The Naked Sun (The Robot Series Book 2)

I'm always wary of picking up any mid-twentieth-century sci-fi book, even Asimov. They are often so badly out of sync with our modern world that the futurism doesn't land, the characters are laughable, the women are entirely missing, and 80% of the descriptions focus on the act of smoking.Enter Asimov's Robot trilogy, starring old-fashioned detective Elijah Baley (think Sam Spade) with a long series of quirks and phobias. Elijah character is straight out of the 1930s. He's married but we never see his wife. He smokes a pipe, thankfully left at home and forgotten for in this story. Pretty typical main character of the era. But this is Asimov's Robot series--the books where he invented the positronic brain and the three laws of robotics. Elijah's partner is a robot, and that's where the story finds its home in modern sci-fi.Elijah's is assigned to a murder case. The crime was committed on a human enclave where the people no longer "see" each other, they can only "view" each other. There's a big difference (think electronic interfaces, sound familiar to our society?) As Elijah learns about their strange ways, so do we, and I have to say it's a logical extension of where we're heading. Somehow, Asimov saw lack of physical contact coming even in the age of black and white television sets. And, because this is the Robot series, you can safely assume robots also figure into the case. It's interesting. Dated, yes. But a good story.

A different human culture is explained as a murder is investigated in a different planet, because beliefs define what's posible

I’ve read Isaac Asimov for years, but just recently saw this was part of his Robot trilogy!

The Naked Sun by, Isaac Asimov, is a direct sequel to  Caves of Steel (Robot City) . Once again we see detective Elijah Baley called upon to solve a murder involving a "Spacer" (a human from an Earth colony on another planet) only this time he has to leave Earth to perform the investigation. He is reunited with his robotic partner, R. Daneel Olivaw although the relationship seems a bit more contentious this time around. The two meet on the planet Solaria where a leading citizen has been murdered with a good old-fashioned blunt instrument. Baley must overcome his fear of open spaces, resistance from the locals to meeting face-to-face, and the seeming impossibility of satisfying all the facts of the case before he can shed light on the mystery.More than just a mystery, Naked Sun is also a social commentary of sorts. I can't say I found this aspect of the novel nearly as compelling as the mystery. Without giving too much away, the people of Solaria live in nearly complete isolation and loathe being in the personal presence of anyone, including a spouse or their own child. While this is plausible in a purely academic way given the scenario that Asimov put it place, it ignores many basic human instincts such as sex drive that are incredibly powerful and highly unlikely to be sublimated so completely. Still, as long you take it with a grain of salt, it is still interesting to read about this other culture.The murder mystery in the book was very well done for the most part. It moves along well, introduces a number of interesting characters, and is suitably puzzling to both Baley and the reader as it unfolds. The ending wasn't quite as tidy as it could have been but I'll say no more about that for fear of spoiling the story for new readers.The Naked Sun is not a perfect novel. The ending was just a bit off and the sociology is more than questionable. But these are quibbles, not crippling flaws. I would certainly recommend this book, though you should read Caves of Steel (and possibly I, Robot) first. If you've read Caves of Steel, and enjoyed it, odds are you'll find a lot to like in this sequel.

It’s a pleasure to read these early Asimov books, which present ideas as relevant today as ever. I enjoyed I,Robot immensely and Caves of Steel to a lesser extent but now that I’ve read The Naked Sun, Caves was essential to read. I’m looking forward eventually to reading the Foundation series and getting lost in space.

Decide to reread the robot then foundation series - i have intensions of watching the tv show after reading the reviews and how its foundation in name only and not really the story in the books - as with iRobot and caves of steel i found the science and look at the future difficult - why had minimization never occurred to Asimov is beyond me - if you get over the retro science/future the story is still awesome and a great detective story - Daneel should have had a bigger role - oh and every time he called a robot boy just made my skin crawl - i get it but still - its still better than Phillip K Dick referring to aliens by the n-word - because of the dated aspect of the writing i took away a star

Good product.

This follow up to “The Caves of Steel” reverses the context of the earlier story, taking Baley out of his comfort zone - the enclosed city of Earth, backdrop for the earlier novel - and transplanting him in the wide open spaces of Solaria, one of the far-off planets colonised by humans many years before. Solaria takes the integration of robots into human society a step beyond all earlier imaginings and the machine men out-number humans by thousands to one, but thanks to the laws of robotics, they only fulfil the role of slaves on the massive estates of humans who represent the opposite extreme to the crowded Earth cities where humanity is pressed together into an intimate and convention-bound community. The inhabitants of Solaria find closeness to other humans as disturbing as Baley finds his own phobia of unbounded spaces. It is this contrast of opposing social viewpoints which provides much of the conflict and many of the obstacles during a fascinating investigation of a Solarian murder Baley has been called in to deal with. Once again Baley is partnered up with Daneel, the robot who appears so human he can deceive humans and even other robots.This sequel is not quite up to the same standard as “The Caves of Steel” due to a more intrusive didactical element to some of the dialogue, sometimes verging on philosophical debate rather than science fiction. The ending is also a little unsatisfactory as a likable murderer goes free after Baley frames another person as the culprit (although the victim of the frame cannot be said to be totally innocent of instigating the crime). Technically sloppier is the shoddiness of the frame that Baley constructs, and one suspects that anyone with any brains would perceive a logical inconsistency after a few moments of cool scrutiny. Having said this, it’s still an excellent book worth reading more than once (fourth time for me).

Decades later I reread this series, enjoying new insight and thought provoking concepts through the entertainment of a light whodunit.Coming out of our own Covid lockdown isolations we can appreciate new meanings and parallels to living in both the caves of steel and the isolation of Solaria.

Having recently decided to invest in reading classic sci-fi, Asimov was pretty high on my list of authors to look into. This is both the second book in the robot series as well as the second of his titles I have so far read and I must admit while I enjoyed the first book (Caves of Steel) a lot, The Naked Sun takes the core of what made it good and expands on it making it not only a great sequel, but an all round great book.The story once again focuses on Elijah Baley a detective on Earth who has been charged with investigating a murder, this murder is on another planet ruled by colonists called spacers, no earthman has ever set foot there before and it's an uncomfortable experience for both sides.What I loved about Caves of Steel is in abundance here, this isn't a book about police, murder, or even robots though all three aspects are present, it's about the differences in culture between earth and the spacers, how they live so differently based on their environments and upbringing with the earthmen living in super cities almost like hives, eating and showering communally, every inch of space earned through career for small extra luxuries compared with one planet of the spacers where they have so much space and robots to tend their every need that even being in sight of each other physically makes them feel sick. The, I suppose psychology would be the word, of it all and experience Baley goes through trying to understand it all rather hooked me so I read The Naked Sun happily in one day (It is fairly short regardless).Rather a shame that books three and four in the series (Robots of Dawn & Robots and Empire) to reasons unknown to me aren't available on the kindle at time of writing this. Still I have purchased the physical books as I will not miss the next in the series. If you're looking for a sci-fi series with more to it than space ships and lasers then this is a good bet.+ Clever detective novel.+ Different ways humans have evolved to live is fascinating.+ Interesting look at technology.+ Excellent themes.

The Naked Sun manages to tell an even better mystery narrative than the previous instalment in the robot series. Asimov has done it again. I hope this book gets a film adaptation one day.