Robots of dawn

The Robots of Dawn or The Robots of Aurora (original title in English: The Robots of Dawn) is a science fiction novel written by Isaac Asimov, first published in 1983 by Doubleday publishers. It is the third novel in the Robot Series, starring Earth detective Elijah Baley. This novel marked Asimov's return to the series after three decades, since the two previous novels, The Steel Vaults and The Naked Sun, had been written during the 1950s. The novel was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1984.

Context

With Robots of Dawn, Asimov began to lay the foundations for the unification of his robot series with the Foundation series. According to an editorial by the author himself in the October issue The 1983 issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, The Limits of the Foundation (1982) introduced references to the existence of robots in the past of the universe of the Foundation. However, Asimov was aware that the description of the human society of Spacers appeared in the previous robot novels The Steel Vaults (1953) and The Naked Sun (1957) was incompatible with that of the Foundation universe. Therefore, the author decided that the plot of Robots of Dawn "point[s] the Lije Baley universe in the direction of the Foundation universe". series would be completed in the following novels Robots and Empire (1985) and Foundation and Earth (1986), each corresponding to one of said series.

According to some sources, Asimov began writing the novel in the 1950s, but completed it years later with some changes.^{[citation needed]}

Synopsis

The protagonist of the saga, the terrestrial policeman Elijah Baley, must go to Aurora to solve a crime that could have diplomatic consequences for Earth: Jander Panell, a humaniform robot identical to R. Daneel Olivaw, has been blocked and the engineer Han Fastolfe, is the main and only suspect. Since Fastolfe is the main promoter of the alliance between Aurora and Earth, if he is found guilty, the relationship between both worlds could be permanently broken.^{[citation needed]}

Characters

Elijah Baley

After the success achieved in the mission carried out on the planet Solaria (The Naked Sun), with such an impact in the galaxy that even with the case a 'hyperwave drama' was made, Detective Elijah Baley, already with the C-7 classification in his pocket and with the expression “Jehoshaphat!” always in the mouth, he is called to go to the planet Aurora to unravel another mystery.

Faced with the character terrified at the idea of abandoning the protection of the city and little friend of the robots from previous novels, in The Robots of Dawn the character's first appearance occurs outside the the city, with the detective resting in the shade of a tree and observing a group of men who, like him, train to acclimatize to the conditions of the outside world and, as a longer-term goal, to colonize other planets. His son, Bentley Baley, is precisely the person leading this colonizing current.

Precisely the future of this desire is related to the new mission of Elijah Baley, since its success will determine whether the position of Dr. Han Fastolfe prevails on the planet Aurora, the most important of the space worlds, who is in favor of the participation of earthlings in the colonization of new worlds, or that, on the contrary, the Aurora World Legislative Assembly supports the thesis defended by another roboticist, Kelden Amadiro, for whom the conquest of other planets must be done through humaniform robots and excluding Earth from this opportunity.

Despite the fact that the 'hyperwave drama' was presented to a “quiet and judicious, insightful and subtle” investigator, the pessimism of the character in The Robots of Dawn is striking, who is also everyone remembers that the actor who brought him to life in the dramatization was more attractive. This pessimism will be contributed both by the fact that if it fails "all hope that the earthlings can leave their planet and spread throughout the galaxy will be discarded", as well as the little encouragement it receives, since the enigma of the disconnection of the humaniform robot Jander Panell seems unsolvable. However, thanks to his sharpness and his logical reasoning, he will succeed once again.

During this adventure, however, Elijah Baley will have to deal with much more than just a police mystery. In the first place, one of the most outstanding aspects of this novel by Isaac Asimov is its costumbrismo, since there are numerous descriptions and dialogues that deal with the relationship of the Aurorans with the robots, the type of food they consume, their attitude regarding sexual relations or, among many other aspects, the different behaviors between both planets when using the so-called 'personal' (bathrooms). All these differences, which sometimes please the researcher and at other times cause him to see the inhabitants of Aurora as eccentrics, present an added difficulty that leads Baley to say: “How, then, could I solve that highly convoluted puzzle of Jander's death?, if at every step he took he found himself plunged into ignorance? To curl the loop, the protagonist will have to maximize his concerns so that ignorance of their customs does not offend the Aurorans, already with a very contemptuous idea of earthlings.

Secondly, Elijah Baley will also have to face his fears and, more specifically, his agoraphobia. Despite the training he is undergoing to get used to living without the protection of those steel vaults that protect Earth cities, the protagonist of The Robots of Dawn is forced to make great efforts, but his determination, since he knows that adaptation abroad is vital for colonization, makes him emerge victorious and, finally, as narrated at the end of the book, he manages to enjoy "a calm peace, a peace without haste, a peace lonely and secluded” of a garden in front of the “continuous noise and the hasty movement of the cities”. Thus, in contrast to the restlessness that is suggested in the first chapter, which concludes with the relief of once again trespassing the city wall, the ending, also under the shade of a tree, presents a Baley recovered and able to enjoy nature. But this process will not be exempt from traumas, starting with the simple fear of having to make a trip to another planet again or the fear of the flying vehicles used in Aurora, the impact caused by the use of a device called an 'astrosimulator' or, above all, having to face a storm.

This will not be the only evolution that Elijah Baley experiences during his mission, since during his presence in Aurora the character's perception of robots will also improve, a process that already begins in the first novel of the series, The steel vaults. The affectionate reunion with the humaniform robot Daneel Olivaw, who accompanied him on the other two missions, proves that he has already come a long way, but throughout Robots of Dawn , the detective manages to have affection. by another robot, Giskard Reventlov, who has no human appearance. In addition, throughout the entire narrative, Baley believes he sees typically human signs of emotion in the robots, and in the last chapters he will even denounce behaviors of the Aurorans that, in his opinion, constitute discrimination against the machines. The detective will thus reach a balance between the excessive dependence of the Aurorans on robots and the prejudices of earthlings towards machines.

Lastly, Elijah Baley will also have to face his feelings for Gladia Delmarre, whom he freed from a murder charge during his mission on Solaria and to whom he has always felt attracted. This detail did not go unnoticed by the filmmakers of the 'hyperwave drama', making Baley's wife, Jessie, jealous and their son curious, who asks if she is the real reason for the colonization and not her. who wants to travel to Aurora. Although at first both seem to have overcome falling in love, which physically did not go beyond a caress on the cheek in the first meeting, the detective recognizes in chapter twelve the desire that he has to hold Gladis in his arms and kiss her right after recommending Santirix Gremionis, the woman's suitor, to do so. Elijah and Gladia end up making love and, although the detective admits in the last chapter that "I am ashamed to have to admit that, at this moment, I would not care if the Earth exploded into pieces as long as I had you", they finally admit that their love is impossible and the researcher returns to Earth to continue with the colonizing project and leaves Gladia in the hands of Santirix Gremionis.

Daneel Olivaw

The first-born humaniform robot Daneel Olivaw once again accompanies detective Elijah Baley on a new mission and, although his character no longer has the same appeal as in other installments, especially The Steel Vaults, He continues to maintain illuminating dialogues with Baley about the detective's plot and decisions, whom he also introduces to the peculiar Auroran customs and whom he jealously protects.

Unlike usual, in Robots of Dawn Elijah Baley has the opportunity to save the robot's skin, since after the irreparable failure ―or murder, depending on how you look at it― of Jander Panell he becomes the only humaniform robot. This makes him an object of desire for the roboticist Kelden Amadiro, who longs to know the secrets of this technology, considering that the colonization of other worlds must be carried out by means of these robots. Suspicious of Amadiro's intentions, the detective forces Olivaw to flee and leave him alone when his vehicle is sabotaged despite the deplorable state the human is in. Despite the fact that Daneel Olivaw is supposed to be one of the most advanced robots, he fails to clearly perceive the situation and refuses to abandon the detective, at which point a superior robotic intelligence, that of Giskard Reventlov, is revealed.

About Daneel Olivaw, Dr. Han Fastolfe, creator of the creature, says that it is "a work of which I have the weakness to feel proud. He is the first of his class & # 34;. Obviously, he is unaware of Giskard's potentialities.

Giskard Reventlov

Although at first it seems that the robot Giskard Reventlov, created by Dr. Han Fastolfe, is a secondary character whose role will be limited to escorting Elijah Baley during his trip and stay in Aurora, as the story progresses his protagonism is getting bigger and, in the end, it will be the key to the conclusion of the plot.

Han Fastolfe refers to him as his “butler and right-hand man” and describes him as “strong and robust”, actually because even he is unaware of Giskard's capabilities, which as a result of some reprogramming introduced into him by the roboticist Vasilia Aliena, and completely accidentally, can read the mind of humans and even manipulate it, although the latter only slightly, since otherwise she would endanger the integrity of people and, therefore, go against the law. first law of robotics, according to which no human being can be harmed.

The most interesting thing about this character is that he is capable of making decisions at his own risk, without previously consulting any human being, and because he has broader points of view than his peers. Thus, Giskard Reventlov has political inclinations that lead him to support Earth's participation in the colonization of new worlds, and it is precisely these principles that lead him, independently, to stop Kelden Amadiro's plans to get hold of the secret. of the humaniform robots, even if this means disabling one of them or inducing Fastolfe to request the presence of Elijah Baley considering that the qualities of this detective can make his cause finally triumph. In addition, after analyzing Baley's behavior on a strange planet, and especially his obstinacy in adapting to the outside world, it makes him reaffirm his idea that earthlings, as opposed to the "well-to-do" spacers, are the most appropriate to carry out out colonization.

The importance of this character does not end here, who will reappear in later novels, since he is also in charge of "inserting" the concept of psychohistory into the mind of Dr. Han Fastolfe, a concept that Isaac Asimov develops in the Cycle of Trantor and other works.

As a curiosity, at one point in the novel Fastolfe talks to Baley about Andrew Martin, a legendary robot that became a human and acquired surprising abilities, and whose owner is called 'Miss', precisely in the same way that Giskard refers to Vasilia. At another time, Baley also receives information about Susan Calvin, one of the pioneers of robotics who, according to legend, managed to make a robot with telepathic powers whose brain was destroyed due to the impossibility of fulfilling the first law. The protagonist of several stories by the writer, the Aurora robotics say of Calvin that "she is a demigoddess to all spacers, to the point that very few spacers who are not robotics think of her as an earthling."

Han Fastolfe

With an age of one hundred and sixty-five metric years ―about one hundred and twenty-four Earth years―, Dr. Han Fastolfe boasts of being one of the best scientists, and states that "nobody ignores that I am the most outstanding theoretical roboticist of the Fifty Worlds”. He is not in vain the only one with the necessary knowledge to create humaniform robots and, also, the only one with the precise ability to cause them a permanent mental block.

A thirst for knowledge leads Fastolfe to go against Aurora's customs and raise one of his two daughters, Vasilia, with an experimental intent. The manipulations and traumas that this attitude causes in the young woman motivate Vasilia's break with Han Fastolfe, of whom the young woman will become one of her main enemies. The doctor has no luck with his other daughter, Lumen, either. Despite the fact that in this case there has never been contact between the two, which is usual in Aurora, Lumen is a candidate for a position within the Globalist Party, which defends interests contrary to those of Han Fastolfe in relation to colonization.

Regarding the doctor's political position, he is the highest representative of the moderate position and, therefore, the most convenient for the interests of Earth, since he supports that this planet should have a primary role in the process colonizer. The reasons that lead him to take this position and to defend it before the World Legislative Assembly of Aurora are fundamentally based on the disappointment caused by the "accommodation" and "decay" that characterizes the inhabitants of Aurora ―precisely the planet that gave birth to to a new era―, qualities that can mean that humanity is absorbed by other civilizations. Specifically, Fastolfe leads the Humanist Party, which defends that all human beings have the right to share the galaxy.

In defending the opposite current, the globalist, the colonization by humaniform robots and the exclusion of the Earth, Fastolfe refuses to make more robots of this type and to share his knowledge with the rest of the robotists. His stubbornness causes him to be suspected of having embarked on a program to destroy humaniform robots to prevent them from being used in colonization, but he defends that Jander Panell's blockade was due to a fortuitous event.

Kelden Amadiro

Although Kelden Amadiro was once a ward of Dr. Han Fastolfe, their relationship is now deteriorating and he defends the interests of the Globalist Party in the Legislative Assembly in relation to colonization. However, in order to carry out his ideals, it is necessary to manufacture humaniform robots, which is why he founded the Aurora Robotics Institute. Given Fastolfe's refusal to build more and share his knowledge, Amadiro chooses to create this institution that advocates, in the face of the individualism of the robotic master, to pool the efforts of the scientific community and thus more easily achieve the creation of the long-awaited robots. However, the institute does not seem to be bearing the desired fruits, and Amadiro opts for less orthodox methods.

This is the character in the novel that shows the most complex personality. Although with a reputation for being reserved and having an air of superiority, during the first meeting with Detective Elijah Baley he is affable. It is only an appearance, since the dialectical confrontations between the two characters will be constant, just as Amadiro will not miss a single opportunity to ruin the detective's mission and send him back to Earth. He will also not hesitate to devise subtle traps and deceptions against his rivals to steal information about the robots and get the other worlds to be made in the image and likeness of Aurora.

In addition to being a noted roboticist, Kelden Amadiro is a scholar of Earth culture. Thus, in addition to recognizing himself as a reader of Charles Dickens and Tolstoy and having tried it with William Shakespeare, he is aware of the weaknesses and fears of earthlings, which he will try to use for his benefit.

Gladia Delmarre

If the son of Bentley Baley is called upon to make Earth “the true world of dawn”, the fate reserved for Gladia (with the last name Delmarre in The Naked Sun, although she later resigns to use it) is to carry out a sexual and sentimental revolution in Aurora.

At thirty-five years old and dedicated to styling robots, her life on Solaria was not a happy one, and not only because of the murder of her husband, and things are not going to be any better in Aurora. Faced with the sexual repression of her home planet, where intercourse was seen as an annoying obligation to procreate, in Aurora Gladia she finds promiscuity and a way of courting and making love that has more to do with a "choreography" than with any feeling. In these circumstances she meets Jander Panell, a robot that Fastolfe lends her to carry out some tests with her designs, and she verifies that even the smallest detail of her anatomy has been made as that of a man. Thanks to the fact that Jander Panell is not human, Gladia overcomes her Solarian prejudices regarding touching other people, and the robot leads him to sexual fulfillment, reaching her first orgasm with it. Having helped her end a repression that had tortured her since she was young, Gladia falls in love with the humaniform robot and takes him, symbolically, as her husband. But the robot's blocking returns her to her initial situation, and she believes that she will never have a satisfying relationship again.

However, shortly after the earthly detective enters the scene and shows her that she will be able to have satisfactory intimate relationships, even more complete because the robot was programmed only to serve and not to receive anything from humans, two aspects that Gladia considered essential in love. Since the relationship between Gladia and Elijah Baley is impossible for various reasons, the detective encourages Santirix Gremionis, the Solarian's suitor and who, contrary to the custom of his planet, has fallen in love with her, to make an insinuation again. in which Gladia will like it. In case this does not work, Baley uses Giskard to manipulate the woman's mind and accept him, convinced that between the two of them they can change the concept that the Aurorans have of intimate relationships.

Thanks to the sexual encounter between Gladia and Baley, the detective will be able to know the key to solving the enigma.

Vasily Aliena

As a result of the “experiments” to which Vasilia Aliena was subjected as a child by her father, Dr. Han Fastolfe, she considers the famous scientist as “a demon that must be defeated at all costs”. Perhaps no other reason needs to be sought to explain the resounding opposition of this sixty-six metric-year-old roboticist —equivalent to approximately 45 Earth years— to her father, or for her to support Kelden Amadiro in every possible way as long as, for can finally make humaniform robots. Or perhaps the reason for this hatred is found in the fact that Han Fastolfe rejected her when Vasilia offered herself as her wife. Or in the sexual frustration that her father's upbringing caused Vasilia that she, apparently, is still a virgin. "He subjected me to an abnormal environment and subtle experiments, without having any consideration whatsoever for me as a human person," Vasilia complains at one point in the book, in which she also accuses her father of having lent Jander to Gladia to use him sexually, later blocking him to see the Solarian's reaction.

Traumas have not prevented Vasilia Aliena from becoming an outstanding roboticist, something for which she has always shown a talent through the reprogramming she performed on Giskard, which had more consequences than suspected.

Elijah Baley highlights the physical resemblance between Gladia and Vasilia.

Santirix Gremionis

A stylist by profession ―he defines himself as “an artist of personality”―, Santirix Gremionis is the man in love with The Robots of Dawn and, at the same time, the object that Kelden uses Amadiro to bring your projects to fruition. Not satisfied with the way of understanding intimate relationships in Aurora, since she is in favor of monogamy, the hairdresser and designer sees in Vasilia Aliena's virginity a hope to establish a deeper relationship with her, which leads him to offer yourself to her repeatedly, always obtaining rejection as the only result. However, given the physical resemblance between the two and taking advantage of Gladia's renunciation of promiscuity, Vasilia encourages Gremionis to offer himself to her.

The character is thus used by Vasilia, who knows that he will not be accepted by Solaria's wife either, to clear the way for Jander Panell, from whom she tries to extract the secrets for the construction of humaniform robots.

Other characters

Throughout the plot of The Robots of Dawn there are several secondary characters that are listed below.

Jander Panell

Humaniform robot killed in Aurora and was built following the prototype of Daneel Olivaw. Gladia Solaria has it, which initiates a sentimental relationship with him.

Robots

The robots that appear in Isaac Asimov's novel are many, but only the names of some of them are mentioned. So, there are Gerónimo, of the Department of Earth Police; Faber, one of the fifty-seven robots owned by Han Fastolfe; Pandion, owned by Gladia and who serves sporadicly as escort to Fastolfe; Borgraf, also of Gladia; Debrett, one of the robots that Vasilia Aliena has at the Institute of Robotics; and Brundij, owned by the stylist Gremionis.

Rutilan Horder

President of the World Legislative Assembly of Aurora. He is three hundred and thirty-one years old and is regarded as an effective president, who works in depth and gets results.

Wilson Roth

Commissioner following Julius Enderby's resignation. It shows something hostile to Elijah Baley.

Lavinia Demachek

Undersecretary of the Department of Justice who is responsible for explaining to Baley his mission.

Albert Minnim

Deputy Secretary of the Department of Justice. He was responsible for sending Elijah Baley to Solaria The naked sunbut then reject the agent's requests to travel to Aurora. In The robots of dawn appears only mentioned.

Roj Nemennuh Sarton

Designer and supervisor of the construction of Daneel Olivaw. He was killed in The steel vaults. In this novel there is only one mention of the character.

Fanya

Current wife of Dr. Han Fastolfe. According to Gladia, "Dr. Fastolfe's current marriage will probably dissolve soon."

Fua Labord

Famous writer of Aurora whose house fly over in glider.

Maloon Cicis

Kelden Amadiro's assistant at Aurora's Robotics Institute.

Information about the planet Aurora

Except for the first chapter, the action of Robots of Dawn takes place on the imaginary planet of Aurora, about which Asimov offers us some details in the novel.

Aurora's sun is known on Earth as Tau Ceti, and is 3.67 parsecs from Earth. The axis of the planet has an inclination of 16 degrees and it takes a total of 22 hours to turn around. The Auroran day is divided into 10 Auroran hours, and each hour is divided into 100 Auroran minutes, which in turn are divided into 100 Auroran seconds. One Auroran second is equal to about 0.8 Earth seconds.

Aurora revolves around its sun in 373.5 Auroran days, or about 0.95 Earth years. Aurora accepts 30 of her days as equal to one month, and 10 months as equal to one metric year. A metric year is equal to about 0.8 seasonal years, or about three-quarters of an Earth year. Ten days constitute a decimés. All Spacer worlds use this system.

Regarding the history of the planet, Aurora was the first extrasolar planet colonized by earthlings, who found no notable problems in their settlement as there was hardly any kind of life. Although at first they called it New Earth, they renamed it with the name of the Roman goddess of the dawn considering that "all the previous history of humanity was a dark night and only for the Aurorans of that new world the day finally approached." ”.

The move away from its Earth origins was accelerated by two changes. The first was the increasing integration of robots into all facets of life, and the second was the prolongation of life. The administrative center of the planet is the city of Eos, with 20,000 human inhabitants.

In terms of government, the main body is the Aurora World Legislative Assembly, headed by a President who doesn't exactly have executive power, but rather is a moderator. Formerly, this position decided in the event that a tie was registered in the Assembly, but after a confrontation that almost led to a civil war, it was decided to change the system and the president began to play the role of mediator. In chapter 17, Giskard Reventlov explains to Elijah Baley that the president “stands above differences of opinion and only retains his power, which is nil in theory but considerable in practice, as long as everyone continues to regard him as neutral. For this reason, the president jealously defends his objectivity and, since he usually achieves it successfully, he is usually the one who makes the decisions and settles the controversies in one way or another.& # 34; The position is held for 30 years, and there is the possibility of being re-elected for another 30. But if there is a vote contrary to the president's recommendation, he must resign.