nicanical
Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel is a detective story fused with sci-fi. New York City detective Elijah Baley is paired with R. Daneel Olivaw (R. meaning robot) to investigate a murder in Spacetown—a delegation of Spacers just outside New York City, Spacers being the descendants of settlers from Earth's extrasolar colonies.
The murder investigation is sloppy but that's fine because it's really a frame for Baley and R. Daneel to discuss humanity's future: the paths leading to man thriving or declining. Asimov will feature similar reasoning in The End of Eternity, published three years later.
The story drags in the middle where Baley goes on Bible story tangents and also incorrectly fingers R. Daneel as the killer twice. Justification is given for Baley's error, but he still emerges looking inept.
The twist reveal at the end is nicely-crafted, a good one, but rushed—Baley literally has a 45 minute window to summarize his case.
Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel is a detective story fused with sci-fi. New York City detective Elijah Baley is paired with R. Daneel Olivaw (R. meaning robot) to investigate a murder in Spacetown—a delegation of Spacers just outside New York City, Spacers being the descendants of settlers from Earth's extrasolar colonies.
The murder investigation is sloppy but that's fine because it's really a frame for Baley and R. Daneel to discuss humanity's future: the paths leading to man thriving or declining. Asimov will feature similar reasoning in The End of Eternity, published three years later.
The story drags in the middle where Baley goes on Bible story tangents and also incorrectly fingers R. Daneel as the killer twice. Justification is given for Baley's error, but he still emerges looking inept.
The twist reveal at the end is nicely-crafted, a good one, but rushed—Baley literally has a 45 minute window to summarize his case.
