The Robots of Dawn/The Naked Sun/The Caves of Steel (The Robot Trilogy) by Issac Asimov
In a desperate state and without a lead, I did a search for old fantasy novels and stumbled on these gems. Asimov is known for his science fiction and while I enjoy good sci-fi, its not at the top of my list. Like fantasy, there is so much very, very bad science fiction out there - I tend to just avoid it for fear of getting sucked into something that is a waste of time. I had never read any of his work. In this case, I was delighted to find that Asimov deserves his reputation as a leader in the genre. This also crosses over to the detective genre which again, is not my favorite, but I dabble in it occasionally. And thanks to this trilogy, I now have a new second favorite literary detective (Cormoran Strike, your first place spot is not in any danger).
Its worth mentioning that the first two books were written relatively close together (between 1953 and 1957, depending on whether you count the serialized publication or only the actual book) with the third coming decades later in 1983. There is a distinct and notable difference between the first/second and the third books. Not in the writing style-curiously, that remained pretty steady throughout, but in the what I guess I'd call "tone" or "background". If you think about the timing, the mid-50s were the Leave It To Beaver days when proper women stayed home with their kids and were often at best appendages of their spouses. Asimov's earlier Caves of Steel and Naked Sun are definitely victims of their time in this way. You can almost feel Elijah reaching for the smelling salts. His wife is broadly written, her "place" clearly subjective to Elijah. In the interest of being fair, part of this may be world building but I think that most of it is just the plain fact that Asimov, like many of us, is a product of his time. By the time The Robots of Dawn was written, we were living deep in the days of Dallas and Dynasty and you can tell that Asimov feels more free with both his storytelling and his portrayal of women. Things have a long way to go yet in early 1980s but a reader can most definitely see progress. If he were to write a novel in 2019, who knows what we might get? Any actually fully formed female character? Perhaps. At least he was trending the right direction.
All three books were pretty short-I think I cruised through the trilogy in less than a week. I enjoyed the mysteries, I enjoyed R. Daniel and the evolution of his and Elijah's partnership over the course of the books and I just plain enjoyed the books. High literature? Nah. "Woke"? Absolutely not. Enjoyable way to pass the time? Absolutely.
Rating: #3 Enjoyed It Very Much
Its worth mentioning that the first two books were written relatively close together (between 1953 and 1957, depending on whether you count the serialized publication or only the actual book) with the third coming decades later in 1983. There is a distinct and notable difference between the first/second and the third books. Not in the writing style-curiously, that remained pretty steady throughout, but in the what I guess I'd call "tone" or "background". If you think about the timing, the mid-50s were the Leave It To Beaver days when proper women stayed home with their kids and were often at best appendages of their spouses. Asimov's earlier Caves of Steel and Naked Sun are definitely victims of their time in this way. You can almost feel Elijah reaching for the smelling salts. His wife is broadly written, her "place" clearly subjective to Elijah. In the interest of being fair, part of this may be world building but I think that most of it is just the plain fact that Asimov, like many of us, is a product of his time. By the time The Robots of Dawn was written, we were living deep in the days of Dallas and Dynasty and you can tell that Asimov feels more free with both his storytelling and his portrayal of women. Things have a long way to go yet in early 1980s but a reader can most definitely see progress. If he were to write a novel in 2019, who knows what we might get? Any actually fully formed female character? Perhaps. At least he was trending the right direction.
All three books were pretty short-I think I cruised through the trilogy in less than a week. I enjoyed the mysteries, I enjoyed R. Daniel and the evolution of his and Elijah's partnership over the course of the books and I just plain enjoyed the books. High literature? Nah. "Woke"? Absolutely not. Enjoyable way to pass the time? Absolutely.
Rating: #3 Enjoyed It Very Much
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