58 pages 1 hour read

The Caves of Steel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1953

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Summary and Study Guide

Overview

The Caves of Steel was written by Isaac Asimov in 1953. The novel was first published serially in Galaxy magazine, with a hardcover version published in 1954. Set thousands of years in the future, the science fiction mystery follows Elijah Baley as he works to solve a murder with his robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw. The novel is the first in the Robot series, one of Asimov’s most famous collections. The BBC adapted the book into a television series in 1964. The Caves of Steel received a retroactive nomination for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1954. Like much of Asimov’s work, the novel centers on the ethics of space exploration and the tension between humans and machines.

This guide is based on the 1991 Spectra Reprint edition.

Plot Summary

The Caves of Steel focuses on protagonist Elijah “Lije” Baley as he works to solve the murder of Dr. Roj Nemennuh Sarton. The murder occurs before the story’s opening scene, in which the New York City Police Commissioner, Julius Enderby, begs Lije to take the case. Lije must travel to Spacetown, the settlement of people who come from other worlds to visit Earth, to meet his partner, the humanoid blurred text
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