The Naked Sun is Asimov’s second robot novel and it takes things to the next floor by building very nicely on the the first, The Caves of Steel. Elijah Bailey and his Robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw, having survived their first murder investigation, now find themselves off-Earth on the planet Solaria dealing with an equally puzzling second murder. With the introduction of Solaria, Asimov gets to do some interesting world building by creating a planet with a very small human population supported by hundreds of robots per person. The book, also introduces Gladia Delmarre, a character who will become pivotal in the remaining robot books.
As I have with the first books, I’m finding this journey through Asimov’s and my past just as enjoyable the second time around. This little project (with the accompanying book reports) is proving to be a nice balm for the craziness in the world. Although, it does leave me longing nostalgically for precedented times.
