The Caves of Steel is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is a detective story and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction can be applied to any literary genre, rather than just being a limited genre in itself. The book was first published as a serial in Galaxy magazine, from October to December 1953. A Doubleday hardcover followed in 1954. At the time of writing, Asimov conceived of "The Caves of Steel" as completely distinct from his Foundation Trilogy, published a few years earlier. Much later, however, Asimov linked them, making the time of Caves of Steel a much earlier part of an extensive Future history leading up to the rise of the Galactic Empire, its fall and the rise of two Foundations to replace it – with the Robot R. Daneel Olivaw, introduced in Caves of Steel, turning out to have survived over …
The Caves of Steel is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is a detective story and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction can be applied to any literary genre, rather than just being a limited genre in itself. The book was first published as a serial in Galaxy magazine, from October to December 1953. A Doubleday hardcover followed in 1954. At the time of writing, Asimov conceived of "The Caves of Steel" as completely distinct from his Foundation Trilogy, published a few years earlier. Much later, however, Asimov linked them, making the time of Caves of Steel a much earlier part of an extensive Future history leading up to the rise of the Galactic Empire, its fall and the rise of two Foundations to replace it – with the Robot R. Daneel Olivaw, introduced in Caves of Steel, turning out to have survived over tens of thousands of years, and played a key role in the periods of both the Empire and the Foundation(s).
This is the first Asimov book I've ever read. I liked it, and I may read more in this series, but reading an older scifi novel reminded me of how they are set in the present day just as much as in an imaginary future. Just look at the way women are treated and expected to act all throughout the book.
