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The Robots of Dawn

The Robots of Dawn

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well worth the wait
Review: Although, in this year 2002, I have just recently finished reading The Robots of Dawn directly after its prequel, The Naked Sun, and thus did not have to endure the 25-year wait between the novels as many who read that book when it came out did, I can assume that they, as I, considered it worth the wait. This is a very good novel, indeed. When Asimov first began writing his robot stories in the 40's, the concept itself was relatively new and bold - and, to many, unthinkable. Of course, when this book finally came out, in 1983, robots were no longer a novelty - and the dictations of their behavior had, by then, moved beyond Asimov's original fundamental Three Laws of Robotics. Still, the conflicts in this book, as in virtually all of Asimov's other robot stories, hinge crucially on those Three Laws, and the complications inherent therein. It is amazing that, as much as Asimov had already written on the subject up to that point, he could still come up with new and novel twists relating to them - but he does, indeed, and does so very well here. Although the actual unraveling of the mystery itself, as in The Naked Sun, never quite reaches the peak of intensity and excitement as did the plot of The Caves of Steel (the first novel in this series), this is, nevertheless, a far more ambitious work than the previous two books - not only in length, but also in scope. With this book, Asimov also begins to tie in the Robot series with the Empire and Foundation serieses (as he does in the sequel, Robots and Empire) to create one grand, monumental fictional universe. This is a testament to the skill and unique visionary perspective of one of the greatest fiction - not just science fiction writers - of the 20th century. Anyone who loved The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun will undoubtedly love this further amazing edition to the series.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SF Good! Mystery Great!
Review: Another brilliant future society potrayed by Isaac Asimov, albeit not as well as in the previous two books of the trilogy. On the other hand, the mystery, for the first time in this trilogy, is perfect -- because the perpetrator is not easily identifiable (as in the previous books), but sufficient clues exist that it is theoretically possible to figure it out before the answer is revealed (although I did not).

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: As a science fiction story, this is pretty good.
Review: As a mystery/whodunnit, it is horrible. Many of the reviewers here have commented on how difficult it was to anticipate the ending; of COURSE it was difficult; that's becuase the ending made no sense; worse, there was a perfectly logical, elegant solution to the mystery that was completely ignored simply for the purpose of jamming in a deus ex machina that would tie in to some of Asimov's other stories. And worse yet, it would have been possible to use the elegant solution as a part of the deus ex machina, if he really HAD to have that tie-in, and it would have made perfect sense.

I can't explain here what that "elegant solution" is without giving away the book's ending, an unpardonable crime when reviewing a mystery, but if you're curious (and have read the book) feel free to e-mail me and I'll let you know what I think.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nice story, great ending, though too long
Review: As someone new to Asimov, I was a bit disappointed with this novel. Nice story, great ending, very well written (of course) though as a whole far too long.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sci-Fi at It's Best
Review: Asimov gives us another great novel in "The Robots of Dawn." This is the third and final novel of the robot series. New York detective Elijah Baley is famous all of the galaxy after having solved the crime on Solaria covered in the previous novel. It's no surprise then when he is called on when a serious crime comes up on the planet of Aurora, which is the foremost of the Spacer worlds. The stakes are much higher this time. Ther person who is accused of the crime is the leading supporter for Earth on the Spacer worlds. If he is convicted, then Earth's hopes to settle new planets will be crushed, and the Spacer plan of using humanoid robots instead of humans to settle new worlds will go into effect. Baley is reunited with his robot partner Daneel Olivaw. On his home planet, Daneel acts a little more robotic than in previous novels.

I felt that this novel was a great read. I couldn't stop turning the pages. Asimov is a master at telling stories. I also liked how he dropped references to "I, Robot" and the Foundation series in this novel. I recommend that science fiction fans read the entire robot series and pay tribute to one of the great masters of the genre.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome...mesmerizing
Review: Can't put it down. I first read it when I was in grade school or junior high - I read it over and over again and it's STILL un-put-downable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Robot steals show!
Review: Cool book! Daneel (humanoid) and Giskard (the underestimated, simple looking robot) combine to make this novel interesting and (towards the end) exciting. Very suprising ending

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Third Book in the "Robot Murder Trilogy"
Review: Decent book, I give it a B-. It is twice as big as either of the prequels in The Robot Murder Series, "The Caves of Steel", and "The Naked Sun". Unfortunately, The Robots of Dawn isn't as good as either of those two. One of the problems were the number of editorial errors (typos, syntactical errors, etc.) - I remember counting at least six or seven. The other problem is that "The Caves of Steel" is Asimov's premiere work, and much of Asimov's other work pales in comparison. All three books can now be found in a 3-in-1 "Trilogy", which might be the best way to go for some folks.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Are we not men?
Review: Enjoyable book not so much for the plot as for the examination of the future social aspects of human/robot interaction. One thing I find difficult to understand is why do Asimov's space colonies require so many robots per person? These colonists seem very wimpy.

Interesting Earth/colony conflicts; analagous to Britain/US relationship. Earth seen as inferior to Spacer worlds.

Fun to read. One odd thing: Asimov seems to be unusually interested in human bodily functions and bathrooms.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Roboticide and Robot Love.
Review: For those of us who enjoy taking a
peek of things to come, as we go down the
road of machine intelligence, Isaac Asimov
never disappoints.
In Robots of Dawn we are faced with the horrors
of a roboticide. The killing of a humaniform
robot. A robot who was loved by a human, and
who made love to a human.
It is all so simple and yet it is written so
prophetically right that it has all the hallmarks
of a genius. Isaac Asimov - once again.
Compelling.

-Simon


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