History Literature / TheRobotsOfDawn

* BiTheWay: Vasilia scornfully states Santirix Gremionis "offers himself" (sexually) to males and females without distinction (Aurora is close to a FreeLoveFuture, but apparently, sex isn't to be treated ''too'' lightly); he is later happily married to a woman for more than one hundred years.

* PostScarcityEconomy: Everyone on Aurora has a home and at least a few robot servants, and never worries about where their next meal is coming from. Germionus has a much more humble establishment and far fewer robots than Dr. Fastolfe, but he does have them.

Sequel to ''Literature/TheNakedSun'' and ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel''. ''Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn'' features a slightly [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness softer]] brand of science fiction than the previous two books in the series. It also introduces the character of R. Giskard Reventlov, who would go on to star in ''Literature/RobotsAndEmpire'', the sequel to the Robot Trilogy and [[CanonWelding bridging novel]] between that series and chronologically later parts of Asimov's greater canon.

* MythologyGag: Fastolfe refers to an incident mentioned in the ''IRobot'' books, about the robot that, through some glitch during the production, became psychic, and ended up with his brain fried when he was caught in a paradox where, whatever he did, he would harm someone. [[spoiler: Serves as a ChekhovsGun when it turns out that Giskard is actually psychic, although due to experimentation rather than construction.]]

* TheChessmaster: The murderer: [[spoiler:R. Giskard Reventlov. He used his psychic abilities to prevent Amadiro from utilizing R. Jander Panell for his plan, subtly influence Gladia, Fastolfe, and the Chairman to allow Baley to work on the case all while keeping himself beyond suspicion. He did this primarily to test and examine Baley to see for himself if Fastolfe was right in his belief that Earth's people are humanity's hope in populating the galaxy and developing a more stable society.]]

* FoundTheKillerLostTheMurderer: As in the last novel, an inversion. [[spoiler: Baley succeeds in his mission to prevent the political damage to Dr. Fastolfe and convince Aurora to allow Earth to colonize new planets, but he fails to bring the actual murderer to justice.]]

* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Dr. Falstofe refuses to share the secret of humaniform robots with other roboticists.
Baley realizes that Daneel, as the only remaining humaniform robot, could be examined in enough detail to allow more humaniform robots to be created. Amusingly this thought apparently never occurred to Fastolfe.

* ReverseEngineer: Baley realizes that Daneel, as the only remaining humaniform robot, could be examined in enough detail to allow more humaniform robots to be created. Amusingly this thought apparently never occurred to Fastolfe.

* FoundTheKillerLostTheMurderer: As in the last novel, [[spoiler: Baley succeeds in his mission to prevent the political damage to Dr. Fastolfe, but fails to bring the actual murderer to justice.]]

* ForeignCuisine: Baley has trouble stomaching Auroran coffee and some of the sandwiches. Some of the time it's subverted, but Dr Fastolfe prefers to serve him meals closer to traditional Earth cuisine.

* EurekaMoment: Baley has a eureka moment three times just before falling asleep. Each time he forgets what it was he discovered by the time he is fully awake again. Fastolfe at one point suggests using a potentially dangerous mind probe device to try to help Baley remember what it was he realized, but Baley does not take him up on the offer. [[spoiler: Giskard eventually admits that he used his telepathic powers to prevent Baley from remembering what he had discovered each time in order to protect Giskard's secret abilities.]]

* WhiteAndGreyMorality: While Amadiro is clearly the bad guy, and is motivated in part by anti-Earthmen prejudice, he is a WellIntentionedExtremist at worst. He does what he does, not for power, but because he honestly believes it's the best solution for his beloved homeland. [[spoiler: He might be willing to go to great lengths to gain the secret of creating humaniform robots, including covert conversations with Jander, attempting to "kidnap" Daneel for long enough to ReverseEngineer him, and causing psychological harm to Baley, but he would not stoop to murder.]]
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: It appears that the long life of Spacers has its own disadvantages. Mostly it makes them individualists. For example, since scientists have enough time to achieve their goals on their own, they have no motivation for cooperation with each other. They mostly keep all their discoveries to their own, slowing down scientific advancement considerably. When Fastolfe manages to create humaniform robots but refuses to use them for the purpose Amadiro wants to, he founds the Robotics Institute to counter this problem.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Amadiro attempts this in the novel. [[spoiler: It doesn't work out for him.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: Gladia and Lije have a brief but loving affair, though he's still married to Jessie. In the end, they both agree there can be no truly happy outcome for them as Baley and especially Gladia will have to sacrifice too much to be together.]]
* ZerothLawRebellion: Ye Originale Example. Giskard came up with the Zeroth law, and has determined that being too protected by robots is ''bad'' for mankind. So he's quietly arranging things so that humans have to do without robots for a while, even if it means individuals are going to face danger.

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Amadiro doesn't much care who gets hurt in his quest to populate the Galaxy with Aurora colonies indistinguishable from the original.

* WhiteAndGreyMorality: While Amadiro is clearly the bad guy, he is a WellIntentionedExtremist at worst. He does what he does in the novel, not for power, but because he honestly believes it's the best solution for his beloved homeland.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Amadiro and Baley discuss this trope in their talk of the "robot colonies" that Amadiro's faction proposes. [[spoiler: Robots designed to produce a planet ''perfect'' for humans would need to perfectly mimic human desires, needs, and life patterns - including aging and reproduction. Baley wonders how, exactly, a planet of such robots would differ from a planet of humans. Or how long it would take for the robots to decide that ''they'' are the ''real'' humans, and biological humans are less important. Amadiro states that even if it will happen, he would prefer a galaxy of robots to one of Earthmen, so long as these are ''Auroran'' robots.]]

* SexBot: Unlike the RoboticSpouse trope, no Auroran ever raises an eyebrow upon learning Gladia used Jander as one. Vasilia even states outright that no normal Auroran woman would have hesitated before having sex with such a robot given the opportunity.
* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler: Giskard induced Jander into stasis to prevent Amadiro from completing his experimentation on him.]]

* SabotageToDiscredit: Basically, that's the main accusation against Fastolfe, supposedly because he disapproved of certain plans for robots like Jander. He doesn't help his case by blaming a random glitch.

* RoboticSpouse: Examined. Gladia comes to think of Jander as her husband but keeps it secret. Despite Aurora's sexual liberalism, robots are looked at as purely tools, and an emotionally intimate relationship with one is strange enough that Gladia fears being stigmatized for it. It doesn't help that the Auroran legal definition of marriage is based on the desire of the two spouses to have children, and Jander isn't nearly ''that'' advanced.

* RoboticSpouse: Examined. Gladia comes to think of Jander as her husband but keeps it secret. Despite Aurora's sexual liberalism, robots are looked at purely as tools, and an emotionally intimate relationship with one is strange enough that Gladia fears being stigmatized for it. It doesn't help that the Auroran definition of marriage implies the possibility of having children, and Jander isn't nearly ''that'' advanced.

* ParentalIncest: Vasilia offered herself to her father once she became old enough. Incest is not taboo on Aurora because children are raised in communal nurseries by professionals rather than by their biological parents. Most children don't know (and don't care) who their parents are, and considering how long-lived Aurorans are it's quite possible for children to become sexually involved with their parents or siblings. [[note]]An actual legal marriage between parent and child or siblings would probably still be barred by Auroran law, however, as Auroran marriage presupposes a desire to produce children, and they actively attempt to prevent the sort of genetic problems that would result from inbreeding.[[/note]]

* ParentalIncest: Vasilia offered herself to her father once she became old enough. It appears that Auroran society is not concerned with this. In fact, the trope is largely unknown because parents do not raise their children but they send them to nurseries instead where they are raised by professionals, and most children don't know (and don't care) who their parents are.

* PsychicPowers: [[spoiler: The final plot twist is that Giskard is both the real killer and a psychic robot. He puts a lock on Lije's mind, preventing Lije from ever revealing Giskard's powers, even accidentally.]] This is also what makes this book softer on the MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness than its predecessors.

* LampshadeHanging: When Baley meets Gladia the first time in this novel, he says "Jehoshaphat!" (the usual thing he says when he is surprised). To this, Gladia's reaction is:

* LegacyCharacter: The Chairman of the Legislature of Aurora. It is stated that, in order to represent the continuity of the office, he is '''never''' addressed except as "Mr. Chairman" officially. There might be individual holders of the office, but "The Chairman" always exists.
* MacGuffin: The BigBad wants Daneel, the first (and, to some, best) humanoid robot for study purposes.
* MadScientist: Fastolfe. Vasilia describes him as one who would do anything to study the human mind, including using a psychic probe on Baley (which is a dangerous process and can damage one's mind). Actually, it was the reason he raised Vasilia himself, and also the reason of his building humaniform robots. While the only thing we got against her words are Fastolfe's, it seems that it is mostly true, but he is not as ruthless as she describes him.