Les cavernes d'acier (original: 1954; edição: 2002)

It's been a long time since I read any Isaac Asimov (I read all of the Foundation novels one summer and it sort of burned me out on reading anything else he had written), and I found this for $2 in a used bookstore. It's a perfectly good science fiction novel (for the time it was published - the pre-GPS "guide rods" stand out as particularly silly today, as does a lot of the dialogue) and a reasonable mystery story, but I never had that "wow" moment that pushes a book to 4 or 5 stars for me. ( )

This Science Fiction is really a mystery set in a possible future. The 'Spacers' hover above Earth and have been exerting their influnce, without much acceptance, for about 20 years. They have been attempting to incorporate robots into human society with little success and now one of them has been killed. Now one man and one robot must find a way to work together before the situation comes to a dangerous head. ( )

A simple murder mystery is elevated by the themes of robotics, law, prejudice, and religion. While the "whodunnit" was obvious from the get-go, it's what Asimov explores that makes Caves of Steel worthwhile.

Ratings:- ( )

This one was a quick read. I liked it a lot better than the foundation series - which I couldn't finish. I did find story a bit dated, however. and Asimov is not known for his strong female characters - and he makes no exception to that rule in this book. ( )

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov is a classic science fiction story and a murder mystery meshed together. The timing is supposed to be far into the future, a time when hyperspace travel has been discovered, and a few worlds have been colonized. Known as the “Spacer worlds” they are rich, have a relatively low population density and use robot labour. Meanwhile Earth has become overpopulated and both “spacers” and robots are looked up with suspicion. The caves of steel in the title are the vast city complexes on earth that are covered by metal domes.

When a Spacer ambassador is murdered by an earth-man, New York City detective Elijah Baley is assigned a the case and much to his disgust is given a highly advanced robot partner to work with. I found the story entertaining as much for Asimov’s vision of the future as for the story. The murder mystery was fairly predictable but I was totally absorbed by Asimov’s world-building that is revealed throughout the course of the story.

While I doubt that I will track down more of these sci-fi mysteries, I did find The Caves of Steel to be a satisfying read. ( )