A millennium into the future two advances 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.
Detective Elijah Baiey is called to the Spacer world Aurora to solve a bizarre case of roboticide. The prime suspect is a gifted roboticist who had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to commit the crime. There's only one catch: Baley and his positronic partner, R. Daneel Olivaw, must prove the man innocent. For in a case of political intrigue and love between woman and robot gone tragically wrong, there's more at stake than simple justice. This time Baley's career, his life, and Earth's right to pioneer the Galaxy lie in the delicate balance.
Me había parecido algo lento en su desarrollo. Quizá porque es la típica novela policíaca en la que el detective va recogiendo evidencias y no plantea su alegato final atando todos los cabos hasta el final.
Pero ha sido el final el que lo ha mejorado todo, con un giro que no me veía venir para nada y que me deja con muchísimas ganas de seguir con la saga.
La tercera (o cuarta, si consideras los relatos previos) entrega de la saga de Robots fue escrita varias décadas después de sus predecesoras y se nota. Es una novela más extensa, más profusa en los diálogos y con el mismo esquema de novela de detectives en el contexto del universo de ciencia ficción.
Al ser una novela más larga profundiza más en temas como el racismo o el nexo de los robots con la saga Fundación, incluso remontándose a sus relatos cortos. Se nos presenta a Giskard y aparece Gladia donde en cierta medida Asimov escribe un personaje menos sexista (comparado con las anteriores novelas es muy contrastado). Incluso hay un intento de hacer una especie de alegato de la libertad sexual femenina, siempre entre comillas porque no vamos a esperar un discurso del 2020.
La historia detectivesca es más elaborada y de hecho, se "resuelve" por los personajes dentro …
La tercera (o cuarta, si consideras los relatos previos) entrega de la saga de Robots fue escrita varias décadas después de sus predecesoras y se nota. Es una novela más extensa, más profusa en los diálogos y con el mismo esquema de novela de detectives en el contexto del universo de ciencia ficción.
Al ser una novela más larga profundiza más en temas como el racismo o el nexo de los robots con la saga Fundación, incluso remontándose a sus relatos cortos. Se nos presenta a Giskard y aparece Gladia donde en cierta medida Asimov escribe un personaje menos sexista (comparado con las anteriores novelas es muy contrastado). Incluso hay un intento de hacer una especie de alegato de la libertad sexual femenina, siempre entre comillas porque no vamos a esperar un discurso del 2020.
La historia detectivesca es más elaborada y de hecho, se "resuelve" por los personajes dentro de la novela incluso sin que realmente sepan la verdad ni personajes ni el lector, ya que Asimov se la guarda para hacer un final muy redondo conectando desde sus primeros relatos, los robots, la colonización espacial, la psicohistoria y la Fundación.
Varias décadas después, Asimov vuelve con la saga detectivesca espacial para comenzar a cerrar su universo de los robots y unirlo con el de la fundación. En esta novela llevamos a Elijah Baley en Aurora con una trama se cerrará en la próxima novela.
Tremendo libro de ciencia ficcion y con un concepto futurista muy posible
Moves along briskly, yet with more verve, detail, liveliness, etc., than we've seen from Asimov before.
With the best sf style, provides irresistible reflections or gentle criticisms of our own cultures by allowing us to see aspects of ourselves in other contexts.
Exceptional! Gibson says we have stopped dreaming and apparently we did, I can see that now.
This is the third book in the Robots series. It was written some 30 years after [b:The Naked Sun|30016|The Naked Sun (Robot, #2)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335782263s/30016.jpg|1583154] and it connects the previous two books and also the [b:The Foundation Trilogy|46654|The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, #1-3)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316412178s/46654.jpg|41350].
There are references to “Liar” (of the [b:I, Robot|41804|I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388321463s/41804.jpg|1796026] compilation) and also to "The Bicentennial Man" ([b:The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories|70787|The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1307490924s/70787.jpg|4186]), which in the "Robots of Dawn" story are believed to be old legendary tales of Earth's past. From the Foundation Series the science of "psychohistory" is mentioned as merely an idea not yet fully developed.
I really enjoyed the connections Asimov's used in this book, and as I have read the Foundation Trilogy before the Robots series, all the references worked pretty well.
I enjoyed the conceptual discussion about robot murder, robot assassination, robot destruction and …
This is the third book in the Robots series. It was written some 30 years after [b:The Naked Sun|30016|The Naked Sun (Robot, #2)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335782263s/30016.jpg|1583154] and it connects the previous two books and also the [b:The Foundation Trilogy|46654|The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, #1-3)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316412178s/46654.jpg|41350].
There are references to “Liar” (of the [b:I, Robot|41804|I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388321463s/41804.jpg|1796026] compilation) and also to "The Bicentennial Man" ([b:The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories|70787|The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1307490924s/70787.jpg|4186]), which in the "Robots of Dawn" story are believed to be old legendary tales of Earth's past. From the Foundation Series the science of "psychohistory" is mentioned as merely an idea not yet fully developed.
I really enjoyed the connections Asimov's used in this book, and as I have read the Foundation Trilogy before the Robots series, all the references worked pretty well.
I enjoyed the conceptual discussion about robot murder, robot assassination, robot destruction and "roboticide". It is always fun to read these thought-provoking dialogues written by Asimov. Also, the subject of sex is also explored in this book because we can see two differents points of view on the matter. Gladia, the Solarian woman who was the main suspect in the second book of the series, now is in Aurora and is one more time involved with a "roboticide" mystery in some way. This lady was used to the Solarian standards in which sex was a tabu and only used sporadically to reproduce when needed. Sex in Solaria was not pleasant, but merely a physical duty. Now in Aurora sex is viewed as a normal activity, like eating or going to the movies. But it is so freely practiced there that it has also become a mechanical activity with no emotional bound. Those two spacer worlds, Solaria and Aurora, are two extremes in terms of social structure and Earth is in the middle being more conservative but at the same time cultivating social contact and a not-so-robot-dependent society. This book also discusses sex between humans and robots and that was one of the things that surprised me positively, because the subject is treated in a very natural way and with objectivity. I didn't expect that Asimov would touch on that subject.
There is also a strong focus in the agoraphobia of people from Earth, who has been living for years underground without contact with the outside. And E. Baley, since his investigation on Solaria has become less and less afraid of the open, realizing that humans enjoy the sense of freedom by looking at the sky and feeling the fresh air around them. He believed that with time humans would not fear the openness anymore and it was interesting to know that he have been training his son and other volunteers to experiment being "outside" once again, away from the confines of the caves of steel.
I have to mention that the ending of this book is fantastic, it simply blew my mind! I wasn't expecting the revelations made by the robot Giskard. And this robot is literally the key of the "roboticide" mystery and the mind behind the human expansion that happened later on to form the Galactic Empire that we know in the Foundation Trilogy. And also, Giskard is a mind-reader robot, how cool is that?
And who should colonize the galaxy? I enjoyed the the idea that robots could not by themselves colonize other worlds because that would never end up well, and that humans from Earth, despite their problems living under the caves of steel, are probably the best ones to face this type of exploration. I was amazed to know in the end that R. Giskard was very fond of this idea and that humans from Earth were better prepared than Aurorans or Solarians to colonize other worlds.
There is a lot of discussion over the recommended reading order of Asimov's books. I believe that reading book:I, Robot|41804] and the [b:The Foundation Trilogy|46654|The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, #1-3)|Isaac Asimov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316412178s/46654.jpg|41350] before the Robots series is the best way to enjoy the references and understand what R. Giskard was talking about in the final chapter.
''Jehoshaphat!''
This edition of the book in no way indicates that it's #3 in a 4 part series. Would've been nice to know.
Asimov's stories continue to strike me as excuses for him to explore a) his views of possible futures, and how robots/technology affect them, and b) logic puzzles. He does both of them VERY well, though.
My one nagging point is that all characters in his stories seem to be perfect logicians, who love nothing more than to diverge from an emotional conversation to argue the logical derivation of some mundane topic. I can understand interaction with robots proceeding this way, but it makes the people sound like robots.
Asimov's fascinating view of the future makes it worth overlooking this, though. Ideas like people living in closed cities getting agoraphobia when going outside make for a very interesting read, even if it is slow at times.
