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caracalico's review against another edition
4.0
Okay sooo I was sure I had added this to my collection, seeing as how I read it in summer.....
But anyway. Biggest flaw of this book: Gladia. She's so... ew. Such a typical and boring and completely uninspiring female character (even in robots and empire, she's less than amazing, though a bit more tolerable). Annnd the villians aren't exactly amazingly original either. At all. BUT despite all that, I enjoyed the book because it introduces the wonderful and lovelable GISKARD, creator of psychohistory.... who has so much of the great robot dynamic going about him since he isn't humaniform like Daneel, and it is for this kind of robot that I do so adore Asimov. Course, when it comes to that this book has nothing on Robots and Empire, but as its own story, it's decent. Not my favorite, but I'd read it again. Some of the scenes in it are my favorites among Asimov's work (though admittedly I have a lot of favorites).
But anyway. Biggest flaw of this book: Gladia. She's so... ew. Such a typical and boring and completely uninspiring female character (even in robots and empire, she's less than amazing, though a bit more tolerable). Annnd the villians aren't exactly amazingly original either. At all. BUT despite all that, I enjoyed the book because it introduces the wonderful and lovelable GISKARD, creator of psychohistory.... who has so much of the great robot dynamic going about him since he isn't humaniform like Daneel, and it is for this kind of robot that I do so adore Asimov. Course, when it comes to that this book has nothing on Robots and Empire, but as its own story, it's decent. Not my favorite, but I'd read it again. Some of the scenes in it are my favorites among Asimov's work (though admittedly I have a lot of favorites).
zombyfraser's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
wolvenbolt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So far this is the weakest book of the series, it took the weaknesses and sufferings from the first book that were originally minor and amblified them.
Majority of this book was dialogue, I'm not kidding, I kept track of it and at one point 20% of the book near the beginning was taken up by a single character's dialogue spanning many pages in a row. It just kept going on and on and on and on, dialogue and dialogue and talking and talking and talking and talking. I've read over 300 books since 2018, I've never encountered anything like this ratio of prose and dialogue. It was completely unchecked and out of control.
I absolutely love Baley, he's one of the most fascinating and well-written protagonists I've read. I really enjoyed his journey in this book, and seeing how he's trying to overcome his fears and acclimatise himself to the Outside.
Daneel was as good as ever but, again, not shown as much as I'd have liked, it focused more on Giskard, which I realised why at the end of the book.
However, again, same critism as the first book:
The tying up of the investigation at the end of the book was a massive exposition dump that mostly came out of nowhere. Now it wasn't as random-seeming as the first book, but the second book was quite good at the tying up of the investigation, and this was closer to book 1 than the book 2. Everything made sense in the end, which is good, but we were along for the journey with Baley the whole time and we were in his head and most of what he deduced at the end seemed to have popped out of nowhere and like Baley came to those deductions off-camera. Books such as this are done well when you get to the end and everything is revealed and you can go "Oh shit yeah! I remember seeing that! Oh yeah that makes sense!" etc, and that really didn't feel like it at the end.
But I really loved the last bit of the book and the amazing twist with one of the characters. Makes me super excited for the last book!
The book was too long, the prose-to-dialogue ratio was tilted way too far towards the dialogue, focused a lot less on the world building compared to the other books (and it's one of Asimov's strengths in this series imo), but the worldbuilding that was there was decent enough to make me see the world. But the ending and it's implications are exciting!
Majority of this book was dialogue, I'm not kidding, I kept track of it and at one point 20% of the book near the beginning was taken up by a single character's dialogue spanning many pages in a row. It just kept going on and on and on and on, dialogue and dialogue and talking and talking and talking and talking. I've read over 300 books since 2018, I've never encountered anything like this ratio of prose and dialogue. It was completely unchecked and out of control.
I absolutely love Baley, he's one of the most fascinating and well-written protagonists I've read. I really enjoyed his journey in this book, and seeing how he's trying to overcome his fears and acclimatise himself to the Outside.
Daneel was as good as ever but, again, not shown as much as I'd have liked, it focused more on Giskard, which I realised why at the end of the book.
However, again, same critism as the first book:
The tying up of the investigation at the end of the book was a massive exposition dump that mostly came out of nowhere. Now it wasn't as random-seeming as the first book, but the second book was quite good at the tying up of the investigation, and this was closer to book 1 than the book 2. Everything made sense in the end, which is good, but we were along for the journey with Baley the whole time and we were in his head and most of what he deduced at the end seemed to have popped out of nowhere and like Baley came to those deductions off-camera. Books such as this are done well when you get to the end and everything is revealed and you can go "Oh shit yeah! I remember seeing that! Oh yeah that makes sense!" etc, and that really didn't feel like it at the end.
But I really loved the last bit of the book and the amazing twist with one of the characters. Makes me super excited for the last book!
The book was too long, the prose-to-dialogue ratio was tilted way too far towards the dialogue, focused a lot less on the world building compared to the other books (and it's one of Asimov's strengths in this series imo), but the worldbuilding that was there was decent enough to make me see the world. But the ending and it's implications are exciting!
sohamjambhekar's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best endings I have ever read. The final chapter bumped up my rating to 5 starts
uriaha's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kian_kraemer's review against another edition
3.0
after the first half of the book really touched and carried me away, I found the second half a bit long-winded and the ending a bit far-fetched
however
there were some really wholesome and heartwarming moments between Elijah and Daneel which carried me through the whole book and will be engraved in my mind forever
[» Baley looked into the other's gentle eyes (when did he start thinking of their expression as gentle?)«]
however
there were some really wholesome and heartwarming moments between Elijah and Daneel which carried me through the whole book and will be engraved in my mind forever
[» Baley looked into the other's gentle eyes (when did he start thinking of their expression as gentle?)«]
dunja_macalister's review against another edition
5.0
This was an excellent, well weaved story. I loved the thought process behind it all and as a result the ending took me by surprise.
misternoodle's review against another edition
5.0
The amount of different aspects of his world that Asimov brings together is astounding. I wish the relationship with Daneel had been more present but the ending paid off a lot of the “problems” I had with the novel till the solve and the reveal.
bookaneer's review against another edition
4.0
Notwithstanding and acknowledging the author's indecencies during his life time, I found it hard to stay away from his works since they could be really, really good. His crisp, plot-driven, non-flowery delivery suits me really well. His books, like this one, are enjoyable thought exercise.
The story is about a murder investigation so you could expect there are lots of questionings and speculating. Yet, each tête-à-tête was riveting, kept me glued for more than 400 pages of them. I might have some issues on some of the ways the female characters were represented (they're almost too broken and could use a little more agency, especially Gladia). Yet, the whodunnit plot and its encompassing world, evolving around the relationship between humans in different worlds, between humans and robots, and last but not least, the use of humaniform robots to colonize new worlds, were just mind-blowing.
I'd love to see how Baley and Daneel would turn out if they're living together. Baley's attitude had completely changed compared to when he first met Daneel in [b:The Caves of Steel|41811|The Caves of Steel (Robot #1)|Isaac Asimov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335782224l/41811._SY75_.jpg|140376]. I just had to laugh reading Baley's thoughts and outward declaration about Daneel in this book.
Anyway, while I feel a bit guilty for liking it, I do plan to continue to the next book. The ending itself, that ultimate conversation, might have made decide to reread [b:Foundation|29579|Foundation (Foundation, #1)|Isaac Asimov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417900846l/29579._SX50_.jpg|1783981].
The story is about a murder investigation so you could expect there are lots of questionings and speculating. Yet, each tête-à-tête was riveting, kept me glued for more than 400 pages of them. I might have some issues on some of the ways the female characters were represented (they're almost too broken and could use a little more agency, especially Gladia). Yet, the whodunnit plot and its encompassing world, evolving around the relationship between humans in different worlds, between humans and robots, and last but not least, the use of humaniform robots to colonize new worlds, were just mind-blowing.
I'd love to see how Baley and Daneel would turn out if they're living together. Baley's attitude had completely changed compared to when he first met Daneel in [b:The Caves of Steel|41811|The Caves of Steel (Robot #1)|Isaac Asimov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335782224l/41811._SY75_.jpg|140376]. I just had to laugh reading Baley's thoughts and outward declaration about Daneel in this book.
Anyway, while I feel a bit guilty for liking it, I do plan to continue to the next book. The ending itself, that ultimate conversation, might have made decide to reread [b:Foundation|29579|Foundation (Foundation, #1)|Isaac Asimov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417900846l/29579._SX50_.jpg|1783981].
brew_strong's review against another edition
4.0
Written almost 20 years after the last robot book. You can tell his writing style evolved. The book is denser than his earlier works. Also you can see the direction he is moving toward. He is trying to connect most of his works together as foundations psychohistory is mentioned a lot in the novel as well as a concept of a galactic empire