The Robots of Dawn
Cover of first edition (hardcover)
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| Author | Isaac Asimov |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Kiyoshi Kanai |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Robot series |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
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Publication date
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1983 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 419 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 9555371 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3551.S5 R6 1983 |
| Preceded by | The Naked Sun, "Mirror Image"' |
| Followed by | Robots and Empire |
The Robots of Dawn is a "whodunit" science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, first published in 1983. It is the third novel in Asimov's Robot series.
It was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1984.
The book opens with detective Elijah Baley on Earth, training with his son and others to overcome their socially ingrained agoraphobia, when he is told that the Spacer world of Aurora has requested him to investigate a crime: namely, that the mind of R. Jander Panell, a humaniform robot identical to R. Daneel Olivaw, has been destroyed by a mental block. The robot's inventor, Han Fastolfe, has admitted that he is the only person with the skill to have done this, but denies having done it. Fastolfe is also a prominent member of the Auroran political faction that favors Earth; wherefore, it is politically expedient that he be exonerated. En route to Aurora, Baley again is partnered with R. Daneel Olivaw, and introduced to R. Giskard Reventlov.
On Aurora, he interviews Gladia Delmarre (who first appeared in The Naked Sun), R. Jander's former owner, and discovers that Gladia had a sexual relationship with Jander, to the point of considering him a husband. Baley later interviews Fastolfe's estranged daughter, Vasilia Fastolfe (alias "Vasilia Aliena"), who claims that her father would do anything necessary to advance psychohistory, including the incapacitation of Jander and Gladia's heartbreak. Following that, Baley interviews Santirix Gremionis, an Auroran who, with both Gladia and Vasilia, committed the Auroran taboo of offering himself repeatedly (sexually) after rejection. Gremionis denies involvement in the murder, and says he has reported Baley to the Chairman (the executive of the Auroran Government) for slander; but realizes, upon questioning, that Vasilia arranged his infatuation with Gladia.
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