Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21741 in Books
• Published on: 1994-01-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Synopsis
Elijah Baley has faced Departmental hostility since his return to Earth from the planet Solaria, where he solved the first murder to be committed in 200 years. Against his will, a hyperwave drama was made of the case, thanks to Delmarre, the murder suspect whom he proved innocent.

Customer Reviews

Curiously lacking in emotion
The problem with ninety percent of SF is that the characters are often forgotten in favour of the larger picture. Asimov's Robots of Dawn is a detective story with an SF twist, mixing a traditional detective mystery with SF traditions on a world where robots exist along with humans in a curious master/slave relationship. Elijah Baley is called offworld to investigate a case of roboticide, when one of these curiously human robots malfunctions. Much of the awkwardness of this tale comes from the curious mish-mash of detective story and SF story. The robotic element of the story often seems uneccesary and manages to dilute the human elements leaving the reader cold: who cares about each suspect's motives? Who even cares about the concerns of the curiously blank Elijah Baley?

Of course, that's not to say the book is without merit: Asimov shines when discussing the rules of robotics and the philosophical implications of robots that act almost like humans but with limitations placed upon their actions by their creators. These sequences work well and many of the ideas presented are interesting and worthy of debate. But as a story - as pure entertainment - Robots of Dawn fails on a lot of levels. The emotional interest is next to zero and the detective story element is cliched and laughable. The femme-fatale is a femme-fatale in the ultimately traditional sense, making her dull and uninteresting. Elijah Baley has mild moments of interest but ultimately Asimov fails to play his character through convincingly; he becomes just another 'tec going through the motions.

It is not, despite the foregoing criticism, a bad book. But as someone who enjoys both SF and Crime fiction it failed for me because it was ultimately a poor marriage of the two, failing especially on the side of characterisation and the mystery element of the story. If you're a fan of Asimov's writing, of course (Personally I find him variable)this will be worth a read. It passes the time but, personally, I was quite unmoved by anything within the pages.

Excellant sequel to THE NAKED SUN
This was written much later than the original two robot novels, the three Empire novels, and the Foundation trilogy. It and the following book, ROBOTS AND EMPIRE, link the first two robot books with the Empire series and leads up to Foundation.

There are a couple of points easy to miss here. First, psychohistory is first suggested by Dr. Fastolfe, and then advanced by the two robots. Secondly, while there is a mystery involved here, the emphasis is on the future of space exploration and who is going to be in it. The original pioneers into space have become spoiled by their reliance on their robots and no longer have the spirit of adventure necessary to continue further exploration, and yet they are fearful of the idea of generally despised Earth people colonizing planets.

So much indeed is at stake here. For full enjoyment, I suggest reading first the Susan Calvin stories and also "The Bicentennial Man" which are in Asimov's THE COMPLETE ROBOT, and then THE CAVES OF STEEL and THE NAKED SUN, the first two Elijah Bailey & R. Daneel Olivaw novels. And be prepared for this book to be more centered on mankind's future venturing into space than in the mystery element.

Beautifully woven web of intrigue, lust and murder
'Robots of Dawn' is the last of the Elijah Bayley and R. Daneel Olivaw detective mysteries and by far the best. Asimov brilliantly counterpoises the hopes and ambitions of powerful, brilliant, flawed men and women of the planet Aurora (or Dawn), faithful, constant robots striving to do nothing but please their masters and the hapless intuitive blundering of an Earth detective plucked against his will to solve an unsolvable crime upon which rides the future of mankind. You should read 'Caves of Steel' and 'Naked Sun' before 'Robots of Dawn' as the context they provide will enhance the enjoyment of this book and they are good in their own right. After 'Robots of Dawn' you will not be able to resist its sequel 'Robots and Empire' which is even better and finalises the early part of Asimovs 'history of the future'.