Book Review: The Naked Sun by Issac Asimov

The Naked Sun by Issac Asimov

Mass Market Paperback, 15th printing, 208 pages

Published 1996 by HarperCollins Publishers (first published December 1956)

I have no idea if Asimov was planning a trilogy featuring Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw when he wrote the first book Caves of Steel, it is hard to say because it was decades between books two and three. None the less The Naked Sun is an excellent sequel to Caves of Steel. That first book was a very character-driven spin on the detective noir that was augmented by the fantastic world-building. The world of the first book was earth in the far future, although set in the same universe as the Foundation centuries before the events of that series. Part of the strength of the first book was the dynamic between Baley and Olivaw. One of the complaints about genre works from this era (the 50s) and Asimov, in general, is that he was more focused on the gee-whiz than the actual characters.

This book could be accused of that since it the main thrust of the novel is clearly the world of Solaria. I read this and am writing this review during the major American shut-down for the coronavirus. Social distancing has become one of the main concepts of life on planet earth at the moment. In the world of this novel that is the way of life. Solaria is an underpopulated world where the robot servants outnumber human colonists. Everyone lives at a distance from each other and even married couples only "see" each other. Contact is not a social norm.

So not only is this a cool sci-fi world, but it is the perfect set-up for a sci-fi murder mystery novel. Even better conceptionally as a sequel to Caves of Steel, it is a genius reversal since the overcrowded New York of the first novel is so central to that story. Baley and Olivaw are important to the story but their dynamic is less important since the arc of their being forced together was solved. Early in the book Baley is forced to take this off-world mission, and a part of me wished we had more Baley and Olivaw NY mysteries and in my headcanon, they exist.

So Asimov gets Baley off-world, the how of this is completely ignored he just gets to this far off world by "ways" and that is fine, the trip was not the point. Once on this world, the mystery which I won't spoil is a great very Sherlock Holmes-ish spin. It even gets to the point when Baley is quoting the master fictional detective when you eliminate the possible... I don't need to re-type that do I? Asimov does really great social and world-building, some of the new characters have interesting elements but the weakness is that our returning characters don't get developed.

One element that was underplayed in this book was R.Daneel having to fake as a spacer. It is there but very lightly. Baley's conflict of leaving earth and more importantly his family is touched on in the opening chapters and in the last few. That aspect seems to get ignored in between. Good stuff is happening. The mystery elements are carefully plotted. It is the world built on social isolation that I think will really interest people at this time. What it says about our culture at this exact moment is interesting, but the motivations are not close. If you are looking for a science fiction novel that comments on our current situation you should look more closely at The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner. The benefit of that book is it is a warning and reminder it could be worse.

None the less The Naked Sun is a fun little novel overflowing with fun Asimov-ian ideas and concepts. The mystery works and it is short. I like these novels and their simplicity so much better than many of thew high concept novels of Asimov. Give me a couple months and I will get to book three soon.