7. Isaac Asimov, The Naked Sun

This is the second in the Elijah Baley science fiction mystery trilogy. In this book Baley is called on to travel to one of the outermost worlds colonized by humans to solve a series of murders and attempted murders. The story is interesting but not worth any specific commentary in and of itself because the story is rather overwhelmed by Asimov's thinly disguised metaphors which can easily be connected to some of the issues that people faced in mid-twentieth century America.

Asimov weaves two central themes throughout the book: a suspicion of technology and of more planned (less free) societies. Almost every interaction between the characters in the book is like a mini-battle pitting those who are accepting of technology against those who are not; or those who are accepting of a dictatorship against those who are not. Most books include some social commentary or over arching themes that readers need to understand but in this book the themes take a primary role over the story itself.

Asimov is clear that he prefers more freedom and more technology which is not a surprising outcome. But after reading the book I have come away thinking that Asimov is not such a brilliant writer, rather, he is a scientist with a literary bent and a great imagination.