The Naked Sun
Ratings113
Average rating4.1
On the remote planet Solaria the first murder for two hundred years has been committed. The Solarians are Spacers with a civilisation based on robots instead of slaves - and some pretty weird taboos and phobias.
Into this strange set-up comes Terran detective Elijah Baley, assigned to find the murderer and act as an investigator for his government. But as an Earthman, Baley finds aspects of life on Solaria difficult, even terrifying, to cope with. (Men on Earth live deep underground in their vast caves of steel and are terrified of anything outside.)
From the moment of his arrival on Solaria, Baley's investigation becomes an ordeal of nerves under the pitiless glare of the naked sun...
Series
Series
4 primary books10 released booksRobot
Robot is a 10-book series with 4 primary works first released in 1950 with contributions by Isaac Asimov.
Series
6 primary books8 released booksRobot, chronological order
Robot, chronological order is a 8-book series with 6 primary works first released in 1950 with contributions by Isaac Asimov.
Series
14 primary books17 released booksFoundation Universe
Foundation Universe is a 17-book series with 12 primary works first released in 1950 with contributions by Isaac Asimov.
Reviews
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I couldn't wait to read this book after its predecessor. I was happy to see that Elijah Bailey, and his robot partner R. Daneel were the protagonists again.
This time the plot happens in one of the 49 other planets. Again Asimov was able to reproduce a possible branch of evolution to our society. One where people live alone at big houses and are fearful of personal contact. They interact with each other only by a sort of “visual phone”.
Where on Earth there are nearly any robots, in Solaria there is 10.000 robots per human, and 20.000 humans.
The homicide Elijah was tasked to solve was very interesting as well, like the first book was too. He was also more fun of Deneel.
The second of Asimov's Robot novels, The Naked Sun again features Earth detective Elijah Baley and the Auroran “Spacer” robot R Daneel Olivaw. This time the pair are investigating a murder on the Spacer world of Solaria, where a Dr Delmarre has been bludgeoned to death. His wife seems to be the only suspect, but Solaria is unlike any other human world and things are not what they seem.
This classic science fiction novel starts slowly but Asimov writes like it's Agatha Christie in space, a mystery that the dogged detective has to solve, even when he's told to go home. The world of Solaria is a strange creation, a vision of humanity reduced to beings that merely exist, without the joy of interpersonal contact, which they view as abhorrent. Robots outnumber humans by hundreds to one and the people live isolated existences on vast estates. It's a bleak vision of one type of human future.
Baley and Olivaw interview their suspects, gaining insights into Solaria's psychology and trying to find motive and opportunity. The end is a bit Columbo, but the coda, where Baley has an epiphany and realises that Earth's people must free themselves from their domed cities (or Caves of Steel), is quite uplifting.
A classic of the genre and a key piece in Asimov's “future history” (which also includes his Empire and Foundation novels), this is a great read.
