Books

Foundation Universe (Series)

This series includes 28 books.


  1. Book 1

    I, Robot

    by Issac Asimov

    Description :

    The three laws of Robotics: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm 2) A robot must obey orders givein to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. With these three, simple directives, Isaac Asimov changed our perception of robots forever when he formulated the laws governing their behavior. In I, Robot , Asimov chronicles the development of the robot through a series of interlinked stories: from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future--a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete. Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-read robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world--all told with the dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction that has become Asmiov's trademark.

  2. Book 2

    The Complete Robot (Robot Series)

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    THE COMPLETE ROBOT is the definitive anthology of Asimov's stunning visions of a robotic future... In these stories, Isaac Asimov creates the Three Laws of Robotics and ushers in the Robot Age: when Earth is ruled by master-machines and when robots are more human than mankind. As well as TN-3 (Tony), AL-76 and other robots, the stories feature the staff of U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men Inc., and in particular the chief robot-psychologist, the steely Dr Susan Calvin who is in many ways more robot-like than her subjects. THE COMPLETE ROBOT is the ultimate collection of timeless, amazing and amusing robot stories from the greatest science fiction writer of all time, offering golden insights into robot thought processes. Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics were programmed into real computers thirty years ago at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - with surprising results. Readers of today still have many surprises in store... THE THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm 2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

  3. Book 3

    Robot Dreams

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    Robot Dreams collects 21 of Isaac Asimov's short stories spanning the body of his fiction from the 1940s to the 1980s----exploring not only the future of technology, but the future of humanity's maturity and growth.

  4. Book 4

    Robot Visions

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    From the writer whose name is synonymous with the science of robotics comes five decades of robot visions-36 landmark stories and essays, plus three rare tales-gathered together in one volume

  5. Book 5

    The Positronic Man

    by Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg

    Description :

    In a twenty-first century Earth where the development of the positronic brain has revolutionized the way of life, beloved household robot ""Andrew"" struggles with his unusual capacity for emotion and dreams of becoming human. Reprint.

  6. Book 6

    Caves of Steel

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history:  the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain.  Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together.  Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions.  But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer.  The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start.  Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner:  R. Daneel Olivaw.  Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot--and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!

  7. Book 7

    The Naked Sun

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    A millennium into the future, two advancements have altered the course of human history:  the colonization of the Galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain.  On the beautiful Outer World planet of Solaria, a handful of human colonists lead a hermit-like existence, their every need attended to by their faithful robot servants.  To this strange and provocative planet comes Detective Elijah Baley, sent from the streets of New York with his positronic partner, the robot R. Daneel Olivaw, to solve an incredible murder that has rocked Solaria to its foundations.  The victim had been so reclusive that he appeared to his associates only through holographic projection.  Yet someone had gotten close enough to bludgeon him to death while robots looked on.  Now Baley and Olivaw are faced with two clear impossibilities:  Either the Solarian was killed by one of his robots--unthinkable under the laws of Robotics--or he was killed by the woman who loved him so much that she never came into his presence!

  8. Book 8

    The Robots of Dawn

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    Called to the Spacer world to solve a case of roboticide, New York City detective Elijah Baley teams up with humanoid robot R. Daneel Olivaw to prove that the prime suspect, a renowned roboticist, is innocent of the crime. Reprint.

  9. Book 9

    An Isaac Asimov Robot Mystery: Mirage (Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery)

    by Mark W. Tiedemann

    Description :

    From a new and exciting talent, Mark W. Tiedemann, comes a fantastic new robot mystery set in the world of the late SF Grand Master and beloved author, Isaac Asimov. The First Law of Robotics states that a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human to come to harm. At a crucial conference uniting the Spacers, the Settlers, and representatives of Earth, Senator Clar Eliton of Earth and Senior Space Ambassador Galiel Humadros of Aurora are advocating the restoration of positronic robots on Earth, repudiating years of fear and resentment. It is a dangerous stance to take. As the Spacer delegates arrive on Earth, conspirators assassinate Sentor Eliton. Ambassador Humadros is cut down, too. Both are failed by their robot protectors. Special Agent Mia Daventri?part of the security force assigned to protect Eliton?is the only member of her team to survive the attack, and is rushed to the hospital. Derec Avery?a survivor of the Robot City epic?is called in to investigate what may have caused the robot bodyguards to fail at the most critical hour. But his inquiries are stone-walled, and an attempt is made on Mia's life. Derec and Mia join forces with Calvin Instititute attache Ariel Burgess to penetrate a vast conspiracy that sprawls across Terran, Spacer, and Settler worlds and threatens to bring all three to the brink of war.

  10. Book 10

    Chimera: Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery (Robot Mysteries)

    by Mark W. Tiedemann

    Description :

    Coren Lanra is the head of security for DyNan Manuel Industries. A former Special Service agent he’s never cared for bureaucracy, piracy, or deception. And he hates mysteries. Lanra’s troubles begin with the death of Nyron Looms, daughter of DyNan president Rega Looms, during an ill-fated mission to smuggle illegal immigrants from Earth to the colony Nova Levis—all were apparently murdered, but why? The only clue might be contained within the postironic brain of a robot that had accompanied the victims, but it has been deactivated, and Lanra is denied access to its memories. To make matters even worse, he is soon confronted with a puzzling complication: a possible connection between the murders and twenty babies who were snatched from an orphanage over two decades ago. With the help of roboticist Derec Avery and Auroran ambassador Ariel Burgess— whom the security chief had aided in exposing an anti-robot conspiracy on Earth a year before—Lanra searches for answers to a twenty-five-year-old mystery . . . and for the identity of a killer, before more lives are lost.

  11. Book 11

    Aurora: Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery (Isaac Asimov's Robot Mysteries)

    by Mark W. Tiedemann

    Description :

    The Third Law of Robotics states that a robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. After the diplomatic failures of the Spacer mission on Earth, Ambassador Ariel Burgess and roboticist Derec Avery are recalled to their home planet, Aurora. Their situation only worsens when they arrive, as they become suspects in another murder--one that could only have been committed by a non-human. On a world with a 20-to-1 robot-to-human population, is it possible a robot could have violated the Three Laws governing its behavior--and if so, why? Or is something far more sinister at work?

  12. Book 12

    Have Robot, Will Travel: The New Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery

    by Alexander Irvine

    Description :

    A human has been murdered on Kopernik, a space station orbiting the Earth, and all the clues point toward a robot as the killer. But how can that be, when robots are programmed to never bring harm to humans? Before long, roboticist Derec Avery is on his way to Kopernik to start his investigation. Former Auroran ambassador Ariel Burgess, meanwhile, has a mystery of her own to unravel: Citizens of the Nova Levis colony have been disappearing in greater numbers, while the cyborg population has suddenly started growing at a dramatic rate. With the help of old friends—and potentially new enemies—Derec searches for the identity of a killer, unaware that Ariel is walking directly into the center of the web of intrigue.

  13. Book 14

    Isaac Asimov's "Caliban"

    by Roger MacBride Allen

    Description :

    When an experiment with a new type of robot brain goes awry, the result is the creation of Caliban, a conscienceless robot that is not monitored by the Three Laws of Robotics that keep humans safe. Reprint."

  14. Book 15

    Isaac Asimov's "Inferno"

    by Roger MacBride Allen

    Description :

    In a Universe protected by the Three Laws of Robotics, humans are safe... When a key politician is murdered, suspicion falls on Caliban...the only robot without guilt or conscience, with no need to obey or respect humanity...a robot without the Three Laws. But the stakes go deeper than one man's life. Caliban is challenging long-held ideas of a robot's place in society. Will he lead his New Law robots in a rebellion that threatens all of humanity? * Second in a powerful trilogy that examines Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics--a challenge welcomed and sanctioned by Isaac Asimov, and written with his cooperation * Roger MacBride Allen is the New York Times bestselling author of The Modular Man and The Ring of Charon * Cover art by Ralph McQuarrie, the conceptual artist for the Star Wars films * Also available: Caliban and Caliban: Utopia

  15. Book 16

    Isaac Asimov's "Utopia"

    by Roger MacBride Allen

    Description :

    The exciting sequel to Caliban and Inferno explores the last of Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.

  16. Book 17

    The Stars, Like Dust

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    Biron Farrell was young and naïve, but he was growing up fast. A radiation bomb planted in his dorm room changed him from an innocent student at the University of Earth to a marked man, fleeing desperately from an unknown assassin. He soon discovers that, many light-years away, his father, the highly respected Rancher of Widemos, has been murdered. Stunned, grief-stricken, and outraged, Biron is determined to uncover the reasons behind his father’s death, and becomes entangled in an intricate saga of rebellion, political intrigue, and espionage. The mystery takes him deep into space where he finds himself in a relentless struggle with the power-mad despots of Tyrann. Now it is not just a case of life or death for Biron, but a question of freedom for the galaxy….

  17. Book 18

    The Currents of Space

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    High above the planet Florinia, the Squires of Sark live in unimaginable wealth and comfort.  Down in the eternal spring of the planet, however, the native Florinians labor ceaselessly to produce the precious kyrt that brings prosperity to their Sarkite masters. Rebellion is unthinkable and impossible. Not only do the Florinians no longer have a concept of freedom, any disruption of the vital kyrt trade would cause other planets to rise in protest, ultimately...

  18. Book 19

    Pebble in the Sky

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    One moment Joseph Schwartz is a happily retired tailor in Chicago, 1949. The next he's a helpless stranger on Earth during the heyday of the first Galactic Empire. Earth, as he soon learns, is a backwater, just a pebble in the sky, despised by all the other 200 million planets of the Empire because its people dare to claim it's the original home of man. And Earth is poor, with great areas of radioactivity ruining much of its soil--so poor that everyone is sentenced to death at the age of sixty. Joseph Schwartz is sixty-two. This is young Isaac Asimov's first novel, full of wonders and ideas, the book that launched the novels of the Galactic Empire, culminating in the Foundation series. This is Golden Age SF at its finest.

  19. Book 20

    Prelude to Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    For the first time Asimov chronicles the life of Hari Seldon, the man who laid the framework for the universe that came to be known as the Foundation. The long-awaited overture to the greatest science fiction series of all time. "Asimov's storytelling skills have never been keener."--Denver Post. HC: Doubleday.

  20. Book 21

    Foundation's Fear (Second Foundation Trilogy)

    by Gregory Benford, Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy is one of the high-water marks of science fiction. It is the monumental story of a Galactic Empire in decline, and the secret society of scientists who seek to shorten the inevitable Dark Age with the science of psychohistory. Now, with the permission -- and blessing -- of the Asimov estate, the epic saga continues. Fate -- and a cruel Emperor's arbitrary power -- have thrust Hari Seldon into the First Ministership of the Empire against his will. As the story opens, Hari is about to leave his quiet professorship and take on the all but impossible task of administering 25 million inhabited worlds from the all-steel planet of Trantor. With the help of his beautiful bio-engineered "wife" Dors and his alien companion Yugo, Seldon is still developing the science that will transform history, never dreaming that it will ultimately pit him against future history's most awesome threat.

  21. Book 22

    Forward the Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    series, Hari Seldon struggles to perfect his revolutionary theory of psychohistory while the great Galactic Empire totters on the brink of apocalyptic collapse. Reprint. K. NYT.

  22. Book 23

    Foundation and Chaos: The Second Foundation Trilogy (Foundation Trilogy Series)

    by Gregory Benford, Greg Bear

    Description :

    Isaac Asimov's renowned Foundation Trilogy pioneered many of the familiar themes of modern science fiction and shaped many of its best writers. With the permission and blessing of the Asimov estate, the epic saga left unfinished by the Grand Master himself now continues with this second masterful volume. With Hari Seldon on trial for treason, the Galactic Empire's long-anticipated migration to Star's End is about to begin. But the mission's brilliant robot leader, R. Daneel Olivaw, has discovered a potential enemy far deadlier--and closer--than he ever imagined. One of his own kind. A freak accident erases the basic commandments in humaniform robot Lodovik Trema's positronic brain. Now Lodovic's service to humankind is no longer bound by destiny, but by will. To ensure his loyalty, Daneel has Lodovic secretly reprogrammed. But can he be trusted? Now, other robots are beginning to question their mission--and Daneel's strategy. And stirrings of rebellion, too, are infecting their human counterparts. Among them is a young woman with awesome psychic abilities, a reluctant leader with the power to join man and robot in a quest for common freedom.or mutual destruction. The Foundation Saga Continues Read Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear, the first novel in this bold new series and Secret Foundation, the concluding volume from David Brin.

  23. Book 24

    Foundation's Triumph (Second Foundation Trilogy)

    by David Brin

    Description :

    One Last Adventure! Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy is one of the highwater marks of science fiction.The monumental story of a Galactic Empire in decline and a secret society of scientists who seek to shorten the coming Dark Age with tools of Psychohistory, Foundation pioneered many themes of modern science fiction. Now, with the approval of the Asimov estate, three of today's most acclaimed authors have completed the epic the Grand Master left unfinished. The Second Foundation Trilogy begins with Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear, telling the origins of Hari Seldon, the Foundation's creator. Greg Bear's Foundation and Chaos relates the epic tale of Seldon's downfall and the first stirrings of robotic rebellion. Now, in David Brin's Foundation's Triumph, Seldon is about to escape exile and risk everything for one final quest-a search for knowledge and the power it bestows. The outcome of this final journey may secure humankind's future-or witness its final downfall...

  24. Book 25

    Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire had ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Sheldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that would last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathered the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brought them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for fututre generations. He called his sanctuary the Foundation.

    But soon the fledgling Foundation found itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. Mankind's last best hope was faced with an agonizing choice: Submit to the barbarians and be overrun--or fight them and be destroyed.

  25. Book 26

    Foundation and Empire

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    The Foundation has managed to preserve humanculture and shorten the period of chaotic barbarism after the Galactic Empire began to decay. But the Foundation still faces great challenges in its struggle to survive.

  26. Book 27

    Second Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels are one of the great masterworks of science fiction. As unsurpassed blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building, they chronicle the struggle of a courageous group of men and women dedicated to preserving humanity's light in a galaxy plunged into a nightmare of ignorance and violence thirty thousand years long. After years of struggle, the Foundation lies in ruins—destroyed by the mutant mind power of the Mule. But it is rumored that there is a Second Foundation hidden somewhere at the end of the Galaxy, established to preserve the knowledge of mankind through the long centuries of barbarism. The Mule failed to find it the first time—but now he is certain he knows where it lies. The fate of the Foundation rests on young Arcadia Darell, only fourteen years old and burdened with a terrible secret. As its scientists gird for a final showdown with the Mule, the survivors of the First Foundation begin their desperate search. They too want the Second Foundation destroyed…before it destroys them.

  27. Book 28

    Foundation's Edge

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    At last, the costly and bitter war between the two Foundations had come to an end. The scientists of the First Foundation had proved victorious; and now they retum to Hari Seldon's long-established plan to build a new Empire that the Second Foundation is not destroyed after all-and that its still-defiant survivors are preparing their revenge. Now the two exiled citizens of the Foundation-a renegade Councilman and the doddering historian-set out in search of the mythical planet Earth. . .and proof that the Second Foundation still exists. Meanwhile someone-or something-outside of both Foundations sees to be orchestrating events to suit its own ominous purpose. Soon representatives of both the First and Second Foundations will find themselves racing toward a mysterious world called Gaia and a final shocking destiny at the very end of the universe!

  28. Book 29

    Foundation and Earth

    by Isaac Asimov

    Description :

    The fifth novel in Asimov's popular Foundation series opens with second thoughts. Councilman Golan Trevize is wondering if he was right to choose a collective mind as the best possible future for humanity over the anarchy of contentious individuals, nations and planets. To test his conclusion, he decides he must know the past and goes in search of legendary Earth, all references to which have been erased from galactic libraries. The societies encountered along the way become arguing points in a book-long colloquy about man's fate, conducted by Trevize and traveling companion Bliss, who is part of the first world/mind, Gaia.


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