Isaac Asimov

Called to the Spacer world to solve a case of roboticide, New York City detective Elijah Baley teams up with humanoid robot R. Daneel Olivaw to prove that the prime suspect, a renowned roboticist, is innocent of the crime. Reprint.

The Robots of Dawn

Aamna

Has its ups and downs but the finish is masterful. I really like how Baley has evolved over books - such deliberate character writing.

Ryan LaFerney

2.5 stars

The Robots of Dawn is the third volume in the Robot series by Isaac Asimov. It was published in 1983 some twenty six years after The Naked Sun was (The Naked Sun was published in 1957). The Robots of Dawn completes a trilogy of detective novels set a thousand years in the future in which an Earth police detective, Elijah Baley, works with a humaniform robot, R. Daneel Olivaw, to solve bizarre murders. The Robots of Dawn reunites readers with sleuth Elijah Baley and his humanlike robot-sidekick, R. Daneel. Earthman Baley is summoned to the Spacer world Aurora, where a Daneel-lookalike robot, Jander, has been mysteriously brain-killed in an act of roboticide. 

The Robots of Dawn takes places on Aurora, the first world colonized from Earth, making it one of the most powerful spacer worlds. The reason Baley is sent to Aurora is to crack the case of the roboticide in order to free the name of the chief Earth supporter and robot inventor (Han Fastolfe) on Aurora who stands accused of killing Jander. The only problem is Fastolfe is the only person who possesses the skill to have “killed” Jander. Meanwhile, Kelden Amadiro, Fastolfe's chief political rival and head of the Robotics Institute, wants to see Aurora alone colonize the Galaxy, by means of humaniform robots which at present only Fastolfe can build. So Baley gets busy investigating and During the course of the investigation, Baley discovers that Gladia, a woman Baley met on Solaria in The Naked Sun, was in a relationship with R. Jander. Could she have something to do with the murder? 

This is my least favorite book in the Robot series by Asimov, for a few reasons. First, the dialogue is just endless and often kind of droll. If you want to learn how to solve crimes by constantly talking to people read this book. Secondly, the female voices – such as Gladia – while technically interesting, are still a bit clumsy and this made more so by Asimov’s noble attempt to bring his female characters into the era of the sexual revolution and feminism. (While I’ll admit some of the discussion about Jander and Gladia’s relationship posed interesting philosophical questions about personhood, I found most of the sexual discussions to be cringe worthy). Gladia certainly is more three-dimensional in this novel as she carries the secret of a relationship with Jander but, Jehoshaphat! I’m convinced that Asimov just can’t write dialogue between a man and a woman effectively. Asimov is far better at writing the chemistry and dynamics between a man and robots and a man and other men than he is with a man and a woman. I also think Asimov spent way too much time focusing on Gladia and Baley and Gladia’s sexual issues. This book also really lacks stakes: there are no real villains or life-and-death issues. This book really is about maintaining Earth’s presence on the spacer worlds and is in many ways, one giant set up for the Foundation series. Thirdly, this novel is substantially longer than his earlier novels in this series and it suffers for it.

With my critique out of the way, I will say that the mystery solution took me somewhat by surprise this time (although the real villain is totally predictable). There are a lot of connections between his other books here, looking backward into previous robot books and forward into the Foundation series. In fact, the solution does sort of tie into the Foundation series.

Sadly, Asimov's The Robots of Dawn doesn't stand up to the previous two entries. The "B" plot focusing on Gladia and Jander is the least interesting aspect of the story (I'm more interested in the political ramifications of what the Robotics Institute is trying to accomplish). This book is a bit overstuffed. Obsessing over the sexual customs of the "spacer worlds" was just a bit over the top for me. I wanted more politics and less psychology. That being said this book about humans and robots and the Earth’s influence in the stars is still full of (mostly) well thought-out sociological, psychological and philosophical aspects. And of course it was still fun to team up with our fallible Earth police detective, Elijah Baley, , and his partner, R. Daneel Olivaw for another ride. I just wish it wasn't so bumpy.

Kirsten Simkiss

To be honest, I felt that this more deserved 3.5 stars than 4. However, it was the best in the series so I gave it the extra half a star since half stars are not an option on Goodreads.

I enjoyed the characters more in this particular book then in the previous two. Elijah particularly seem to develop more than he had in the past. However, I still felt that he was more attracted to his robotic partner than either of his proclaimed love interests, his wife and Gladia.

While this mystery is solvable based on the clues given to you, it is not the conclusion most people would rationally come to.

As always, I found many of the characters reactions to be over-the-top and a bit ridiculous given the circumstances. Characters consistently got angry over silly things and yet under reacted to things that normal people would react more strongly about. For instance, Elijah essentially cheating on his wife with Gladia was something he probably should have reacted more strongly about. 

All in all, the mystery is more about the worlds that the future could bring with robotics as a focus. The mystery just gives you a focal point to focus on in the story as they explain how the future could develop.

I would recommend this book to others only if they had read the first two.

Brent Nef

** spoiler alert **
           Asimov seems to have a poor understanding of economics -- unfortunately in addition to much of the dated sci-fi it affects the motivations of his characters and the drivers for his future "Galactic Empire". (But I enjoyed it anyway because it's a fun read, entertaining and well-written.)

Adam

The 4th book in Asimovs Robot series. Somewhat awkward in it's sexuality, but a decent detective tale on its own. Less technical than the other books in the robot series.

The Robots of Dawn

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