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The Naked Sun

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The Naked Sun

By: Isaac Asimov
Narrated by: William Hope
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About this listen

Isaac Asimov’s Robot series – from the iconic collection I, Robot to four classic novels – contains some of the most influential works in the history of science fiction. Establishing and testing the Three Laws of Robotics, they continue to shape the understanding and design of artificial intelligence to this day.

On the planet of Solaria, Spacers live in almost complete isolation, tended by robot servants and disgusted by the thought of human contact. And yet, one of their number has been beaten to death.

Incapable of solving the crime, the authorities of the Outer Worlds seek help from Earth – from renowned detective Elijah Baley.

Partnered once again with the robot Daneel Olivaw, Baley travels to this strange new world and uncovers a plot that could change the relationship between humans and robots for ever.

©1957 Isaac Asimov (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Adventure Fiction Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Technology Robotics Thriller Computer Science

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All stars
Most relevant
i was a bit disappointed with the narrator to begin with but after a while i found the performance engrossing.
asimov’s world building was incredible. i started the robot series after watching the foundation tv series. it’s incredible how many ideas asimov imagined and predicted!

what foresight asimov had on the zoom/skype generation

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A well-paced, well-presented version of Asimov’s classic… but it is ridiculous to have a man acting out a female voice.

A good interpretation that is almost ruined by one thing.

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Love the book and love the narration.
I noticed a slight problem though - In the chapter "A Woman is Viewed" the narrator says "The chequer-board was made up of a six-by-six square. The number of possible arrangements would be 236 then, or seventy billion. More than enough!" but it should be read as "The number of possible arrangements would be 2 to the power of 36". The original book clearly shows it as a power using superscript. I suspect the narrator was reading from a scanned text which has removed the superscript.
Not a problem, but thought I would mention it as the maths doesn't make sense in the way it is said in the audiobook.

Great Story - Minor Error in narration

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The Naked Sun is a sequel to Caves of Steel and is a detective story involving Earthman Elijah Bailey and his robot partner R Daneel Olivaw. It is proof of the ability of the novelist to squeeze the very last ounce of literary advantage from his famous three laws of robotics.

I have been hoovering up these classic Asimov tales as they are released on Audible. Naked Sun is even more ‘Agatha Christie’ than some of the previous ones. It consists of a seemingly impossible murder scenario painstakingly unravelled by the hero, and having a delicious double twist at the end.

Asimov used some of his novels to experiment with different scenarios of the way human social life could evolve. In this book I found that aspects of the way that people lived on the planet Solaria with its ‘Brave New World’ resonances stretched credibility somewhat. Also, one or two of the extended expositions from Solarians on their way of life were just a little too long.

The story was not as compact and satisfying as Caves of Steel and so, regrettably, I give it only four stars. William Hope’s narration though was excellent, and for me he has become the authentic voice of classic Asimov.

Sadly, this book is the last of the robot series that Asimov wrote in the 1950s. The next in sequence, The Robots of Dawn, was written thirty years later and is very much longer and more drawn out, with the action and enjoyment diluted as a result.

Very good

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Asimov has always been a thinker, a scientist and writer who delves into human beings. His insights about what drives us also leads him to extrapolate scientific discoveries that have come true. Maybe not exactly as he describes them but, it’s not difficult to understand the things in the world today that he has described.

It’s a classic

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