Elijah "Lije" Baley
A New York plainclothes detective, agoraphobic and robot-suspicious, handed a murder case and a machine for a partner. Solving it costs him his certainties and buys him the stars.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: A Murder in Spacetown
Who drives the story
Main characters
R. Daneel Olivaw
A humaniform robot built in Sarton's likeness, assigned as Baley's partner. He learns Earth customs, converts a suspect with careful words, and outlasts every human prejudice thrown at him.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: A Murder in Spacetown
- Part 2: The Open Sky and the Gentle Needle
- Part 3: A Riot, a Ruined Robot, Ninety Minutes
- Part 4: The Broken Glasses
- Themes:
- Humans replaced by machines
- Persuasion as engineering
- The man and the machine
Julius Enderby
Police Commissioner, Baley's old college friend, forever cleaning his eyeglasses. Secretly a Medievalist, he plots to destroy Daneel and kills Sarton by mistake — then trades confession for a political job.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: A Murder in Spacetown
- Part 3: A Riot, a Ruined Robot, Ninety Minutes
- Part 4: The Broken Glasses
- Themes:
- Fear of the open
- Humans replaced by machines
- Rules that can be exploited
- Persuasion as engineering
Dr. Han Fastolfe
A Spacer roboticist from Aurora who wants Earthmen colonizing the galaxy with robots. He drugs Baley gently into agreement and treats a murder as an acceptable expense.
- Appears in:
- Part 2: The Open Sky and the Gentle Needle
- Themes:
- Persuasion as engineering
Jezebel "Jessie" Baley
Lije's wife, quietly tied to the Medievalist underground. Her confession rattles the marriage and hands Baley his first real look at the anti-robot movement.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: A Murder in Spacetown
- Part 2: The Open Sky and the Gentle Needle
R. Sammy
A simple police robot who took Vince Barrett's job and later carried a blaster through the country, knowing nothing. Destroyed by a blaster to bury his part in the murder.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: A Murder in Spacetown
- Part 3: A Riot, a Ruined Robot, Ninety Minutes
- Part 4: The Broken Glasses
- Themes:
- Humans replaced by machines
- Rules that can be exploited
Dr. Roj Nemennuh Sarton
The Spacer roboticist whose murder starts the story. He built Daneel in his own image — the resemblance that kills him.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: A Murder in Spacetown
- Part 2: The Open Sky and the Gentle Needle
- Part 3: A Riot, a Ruined Robot, Ninety Minutes
- Part 4: The Broken Glasses
- Themes:
- Persuasion as engineering
- The man and the machine
Also in the story
Supporting characters
Bentley Baley
Lije's teenaged son, eager about emigrating to the stars. He stands for a generation less afraid of the open sky than his father.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: A Murder in Spacetown
Francis Clousarr
A New Yorker once arrested for inciting an anti-robot riot, identified by Daneel at two more incidents. Arrested again, he is talked over to the Spacer cause — the conversion the whole case was built to produce.
- Appears in:
- Part 3: A Riot, a Ruined Robot, Ninety Minutes
- Themes:
- Persuasion as engineering
Dr. Anthony Gerrigel
A roboticist in Washington whom Baley consults. His confirmation that Daneel is genuinely a robot dismantles Baley's impostor theory.
- Appears in:
- Part 2: The Open Sky and the Gentle Needle
- Themes:
- The man and the machine
Vince Barrett
A young man whose job R. Sammy took. He confronts Baley in the station, an early false lead and the face of human displacement.
- Appears in:
- Part 1: A Murder in Spacetown
- Themes:
- Humans replaced by machines
How they are connected
Key relationships
R. Daneel OlivawDr. Roj Nemennuh Sarton
A humaniform robot built in Sarton's likeness, assigned as Baley's partner.
Julius EnderbyR. Daneel Olivaw
Secretly a Medievalist, he plots to destroy Daneel and kills Sarton by mistake — then trades confession for a political job.
Julius EnderbyDr. Roj Nemennuh Sarton
Secretly a Medievalist, he plots to destroy Daneel and kills Sarton by mistake — then trades confession for a political job.
Jezebel "Jessie" BaleyElijah "Lije" Baley
Lije's wife, quietly tied to the Medievalist underground.
Bentley BaleyElijah "Lije" Baley
Lije's teenaged son, eager about emigrating to the stars.
Francis ClousarrR. Daneel Olivaw
A New Yorker once arrested for inciting an anti-robot riot, identified by Daneel at two more incidents.
A simple police robot who took Vince Barrett's job and later carried a blaster through the country, knowing nothing.
Dr. Anthony GerrigelR. Daneel Olivaw
His confirmation that Daneel is genuinely a robot dismantles Baley's impostor theory.
Go deeper
Caves of steel themes & symbols
Fear of the open · Humans replaced by machines · Rules that can be exploited · Persuasion as engineering
Themes explainedRead the full Caves of steel summary
The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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