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Baley's predicament is made even more difficult by the fact that if he fails, Earth will see that the blame falls on him, not on Earth, and he will return in disgrace. In addition, once he gets to Aurora, he discovers that the murdered robot had been loaned by Fastolfe to a neighbor. That neighbor turns out to be Gladia Delmarre, who had left Solaria and come to Aurora to get away from her unpleasant memories and, she confesses to Baley, to find the physical pleasures of sex that her brief contact with Baley had led her to believe she might experience. Now Gladia herself is once more a suspect.
Gladia's situation allows Asimov to set up another of the contrasts that he seems to enjoy and that, for the reader, lends psychological depth to his observations. On Solaria, personal contact is so repugnant to normal Solarians that sex is infrequent and unpleasant. On Aurora sex is so commonplace and so divorced from love and affection that Gladia found it boring. Finally she turned to her humaniform robot (in his memoir, Asimov wrote that inability to deal with that situation had stopped his work on the novel in 1958) and found in him the ideal mate until his irreversible freeze-out.
In spite of the similarity between the styles and substance of the earlier Robot novels and their recent sequel, the differences in the treatment of sex alone indicates how much the times (and Asimov) have changed. In
The Naked Sun
Asimov had to make do with the removal of a glove and a touch on the cheek. In
The Robots of Dawn
Gladia not only discusses with Baley the pleasures of sex and confesses to taking Jander as her lover and even looking upon him as her husband, she spends a night of passion with Baley. Baley, in his examination of Jander's
mindless body, discovers that the robot has all the necessary human equipment (and of course, later on, discovers the same thing about Gladia).
The Naked Sun
Asimov had to make do with the removal of a glove and a touch on the cheek. In
The Robots of Dawn
Gladia not only discusses with Baley the pleasures of sex and confesses to taking Jander as her lover and even looking upon him as her husband, she spends a night of passion with Baley. Baley, in his examination of Jander's
mindless body, discovers that the robot has all the necessary human equipment (and of course, later on, discovers the same thing about Gladia).
Other changes had been created by the passing of the years and the events of the early 1980s. Asimov approached the task of writing his Robot novels sequel in a different frame of mind than he approached the writing of
The Caves of Steel
or
The Naked Sun
or even
Foundation's Edge.
While he was writing
The Caves of Steel,
he was trying to please Horace Gold, the demanding editor of
Galaxy
who had suggested the idea to him, and Walter Bradbury, the editor at Doubleday who had published his first novel and had "copiously red-penciled" his second and shepherded him through several more, including the juvenile novels he was writing under the name of Paul French. As a consequence, he wrote in his autobiography that his writing had become "more direct and spare."
The Caves of Steel
or
The Naked Sun
or even
Foundation's Edge.
While he was writing
The Caves of Steel,
he was trying to please Horace Gold, the demanding editor of
Galaxy
who had suggested the idea to him, and Walter Bradbury, the editor at Doubleday who had published his first novel and had "copiously red-penciled" his second and shepherded him through several more, including the juvenile novels he was writing under the name of Paul French. As a consequence, he wrote in his autobiography that his writing had become "more direct and spare."
The one thing that one cannot say about
The Robots of Dawn
is that the writing is direct and spare.
The Robots of Dawn
sprawls over 419 pages while
The Caves of Steel
requires only 202 and
The Naked Sun
only 195. The third volume in the trilogy is longer than the first two volumes combined, and the third volume contains no more action than either of the others, and perhaps not as much. What occupies the extra space is dialogue, lots of it; it goes on and on. It is good dialogue, because Asimov has something to say, and he cannot write uninterestingly; and the formal mystery proceeds, traditionally and necessarily, by question and answer. In this particular situation, with Baley in an environment that is entirely new and exploring a technology and a culture not only alien to him but that must be laid out for the reader, many questions must be asked and answered that deal with matters beyond the actual investigation. Nevertheless, even though the novel reads well and the dialogue carries the story forward tensely (and surprisingly) enough, it does not come up to the balance of integrated dialogue and action, reflection and movement, that is characteristic of the first two novels. It is not "direct and spare."
The Robots of Dawn
is that the writing is direct and spare.
The Robots of Dawn
sprawls over 419 pages while
The Caves of Steel
requires only 202 and
The Naked Sun
only 195. The third volume in the trilogy is longer than the first two volumes combined, and the third volume contains no more action than either of the others, and perhaps not as much. What occupies the extra space is dialogue, lots of it; it goes on and on. It is good dialogue, because Asimov has something to say, and he cannot write uninterestingly; and the formal mystery proceeds, traditionally and necessarily, by question and answer. In this particular situation, with Baley in an environment that is entirely new and exploring a technology and a culture not only alien to him but that must be laid out for the reader, many questions must be asked and answered that deal with matters beyond the actual investigation. Nevertheless, even though the novel reads well and the dialogue carries the story forward tensely (and surprisingly) enough, it does not come up to the balance of integrated dialogue and action, reflection and movement, that is characteristic of the first two novels. It is not "direct and spare."
Why it is not presents an interesting question. To be sure, Asimov makes the novel perform more than one function: integrating the robot universe and the Foundation universe takes space, not only for details but for theme, and in this respect Stableford was right insofar as the integration process does not coincide with the principal purpose of the novel it detracts from it. The novel is driven by Asimov's efforts to bring his novels into one consistent body of work. It contains numerous references to
I, Robot,
which is referred to as "legends" that have
clustered around Susan Calvin, considered as one of the early pioneers in robotics. Particular reference is made to "Liar!" and less specific references to other stories, such as "Little Lost Robot," "Evidence,'' and "The Evitable Conflict," and, outside that book, "The Bicentennial Man." But not, oddly enough, to "Satisfaction Guaranteed," which duplicates the situation of Gladia and Jander, or "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," which foreshadows one possible outcome of humaniform colonization of the Galaxy. Fastolfe discusses two other matters of consequence to the unification process: the effort by Aurorans "to produce a planet which, taken as a whole, would obey the Three Laws of Robotics," a possible foreshadowing of Gaia in
Foundation's Edge
(and perhaps of "Galaxia"); and of his desire to discover the Laws of Humanics. "I dream sometimes," he says, "of founding a mathematical science which I think of as `psychohistory,' . . ."
I, Robot,
which is referred to as "legends" that have
clustered around Susan Calvin, considered as one of the early pioneers in robotics. Particular reference is made to "Liar!" and less specific references to other stories, such as "Little Lost Robot," "Evidence,'' and "The Evitable Conflict," and, outside that book, "The Bicentennial Man." But not, oddly enough, to "Satisfaction Guaranteed," which duplicates the situation of Gladia and Jander, or "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," which foreshadows one possible outcome of humaniform colonization of the Galaxy. Fastolfe discusses two other matters of consequence to the unification process: the effort by Aurorans "to produce a planet which, taken as a whole, would obey the Three Laws of Robotics," a possible foreshadowing of Gaia in
Foundation's Edge
(and perhaps of "Galaxia"); and of his desire to discover the Laws of Humanics. "I dream sometimes," he says, "of founding a mathematical science which I think of as `psychohistory,' . . ."
If it had not been for Asimov's desire to bring all of his novels into a general future history,
The Robots of Dawn
might not have been written. It certainly would not have been the same book. In order for the Robot novels to logically precede the Foundation stories, Asimov had to provide a logical reason why the Foundation Galaxy has no robots in it; for good measure, Asimov threw in the creation of psychohistory. In less skillful hands, these concerns might have turned the novel into a sterile exercise, but Asimov's greatest virtue as a science-fiction writer was his ingenuity, and it did not desert him here. The integration process is embedded in the mystery, and its resolution is the mystery's resolution. In a classic summation scene reminiscent of the conclusion of
The Naked Sun
(and a thousand formal mystery novels), Baley forces roboticist Kelden Amadiro, Fastolfe's rival in many things, including the settlement of the Galaxy, to admit that he has been in contact with Jander in an effort to learn how to construct humaniform robots and might have contributed to Jander's condition. But, as it turns out, as in
The Naked Sun
another being entirely is guilty; when Baley deduces that Giskard, an older, non-humaniform robot, can detect and influence human emotions (like the Mule) he also understands that Giskard must have learned of Amadiro's questioning of Jander and destroyed Jander's mind in order to protect Fastolfe. But Giskard's secret cannot be revealed, for the sake of Fastolfe and humanity.
The Robots of Dawn
might not have been written. It certainly would not have been the same book. In order for the Robot novels to logically precede the Foundation stories, Asimov had to provide a logical reason why the Foundation Galaxy has no robots in it; for good measure, Asimov threw in the creation of psychohistory. In less skillful hands, these concerns might have turned the novel into a sterile exercise, but Asimov's greatest virtue as a science-fiction writer was his ingenuity, and it did not desert him here. The integration process is embedded in the mystery, and its resolution is the mystery's resolution. In a classic summation scene reminiscent of the conclusion of
The Naked Sun
(and a thousand formal mystery novels), Baley forces roboticist Kelden Amadiro, Fastolfe's rival in many things, including the settlement of the Galaxy, to admit that he has been in contact with Jander in an effort to learn how to construct humaniform robots and might have contributed to Jander's condition. But, as it turns out, as in
The Naked Sun
another being entirely is guilty; when Baley deduces that Giskard, an older, non-humaniform robot, can detect and influence human emotions (like the Mule) he also understands that Giskard must have learned of Amadiro's questioning of Jander and destroyed Jander's mind in order to protect Fastolfe. But Giskard's secret cannot be revealed, for the sake of Fastolfe and humanity.
In fact, the early weakness of the novel the inadequacy of the reasons for sending Baley to Aurora that disturbs the reader as much as Baley is so cleverly explained in the final scene that the weakness becomes a strength. Giskard also allowed his master to be suspected so that Baley would be sent for and Giskard could study his Earthman
reactions to the possibility of space settlement, which Giskard now believes is possible. All of this Baley accomplishes in a remarkable three days.
reactions to the possibility of space settlement, which Giskard now believes is possible. All of this Baley accomplishes in a remarkable three days.
Other reasons for the novel's length may be similar to those that lengthened the novels of Henry James: as he got older, his thoughts became more convoluted, and what once seemed simple became more complex; in addition, both writers adopted new writing methods (James began to dictate his novels to a stenographer; Asimov had gone to a computer's word-processing, although he always wrote his first drafts on his typewriter) that minimized the effort of getting words into fictional order. Still other, and perhaps more significant, factors suggest themselves. Asimov had been asked by Doubleday to write a longer novel in
Foundation's Edge,
and it had come in at 140,000 words. It was a more discursive book than
The Robots of Dawn,
and it became a bestseller. Asimov wrote in his memoir that he assumed Doubleday wanted a robot novel of equal length, but he may have been influenced by the success of
Foundation's Edge. The Robots of Dawn
clearly had an excellent chance of equaling
Foundation's Edge'
s success and almost did. In addition, one of the characteristics of bestselling science-fiction novels is length: there have been only a handful of them, and all have had a substantial heft to them. The possible consequence:
Foundation's Edge
was 366 pages,
The Robots of Dawn
was 419.
Foundation's Edge,
and it had come in at 140,000 words. It was a more discursive book than
The Robots of Dawn,
and it became a bestseller. Asimov wrote in his memoir that he assumed Doubleday wanted a robot novel of equal length, but he may have been influenced by the success of
Foundation's Edge. The Robots of Dawn
clearly had an excellent chance of equaling
Foundation's Edge'
s success and almost did. In addition, one of the characteristics of bestselling science-fiction novels is length: there have been only a handful of them, and all have had a substantial heft to them. The possible consequence:
Foundation's Edge
was 366 pages,
The Robots of Dawn
was 419.
Perhaps the most important reason of all was that Asimov did not have an editor who could tell him, as John Campbell and Horace Gold and Walter Bradbury would have had no reluctance to tell him: "You're getting too wordy, Isaac [Campbell, at least, would have called him 'Asimov']. Tighten it up!" And, Asimov, always receptive to good editing (and convinced, as he says in his autobiography, that an editor has his role in the process and his prerogatives, just as the writer has his) would have tightened it up. And, as always when standards are raised for the good writer and the easy way is eliminated, the novel would have been better. It is not that Asimov did not want to write the best novel it was possible for him to write for the sake of his pride in his work, of which he had much, he wanted to write well. But a writer, particularly a writer like Asimov who said (though we must not take this as total truth) that he did not know anything about writing, needs a good editor. Whoever were Asimov's editors at Doubleday, even Bradbury if he were still there, would have had difficulty editing the Asimov of 1983.
The Robots of Dawn
was going to be a bestseller no matter how Asimov wrote it, as long as it was not a complete disgrace (and even then, some cynics would say). Asimov invested considerable
time, effort, and thought in writing it it was not a disgrace but there was no
incentive
for him to keep it "direct and spare" or for an editor to tell him to do so. Like many of us over sixty (and particularly Asimov, who had had a heart attack and would soon have a triple-bypass operation), Asimov had recognized in recent years that his writing time was limited. Early in a writer's career he feels immortal, and he has time to write everything. Now Asimov realized that writing one book (or spending an excessive length of time on one) meant that he would not be able to write another; his editors knew this as well and would not, or could not, call to his attention anything more than gross errors. One does not edit bestselling authors or institutions, and Asimov was both.
The Robots of Dawn
was going to be a bestseller no matter how Asimov wrote it, as long as it was not a complete disgrace (and even then, some cynics would say). Asimov invested considerable
time, effort, and thought in writing it it was not a disgrace but there was no
incentive
for him to keep it "direct and spare" or for an editor to tell him to do so. Like many of us over sixty (and particularly Asimov, who had had a heart attack and would soon have a triple-bypass operation), Asimov had recognized in recent years that his writing time was limited. Early in a writer's career he feels immortal, and he has time to write everything. Now Asimov realized that writing one book (or spending an excessive length of time on one) meant that he would not be able to write another; his editors knew this as well and would not, or could not, call to his attention anything more than gross errors. One does not edit bestselling authors or institutions, and Asimov was both.
In spite of such cavilings,
The Robots of Dawn
is an engrossing and well-written novel. Asimov could have been proud of it, and was. It is one of his better novels, if not one of his best, and if it does not add anything to the Robot novels, which still, to me, represent his highest accomplishments in the science-fiction novel, it does not diminish them either. It gave his loyal readers an opportunity to return to a familiar universe, and it did not exploit their affection, as sequels have often done. It gave good measure of fictional pleasure.
The Robots of Dawn
is an engrossing and well-written novel. Asimov could have been proud of it, and was. It is one of his better novels, if not one of his best, and if it does not add anything to the Robot novels, which still, to me, represent his highest accomplishments in the science-fiction novel, it does not diminish them either. It gave his loyal readers an opportunity to return to a familiar universe, and it did not exploit their affection, as sequels have often done. It gave good measure of fictional pleasure.
The most remarkable fact for me was that Asimov could do it, and even my recognition of the ways in which it could have been better cannot reduce my appreciation of what it achieved.
By the time
The Robots of Dawn
was published, Asimov had already resigned himself "totally to the writing of novels." He didn't record in his memoir the importunings of Doubleday. Perhaps, as in the case of
The Robots of Dawn,
Doubleday presented him with another contract before the novel was published; perhaps he notified Doubleday, as he wrote in his memoir, "my pleasure with
The Robots of Dawn
led me to write a fourth robot novel. In the fourth book, Elijah Baley would be dead, but I had already decided that the robot, Daneel Olivaw, was the real hero of the series, and he would continue to function."
The Robots of Dawn
was published, Asimov had already resigned himself "totally to the writing of novels." He didn't record in his memoir the importunings of Doubleday. Perhaps, as in the case of
The Robots of Dawn,
Doubleday presented him with another contract before the novel was published; perhaps he notified Doubleday, as he wrote in his memoir, "my pleasure with
The Robots of Dawn
led me to write a fourth robot novel. In the fourth book, Elijah Baley would be dead, but I had already decided that the robot, Daneel Olivaw, was the real hero of the series, and he would continue to function."
Robots and Empire
was not published until 1985. It was delayed by a deteriorating heart condition and a triple bypass operation (in which Asimov insisted that he didn't care what happened to his body, but he wanted plenty of oxygen during the time he was on the heart-lung machine so that his brain would not be affected).
Robots and Empire
was the novel that Asimov remembered raising doubts about the del Reys purchasing the paperback rights when he told them he wanted to tie his Robot novels and Foundation stories together. Actually, the process seemed well underway in the first two 1980s novels.
was not published until 1985. It was delayed by a deteriorating heart condition and a triple bypass operation (in which Asimov insisted that he didn't care what happened to his body, but he wanted plenty of oxygen during the time he was on the heart-lung machine so that his brain would not be affected).
Robots and Empire
was the novel that Asimov remembered raising doubts about the del Reys purchasing the paperback rights when he told them he wanted to tie his Robot novels and Foundation stories together. Actually, the process seemed well underway in the first two 1980s novels.
In
Robots and Empire
Asimov wanted to achieve three links between his two great concepts:
Robots and Empire
Asimov wanted to achieve three links between his two great concepts:
1) to explain why the galactic empire was created by immigrants from Earth and not from the fifty Spacer worlds;
2) to explain the absence of robots in the Foundation stories;
3) to explain the radioactivity of Earth depicted in
Pebble in the Sky.
Pebble in the Sky.
In the process he wanted to lay the groundwork for how Earth came to be forgotten as the birthplace of humanity and how psychohistory came to be developed (an explanation already begun in
The Robots of Dawn
) as well as to make more plausible how humanity survived the many crises ahead that might have destroyed it, or space travel, before the galactic empire could be achieved.
The Robots of Dawn
) as well as to make more plausible how humanity survived the many crises ahead that might have destroyed it, or space travel, before the galactic empire could be achieved.
To list the links is not to say that these were the motivations behind the 1980s novels, only that they helped Asimov organize them and perhaps even provided motivation that kept him writing. In addition, these aspects of Asimov's work provide a context in which the developments in the novels may be considered.
Take
Robots and Empire,
for example. It begins 200 years after the events of
The Robots of Dawn
and 164 years after Elijah Baley's death on Baleyworld (named not for himself but for his son, Ben, the first Earth settler on an extraterrestrial planet after the settlement of the Spacer worlds). Gladia is 233 but still youthful and beautiful; her marriage to Santarix Gremionus, which had produced a son and a daughter, had long ago been dissolved, as had her relationship with her children. Amadiro, the antagonist of
The Robots of Dawn,
is aging but still plotting to make Spacers, assisted by preparations made by humaniform robots, the settlers of the Galaxy rather than Earthmen. He now is aided by ambitious, young Levular Mandamus, who is a fifth-generation descendant of Gladia. Han Fastolfe has died and left Daneel and Giskard to Gladia, whom he has treated like his own, beloved daughter; better, in fact, because his real daughter, Vasilia Aliena, who had been tended by Giskard as a child and programmed him with a lost design that turned out to give him his unusual powers, is bitterly estranged and determined to regain possession of Giskard.
Robots and Empire,
for example. It begins 200 years after the events of
The Robots of Dawn
and 164 years after Elijah Baley's death on Baleyworld (named not for himself but for his son, Ben, the first Earth settler on an extraterrestrial planet after the settlement of the Spacer worlds). Gladia is 233 but still youthful and beautiful; her marriage to Santarix Gremionus, which had produced a son and a daughter, had long ago been dissolved, as had her relationship with her children. Amadiro, the antagonist of
The Robots of Dawn,
is aging but still plotting to make Spacers, assisted by preparations made by humaniform robots, the settlers of the Galaxy rather than Earthmen. He now is aided by ambitious, young Levular Mandamus, who is a fifth-generation descendant of Gladia. Han Fastolfe has died and left Daneel and Giskard to Gladia, whom he has treated like his own, beloved daughter; better, in fact, because his real daughter, Vasilia Aliena, who had been tended by Giskard as a child and programmed him with a lost design that turned out to give him his unusual powers, is bitterly estranged and determined to regain possession of Giskard.
The situation becomes unsettled by the arrival of D.G. Baley, a trader from Baleyworld, who turns out to be a seventh-generation descendant of Elijah, named for Daneel and Giskard. He reveals that not only is Solaria apparently deserted, leaving millions of robots behind to be salvaged and perhaps sold to other Spacer worlds, but that two Settler ships have landed on Solaria and have been destroyed. He wants Gladia
to accompany him to Solaria, since she is the only native Solarian available, even though she left there two centuries before.
to accompany him to Solaria, since she is the only native Solarian available, even though she left there two centuries before.
BOOK: Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition)
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