Editing Robot series (section)

==Robot Novels and Stories==
[[File:Galaxy 195310.jpg|thumb|right|The first instalment of Asimov's ''The Caves of Steel'' took the cover of the October 1953 issue of ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]'', illustrated by [[Ed Emshwiller]]]]

The series started with the story "[[Robbie (short story)|Robbie]]" in the September 1940 ''[[Super Science Stories]]'' (appearing under the title "Strange Playfellow", which was not Asimov's title). Although it was originally written as a stand-alone story, the following year Asimov published a series of additional robot stories, which fit into a narrative that was then put together as the book ''[[I, Robot]]''.

=== List of works in the Robot Series, in chronological order by narrative ===

# ''[[The Complete Robot]]'' (1982) (which contains all short stories published in the earlier collections ''[[I, Robot]]'' (1950) and ''[[The Rest of the Robots]]'' (1964)), ''[[Robot Dreams (short story collection)|Robot Dreams]]'' (1986), ''[[Robot Visions]]'' (1990), and ''[[Gold (Asimov book)|Gold]]'' (1995) - collections of short stories and essays
# "[[The Bicentennial Man]]" (1976) and ''[[The Positronic Man]]'' (1992) - short story and related subsequent novel
# "[[Mother Earth (novelette)|Mother Earth]]" (1949) - short story in which no individual robots appear, but positronic robots are part of the background
# ''[[The Caves of Steel]]'' (1954) - first Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel
# ''[[The Naked Sun]]'' (1957) - second Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel
# "[[Mirror Image (short story)|Mirror Image]]" (1972) - short story about R. Daneel Olivaw and detective Elijah Baley
# ''[[The Robots of Dawn]]'' (1983) - third Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel
# ''[[Robots and Empire]]'' (1985) - fourth Robot series/R. Daneel Olivaw novel

=== Overview of short stories ===
Most of Asimov's [[robot]] short stories, which he began to write in 1939, are set in the first age of positronic robotics and space exploration. The unique feature of Asimov's robots is the [[Three Laws of Robotics]], hardwired in a robot's [[positronic brain]], with which all robots in his fiction must comply, and which ensure that the robot does not turn against its creators.

The stories were not initially conceived as a set, but rather all feature his positronic robots. They all share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots, and morality. Some of the short stories found in ''[[The Complete Robot]]'' (1982) and other anthologies appear not to be set in the same universe as the [[Foundation universe|''Foundation'' universe]]. "[[Victory Unintentional]]" has positronic robots obeying the Three Laws, but also a non-human civilization on Jupiter. "[[Let's Get Together (short story)|Let's Get Together]]" features humanoid robots, but from a different future (where the [[Cold War]] is still in progress), and with no mention of the Three Laws. Some characters appear in more than one of the stories, and the manufacturer of the robots is often identified as the (fictional) corporation ''U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men''.

''[[The Complete Robot]]'' contains most of Asimov's robot short stories. Missing ones were either written after its publication or formed the text connecting the stories in ''[[I, Robot]]''.

The six Asimov robot short stories not included in this book are:
* "[[Robot Dreams (Asimov short story)|Robot Dreams]]" (found in the [[Robot Dreams (short story collection)|anthology of the same title]])
* "[[Robot Visions]]" (found in the anthology of the same title)
* "Too Bad!" (found in ''[[Robot Visions]]'')
* "Christmas Without Rodney" (found in ''Robot Visions'')
* "[[Cal (short story)|Cal]]" (found in ''[[Gold (Asimov)|Gold]]'')
* "Kid Brother" (found in ''Gold'')

=== Overview of the Robot Novels ===
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. [[Susan Calvin]]. 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]] (sometimes "Lije Baley") series, and are mysteries starring the Terran Elijah Baley and his humaniform robot partner, [[R. Daneel 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. "[[Mirror Image (short story)|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. Another short story (found in ''[[The Early Asimov]]'' anthology), "[[Mother Earth (novelette)|Mother Earth]]", is set about a thousand years before the robot novels, when the Spacer worlds chose to become separated from Earth.

''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<ref name="WWE-1984">{{cite web |title=1984 Award Winners & Nominees |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1984 |access-date= |work=Worlds Without End}}</ref> and ''Robots and Empire'' shortlisted for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1986.<ref name="WWE-1986">{{cite web |title=1986 Award Winners & Nominees |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1986 |access-date= |work=Worlds Without End}}</ref>