Plain clothes man Elijah Baley must travel to the planet Aurora to investigate the murder of Robot Jander. He would rather not. His last trip off-Earth on police business resulted in a TV drama being made of the case – as a result of which even his son Bentley suspects Elijah had an affair with Gladia Delmarre, the murder suspect whom he proved innocent. Not only does Gladia now live on Aurora, the murdered robot belonged to her...and was her lover!
Elijah is teamed once more with Robot Daneel, and they are joined by another interesting robot, Giskard. The investigation should benefit from a secret and unique ability possessed by Robot Giskard. But Elijah is disturbed by his presence, sensing perhaps that Giskard's positronic brainpaths function to a hidden agenda. What Giskard knows but Elijah does not is that the future of mankind in space hangs on the outcome of this investigation...
Isaac Asimov was born in 1920 in Russia and was brought to the USA by his parents three years later. He grew up in Brooklyn and attended Columbia University. After a short spell in the army, he gained a doctorate and worked in academia and chemical research.
Asimov’s career as a science fiction writer began in 1939 with the short story ‘Marooned Off Vesta’. Thereafter he became a regular contributor to the leading SF magazines of the day. Asimov wrote hundreds of short stories and novels, including the iconic I, Robot and Foundation. He won the Hugo Award four times and the Nebula Award once.
Apart from his world-famous science fiction, Asimov also wrote highly successful detective mystery stories, a four-volume History of North America, a two-volume Guide to the Bible, a biographical dictionary, encyclopaedias, and textbooks, as well as two volumes of autobiography.
Asimov died in 1992 at the age of 72.