This novel continues to explore the sociological consequences of robots and humans in a mixed society. Like The Caves of Steel, it follows a traditional detective story formula, ending with the protagonist facing down a room full of potential perpetrators. True to form, he works through motive, opportunity, and means (after stating explicitly that he will do so) with respect to eachh suspect until springing the surprise deduction of the true culprit on the assembled. I don't point this out to find fault. Mostly, I'm surprised by how this novel reads to me in middle-age, compared to what I noticed about it when I was a teenager. Then, plot was the only thing I cared about. Now, with far more reading under my belt, I can evaluate it on its other merits and characteristics.
I did not enjoy this novel as much as Caves of Steel, perhaps because I found the extreme sociological characteristics of the Solarians to be a bit of a stretch. Certainly one of the roles of science fiction is to present a "what if" scenario for consideration, but the best of the genre succeeds in finding a balance between something radically new and something plausible as an extrapolation or extension of what already exists. As presented by Asimov, the Solarians were a bit too extreme. This is a minor flaw, though.
Although the timeline of the novels I included in my previous post note the original publication date of each work, it didn't fully occur to me until mid-way through The Naked Sun that it was written AFTER the first two Foundation novels. I was marveling at the way these two early Robot Novels seemed to pre-figure the Foundation series when I realized that this was not an instance of incredible foresight or extensive planning, but instead an effort to go back and lay the groundwork for what was already published. I imagine that, for a reader with no prior knowledge of the Foundation universe, reading the books in publication order would have certain advantages over reading them as I am. Given that I've read most of the works at least once, I don't think I can render an opinion as to a preferred approach.
On to The Robots of Dawn!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Caves of Steel review, part 2
One of the other thoughts I want to share about Caves of Steel relates to gender roles. My first impression was that the story is almost completely populated by male characters, and the only female character is largely of no consequence. How typical, I thought, of a book from the fifties. I then started going through (just in my head) Asimov's other works that I've read, wondering if this is typical of him. Although there are a few counter examples (e.g. Susan Calvin, although she had the personality of a stereotypical male scientist), it does seem that his world is largely occupied by men. Should we forgive him this as a product of an earlier time, when in reality there were few women police officers, engineers, executives, astronauts, etc?
My mention of Susan Calvin brings me to the topic of my reading list for this venture (in a roundabout way, stick with me). I did some research on the origins of Foundation and how it grew from three 'original' novels to seven, with an expanded universe of fifteen novels and a collection of short stories authored by Asimov, plus additional novels and stories written by others after his death in 1992. The Wikipedia page titled “Foundation Series” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Foundation_Series) contains a listing of Asimov’s works from the Author’s note in Prelude to Foundation, the last Foundation book published while Asimov was alive (the last, Forward the Foundation , appears to have been completed before his death and published posthumously. It is from this list that I am working (see below).
Having read I, Robot several times, I chose not to re-read it in its entirety. I did review the final story in that collection, though, and was struck by how it prefigured some of the underlying concepts in Caves of Steel and the Foundation novels themselves. The crux of that story (The Evitable Conflict is that the artificial intelligences that plan and control all human economic activity have concluded that they can allow harm to some humans for the greater good of all humanity. The aforementioned Susan Calvin opines that this was inevitable, and that she realized from the development of the first positronic brain that humanity would ultimately follow these entities into an unknown, but presumably better future. The trajectory of human society, and its evitable nature, is the key question explored throughout Foundation. Should be a good ride!
List of Foundation works, in Asimov’s suggested reading order (with publication date in parentheses).
The Complete Robot (1982) and/or I, Robot (1950)
Caves of Steel (1954)
The Naked Sun (1957)
The Robots of Dawn (1983)
Robots and Empire (1985)
The Currents of Space (1952)
The Stars, Like Dust (1951)
Pebble in the Sky (1950)
Prelude to Foundation (1988)
Forward the Foundation (1993) [unpublished at the time this list was created]
Foundation (1951)
Foundation and Empire (1952)
Second Foundation (1953)
Foundation's Edge (1982)
Foundation and Earth (1986)
My mention of Susan Calvin brings me to the topic of my reading list for this venture (in a roundabout way, stick with me). I did some research on the origins of Foundation and how it grew from three 'original' novels to seven, with an expanded universe of fifteen novels and a collection of short stories authored by Asimov, plus additional novels and stories written by others after his death in 1992. The Wikipedia page titled “Foundation Series” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Foundation_Series) contains a listing of Asimov’s works from the Author’s note in Prelude to Foundation, the last Foundation book published while Asimov was alive (the last, Forward the Foundation , appears to have been completed before his death and published posthumously. It is from this list that I am working (see below).
Having read I, Robot several times, I chose not to re-read it in its entirety. I did review the final story in that collection, though, and was struck by how it prefigured some of the underlying concepts in Caves of Steel and the Foundation novels themselves. The crux of that story (The Evitable Conflict is that the artificial intelligences that plan and control all human economic activity have concluded that they can allow harm to some humans for the greater good of all humanity. The aforementioned Susan Calvin opines that this was inevitable, and that she realized from the development of the first positronic brain that humanity would ultimately follow these entities into an unknown, but presumably better future. The trajectory of human society, and its evitable nature, is the key question explored throughout Foundation. Should be a good ride!
List of Foundation works, in Asimov’s suggested reading order (with publication date in parentheses).
The Complete Robot (1982) and/or I, Robot (1950)
Caves of Steel (1954)
The Naked Sun (1957)
The Robots of Dawn (1983)
Robots and Empire (1985)
The Currents of Space (1952)
The Stars, Like Dust (1951)
Pebble in the Sky (1950)
Prelude to Foundation (1988)
Forward the Foundation (1993) [unpublished at the time this list was created]
Foundation (1951)
Foundation and Empire (1952)
Second Foundation (1953)
Foundation's Edge (1982)
Foundation and Earth (1986)
Monday, October 3, 2011
Caves of Steel review, part 1
I’ve already finished reading Caves of Steel, facilitated by a small bit of insomnia a couple of nights ago. There are several topics I find interesting to consider.
First, although I’m not much of a literary critic, this novel from earlier in Asimov’s career seems, to me, a bit simplistic. The plot device he employs in the concluding chapters—wherein the detective delivers a lengthy exposition on the entire case and neatly ties together the facts, clues, and deductions in front of both the perpetrator and several witnesses—is predictable, cliché, and, in some ways, lazy. I also find fault in another plot device, but leave that for the section labeled “Spoilers” below.
Second, the characters are flat stereotypes and detective novel stand-bys: the slightly eccentric professor, the smooth criminal, the politically harried superior officer cum older brother/father figure, the worried wife, etc. Perhaps this and my previous comment should be considered in light of this novel being a detective story as much as a science fiction story. The detective genre definitely has its conventions, in which I admit I’m not that versed.
On the other hand, Asimov does what science fiction writer often do best, by painting a picture of a possible future based in part on projecting the current hopes and fears of a society along emerging trends and technologies. Thus, a novel written in 1953 and taking place a thousand years in the future assumes a complete dependence on nuclear fission for power (technological advancements having solved the waste disposal problem, of course). For me, one of the best parts of reading old science fiction is seeing how well futurists of the past predicted the future. Because video display technology was in its relative infancy at the time, for example, Asimov’s world is full of paper that can be read and produced by machines, but contains little in the way of visually presented information.
My favorite future technology used in the book is the moving sidewalks, or “strips” that have completely replaced personal motor vehicles and streets and highways. Explored by others (including Robert A. Heinlein), the network is something I’d love to experience or see realized in a movie or other visual medium
SPOILER ALERT!! Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want the ending of the novel spoiled!
As I mentioned above, I found the conclusion of the novel a bit formulaic. It was obvious to me early in the book (and not just because I read it 25 years ago) that the culprit would likely be a character who is presented as the least likely to have committed the crime, someone in position of authority.
I’d appreciate any comments on my posts, your opinions of the book, or your interpretations. I think I’ve got one more post about Caves of Steel before moving on to The Naked Sun.
First, although I’m not much of a literary critic, this novel from earlier in Asimov’s career seems, to me, a bit simplistic. The plot device he employs in the concluding chapters—wherein the detective delivers a lengthy exposition on the entire case and neatly ties together the facts, clues, and deductions in front of both the perpetrator and several witnesses—is predictable, cliché, and, in some ways, lazy. I also find fault in another plot device, but leave that for the section labeled “Spoilers” below.
Second, the characters are flat stereotypes and detective novel stand-bys: the slightly eccentric professor, the smooth criminal, the politically harried superior officer cum older brother/father figure, the worried wife, etc. Perhaps this and my previous comment should be considered in light of this novel being a detective story as much as a science fiction story. The detective genre definitely has its conventions, in which I admit I’m not that versed.
On the other hand, Asimov does what science fiction writer often do best, by painting a picture of a possible future based in part on projecting the current hopes and fears of a society along emerging trends and technologies. Thus, a novel written in 1953 and taking place a thousand years in the future assumes a complete dependence on nuclear fission for power (technological advancements having solved the waste disposal problem, of course). For me, one of the best parts of reading old science fiction is seeing how well futurists of the past predicted the future. Because video display technology was in its relative infancy at the time, for example, Asimov’s world is full of paper that can be read and produced by machines, but contains little in the way of visually presented information.
My favorite future technology used in the book is the moving sidewalks, or “strips” that have completely replaced personal motor vehicles and streets and highways. Explored by others (including Robert A. Heinlein), the network is something I’d love to experience or see realized in a movie or other visual medium
SPOILER ALERT!! Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want the ending of the novel spoiled!
As I mentioned above, I found the conclusion of the novel a bit formulaic. It was obvious to me early in the book (and not just because I read it 25 years ago) that the culprit would likely be a character who is presented as the least likely to have committed the crime, someone in position of authority.
I’d appreciate any comments on my posts, your opinions of the book, or your interpretations. I think I’ve got one more post about Caves of Steel before moving on to The Naked Sun.
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