#Reading log
2016-11-29: Since I started getting really deep into science fiction and learning more about its past authors I knew I needed to read books from all of the big three. Isaac Asimov, father of the robot revolution, is the one I still haven’t had a chance to read. So last week I looked for a book to start with and found Caves of Steel.
The book takes place in a far distant future where robots plays an integral part in society, but the machines are not very popular among humans on Earth. People are afraid that they will take their jobs away. Humans have divided into two main groups; Earthmen and Spacers. Earthmen have fled the country side and developed gigantic super cities to accommodate for their 8 billion people. These are basically huge closed domes with their own ecosystems. Spacers, on the other hand, emigrated Earth many years ago and colonized what is called the Outer Worlds. The Spacers have a very low population and live in harmony with the robots since they see them as useful tools to enhance their lives.
The books main topic is to explore the differences between these two cultures and the plot has to do with the murder of a Spacer. On this investigation a cop from Earth has to team up with one of the humanoid robots from the Spacers. I think the book was quite amazing. The most interesting part for me lies in the differences between these two cultures and how a variant of this could actually come to play out in our future. The thrill of the murder investigation was not as interesting for me as the philosophical debate between these two cultures were. It feels great to finally have read a book from Asimov and I will probably continue reading some of his later works as well.
2016-11-28: I continue to read 📚 Caves of Steel and I still like it. Funny with a detective story and the whole robot evolution thing. It’s my first Asimov and I like his style very much. It’s not as sophisticated as Heinlein’s but then again this was one of his first books. Can’t wait to read some of his later works.