't need to read them before the Foundation books generally, but I'd suggest reading them before Foundation & Earth and beyond. OTOH they'd also provide insight to Prelude to Foundation, IIRC.

I am enjoying finally reading about the famous Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw, and look forward to getting The Robots of Dawn from the library soon too.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this omnibus. I might never have read these stories, except for something else triggered the desire to read them. I wish I could remember what it was! hahahah [I think I had found a list from 2016 that listed both the top 100 science fiction/fantasy novels "of all time" at that time as well as a list of the 237 finalists out of 60,000 votes that were cast. These two novels were on the list.]

Anyway. Enough about me. I enjoyed these novels far more than I thought I would. Despite the amount of exposition in them, they were interesting and 'fresh' [for me] and kept 'moving forward' despite there not being a lot of 'action-oriented movement' in them. Well, not in the first novel, anyway. While there were very few 'exciting moments' in either book, the second book had "more" such "moments" than the first book. There was only one "exciting moment" I can remember in Caves of Steel, and that involved a 'chase scene' where Elijah and Daneel were trying to escape from some scalawags who were pursuing them for a brief moment. There were two moments in The Naked Sun where Elijah's life was in actual, real, physical danger, and that was a bit 'exciting' [for a brief moment]. There also seemed to be more 'physical movement' in The Naked Sun, as Elijah physically visited three estates and the author described how he felt as he exposed himself to the Outside, to the Sun of this planet, in an effort to become inured to the effects of being unprotected on all four sides from the elements.

I think I liked the second book more than the first book, to be honest. The second book does a great job of describing how Elijah felt when he experienced the physical elements for the first time, ever, in his life while walking around, unprotected, outside. He struggled with the sensation of the wind blowing as it tugged at his clothing or cooled him and the air he was breathing while the day was still warm. He had a hard time dealing with the different positions of the sun [midday versus afternoon versus setting in the evening]. He felt a real tree for the first time and listened to the rustle of the wind through its branches and leaves. He felt the grass on the ground and how "squishy" soft earth was while walking across a field. He felt the heat of the sun as it beat down on him as well as how warm it made his skin. Oddly enough, he was described in such a way as experiencing physical attraction and sexual desire for another woman as if it were the first time in his life he had desired another woman other than his wife. That was interesting to read, too, as he struggled with these unfamiliar desires and emotions for another woman [who was the primary suspect in the murder being investigated, to boot!]. Obviously, these feelings he felt for this woman gave rise to accusations of not being impartial and letting his feelings for her get in the way of his professional judgement and impairing his thinking. Hahahah! Being outside expanded his horizons further than he could have otherwise imagined and opened his mind up to new possibilities, new lines of thought, new ways of thinking. It was a very interesting experience, sharing these moments with Elijah. The first book was definitely lacking the level of experiences shared in the second novel. Granted, Elijah had some 'interesting experiences' when he went into Spacetown to investigate, but it was nothing like what he experienced in the second novel.

I definitely got the 'sense' that these novels were more than just "murder-mysteries" [which is what science fiction is all about, right?]. The "murder-mystery" was just the cover for the "underlying issues." I am not quite sure what the underlying issue was for the first story, but I got the impression [for me, anyway] that the underlying 'issue' of the second story was that man must always be on the move, challenging himself as he expands outward. To remain still or to deliberately isolate oneself [or society] is to become stagnant and eventually die. Man must remain moving 'forward and outward.' In this novel, the best way to accomplish this is to once again send colonies out into the Galaxy to populate other words. While Earthlings may not have the technological advantages of the Outer Worlds, it did have strength in numbers, shortness of life, and the ability to adapt and change to new environments [well, the potential, anyway, to adapt and change] that the Spacers did not have.

I did enjoy the 'surprises' as the mysteries about the murders were resolved. I half-expected the ending in the second novel, but expected to be wrong about who the murderer really was. In each case, Elijah made his decision about who the guilty party was, based on 'the greatest good for Earth.' In his mind, justice was dispensed with the judgments he pronounced, and they were quite different than what I expected to happen. Perhaps I have been 'spoiled' by "modern mysteries" which have been more "black-n-white" whereas the solutions to these murder-mysteries are filled with more gray. It was an 'interesting' comparison between what "the Law" might demand for justice and Elijah's "personal" justice that he levied upon the guilty parties.

Again, these novels were much better than I thought they would be, and I enjoyed them far more than I thought I might. While they were both entertaining, the second novel held my interest more than the first one did. I could see myself reading the rest of the series, at some point.

I did review the novels, themselves, individually under their own goodreads pages.
The Caves of Steel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
The Naked Sun: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Emily W · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were my favorites when I first started reading Asimov. I probably need to stop re-reading Asimov. When did the characters get to be so unlikeable? Especially the women. Wow. Fat housewives and embowered princesses. Dreadful. R. Daneel Olivaw will always be dear to my heart, though. These books get 3 stars and a bonus star for nostalgia.

[K B]

challenge- a book with nonhuman characters (in this case, robots)

[Simon Van Eenoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een frisse en verrassend solide combinatie van (klassieke, bijna 70-jaar oude) sci-fi en een detectiveroman.

[Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asimov's usual robot-based philosophizing is combined with some excellent storytelling. I could read a whole series of these mystery novels! I definitely loved the continuation of some of the "how would a robot act in various scenarios" but still be bound by and technically follow the three laws of robotics, that is prevalent in his robot short stories. But he also knows how to write a good mystery.

Particularly with The Caves of Steel, I enjoyed the world he literally built of Earth in the future and hiding in underground domed cities. I can see where Blake's 7 got its inspiration. I thought it was a well thought out and grounded future of humankind on Earth and was particularly impressed by the thought put into the history and present political state of the galaxy exploring "Spacers" that turned into Earth-human subjugators, and how humans on Earth hate robots but humans in space have become overly dependent on them, and the politics that naturally arises from these conflicting philosophies.

Particularly with The Naked Sun, I enjoyed the mystery and sleuthing more so than with its prequel. I enjoyed the exploration of viewing vs. seeing. It is curious to me to imagine the extrapolation of the real 2025, with our common use of video calls, video-based... spiciness, and how that could lead to a society where viewing (via a video stream) is so commonplace and distant, that nudity is not at all scandalous, and seeing (via in person eyeballs) is so scary, unthinkable, and even frightening, for the poor people of Solaria. Fascinating!

I would have loved to have been more moved emotionally by the stories. I was definitely entertained and surprised by the reveals and plot twists, and enjoyed the interplay between Baley and his R. friend, but there was something a little bit more needed to really make me 5-out-of-5 this omnibus. As it is, it gets 5 stars anyway but rounded up from a solid 4.5 stars! It's not like stars are expensive. Heck, they're like dust. But still.

(And yes, of course, next up in my Asimov tour is The Stars, Like Dust.)

[Talbot Hook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say "Standard Sci-Fi Fare," but that seems rather belittling. These are quite riveting detective stories with the additional benefit of that socio-philosophical befuddlement that comes along with good sci-fi. The dialogue is, to a modern, a bit dated, but that can be charming when one reads enough of it; the characters (really just one solid character and a fairly-built-out robot) are rather lifeless (they're not the point, in the end); the writing is solid engineer's prose with a splash of the poet. Where Asimov shines is in developing novel concepts and circuitous plots. Establishing the Three Laws of Robotics and then playing with them is common in certain of his books and stories.

The phenomenon that struck me the most was the distinction between viewing and seeing; he must have extrapolated this from our history with telephones and the television. On one of his planets (Solaria), people never see each other in an unmediated manner; in fact, they are mortally afraid of it. They rely on virtual reality and artificial intelligence to facilitate their relationships with others. And wherever we were on this mediation/robotics road at the time Asimov wrote The Naked Sun, we're much farther down that path now. We don't seem able to turn back, and a Butlerian Jihad isn't likely. As he writes, "Once brought into existence, robots were not so easily removed, and a human who wished to dispense with them even temporarily found he could not." Troubling thing to my mind, this trajectory of automation and distancing, so it's intriguing to see a hypothetical future for us spun out in Solarian society. It strikes me that good science fiction writers must also be good sociologists and anthropologists.

[Leonida Monaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted this rare edition from Doubleday 1971. I searched for it and when I found it I ate it. it took me 3 days to finish these 2 books (which I have already read few years back in Italian).

Reading Asimov is always like coming back home.

Murder cases on a not so distant future, if compared to the Foundation Novels, where a new sociological system exists. A science fiction book where sociology and ethics are mixed. The message from the Master is clear, the way he reasoned to write these books is clear. I mean, he created the laws of robotic, and when they where not enough, he added a new one.

If you have never watched an Isaac Asimov Interview, please do.

Then come back to one of these books, make a cup of coffee and enjoy.

[Margaret A Driscoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second in the Robot series. I also read this years ago, but after finding these books in a used book store, decided I wanted to read them again. I have thought of this book a lot over the years. I first read it before the idea of social internet, skype or facetime were thought of by us regular folks. The planet Solaria takes social media to an extreme but logical future. Asimov was certainly prescient. Oh, and the books are still fun to read.

[Santi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dos novelas fanrasticas de Asimov, que enlazan los robots de Susan Calvin, con lo que se será el imperio y la fundación.
Estas historias de detectives ocurren milenios después de Susan, pero su legado perdura, un detective terrestre ayudado de un compañero robot tienen que solucionar unos delitos que son importantes para todo el planeta Tierra, y para los lineamientos que seguirá la galaxia.
https://www.buscalibre.com.co?afiliad...

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure, this review is only for the Caves of Steel. It's really closer to 3.5 since I do want to read the other books in the series, but the writing style hasn't aged very well which made it sometimes very tedious to read and difficult to enjoy the main character. The world Asimov built is very interesting and I want to see it and the characters fleshed out more as the series continues.

[Clum4n1 Scamander · Rating 5 out of 5]

me encanto ese final

[Evi al'Meara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lectura obligatoria para todo amante de la sci-fi.

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Caves of Steel - 3

[Matthew Latimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a couple years ago so I dont remember a whole lot but the ending as unexpected and I liked it

[andrew orillion · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Naked Sun is great, but The Caves of Steel was a slog. I struggled to finish it and ended up skipping to the end. Asimov can be a chore sometimes.

[Jamie Maddock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun classic murder mystery/who-dun-it set in Asimov’s universe.

[Преслава · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://bookcompass.wordpress.com/2012...

„Стоманените пещери” ни среща с детектив Илайджа Бейли от Земята, някъде в далечното бъдеще. Земята е разделена на огромни градове, които буквално са изградени под земята, хората почти не излизат на повърхността, хранят се с изкуствено приготвена храна, ползват обществени бани и тоалетни и това да имаш апартамент с три стаи е лукс. Популацията непрекъснато нараства, но някъде в хода на историята земляните са се отказали от космическите пътувания и завладяването на нови светове. Колонизаторите са се отцепили и сега има 50 външни свята, всеки със собствени нрави и обичаи, на които за разлика от населението на Земята популацията е строго контролирана. За сметка на това космополитите (хората от външните светове) остаряват много по-бавно и живеят стотици години. Най-голямата разлика обаче остава в отношението към роботите. На външните светове те са част от ежедневието и тяхното производство непрекъснато се усъвършенства. На Земята е останало консервативното отношение, хората се страхуват и бунтуват срещу тяхното използване, въпреки трите закона на роботиката:

1. Роботът не може да причини вреда на човек или с бездействието си да допусне на човека да бъде причинена вреда.
2. Роботът е длъжен да се подчинява на човека, ако това не противоречи на Първия закон.
3. Роботът е длъжен да се грижи за собствената си безопасност, ако това не противоречи на Първия и Втория закон.

Действието на романа се развива около убийството на космополит, което се е случило на Земята и разбира се влече след себе си множество политически проблеми между Земята и Външните светове. На детектив Илайджа Бейли е възложена отговорната задача да ра��следва случая. За негов партньор е определен робот Данийл Оливо, представител на външните светове. Първоначално Илайджа подхожда с предубеденото отношение, че това е просто една машина, но в хода на работата им неговото мнение се променя и той започва да уважава р. Данийл Оливо. Историята те увлича и те държи в напрежение да разбереш как е станало точно убийството и кой е извършителят. Наред с това лека полека Азимов разкрива едно бъдеще, което не изглежда по-съвършено от сегашното. А дори напротив, по-мегаполистично и прекъснало връзка с природата. Неизменни са само човешките страсти и емоции.

В „Голото слънце” отново се срещаме с Илайджа Бейли няколко години по-късно след събитията от „Стоманените пещери”. Той е пратен на мисия да разследва убийство на планетата Солария, един от 50-те външни свята. Там той отново е партньор с р. Данийл Оливо. Солария е свят, на който населението е само около 20 000 души и е изключително зависещо от роботите. Докато в първия роман беше обрисувано бъдещето на Земята, тук авторът представя едно алтернативно бъдеще, в което хората изпитват отвращение от физическия контакт, живеят в изолация и са изключително зависими от технологиите.

Романите се явяват една своеобразна прелюдия на “Фондацията”, но няма да развалям изненадата, а и все още ми остава втория том със следващите две истории.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

En Bóvedas de Acero se inicia la saga de robots, algunos podrían contar a los relatos cortos de robots como el verdadero inicio, pero eso es un preludio o preámbulo. Acá, a partir de esta novela es donde se llevan a cabo los sucesos más importantes y donde hacen aparición dos personajes memorables: Elijah Baley y Daneel Olivaw.
Esta saga de robots esta mucho mejor armada que la de Fundación y hasta diría que la disfruto bastante más, ya que las precuelas y secuelas del llamado Ciclo de Trantor bajan bastante en nivel en comparación con la trilogía principal. La saga de Elijah y Daneel mantiene un nivel alto y cuenta una historia a gran escala a través de sus cuatro novelas auto conclusivas que, aunque tal vez no alcance la magnitud de Fundación, son de una importancia muy grande para la humanidad.

Bóvedas de Acero me parece una introducción casi perfecta a los personajes y al mundo planteado. Teniendo en cuenta que el libro fue publicado en el 1953, solo puedo maravillarme con lo logrado que esta.
No hay relleno, no se divaga, no hay cantidad de personajes innecesarios o redundantes, no hay soluciones mágicas o protagonistas infalibles, y sobre todo, cuando se explica algo se lo hace de forma llevadera, no se agota al lector con la información. Todo va con un ritmo adecuado y entretiene, a la vez que plantea temas importantes.
Si bien algunas cosas pueden haber quedado un poco obsoletas o antiguas, la novela en sí cuenta con ese sello de clásico que se puede leer hoy en día y seguir siendo actual.

El sol desnudo transcurre unos meses después de los sucesos de la primer historia y tengo que admitir que gran parte de la historia parece más un planteamiento de ideas o un ensayo y no tanto una investigación de un crimen.
Esto hace que el libro se vuelva un poco pesado a medio camino, sin embargo, en los últimos capítulos la historia levanta bastante.

Cabe destacar al personaje de Elijah Baley con todas sus virtudes, defectos e incertidumbres. Para aquellos que siempre dicen que los personajes de Asimov no son muy buenos, creo que Elijah demuestra que no es tan cierta esa afirmación.
Hay partes que me gustaron mucho, como ver a Baley respirando aire natural y recibiendo los desnudos rayos solares, esto hace que contemple la vida de manera diferente, hace que por un instante su adoctrinamiento en la sociedad caiga y permita una visión más "abierta", cuando vuelve a las cuevas, ese pensamiento se escurre y lo abandona, tachandolo de una simple ilusión o sueño infantil.
¿Se puede soñar cuando el cielo abierto y las estrellas, cuando esa amplitud de libertad no es visible?
En estas dos historias vemos como de a poco empieza a romper o al menos combatir con esas cadenas autoimpuestas.

De Daneel no quiero hablar mucho, ya que puedo caer en algún tema que arruine la sorpresa. Y aún falta otro personaje bastante importante, pero para eso hay que llegar a la última novela de la saga: Robots e Imperio.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

ahhh Vintage SciFi, you're quite a thing!

Not sure how intentional, but Asimov writes up quite the dystopia future! The world-building here outweighs the murder-mystery by lightyears!
the City is an overpopulated, closed-in (literally, by walls. Windows are terrifying useless architecture concept) claustrophobic mess of a place, with everything as "rations" and "quotas". An apartment having its own private sink is a ridiculous luxury (everyone shares the Personals aka showers/toilets probly end of the floor) and one must acquire special permission for at-home dinners & choice of food while at it
BTW, all the food is synthetic, half of fuckin' Jersey basically grows yeast. The only time anyone can see a dog, cat or maybe some pigeons is a zoo visit with the kids.
Then in Naked Sun the entire concept is flipped to even worse with Solaria having uber-isolation, to point of "seeing" and "viewing" being straight up different ways of communication the former being far too intimate and/or insulting if used casually

oh, right, the murder part. Detective story neatly nested in the usual ROBOTS universe of his, with 3 Laws of Robotics remaining in effect. And lets not forget that oh-so-50s sexism just oozing from the pages where a rare woman chara appears

[Петър Панчев · Rating 5 out of 5]

Цялото ревю тук: http://knijenpetar.blogspot.com/2014/...
Лесно е да се пише за Айзък Азимов, защото е разпознаваем не само сред феновете на научната фантастика, но и сред всички любители на качествената литература. Той е от малкото гиганти в жанра, който дърпа науката с идеите си и поставя важни въпроси, които не можем да пренебрегнем. На всички са ни известни неговите Три закона на роботиката (преписани дословно от корицата на това издание!):
1. Роботът не може да причини вреда на човек или с бездействието си да допусне на човека да бъде причинена вреда.
2. Роботът е длъжен да се подчинява на човека, ако това не противоречи на Първия закон.
3. Роботът е длъжен да се грижи за собствената си безопасност, ако това не противоречи на Първия и Втория закон.
Има много интерпретации в превода на законите, затова съм ползвал този от това издание.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been interesting to re-read this book after 25 years. Originally I read this in the 1970s, when the science was not so out of sync with what the current thought was. Things are so different now, and the science does not necessarily translate, especially with regard to the human genome, which has been mapped now, but in the story line, 3,000 plus years in the future, hasn't been done.

Lije Baley and his partner, R. Daneel Olivaw (R for Robot), stand as good characters still, although the viewpoints are a bit dated. Asimov still manages to look at cultural affectations and bring them forward into a possible conclusion, such as the behavior of men and women in public restrooms taken to an extreme.

A good couple of adventure stories. Dated, but still readable.

[Cory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought both of these stories were excellent. Good mystery involved to keep you guessing, as well as a great sci-fi story.

The most important thing I got out of this book, is that it stresses the complications than can arise in the near future, as robots become more advanced today and take on greater roles within our society. They are great innovations, and can definitely help us, but it's good not to become complacent with our own roles we have in this universe.

It also goes to show that advancing our space programs and venturing out into the unknown is a great thing that the human race can and should achieve.

Asimov is an amazing writer, and I'm glad to have read this book.