The Caves of Steel

Robot #1

No cover

The Caves of Steel (Hardcover, 1991, Turtleback Books)

Hardcover, 288 pages

English language

Published Nov. 1, 1991 by Turtleback Books.

ISBN:
978-0-7857-7445-7
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OCLC Number:
228272615

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4 stars (1 review)

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 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 …

40 editions

Different to what I thought it would be

4 stars

I should have anticipated this really, given that this was a novel set in Asimov's Robot universe; it's more of a murder mystery (with robots) rather than a Robot story. That being said, it still plays with themes of ballooning populations, limited resources, fear of superior technology that could replace you, and interplanetary civilisation; which are all very Asimovian themes, and definitely make me keen to see where he takes this series in the next book. So I guess I'll need to get that next book now.