Isaac Asimov is known as one of the masters of science fiction, but he was more than just a writer of science fiction. In addition to science fiction, he wrote a science books and with a total book collection (books that he would have written or edited) in the hundreds. His books came out in a time when there were many other authors of science fiction, but Asimov has always been counted among the top writers in his field, along with other authors such as Arthur C Clarke and Robert A Heinlein.
Some of the most famous works of Asimov includes the Foundation Series (which takes a look at society during and after a massive galactic empire came to an end), and also includes the science of psychohistory (that seems to predict the future based on large masses of people, but is not usable on small scales). In addition to this, Asimov is also very famous for his many books on robotics, some of them set on their own and others in terms of their involvement with non-earth societies at a time when they were shunned on earth.
He is also very famous for his 3 laws of robotics which seek to provide safeguards on the actions of robots and prevent them from behaving in a Frankenstein manner.
And of course Asimov was also famous for his short story Nightfall, which took a society which has always every had light in its sky, and how it reacts when it knows that all those suns that light up the sky will vanish for a period of time and there will be night (a concept that people have never had).
Robots of Dawn is the next novel in the series of the earth-based plainclothes detective Elijah Baley (with the earlier novels in this series being 'The Caves of Steel' and 'The Naked Sun'). So far, the interaction with the spacers and with robots (primarily the detective partner, the humanoid R Daneel Olivaw) has led to changes in the attitudes of Elijah. He has started believing that it is the future of humanity to move out and occupy planets rather than the spacers doing so. For this, they have to start moving out from their caves of steel and become more comfortable with open spaces and with being under the sun. So, far because Elijah has been successful in his past investigations, he has managed to gain fame and also enabled some rights for earth.
But each time, he faces investigations where there is a lot at stake. If he fails, not only will he face demotion, but earth will also lose out. And now he is getting into a murder investigation where there is a lot more at stake. There is a tussle going on on the world of Aurora, which is seen as the chief spacer world, and where there are groups which are fighting a power struggle over whether new worlds would be settled by spacers or by people from earth. The group favoring spacers wants to use humaniform robots (which look exactly like humans / spacers) but the technology for them is only available with the robotist Dr. Hans Fastolfe. And the murder is that of one of the 2 humaniform robots in existence, R. Jander Parnell.
Because of the skill needed to create a mental block in such a robot, Dr. Fastolfe is the one who is blamed for the crime, and he himself admits that only he has the abilities, but that he did not do it. However, if he is proved guilty, then his faction will lose power and the group advocating spacers doing the resettlement using robots will win. And into this mess is inserted Elijah Baley, and since the winning of Dr. Fastolfe's group is so important to earth, he is again under a lot of pressure. He is partnered with R. Daneel Olivaw again, and this time, he comes into contact with another robot, not a humaniform robot through, with the name of Giskard.
So starts the investigation, and Elijah comes across a number of people, some in favor, and some against him But because he is doing the investigation of this important case, they also have to give him an audience. He comes into contact with a person from the previous book, Gladia Delmarre, who had the robot in her staff, and who had also taken the robot as her sexual partner and treated him like her husband.
How does Elijah Baley overcome all the problems placed in his path ? Does he manage to prevent Dr. Fastolfe from being proven guilty ? How did the robot get a mental block which effectively killed the robot.
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Some of the most famous works of Asimov includes the Foundation Series (which takes a look at society during and after a massive galactic empire came to an end), and also includes the science of psychohistory (that seems to predict the future based on large masses of people, but is not usable on small scales). In addition to this, Asimov is also very famous for his many books on robotics, some of them set on their own and others in terms of their involvement with non-earth societies at a time when they were shunned on earth.
He is also very famous for his 3 laws of robotics which seek to provide safeguards on the actions of robots and prevent them from behaving in a Frankenstein manner.
And of course Asimov was also famous for his short story Nightfall, which took a society which has always every had light in its sky, and how it reacts when it knows that all those suns that light up the sky will vanish for a period of time and there will be night (a concept that people have never had).
Robots of Dawn is the next novel in the series of the earth-based plainclothes detective Elijah Baley (with the earlier novels in this series being 'The Caves of Steel' and 'The Naked Sun'). So far, the interaction with the spacers and with robots (primarily the detective partner, the humanoid R Daneel Olivaw) has led to changes in the attitudes of Elijah. He has started believing that it is the future of humanity to move out and occupy planets rather than the spacers doing so. For this, they have to start moving out from their caves of steel and become more comfortable with open spaces and with being under the sun. So, far because Elijah has been successful in his past investigations, he has managed to gain fame and also enabled some rights for earth.
But each time, he faces investigations where there is a lot at stake. If he fails, not only will he face demotion, but earth will also lose out. And now he is getting into a murder investigation where there is a lot more at stake. There is a tussle going on on the world of Aurora, which is seen as the chief spacer world, and where there are groups which are fighting a power struggle over whether new worlds would be settled by spacers or by people from earth. The group favoring spacers wants to use humaniform robots (which look exactly like humans / spacers) but the technology for them is only available with the robotist Dr. Hans Fastolfe. And the murder is that of one of the 2 humaniform robots in existence, R. Jander Parnell.
Because of the skill needed to create a mental block in such a robot, Dr. Fastolfe is the one who is blamed for the crime, and he himself admits that only he has the abilities, but that he did not do it. However, if he is proved guilty, then his faction will lose power and the group advocating spacers doing the resettlement using robots will win. And into this mess is inserted Elijah Baley, and since the winning of Dr. Fastolfe's group is so important to earth, he is again under a lot of pressure. He is partnered with R. Daneel Olivaw again, and this time, he comes into contact with another robot, not a humaniform robot through, with the name of Giskard.
So starts the investigation, and Elijah comes across a number of people, some in favor, and some against him But because he is doing the investigation of this important case, they also have to give him an audience. He comes into contact with a person from the previous book, Gladia Delmarre, who had the robot in her staff, and who had also taken the robot as her sexual partner and treated him like her husband.
How does Elijah Baley overcome all the problems placed in his path ? Does he manage to prevent Dr. Fastolfe from being proven guilty ? How did the robot get a mental block which effectively killed the robot.
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