Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

 Yes, I know. It took me months to read Infinite Jest, rewarding experience though that was, and a couple of days to read this Isaac Asimov comfort food. I loved The Caves of Steel.

This novel may not be impenetrable in the slightest, but it’s full of ideas to stimulate the mind. On the surface it’s a murder mystery set in a future society, and a good one, but it’s the thrilling succession of concepts that linger in the mind. Especially for me, as this is the only one of Asimov’s earlier novels that I hadn’t read until now.

It is, of course, of its time. We are thousands of years in the future. Earth once had the drive to colonise other planets, but overpopulation now crams the citizenry into colossal domed cities which people never leave, all rural work being done by robots and, although the subtext . Meanwhile, the Spacers, on their fifty worlds live on other worlds, disease-free, controlling their population by infanticide. We have two fascinating types of decadence… yet the pill hasn’t yet been invented.

The Spacers live for centuries, yet life expectancy on Earth is… well, slightly less than it is in the 2020s. Also, of course, everybody smokes. All the police are men, as is everyone with a job. 

However, the ideas are superb, and this novel is a triumph. And that’s before we even get into its Asimovverse legacy.