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Avg. Rating: 4.46
An essential link in Asimov's future history
This was written much later than the original two robot novels, the three Empire novels, and the Foundation trilogy. It and the following book, ROBOTS AND EMPIRE, link the first two robot books with the Empire series and leads up to Foundation. There are a couple of points easy to miss here. First, psychohistory is first suggested by Dr. Fastolfe, and then advanced by the two robots. Secondly, while there is a mystery involved here, the emphasis is on the future of space exploration and who is going to be in it. The original pioneers into space have become spoiled by their reliance on their robots and no longer have the spirit of adventure necessary to continue further exploration, and yet they are fearful of the idea of generally despised Earth people colonizing planets. So much indeed is at stake here. For full enjoyment, I suggest reading first the Susan Calvin stories and also "The Bicentennial Man" which are in Asimov's THE COMPLETE ROBOT, and then THE CAVES OF STEEL and THE NAKED SUN, the first two Elijah Bailey&R. Daneel Olivaw novels. And be prepared for this book to be more centered on mankind's future venturing into space than in the mystery element.
The third in the Robot Trilogy--read them all
This is the third in the Robot Trilogy (actually, it merges with the Foundation Series in Robots and Empire, neat idea.)Elijah (Lije) Bailey has now experienced space travel once, on a mission to Solaria to solve a murder. He returns a changed man; having learned to extend beyond his limits as a steel-cave-dwelling troglodyte of Earth. And he has also met Gladia. The experience on Solaria leads to a trip to Aurora in this third volume, to solve a most unusual murder; that of a robot! Aurora is the most advanced of the Spacer worlds; kind of a Utopia. So a wanton act of destruction is unheard of and must be solved. Bailey is requested for this case by Dr. Fastolfe, who was the spacer who requested him in the Caves of Steel murder case. But in addition to the murder being of a most uncommon kind, the case is never quite what it appears to be on the surface. While this book has the weakest character development yet, it does have one exciting new addition; Giskard, the robot partner of Daneel, who shows up again for this novel to partner with Elijah. And Gladia, shunned on her home planet of Solaria because of scandal, has relocated to Aurora with the help of Dr. Fastolfe. Robots of Dawn is not quite as good as the first two robot novels, but well worth reading. I certainly was overjoyed to see it because I read the first two robot books as a teenager and had to wait years later for the third book to be written.
Daneel for President
Although I think there are better science fiction writers than Asimov, somehow his ability to pull one into a book always succeeds. This was one of my favorite of the gazillion Empire, Robot, and Foundation books that were all tied together (rather oddly, since they were written completely separately, but with fun twists) by Asimov toward the end of his life.If you are an Asimov fan or a fan of respectable writing, this book, plus the other robot novels, will please you.
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