What a great book!

I like Isaac Asimov: I have read the original Foundation trilogy, and earlier this year read The Gods Themselves. I think this one has been my favorite so far.

This book is the first of a trilogy of detective novels set in his “Robot” universe. One major theme from the book is human anxiety around the invention and use of robots. It feels like all the real-world anxiety of immigration plus all the real-world anxiety of artificial intelligence rolled into one; I thought it was very well done.

I thought the level of sci-fi pedantry was good - no over-the-top explanations about how they grow food or how oxygen-filtration works, for example. There’s a little bit of that sort of thing, and you can tell that Asimov has thought more about it than what ended up getting committed to the page, but he really only includes what’s relevant to the story.

Which is where this book really shines - the characters in the book are great. The 270 page book takes place over the course of three days, which means that most of the book is dedicated to a recounting of different conversations during that time, and the interior thoughts of the characters. The handful of the main characters were each presented as full, flawed, and likable.

And beyond that, it was a great detective story! I had theories and questions until the last three pages, when the whole plot was revealed, using information that had been available throughout the book.

I’m excited to read the rest of the books in this series! I would recommend this book to most people; it’s high quality writing, and it’s such a quick read that it doesn’t hurt to give it a try to see if you like it.