Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
(Kbh.) Stig Vendelkær (1974) 219 s.
Description
Classic Literature. Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: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 likeness of the mur… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member drneutron
I had read Asimov's robot series way back in the 70's when I was in high school, and had enjoyed them. Then I grew up and moved on to more mature fiction. Now I'm in my forties and a group of us here on LT decided to do a group read of a classic scifi novel. And I found out that I've missed the fun
The Caves of Steel isn't meant to be a mystery story, in spite of the central plot line. It's really about the intersection of two fundamentally different and fundamentally flawed societies, and how two members of those societies come together to work out a problem - and that's classic scifi.
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of Asimov's and others' works from those days. The Caves of Steel isn't meant to be a mystery story, in spite of the central plot line. It's really about the intersection of two fundamentally different and fundamentally flawed societies, and how two members of those societies come together to work out a problem - and that's classic scifi.
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LibraryThing member nsenger
"What I hold is not a neuronic whip, nor is it a tickler. It is a blaster and very deadly. I will use it and I will not aim over your heads. I will kill many of you before you seize me, perhaps most of you. I am serious. I look serious, do I not?"
The wonderful thing about Isaac Asimov is that he's
The Caves of Steel is a mystery story. It is also a science fiction story. The title refers to how populated Earth has become in the distant future. There are so many people that our planet has become one gigantic city. Every piece of ground is covered with buildings that not only rise high into the air but also descend deep under the surface--like caves of steel. In this future, a murder has been committed, and police detective Elijah Bailey has been given the task of finding the killer. He is also forced to take on a new partner: Robot Daneel Olivaw.
For me, the pleasure of reading The Caves of Steel comes more from watching Bailey and Olivaw interact than from trying to solve the mystery. The mystery story is fairly interesting, but what I enjoyed more was trying to imagine what it would be like to live in a world populated by robots. Asimov does a very good job of showing the kinds of issues humanity would have to deal with if we ever got to the point of making intelligent, humanoid robots.
The Caves of Steel is an easy-to-read, entertaining book that asks important questions about the future. It's a great introduction to science fiction, especially for those who don't think that they like science fiction, and it's also great for mystery fans looking for something different.
The wonderful thing about Isaac Asimov is that he's
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just so readable. A person can pick up one of his books and just dive in with little or no preparation, and yet Asimov is still able to open up different worlds and distant futures. Asimov also has a way of making one think about the issues that society will face in the future. These are just a few reasons why Asimov is rightly regarded as one of the real giants of science fiction.The Caves of Steel is a mystery story. It is also a science fiction story. The title refers to how populated Earth has become in the distant future. There are so many people that our planet has become one gigantic city. Every piece of ground is covered with buildings that not only rise high into the air but also descend deep under the surface--like caves of steel. In this future, a murder has been committed, and police detective Elijah Bailey has been given the task of finding the killer. He is also forced to take on a new partner: Robot Daneel Olivaw.
For me, the pleasure of reading The Caves of Steel comes more from watching Bailey and Olivaw interact than from trying to solve the mystery. The mystery story is fairly interesting, but what I enjoyed more was trying to imagine what it would be like to live in a world populated by robots. Asimov does a very good job of showing the kinds of issues humanity would have to deal with if we ever got to the point of making intelligent, humanoid robots.
The Caves of Steel is an easy-to-read, entertaining book that asks important questions about the future. It's a great introduction to science fiction, especially for those who don't think that they like science fiction, and it's also great for mystery fans looking for something different.
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LibraryThing member Cecrow
Fantastic. I read his seven Foundation novels several years ago, and although I didn't care much for the 1980s prequels and sequels I thought the original trilogy was amazing. This novel, first in his Robots series, dates from that 1950s era as well and it shows in the watertight plotting, dialogue
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like a logician's dream, and an ending that caught me by surprise and totally satisfied. At first I was skeptical I'd enjoy a sci-fi novel presented as a murder mystery, but I should have known better. Asimov was already my favourite among classic sci-fi authors, and this further cements his standing with me. It's as good as the Foundation books and I am absolutely going to read its sequel, 'The Naked Sun'. Show Less
LibraryThing member StormRaven
The Caves of Steel is the first, and best of Asimov's Robot mysteries. Essentially an exploration in novel length of the ideas introduced by Asimov in his various Robot short stories, the novel details human detective Elijah Baley, and Earth native and his partner, spacer robot R. Daneel Olivaw
While the mystery (more or less a classic closed-door mystery) is well-written, the book mostly revolves around showing an overpopulated impovershed Earth in which everyone lives in giant underground cities (the titular Caves of Steel of the title) and the arrogant wealthy spacer culture that contrasts it. The book, as with most Asimov books featuring Robots, is concerned with the affects of the Three Laws of Robotics, which, of course, prove to be the key to unraveling the murder.
The book is the first introduction of R. Daneel Olivaw, a character who, I believe, appears in more Asimov books than any other - although his apperances in later books are somewhat of a disappointment. The book also introduces a fairly common theme in Asimovian fiction - the poverty of those on Earth compared to those who have ventured out into space. This is one of my favorite Asimov books - the mystery is good, the characters interesting (although a bit too much time is spent obsessing over bodily functions), and the competing cultures described are both plausible and frightening.
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(the "R." stands for robot) as they try to solve the politically sensitive murder of a spacer ambassador.While the mystery (more or less a classic closed-door mystery) is well-written, the book mostly revolves around showing an overpopulated impovershed Earth in which everyone lives in giant underground cities (the titular Caves of Steel of the title) and the arrogant wealthy spacer culture that contrasts it. The book, as with most Asimov books featuring Robots, is concerned with the affects of the Three Laws of Robotics, which, of course, prove to be the key to unraveling the murder.
The book is the first introduction of R. Daneel Olivaw, a character who, I believe, appears in more Asimov books than any other - although his apperances in later books are somewhat of a disappointment. The book also introduces a fairly common theme in Asimovian fiction - the poverty of those on Earth compared to those who have ventured out into space. This is one of my favorite Asimov books - the mystery is good, the characters interesting (although a bit too much time is spent obsessing over bodily functions), and the competing cultures described are both plausible and frightening.
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LibraryThing member sf_addict
Combining SF with a detective story is not usually a recipe for success, but Asimov makes it work brilliantly, both with this and its sequel The Naked Sun.
LibraryThing member john257hopper
This is a re-read of Asimov's first full length robot novel from the early 50s. These early robot (and the Foundation) novels are so much part of my youth that I find it hard to review them objectively. This sets out the classic dilemmas of the relationship between humans and robots that look too
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human for comfort. It's also the beginning of a classic SF duo of Elijah Bailey and R (Robot) Daneel Olivaw, an entity that turns out to have a crucial role to play in Asimov's fictional universe. Classic stuff. Show Less
LibraryThing member antao
"There were infinite lights, the luminous walls and ceilings that seemed to drip cool, even phosphorescence; the flashing advertisements screaming for attention; the harsh, steady gleam of the 'lightworms' that directed:
THIS WAY TO JERSEY SECTIONS, FOLLOW ARROWS TO EAST RIVER SHUTTLE, UPPER LEVEL
Most of all, there was the noise that was inseparable from life. The sound of millions talking, laughing, coughing, calling, humming, breathing."
In "The Caves of Steel" by Isaac Asimov
Set 2,000 years in the future, "The Caves of Steel" shows us contrasting pictures of Earth and the Outer Worlds - colonized planets throughout the Galaxy. Although the inhabitants of the Outer Worlds trace their origins to Earth, they are separated from it by much more than mere distance, now calling themselves Spacers and ruling the decaying mother planet as benevolent despots. In his earlier novels, Asimov mastered the translation of speech into its written equivalent; but to recreate the speech of a human being is a problem every novelist faces. Credible robotic speech is a much less common challenge, and in "The Caves of Steel" Asimov developed a form of dialogue for Daneel that is completely believable. Daneel's speech, while possessing the rather formal lilt one might expect from a machine, also possesses a gentle, tempered quality that allows him to pass for human. I was always conscious of a slight mechanical flavour as well.
No zeroth law yet here...it'd have made allowed some interesting variations. In "Robots and Empire", Asimov's robots do indeed find a cunning way around the three laws - they invent a Zeroth Law which states that "no robot can injure humanity or through inaction allow humanity to come to harm" which doesn't directly contradict the First Law, so their brains will accept it, but has the interesting effect in moral philosophical terms of turning them from Kantians to utilitarians. So rather than being guided by an absolute "thou shalt not kill" imperative they become able to kill or harm humans if and only if they have calculated it's for the greater good. Rather than becoming brutal overlords because of this (as the other laws still apply) they end up guiding the development of humanity quietly from the shadows, taking on a role not a billion miles from Banks's AIs. As I say, it was a billion years since I read Asimov but I had hell of a blast re-reading this first volume in the Robot Series.
I always thought Asimov's setup with the Three Laws of Robotics had a bit of a problem when it came to defining 'injure'. Is psychological damage also injury? Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies but don't tell me the truth if my feelings are going to be impacted. The ignorance and avoidance of truth causes a lot of harm in this world. Asimov's laws would clearly not cope with that. You would need to resolve the inherent conflict in the first law and it strikes me that’s when you have to include a decision made regarding relative good (i.e., five lives = better than one life). But then you have to include other factors (e.g., are children 'better' than old people) which becomes subjective. And this is in a simple situation where the "knowns" are all there, not the unknown consequences.
How can we give robots morals? What is our best guide to morality in practical affairs? Cicero's "De Officiis”, surely. Throw in his "Academica", "De Finibus" and "De Natura Deorum", and the robots might have a better sense of what it is to be human, and what it means to be a good person, absent life after death. These are ideas that have stuck fast in the history of European literature and philosophy, and I reckon Cicero's practical style of philosophy is a better guide to acting morally than any work of fiction. But the whole point of AI surely is to create an intelligence which surpasses human capabilities. What could ethics, applied or otherwise, possibly mean at this level of cognition...? AI is meant to make in-roads into the 'paradoxes' of philosophy; paradoxes which we 'resolve' in practical affairs with the virtue of prudence, or practical wisdom. Asimov's robot collapses into a heap of motionless metal when confronted with such paradoxes, but it seems to me that AI might be capable, at one point, of dealing with them. The big question is how...? Would we be willing to cede moral judgments to a non-human intelligence, if it could not adequately convey its 'prudence' to us in our own language?
Obviously, we enter into the realm of speculation here. But I think it behooves us to speculate...
Bottom-line: One of Asimov's best novels. I'd be content with politicians having some morals actually too. It's not the robots we have to worry about...I'd also add that rather than teach robots to read literature so that they can become more human, we should teach literature students to read texts as featuring not 'ethical dilemmas' but concurrency or race hazard problems so that they can become less robotic when they in turn become pedagogues...It's important, however, that those Sex Robots coming off Japanese production lines are also kept well away from feminist stuff, though, I would have thought. I suppose that Fighter Robots might be programmed with only war stories. Obviously stuff about muskets and canon balls and stuff like that would need to be excluded from the reading lists as well. What would happen if Daneel started reading Enid Blyton? I think it's just encourage Daneel to wander about all day trying to solve mysteries, being beastly to travellers, having high tea and picnics with lashings of strawberry jam (which probably wouldn't be good for him).
THIS WAY TO JERSEY SECTIONS, FOLLOW ARROWS TO EAST RIVER SHUTTLE, UPPER LEVEL
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FOR ALL WAYS TI LONG ISLAND SECTIONS.Most of all, there was the noise that was inseparable from life. The sound of millions talking, laughing, coughing, calling, humming, breathing."
In "The Caves of Steel" by Isaac Asimov
Set 2,000 years in the future, "The Caves of Steel" shows us contrasting pictures of Earth and the Outer Worlds - colonized planets throughout the Galaxy. Although the inhabitants of the Outer Worlds trace their origins to Earth, they are separated from it by much more than mere distance, now calling themselves Spacers and ruling the decaying mother planet as benevolent despots. In his earlier novels, Asimov mastered the translation of speech into its written equivalent; but to recreate the speech of a human being is a problem every novelist faces. Credible robotic speech is a much less common challenge, and in "The Caves of Steel" Asimov developed a form of dialogue for Daneel that is completely believable. Daneel's speech, while possessing the rather formal lilt one might expect from a machine, also possesses a gentle, tempered quality that allows him to pass for human. I was always conscious of a slight mechanical flavour as well.
No zeroth law yet here...it'd have made allowed some interesting variations. In "Robots and Empire", Asimov's robots do indeed find a cunning way around the three laws - they invent a Zeroth Law which states that "no robot can injure humanity or through inaction allow humanity to come to harm" which doesn't directly contradict the First Law, so their brains will accept it, but has the interesting effect in moral philosophical terms of turning them from Kantians to utilitarians. So rather than being guided by an absolute "thou shalt not kill" imperative they become able to kill or harm humans if and only if they have calculated it's for the greater good. Rather than becoming brutal overlords because of this (as the other laws still apply) they end up guiding the development of humanity quietly from the shadows, taking on a role not a billion miles from Banks's AIs. As I say, it was a billion years since I read Asimov but I had hell of a blast re-reading this first volume in the Robot Series.
I always thought Asimov's setup with the Three Laws of Robotics had a bit of a problem when it came to defining 'injure'. Is psychological damage also injury? Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies but don't tell me the truth if my feelings are going to be impacted. The ignorance and avoidance of truth causes a lot of harm in this world. Asimov's laws would clearly not cope with that. You would need to resolve the inherent conflict in the first law and it strikes me that’s when you have to include a decision made regarding relative good (i.e., five lives = better than one life). But then you have to include other factors (e.g., are children 'better' than old people) which becomes subjective. And this is in a simple situation where the "knowns" are all there, not the unknown consequences.
How can we give robots morals? What is our best guide to morality in practical affairs? Cicero's "De Officiis”, surely. Throw in his "Academica", "De Finibus" and "De Natura Deorum", and the robots might have a better sense of what it is to be human, and what it means to be a good person, absent life after death. These are ideas that have stuck fast in the history of European literature and philosophy, and I reckon Cicero's practical style of philosophy is a better guide to acting morally than any work of fiction. But the whole point of AI surely is to create an intelligence which surpasses human capabilities. What could ethics, applied or otherwise, possibly mean at this level of cognition...? AI is meant to make in-roads into the 'paradoxes' of philosophy; paradoxes which we 'resolve' in practical affairs with the virtue of prudence, or practical wisdom. Asimov's robot collapses into a heap of motionless metal when confronted with such paradoxes, but it seems to me that AI might be capable, at one point, of dealing with them. The big question is how...? Would we be willing to cede moral judgments to a non-human intelligence, if it could not adequately convey its 'prudence' to us in our own language?
Obviously, we enter into the realm of speculation here. But I think it behooves us to speculate...
Bottom-line: One of Asimov's best novels. I'd be content with politicians having some morals actually too. It's not the robots we have to worry about...I'd also add that rather than teach robots to read literature so that they can become more human, we should teach literature students to read texts as featuring not 'ethical dilemmas' but concurrency or race hazard problems so that they can become less robotic when they in turn become pedagogues...It's important, however, that those Sex Robots coming off Japanese production lines are also kept well away from feminist stuff, though, I would have thought. I suppose that Fighter Robots might be programmed with only war stories. Obviously stuff about muskets and canon balls and stuff like that would need to be excluded from the reading lists as well. What would happen if Daneel started reading Enid Blyton? I think it's just encourage Daneel to wander about all day trying to solve mysteries, being beastly to travellers, having high tea and picnics with lashings of strawberry jam (which probably wouldn't be good for him).
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LibraryThing member tronella
Usually I don't read detective novels, but then this is an Asimov detective novel with robots. I really enjoyed this! I've started on the sequel, too. Asimov always blows my mind somehow.
LibraryThing member Tcubed
re-reading after a long abscence from Asimov
Watch this space!
Watch this space!
LibraryThing member grizzly
Great book! Attempts to look at abstract concepts in a logical manner, unlike any book that I have read.
LibraryThing member anotherjennifer
This is one of the few science fiction books I've read, and I only decided to do so after I saw that it was a group read for the Green Dragon message board. To my surprise, I enjoyed the novel immensely.
In a futuristic, severely over-populated New York City, a rigid class system dictates how and
Since humans resist robot technology and are seen as inferior by "Spacers," Elijah Baley is presented with a unique set of challenges when he is partnered with robot R. Daneel to solve the murder of a high-ranking "Spacer." Baley's career and the well-being of his family are at stake as he and R. Daneel rush to solve the crime.
As others mentioned, the book does show its age and has some religious undertones that don't always seem to fit into the story. As someone who is new to the genre, however, I enjoyed reading about the world Asimov created, and the mystery kept me guessing. For some reason, I was expecting the book to be dry, but I found it to be a fun read!
In a futuristic, severely over-populated New York City, a rigid class system dictates how and
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where people may dine and bathe, the city is built-up to such an extent that people never go outside, and humans' relationships with those from other planets ("Spacers") and robots are strained. Since humans resist robot technology and are seen as inferior by "Spacers," Elijah Baley is presented with a unique set of challenges when he is partnered with robot R. Daneel to solve the murder of a high-ranking "Spacer." Baley's career and the well-being of his family are at stake as he and R. Daneel rush to solve the crime.
As others mentioned, the book does show its age and has some religious undertones that don't always seem to fit into the story. As someone who is new to the genre, however, I enjoyed reading about the world Asimov created, and the mystery kept me guessing. For some reason, I was expecting the book to be dry, but I found it to be a fun read!
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LibraryThing member maggie1944
A classic which I read as part of a group read. I enjoyed it but found it to be a bit dated. Science fiction has moved into greater subtly than Asimov employed.
LibraryThing member TadAD
Though the Foundation books are much more famous, this is probably my favorite of Asimov's series.
LibraryThing member isabelx
I first read this science-fiction detective story so long ago that I had forgotten whodunnit. This re-read is thanks to receiving a copy in a Secret Santa parcel last Christmas.
When a spacer scientist is murdered in the Spacetown district adjoining New York, detective Elijah Baley is assigned to
The 'caves of steel' are the cities of earth, fully enclosed and lit by artificial light. Their inhabitants never venture outside, so that it is literally unthinkable to Baley that the murderer could have left the city through an unguarded entrance and walked across the open countryside to Spacetown.
When a spacer scientist is murdered in the Spacetown district adjoining New York, detective Elijah Baley is assigned to
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work on the case with a Spacer robot R. Daneel Olivaw as his partner in an attempt to avoid a diplomatic incident or worse. There is distrust between the Spacers and the city dwellers, with the city dwellers' resentment fuelled by the Spacers pushing earth to accept more and more robot workers, and since the city is in uproar over robots taking people's jobs, a fully human-looking robot working as a detective would cause a riot, so Baley and Olivaw have to be cautious as the go about their investigations.The 'caves of steel' are the cities of earth, fully enclosed and lit by artificial light. Their inhabitants never venture outside, so that it is literally unthinkable to Baley that the murderer could have left the city through an unguarded entrance and walked across the open countryside to Spacetown.
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LibraryThing member Karlstar
One of my favorite Asimov Baley/Olivaw novels. A fun mystery and exploration of the 3 Laws of Robotics at the same time.
LibraryThing member Gkarlives
I read this book long after I had read The Robots of Dawn, which I loved. I was interested in finding out more about the history of Elijah Bailey that was hinted at in Dawn so I picked up this book. Unlike Dawn, there is not some earth shattering ending that puts a whole new twist into the Robots
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universe, but is a great story. Mr. Asimov creates strong detective plot lines along with good charecterization and world description. I liked the feel of over populated backwards earth. If anyone wants to know more about the background motivations that play out in Dawn, this story is a must. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Asimov wrote in the introduction Campbell claimed to him that a good science fiction mystery wasn't possible because the author would and could use advanced technology to solve the crime. Asimov stated he "sat down to write a story that would be a classic mystery that would not cheat the
On the whole, the world Asimov creates seems harder for me to credit rereading this as a mature adult then when I was a teen. Partly that's because the tech as well as its gender depictions and relations date the book, but there are other aspects of Asimov's world I find hard to believe. The title alludes to the cities of Asimov's far future overpopulated earth, where 8 billion people live in semi-starvation and can only be sustained in carefully controlled supercities with tight rationing. When Asimov wrote this novel in 1953, the world population was near two and a half billion. It's now close to 7 billion, and it is estimated it will reach 8 billion in 15 years. Yet industrial societies hardly can be said to hover at the edge of famine as in his scenario, so it's hard to credit the world will be so transformed by population pressures not much higher than of today. However, I rather liked how he depicted social and psychological consequences such as Lije's agoraphobia.
Asimov also posits a world where there is great anti-robot sentiment because they are supposedly taking away jobs from humans--a strangely Luddite take from the usually pro-technology Asimov. But then, look at the tensions about immigration today. Fears don't have to be based on reality to have life in a society, and on that level the robot/human tensions seem if anything more relevant today than when this was written. I do rather like how through the development of Daneel and Lije's partnership Asimov explores how differences can ultimately be enriching and prejudices overcome. I quite liked Daneel. He reminds me quite a bit of Star Trek's robot character Data. And I think Asimov succeeded in what he set out to do in creating a solid science fiction mystery.
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reader--and yet would be a true science fiction story." In this story New York City detective Elijah "Lije" Baley teams up with a robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw. On the whole, the world Asimov creates seems harder for me to credit rereading this as a mature adult then when I was a teen. Partly that's because the tech as well as its gender depictions and relations date the book, but there are other aspects of Asimov's world I find hard to believe. The title alludes to the cities of Asimov's far future overpopulated earth, where 8 billion people live in semi-starvation and can only be sustained in carefully controlled supercities with tight rationing. When Asimov wrote this novel in 1953, the world population was near two and a half billion. It's now close to 7 billion, and it is estimated it will reach 8 billion in 15 years. Yet industrial societies hardly can be said to hover at the edge of famine as in his scenario, so it's hard to credit the world will be so transformed by population pressures not much higher than of today. However, I rather liked how he depicted social and psychological consequences such as Lije's agoraphobia.
Asimov also posits a world where there is great anti-robot sentiment because they are supposedly taking away jobs from humans--a strangely Luddite take from the usually pro-technology Asimov. But then, look at the tensions about immigration today. Fears don't have to be based on reality to have life in a society, and on that level the robot/human tensions seem if anything more relevant today than when this was written. I do rather like how through the development of Daneel and Lije's partnership Asimov explores how differences can ultimately be enriching and prejudices overcome. I quite liked Daneel. He reminds me quite a bit of Star Trek's robot character Data. And I think Asimov succeeded in what he set out to do in creating a solid science fiction mystery.
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LibraryThing member morriss003
Caves of Steel is where we first meet Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw. The book is actually a murder mystery and a work of science fiction and Asimov achieves excellence in both genres. An important facet of the book is the interaction between the robot and the human detective who dislikes
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robots. Asimov uses their deepening partnership to explore the meaning of humanity. Show Less
LibraryThing member mohi
One of the best books by Asimov, and the first in the Elijah Baley books. For once, an Asimov mystery that is interesting even without the trapping of the robot universe. His only book I would love to see as a movie done in a quasi movie noir look.
LibraryThing member eric-k
One of my classics that I seem to always enjoy rereading. I love seeing the view of the future that Asimov presents. The concept of the Cities still feels possible, even at this point in time. To me, the plot is secondary, less important than the descriptions of the environment.
LibraryThing member crazybatcow
The story is not just sci-fi, it's a detective story set within a futuristic world, and a pretty engaging detective story at that. Sure, there are some moralistic tones throughout (i.e. there is commentary/criticism on population overgrowth, food shortages, etc), but they don't overcome the story
It's significantly better than other 70s sci-fi I've read recently (Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang, Hellstrom's Hive) and I will someday read more in the series.
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itself.It's significantly better than other 70s sci-fi I've read recently (Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang, Hellstrom's Hive) and I will someday read more in the series.
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LibraryThing member wmorton38
A very good science fiction mystery from the 1950s. Plainclothesman Elijah Baley is assigned by his boss to investigate the murder of a Spacer in their guarded enclave located near New York. Spacers are citizens of the other (than Earth) inhabited planets. They control space travel and are resented
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by the Earth folk. Solving the murder could lead to a promotion for Baley in the highly stratified society of New York but Baley must work with a human like robot and robots are perhaps disliked as much as Spacers. The mystery part is good even with Baley being misled several times by his animosity for the Spacers and robots. Where Asimov really shines however is in exploring the world of the future enclosed city of New York showing us how people live, travel, dress, what and how they eat, and even how they perform their personal functions (no talking, please). A classic story that holds up almost 60 years later. Show Less
LibraryThing member annbury
The first of the Elijah Baley trilogy, in which New York City detective Lije Baley must deal with the culture of the spacers -- humans whose ancestors abandoned earth to form a galactic empire, who have become much more powerful than the crowded millions who remain on Earth. A spacer has been
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killed on Earth, and Baley must cooperate with the spacers' robot detective, R. Daneel Olivaw. The characters (even the robot's) are engaging, and the world that Asimov creates is fascinating. Show Less
LibraryThing member JustinMacMillan
Caves of Steel is a science fiction mystery. It is about a man, Elijah Bailey, and how he must solve the murder of a prominent Spacer, person not born on Earth, with the help of the humanoid robot R. (Robot) Daniel Olivaw. It has the large suspense of how the Spacer worlds may punish Earth for this
The story is interesting because not only does is have a good mystery but deals with the mystery, but talks about how both the society on Earth and the Spacers worlds has stopped evolving. This is a nice element that Asimov does, having elements in the story to speak to wider issues. It shows a complex world and how the rules created for it are effective. There is a limited amount of action in the story. It is mostly about how Bailey is trying to figure out what happened and working through several theories along the way. The only real flaw is that the largest female character, Elijah’s wife, seems to be a less interesting character than others. Still, it is a good book.
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death. The story is interesting because not only does is have a good mystery but deals with the mystery, but talks about how both the society on Earth and the Spacers worlds has stopped evolving. This is a nice element that Asimov does, having elements in the story to speak to wider issues. It shows a complex world and how the rules created for it are effective. There is a limited amount of action in the story. It is mostly about how Bailey is trying to figure out what happened and working through several theories along the way. The only real flaw is that the largest female character, Elijah’s wife, seems to be a less interesting character than others. Still, it is a good book.
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LibraryThing member jimll
As Asimov stories go, this one isn't too bad. Dialogue is a bit weak but the ideas and descriptions are first rate. The story is really a detective story, but set in a far distant time when most of the population on Earth live in large, overcrowded cities and have limited personal space. The higher
There's some really good ideas in the book, and the Three Laws of robotics gets a showing as well. Population control, resource starvation and foreign intervention in domestic politics are also touched upon, so its nearly always going to be able to relate it to current events.
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you are up the hierarchy, the more little luxuries the State gives you, but money doesn't really feature as most people eat, wash, work and sometimes sleep communally. The major exception are the folk staying on Earth from the Outer Worlds - ex-colonies of Earth now gone their own way. Its the murder of a Outer World scientist that is the core of the main story, but Asimov uses this to look at how people may relate to robots, how robots could be a force for good or ill in society and different ideals of "progress".There's some really good ideas in the book, and the Three Laws of robotics gets a showing as well. Population control, resource starvation and foreign intervention in domestic politics are also touched upon, so its nearly always going to be able to relate it to current events.
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Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 1954)
Locus All-Time Best (Science Fiction Novel — 33 — 1987)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1953 (serial)
1954-02-04 (book)
1986 (Urania)
Physical description
219 p.; 18.8 cm
ISBN
8741679024 / 9788741679020
Local notes
Omslag: Ole Kragh
Omslaget viser en computerskærm med et billede af en hånd med blod på. Foran ligger en blodpøl og et par knuste briller.
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Caves of Steel" af Kaj Lykke
Omslaget viser en computerskærm med et billede af en hånd med blod på. Foran ligger en blodpøl og et par knuste briller.
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Caves of Steel" af Kaj Lykke
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Pages
219
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |