Asimov began adding to the series in 1981, with two sequels: Foundation’s Edge, Foundation and Earth, and two prequels: Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation. It won the one-time Hugo Award for “Best All-Time Series” in 1966. For nearly thirty years, the series was a trilogy: Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation. The Foundation series is a science fiction series of books which is the core of Asimov’s Galatic Empire stories. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.ģ. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.Ģ. The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun are both considered classics of the genre, but the later novels were also well received, with The Robots of Dawn nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1984, and Robots and Empire shortlisted for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1986.Īsimov is the man who invented the Three Laws of Robotics which ensure that robots are safe to work with:ġ. Another short story, Mother Earth, is set about a thousand years before the robot novels, when the Spacer worlds chose to become separated from Earth. Mirror Image, one of the short stories from The Complete Robot anthology, is also set in this time period (between The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn), and features both Baley and Olivaw. They are set thousands of years after the short stories, and focus on the conflicts between Spacers - descendants of human settlers from other planets, and the people from an overcrowded Earth, who mostly live underground. The next four robot novels The Caves of Steel (1953), The Naked Sun (1955), The Robots of Dawn (1983), and Robots and Empire (1985) make up the Elijah Baley series, and are mysteries starring the Terran Elijah Baley and his humaniform robot partner, R. The first book is I, Robot (1950), a collection of nine previously published short stories woven together as a 21st-century interview with robopsychologist Dr.

Asimov foundation reading order