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Asimov is quickly winning my heart. His work with AIs and world building are phenomenal. He can even make me love a genre I don't tend to read (detective mysteries). I can't wait to read more
The Naked Sun (Robot #2), Isaac AsimovThe Naked Sun is a science fiction novel by Russian American writer Isaac Asimov, the second in his Robot series. Like its predecessor, The Caves of Steel, this is a whodunit story. The book was first published in 1957 after being serialized in Astounding Science Fiction between October and December 1956. The story arises from the murder of Rikaine Delmarre, a prominent "fetologist" (fetal scientist, responsible for the operation of the planetary birthing ce...
Hopefully a review in the next few daysAs I mentioned in a previous review, a house move with a homeless gap in the middle is causing me difficulties in both reading and writing any reviews that are outstanding. That's not the reviews are outstanding, as in good, but outstanding as in late !That said I think I now only have 2 reviews to go, woo hoo.So I have to say, as I have before that, Isaac Asimov has to be my favourite author (and I always apologise to JRR Tolkien at this point ). And this
In The Caves of Steel, I was most fascinated by Elijah Baley's world, an Earth with crowded underground cities and a populace used to eating yeast, but terrified of the open sky. The Naked Sun introduces the planet of Solaria, and their culture of isolation. Each human is alone, attended by a fleet of robots, and never comes into personal contact with or even within close proximity to another human. Which is why Baley is imported from Earth to solve a Solarian murder mystery: the murderer had to...
In my opinion not as good as the original "Caves of Steel" but still quite readable, provided you remember this is a 6 decades old book.The murder mystery side of the book is interesting, albeit a bit naive if you're a fan on the genre, but fits seamlessly among the sci-fi part of the story.As before, love the robot0human interactions.All in all, a solid sequel.
So basically, a rich, young, beautiful woman with no responsibilities living on a beautiful planet with her every need catered to gets so frustrated that her husband cares more about his science experiments than her that she beats him to death with his own lab equipment. Then, when a detective shows up to try and figure out who the murderer is, she flashes him, putting on the classic ditzy blonde ‘silly-me-I-forgot-to-put-on-my-robe’ act and gets off scot free just for showing a little skin. At
Science fiction and mystery novels go together so well that I’m always a bit surprised there aren’t more of them (while I know several others, it is not a sub-genre that really seems prominent). After all, the idea of a mystery is the focus on discovering answers, and science fiction is (as it has always seemed to me at least) a way to reflect on the ways people interact with each other, with technology and with our environment. The basic things we look for in a murder mystery are motive, the we...
I really enjoyed this - NY cop, a 'Plainclothesman' from the overpopulated, domed mega cities (The Caves of Steel), of Earth, Elijah Bayley is sent to the far reaches of the known universe to investigate a murder on a planet where murder never happens, where people don't even meet face-2-face, and where there are around 1,000 robots to every person!Not only do we get a stranger in a strange land, we also get a captivating murder investigation on a planet where it is seen as grossly disturbing to...
Robot 4:::speculation on future of human life, part two:: ::humans on colony worlds portrayed:: ::but humanity is just as limited as ever:: ::humanity will bring its baggage wherever it goes, even the stars:: ::these Solarians are like Earth humans:: ::they build up walls between themselves:: ::they are afraid of contact, of touch, of affection:: ::they are like old school robots:: ::fortunately new model robots are not afraid of such things:: ::modern robots are very affectionate, just not
3.5 ⭐”A robot may do nothing that, to its knowledge, will harm a human being; nor, through inaction, knowingly allow a human being to come to harm.”Earth’s renowned detective, Elijah Baley, and Auroran robot “detective”, Daneel Olivaw, reunite for another homicide investigation with a spacer twist.What makes this particular investigation interesting is that the murder was committed on Solaria; a planet containing just 20,000 human inhabitants and 200,000,000 working positronic robots, and which
The Naked Sun, (the second novel in the Robot series) is a living proof that you can write a detective story set in a future that will not only be interesting, but also profound in the way best science fiction books are. A mix of science fiction and crime is not something everyone can pull of, but Asimov makes it look easy. In fact, Asimov's Robot series is one of my favourite ones. The writing in this novel is so clean and precise, not one word or sentence too much or to little. Asimov writing
The Naked Sun was even better than Caves of Steel! Asimov’s Robot series are probably one of the greatest sci-fi series of all time. I really love these books. Foundation was great but these are better. I liked how Asimov tried to use sci-fi in other genres. The Robot series are more mystery than sci-fi but his inclusion of space exploration, robots, and artificial intelligence make it both. I thought Asimov was a good sci-fi author after having read the Foundation series but after getting into
It's the purest speculation, but I have a theory that Isaac Asimov may have had an affair with a Swedish woman somewhere around 1955. At that time he was in his mid 30s, and had been married for around 10 years. The evidence? Well, he wrote two novels in rapid succession, The End of Eternity and The Naked Sun, which, very unusually for the early Asimov, contain sexy female characters that play an important part in the story. Both of them have Swedish-sounding names with romantic associations. Th...
If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.Solaria: "The Naked Sun" by Isaac AsimovBear in mind, though, that ‘Speculative Fiction’ is really a cluster of genres – Le Guin and Banks don't have much in common other than the SF label – so you might need to cast around quite a bit, to find something to your taste. I think there's much more variation in topic, style, and concerns within SF than within thrillers, or crime fiction, say.
A new case for Detective Elijah Baley (a human from Earth) and R. Daneel Olivaw (a robot) and I found myself cheering at the reunion! :DIt's been a few months since the first book and Baley has been promoted. One day, he is called to Washington for a new assignment - one he can't refuse despite the fact that it is off planet! On Solaris, one of the Spacer colonies that is politically hostile to Earth, a murder has been committed. Puzzling is how the killed scientist could live compeltely isolate...
Asimov robot re-read 2/25/21This time, like the last time, over thirty years ago, I was struck by how Asimov could twist simple agoraphobia into two distinct branches that could cover two whole branches of humanity. One, a real-presence phobia that mimicks, if not having the motive, our current society where social-distancing is required, not actively sought-after. Of course, then, like now, introverts tend to thrive in such situations. And Bailey, coming from an extreme extrovert society on Ear...
Nutshell: superstar earthling detective imported to dyslibertopian planet to investigate murder.Libertarian dystopia is Solaria, a planet of 20,000 human persons who live on separate estates, worked by 200,000,000 robot slaves (28-29). The libertarian individualism is so complete that humans don't "see" each other, but merely "view" on television (63). Names are not used on more than one person (55). Their excess is sufficient "to devote a single room to a single purpose": library, music room, g...
Asimov + Science fiction + Thriller. I don't think there's anything better. What can I say. I loved this little bastard. I love Asimov's Robots universe, all the problems it has and this one in particular is completely page turner and interesting. The best main character I have read in an Asimov book and a premise way more entangled than the 5 other novels I have read of him. Just read this beauty, please.Que buena secuela. Si esas últimas páginas no te hacen querer seguir leyendo a los Robots d...
This second book in the Robot series takes place a short time after book one, with Detective Elijah Baley of Earth, three thousand years into our future, assigned to investigate a murder on an outer world called Solaria. This request for his assistance was unusual in that Spacers liked keeping their distance from residents of Earth, especially Solarians who lived highly isolated lives and have interacted with people virtually for the most part. They were as phobic of in person contact as those f...
Disclaimer: This is the very first science fiction book I ever read, at the age of 15 (stuck in hospital), and I was swept away... enough to forget the pain for a bit! My father brought me this book and it is one of the many things for which I will forever be thankful to him.The disclaimer having been delivered, you can’t be surprised at my rating!Much like Caves of Steel, the book before this one, this reads like a classic murder mystery with the flawed but lovable hard-boiled detective… but is...