Ahh, the robot: docile servant or humanoid waiting to explode in
revolution against humanity. Modernism
riding a technological high that science would solve the world’s ills, it’s
only natural that the majority of the science fiction of the era would depict
the metal men as the former. Isaac
Asimov a leading proponent of this view, after writing a collection of short
stories (I, Robot) and establishing
the ground rules (literally) he published his first novel-length work The Caves of Steel in 1954. Utilizing the three rules of robotics in an
interstellar murder mystery, the story had strong resonance with the genre
readers of the time. Whether the story continues
to resonate depends on what expectations the reader brings to the table today.
The Caves of Steel introduces Elijah Baley, a mid-level detective working for the New York
City police force, who is charged with investigating a murder at nearby Spacetown
at the story’s outset. The small area
just outside the domed metropolis of NYC having special diplomatic rights,
Baley must accept the requirements of the Spacers, and soon after finds himself
paired with a robot investigator, R. Daneel Olivaw, as he starts his
inquiry. Anti-robot, Baley must deal
with his own feelings about humanoids as he and Daneel fight through confusing
clues and the red-tape of performing an investigation in the pro-robot
Spacetown. Olivaw intelligent,
consistent, and helpful, Baley’s sentiments undergo an evolution the closer the
pair draw to the murderer. But will
Olivaw obey his programming when the final confrontation comes? That is for the reader to discover.
The Caves of Steel is a murder mystery that Asimov builds using the simple devices of
traditional mysteries and the toolkit of science fiction. A techno-puzzle mystery the result, certainly
at the time the novel was published it was something fresh on the market, and
would become something later writers would do more with (from Larry Niven to
Greg Egan). Beyond the technical
elements, Asimov plays two sides of humanity against itself. The Spacers, a long-sighted group, live in
relative comfort on the hundreds of inhabited planets, their lives with robots
and nature in harmony. While on Earth,
its teeming 8 billion crowd beneath metal domes in strictly-regulated,
hyper-urban environments that render life a rat race for resources, homes,
money. Rather than using the setup for
commentary on human practices of the time, it is instead a mirror which makes
Spacer life (i.e. life with Robots, our friends and helpers) all the more
appealing. A full-on expression of
modernism’s hope that metal sentience could be produced to suit mankind’s utopian
needs, it exudes optimism to the nth
degree—and to an ethical degree if one considers the unexpected climax.
And the remainder is just as dated.
Dialogue laid out in cut and paste fashion, story transitions so clunky
one can literally see Asimov jumping to the next point in his story outline,
and the overall mindset of an era we are currently trying to improve upon,
Asimov’s approach to gender, employment, and altruism in government are of a
bygone year. The fact the story is
written in, ahem, simplistic prose does no further favors. A full-on product of the times, it’s perhaps
best to be read for nostalgia purposes. (Charles Stross and Corey Doctorow, both
modern sci-fi writers in dialogue with Asimov’s robot stories in their own
works, do offer them some minor value.
But it could also easily be considered full-on genre navel-gazing.)
In the end, The Caves of Steel
is genre of old, and it shows it.
Needing to be read in the context of the 50s for full appreciation,
Asimov’s worldview does not endear, nor does his static style of writing. Original at the time, and thus something of a
genre milestone, its place in history balances the shortcomings but comes
recommended mostly for those looking into the backlog of the science
fiction. Certainly we have a far
different, more complex view of robots today…
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