The Naked Sun
by Isaac Asimov

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Book Reviews of The Naked Sun

Book Review: "Sun" shines
Summary: 4 Stars

Cop Elijah Baley isn't too fond of robots. Or Spacers. So he's less than pleased when he is sent to Solaria, a sparsely populated world where robots do all the work, and humans "toil not, neither do they spin." He's there to investigate a strange murder -- a scientist named Delmarre was murdered, and his widow Gladia is the only possible suspect. But she seems too ditzy and fluttery to crush a person's skull.

When an official is poisoned right in front of Baley, his suspicions are confirmed -- somebody is still murdering, and it may be linked to some touchy political subjects that Delmarre was working on. No human was close enough to kill either man, and no robot was capable of murder. With the assistance of his robot sidekick R. Daneel Olivaw, Lije Baley starts to unravel a mystery that seems to have no suspects...

Does a world full of languid, long-lived people waited on by robots sound like paradise? It won't after "Naked Sun," where such a civilization is enough to drive you nuts with boredom. Asimov did an excellent job with the Solarian civilization, where actually being in the same room as another person is considered an unspeakable intimacy and the world "children" is almost obscene.

Since this is all completely foreign to Lije Bailey (who comes from overcrowded Earth), it comes across as alien to the readers as well. It also adds an enticingly weird dimension to his detective work: Bailey has to solve a mystery entirely through communication equipment, and robots keep clearing away evidence. Add some agoraphobia and solid social commentary, and you have a story that is reminiscent of Agatha Christie writing Star Wars.

Bailey and Daneel make an excellent team -- there's Bailey's human gut feelings and intuitions into the human mind, coupled with Daneel's cool calm robot logic, and his lack of prejudices. The supporting characters are also nicely done, particularly the mildly neurotic Gladia and the nervous Gruer.

Asimov's "Naked Sun" is a tighter, tauter mystery than "Caves of Steel," with a bizarre civilization and a mystery that seems impossible to figure out. Immensely enjoyable and thought-provoking.

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