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 so long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.

About this Page

This mini-site is dedicated to documenting and reviewing all the books and short stories ever written about robots by the internationally renowned science-fiction author, Isaac Asimov.

Spoiler Alert: I will try not to spoil any crucial surprises in plotlines, but it is inevitable that some things may be given away. You have been warned!

All the Robot Books

Short Story Collections

The Complete Robot Asimov's definitive robot short story anthology.
I, Robot First of two-volume robot short story collection. All the stories from both volumes are in The Complete Robot.
Rest of the Robots Second of two-volume robot short story collection. All the stories from both volumes are in The Complete Robot.
The Bicentennial Man All short stories, some about robots. All the robot short stories are in The Complete Robot.
Nightfall One First of two-volume general short story collection. All the robot stories from both volumes are in The Complete Robot.
Nightfall Two Second of two-volume short story collection. All the robot stories from both volumes are in The Complete Robot.
Nightfall and other Stories Single-volume US version of the above Nightfall story collection.
Robot Dreams First of a two-part robot short story and essay collection.
Robot Visions Second of a two-part robot short story and essay collection.
The Asimov Chronicles Contents unknown. Does anyone have any information on this book?
Gold Short stories and essays unavailable elsewhere, some on robots.

There are many books that contain robot stories in some form or another. Due to the overlap between books of short stories, where many short stories were 'recycled' into new collections, it can be difficult to get a complete collection of Asimov's robot short stories at a minimal cost. If you want to collect all of the robot short stories Asimov ever wrote, I suggest that you obtain the following books, in the order listed:

I believe that if you have all of the above books, you have all the short stories Asimov ever wrote on robots. The situation with his non-fiction essays about robots is less clear, and I am currently trying to understand which books are the definitive collection for these. If you have any information to add, please contact me.

Novels

The Caves of Steel First of four Robot novels which form a coherent story around Daneel, a robot.
The Naked Sun Second of the four Robot novels.
The Robots of Dawn Third of the four Robot novels.
Robots and Empire Fourth of the four Robot novels.
The Positronic Man Novel based upon the short story 'The Bicentennial Man', from the short story collection of the same name. Not yet reviewed. Written in conjunction with another sci-fi author, Robert Silverberg.

Reviews of Selected Short Stories

Other Information

Acknowledgements and Contact Information

Thanks go to Tim, Samir, Tars, Tom Horton, Paul Bogen, and James Gaines, who've all provided information for this page.

If you think your name should be here, or you have any comments, suggestions, information or otherwise, please contact me.

The Additional 'Zeroth' Law of Robotics:

'A robot may not injure humanity, or through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.'