 Cover of first edition (hardcover) | |
| Author | Isaac Asimov |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Ruth Ray[1] |
| Language | English |
| Series | Robot series |
| Genre | Mystery Science fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 1953 (magazine), February 4, 1954 (book)[2] |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 224 |
| Preceded by | "Mother Earth" |
| Followed by | The Naked Sun |
The Caves of Steel is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is a detective story and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction can be applied to any literary genre, rather than just being a limited genre in itself.
The book was first published as a serial in Galaxy magazine, from October to December 1953. A Doubleday hardcover followed in 1954.
At the time of writing, Asimov conceived of The Caves of Steel as completely distinct from his Foundation Trilogy, published a few years earlier. Decades later, however, Asimov linked them, making the time of Caves of Steel a much earlier part of an extensive future history leading up to the rise of the Galactic Empire, its fall and the rise of two Foundations to replace it – with the Robot R. Daneel Olivaw, introduced in Caves of Steel, turning out to have survived over tens of thousands of years and have played a key role in the eras of both the Empire and the Foundation(s).
- ^ Publication Listing. Isfdb.org. Retrieved on 2013-11-02.
- ^ "Books Published Today". The New York Times: 23. 4 February 1954.