- Title: The Caves of Steel
- wiki: link
Throwback Tuesday takes us back more than seven decades into a futurist world of robots and murder. The first of the Robot novels, and the first full-length robot novel written by Isaac Asimov, The Caves of Steel offered the author an opportunity to meld detective and science fiction while exploring sociological elements of an overcrowded future version of Earth where humanity lived underneath the surface in great domes giving the novel its name.
Our protagonist is plainsclothesman Elijah Baley given the unenviable task of solving the murder of a Spacer (wealthy humans who left Earth and settled 50 worlds run by a heavy reliance on robots). To assist him, Spacers have sent a humanform robot R. Daneel Olivaw, whose resemblance to a man would fool any Earthman, to accompany Baley and uncover the person responsible. Baley’s investigation is hampered by a number of factors including his own prejudices towards robots, the volatile political situation on Earth and on the Spacer worlds demanding justice, and the discovery that his wife’s social connection with an anti-Spacer group and the destruction of a robot Baley recently came in contact with which frame him as a suspect.
Despite his prejudices, and even accusing his partner on more than one occasion, Baley begins to lean on and even eventually trust R. Daneel Olivaw whose assistance proves crucial to help solve the murder and the destruction of the police robot (used to cover up the original crime). Originally published as a serial for Galaxy Magazine (not unlike Asmov’s first Foundation novel published across issues of Astounding Science Fiction), the complete story was released in hardback the following year in 1954. Three years later, Asimov would publish a sequel in The Naked Sun reuniting Elijah and Daneel for a murder lightyears away.
The mystery drives the novel, but much of the focus is more sociological with Baley forced to examine Earthmen’s prejudices (including his own) concerning robots and Spacers, traveling with Daneel through the packed underground cities, and struggling with leaving the dome (which no Earthman ever does given the vast cities creating agoraphobia in its citizens towards the outside world) which reveal more mores and customs in the foreign futuristic would that is nevertheless still grounded in timeless human emotions (even if they are far more illogical than the laws of robotics his partner was designed to adhere to).
Released to general acclaim, and kept in print for decades along with its sequels, the adaptations for The Caves of Steel have been few. Other than radio dramas, the only adaptation of note was the 1964 television adaption starring Peter Cushing which, despite its warm reception, was unfortunately destoryed leaving no master print of the full adaption to release.