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 … 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!
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This book is Asimov being amazing. The way he works world building into the mystery is fantastic. Loved every word on every page. He’s a master.
It’s fun to read and compare to today’s reality. In some cases it misses the mark by a long shot. In others, it is pretty close. It’s a great read!
First Asimov novel I’ve read. He creates such a unique world and carries it off with details and wit. I thought the plot unfolded masterfully. Look forward to more of his robot series.
Loved this book of robots. I could imagine robots being a reality and living among us.
A re-read of a great start to the robot series by Asimov. The 3 laws continue to live! Some twists in that Asimov did not anticipate cell phones and popular-use of the Internet.
One of Asimov’s original classics. A goold read.
Amazing book written 50-60 yrs ago. Still timely
So much Asimov!!!!! Love this book.
You can tell quality by the number of people attempting to imitate it. This is one of the first of a genre of future world police procedurals well worth pursuing.
Isaac Asimov with his rules for the Positronic brain anticipated problems with today’s Artificial Intelligence interfacing with humans. It is especially interesting to see which of his visions of the future missed by a mile and which were knocked out of the park home runs. I read this book when it came out decades ago and had forgotten enough of …
I checked “scary” because Asimov’s vision of this future Earth is too realistically dismal. We’ve reached the population density of this book’s setting, but we haven’t sunk to the claustrophobic depths of this book. Yet. Of course, Asimov’s own claustrophobia is often reflected in his works. This is the first of his Robot novels, although I …
I loved this series. I read all many years ago. I still love them.
Great
If you’ve never read Asimov, start with this one. This is Asimov at his best. The next one, The Naked Sun, is every bit as good but this book is a standalone, so don’t worry – you won’t be left with a cliffhanger ending. An absolute classic sci fi story that will never get old.
Asimov…’nuff said.
Really thought provoking book.
This is the original SciFi mystery. A gritty detective who hates robots is forced to work with a new partner… that’s right. A robot. Did I mention it’s a very sensitive murder case? The fate of the Earth’s ability to colonize planets might be in the balance? Yeah, this novel has stood the test of time.
A personal note: this is the book that …
From FOUNDATION through all of the prequels to the sequels Assimov is one of the greatest writers of any genre. Cave of Steel can be read over and over and still remain enjoyable. I’ve been a fan of his for 70 years.
A true classic
Classic Asimov