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Title | The Complete Robot
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | HarperCollins - 1995
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First Printing | 1982
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Title | Robot Visions
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Illustrator | Ralph McQuarrie
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Publisher | Roc - 1991
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First Printing | 1990
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Title | Robot Dreams
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Cover Art | Ralph McQuarrie
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Publisher | Ace - 1990
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First Printing | Berkley - 1986
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Title | The Caves of Steel
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Cover Art | Stephen Youll
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Publisher | Bantam Spectra - 1991
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First Printing | Doubleday - 1954
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Title | The Naked Sun
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Cover Art | Stephen Youll
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Publisher | Bantam Spectra - 1991
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First Printing | Doubleday - 1965
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Title | The Robots of Dawn
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Bantam Spectra - 1994
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First Printing | Doubleday - 1983
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Title | Robots and Empire
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Cover Art | Michael Whelan
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Publisher | Ballantine - 1986
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First Printing | Nightfall - 1985
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Title | The Positronic Man
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Author | Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg
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Cover Art | Stephen Youll
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Publisher | Ballantine - 1986
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First Printing | Bantam - 1995
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Title | Gold
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | HarperPrism - 1995
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First Printing | HarperPrism - 1996
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Title | "Mother Earth"
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Author | Isaac Asimov
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Panther / Granada - 1974
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First Printing | Astounding Science Fiction - 1949
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Category | Science Fiction
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Susan Calvin, Powell, Donovan, Elijah Baley, R. Daneel Olivaw, Giskard, Andrew Martin
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Main Elements | Robots
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Website | ---
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Getting the full set of stories but without buying duplicates is a major challenge, in fact, the most famous collection in the series "I, Robot" should be skipped as all the stories contained therein are included in other collections! I believe I have determined the minimum set of books needed to read all the stories so feel free to use the list above, or, I'm creating a table here, in publishing order, of which story appeared in which book so you can hunt them down individually.
The suggestion is - The Complete Robot, borrow Robot Visions from the library since it only adds 3 more stories, and then Robot Dreams.
| Title (date) | Found in |
| "Robbie" (1940) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Reason" (1941) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| Liar!" (1941) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Runaround" (1942) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Robot AL-76 Goes Astray" (1942) | The Complete Robot |
| "Victory Unintentional" (1942) | The Complete Robot |
| "Catch That Rabbit" (1944) | The Complete Robot |
| "Escape!" (1945) | The Complete Robot |
| "Evidence" (1946) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Little Lost Robot" (1947) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions
Robot Dreams |
| "Mother Earth" (1949) | Early Asimov Vol. 3 |
| "The Evitable Conflict" (1950) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Satisfaction Guaranteed" (1951) | The Complete Robot |
| "Breeds There a Man...?" (1951) | Robot Dreams |
| "Hostess" (1951) | Robot Dreams |
| "The Martian Way" (1952) | Robot Dreams |
| "Sally" (1953) | The Complete Robot |
| "Risk" (1955) | The Complete Robot |
| "Franchise" (1955) | Robot Dreams |
| "Someday" (1956) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "First Law" (1956) | The Complete Robot |
| "Jokester" (1956) | Robot Dreams |
| "The Last Question" (1956) | Robot Dreams |
| "Galley Slave" (1957) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Let's Get Together" (1957) | The Complete Robot |
| "Strikebreaker" (1957) | Robot Dreams |
| "Does a Bee Care?" (1957) | Robot Dreams |
| "Lenny" (1958) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "The Feeling of Power" (1958) | Robot Dreams |
| "Spell My Name with an S" (1958) | Robot Dreams |
| "The Ugly Little Boy" (1958) | Robot Dreams |
| "The Machine that Won the War" (1961) | Robot Dreams |
| "Eyes Do More Than See" (1965) | Robot Dreams |
| "Segregationist" (1967) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "The Billiard Ball" (1967) | Robot Dreams |
| "Feminine Intuition" (1969) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Mirror Image" (1972) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Stranger in Paradise" (1973) | The Complete Robot |
| "Light Verse" (1973) | The Complete Robot
Robot Dreams |
| "The Billiard Ball" (1967) | Robot Dreams |
| ". . . That Thou Art Mindful of Him" (1974) | The Complete Robot |
| "A Boy's Best Friend" (1975) | The Complete Robot |
| "Point of View" (1975) | The Complete Robot |
| "The Tercentenary Incident" (1976) | The Complete Robot |
| "The Bicentennial Man" (1976) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "Think!" (1977) | The Complete Robot
Robot Visions |
| "True Love" (1977) | The Complete Robot |
| "The Last Answer" (1980) | Robot Dreams |
| "Lest We Remember" (1982) | Robot Dreams |
| "Robot Dreams" (1986) | Robot Dreams |
| "Christmas Without Rodney" (1988) | Robot Visions |
| "Too Bad!" (1989) | Robot Visions |
| "Robot Visions" (1990) | Robot Visions |
| Cal (1991) | Gold |
| Kid Brother (1990) | Gold |
Essays (date) | Found in |
| "Robots I Have Known" (1954) | Robot Visions |
| "The New Teachers" (1976) | Robot Visions |
| "Whatever You Wish" (1977) | Robot Visions |
| "The Friends We Make" (1977) | Robot Visions |
| "Our Intelligent Tools" (1977) | Robot Visions |
| "The Machine and the Robot" (1978) | Robot Visions |
| "The Laws of Robotics" (1979) | Robot Visions |
| "The New Profession" (1979) | Robot Visions |
| "The Robot As Enemy?" (1979) | Robot Visions |
| "Intelligences Together" (1979) | Robot Visions |
| "My Robots" (1987) | Robot Visions |
| "The Laws of Humanics" (1987) | Robot Visions |
| "Cybernetic Organism" (1987) | Robot Visions |
| "The Sense of Humor" (1988) | Robot Visions |
| "Robots in Combination" (1988) | Robot Visions |
| "Future Fantastic" (1989) | Robot Visions |
| "The Longest Voyage" (1983) | Gold |
| "Inventing the Universe" (1990) | Gold |
| "Flying Saucers and Science Fiction" (1982) | Gold |
| "Invasion" (1990) | Gold |
| "The Science Fiction Blowgun" (1978) | Gold |
| "Invasion" (1990) | Gold |
| "Golden Age Ahead" (1979) (1983) | Gold |
| "The All-Human Galaxy" (1983) | Gold |
| "Psychohistory" (1988) | Gold |
| "Science Fiction Series" (1986) | Gold |
| "Survivors" (1987) | Gold |
| "Nowhere!" (1983) | Gold |
| "Outsiders, Insiders" (1986) | Gold |
| "Science Fiction Anthologies" (1981) | Gold |
| "The Influence of Science Fiction" (1981) | Gold |
| "Women and Science Fiction" (1983) | Gold |
| "Religion and Science Fiction" (1984) | Gold |
| "Time-Travel" (1984) | Gold |
 The Complete Robot
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 US 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...
Robot Visions
Here, from the writer whose name is synonymous with robots and the science of robotics, are five decades of robot visions gathered together in one volume. These 36 landmark short stories and essays include three never before collected stories: "Too Bad", "Christmas without Rodney", and "Robot Visions", which was created specifically for this book. And you will meet all of Isaac Asimov's technological children from Robbie, the very first robot that Asimov's imagination brought to life, to Susan Calvin, the original robot psychologist, Stephen Byerley, the humanoid robot, and the famous robot/detective team of Lije Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw, the stars of so many best-selling novels. Let the master himself be your guide as you explose the key moments in the fictional history of robot-human relations - from the most primitive computers and mobile machines to the first robot to become a man. And you will see these "robot visions" skillfully captured in the illustrations by Academy Award-winner Ralph McQuarrie, production designer of Star Wars.
Robot Dreams
In his collection, which spans the body of his fiction from the nineteen-forties to the mid-eighties, are all of the classic themes Asimovian, from the scientific puzzle, to the extraterrestrial thriller, to the psychological discourse, all introduced in an important essay written expressly for this collection.
"Robot Dreams," the title story, was a Locus poll winner and Hugo and Nebula Award finalist. The cover of this book and over a dozen black-and-white plates represent the book illustration debut of Ralph McQuarrie, known worldwide as the most influential designer of science fiction films. He was been responsible for the look of such movies as Star Wars and Star Trek IV.
The Caves of Steel
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 Lije 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!
The Naked Sun
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!
The Robots of Dawn
A millenium into the future two advances have altered the cours 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.
Detective Elijah Baley is called to the Spacer world Aurora to solve a bizarre case of roboticide. The prime suspect is a gifted roboticist who had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to commit the crime. There's only one catch: Baley and his positronic partner, R. Daneel Olivaw, must prove the man innocent. For in a case of political intrigue and love between woman and robot gone tragically wrong, there's more at stake than simple justice. This time Baley's career, his life, and Earth's right to pioneer the Galaxy lie in the delicate balance.
Robots and Empire
Olivaw's Twist
Two hundred years after his humiliation defeat at the hands of the Earthman Elijah Baley, Kelden Amadiro still dreamed of revenge. Now, finally, he set into motion a plot that would totally destroy the planet Earth.
But Amadiro had not counted on the power Baley still exerted long after his death. For Baley's vision continued to guide his robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw, and the extraordinarily gifted robot Giskard - and they were the only ones who could save Earth.
Fortunately for Amadiro, Daneel and Giskard were restrained by the dictates of the Three Laws of Robotics. Or were they?
The Positronic Man
Powerful and haunting, The Positronic Man is an unforgettable novel that redefines what it means to be human - and reaffirm Isaac Asimov's and Robert Silverberg's place among the greatest science fiction authors of all time.
Almost Human
In the twenty-first century the creation of the positronic brain leads to the development of robot labourers and revolutionizes life on Earth. But to the Martin family, their household robot NDR-113 is more than a mechanical servant. "Andrew" has become a trusted friend, a confidant, a member of the family. For through some unknown manufacturing glitch, Andrew has been blessed with a capability for love and a drive to self-awareness and development that are almost...human.
But almost is not enough, Andrew's dream is to become fully human. Facing human prejudice, the laws of robotics, and his own mechanical limitations, Andrew will use science and law in his quest for the impossible, arriving at last at a terrifying choice: to make his dream a reality, he must pay the ultimate price.
Gold
Gold is Isaac Asimov's first original collection of science fiction in over a decade. It is also his last science fiction collection one containing all of his uncollected SF stories that have never before appeared in book form.
Gold is the final and crowning achievement of the fifty-year career of science fiction's transcendant genius, the world-famous author who defined the field of SF for its practitioners, for its millions of readers, and for the world at large. The stories collected here for the first time range from the humorous to the profound, for Asimov was engaged until the end of his days in the work of redefining and expanding the boundaries of the literature he loved, and indeed, helped create. And there is more. For at the heart of this extraordinary compendium is the title story, "Gold," a moving and revealing drama about a writer who gambles everything on a chance at immortality—a gamble Asimov himself made. And won.
The Complete Robot - this book contained a lot of stories, but one thing I found in common was that more often than not a robot would go wrong and someone would have to figure out why. I loved this, I'm a software developer and this is what I do everyday (with code, not positronic brains), and sometimes a debugger won't help, you just have to reason it out. I also loved the fact that though Asimov had his three rules of robotics, they weren't perfect, and you could see through these various stories how they could go wrong. For example in one case where a robot must obey a human command which just happened to be "Get lost!". There was also a fair amount of humour in these tales, but each and everyone of them was insightful, not just to robots and AI, but of the human condition as well. I also appreciated that he put a woman in a prominent position in the robotics company...though I was disappointed she was a psychologist rather than an engineer, and basically had to be "more robot like than the robots" to be allowed into these otherwise male oriented storylines. In fact only one robot was referred to as she (technically the others weren't male but were always called Tony or Robbie or Andrew), and that was because she didn't run on logic but instead on intuition. But I'll sigh and admit that many of these were written in the 40's and 50's and with men as the target audience. That also said, it was amusing when Asmiov put set a story in the "future", which turns out to be 1998. So I could compare what he predicted (a robot that could take care of a child) with what actually happened (24 years later, still not there yet). Though, that robot couldn't speak, the speaking robot took up an entire room...we have Alexa, Siri, etc so we came out on top there!
By far the best tale was The Bicentenial Man, later expanded into the novel The Positronic Man (as well as made into a movie with Brian Williams) which I'll review shortly...
Robot Visions - I've never read a 500 page book so fast! Well, that's because aside from three stories, everything was already included in The Complete Robot. What it did have was a little less than 100 pages of articles Asimov wrote. I was expecting longer, more in depth articles, but these must be things he wrote for Science Fiction magazines, where he either discussed robots in science fiction, or speculated what the future would be like, they weren't scientific though they were non-fiction. I have to admit a few made me almost laugh, after all he was trying to predict something and enough time has passed that a lot of what he predicted came true, only he sometimes didn't go far enough. In one article discussing the how we would have devices in our house to allow up to continue our education without the need of teachers in a classroom, he felt the device "could be no bigger than a TV, that's about the right size" and here I'm smirking since we've got cell phones that can do that for us. But he neatly described the internet, being able to access libraries and other sources of information from our home, online courses. He only missed two things, one is that a teacher may still be involved in a live class but with a webconf you can teach a thousand people at the same time. The other was the bit where people would upload more information...but he missed how people are really good at uploading junk too. His beautiful image of learning in the future marred by misinformation, and just an overwhelming mass of garbage to plow through to find the useful stuff.
Robot Dreams - I had to give up trying to find Robot Dreams in a used bookstore, but I found after reading two other books of stories, that I owned enough of them anyway. So the library it was, and while there were a few duplicates, most were new to me, but then that could also be partly because many of the stories didn't have any kind of robot/computer in them at all! Doesn't mean I didn't like those stories too, but it was a bit surprising, guess there just weren't enough stories to avoid the repeats and the non-robot fillers. I think the one I liked the best as The Last Question, spanning millenia and constantly building on itself and yet never being enough until...well I won't give it away but it was a very interestig theory about the origins of the universe, I mean why not? We still don't have better answers to those questions.
Gold - There are fifteen stories in this anthology though only two are robot related. Cal is about a robot who is an aspiring writer and in Kid Brother, a woman must choose between saving her delinquent son or the perfectly behaved robot kid brother. Of the rest of the stories, many were very short, just a couple pages long, usually with a funny twist ending. The title story Gold was particularly fun, but I highly recommend reading The Gods Themselves first (which I recommend regardless, it has one of the most alien aliens in it), it will make a lot more sense then.
"Mother Earth" - I hit the end of the year so didn't have time to read the whole Early Asimov Vol 3 collection so I just borrowed it from OpenLibrary to read this last Robot story...after all I can't have read everything but one! And this one is quite relevant to the Robot and later Empire/Foundation stories, we have the Outer World colonies being established and Earth being rejected as barbaric and germ infested in comparison. You can see Asimov's earliest thoughts on where his novels eventually went.
Now onto the novels.
The Caves of Steel - I was surprised, I didn't much like it, even though it is a famous classic and often appears on the top 100 best SF novels. I mean I liked the idea of using a detective on a future Earth, living in an enclosed city since it was believed it was too dangerous to walk around outside. And then including robots, people still afraid of them taking over their jobs or of them becoming dangerous, but at the same time needing them to do any work that needs to be done under the open sky. But somehow I just didn't like this worldbuilding, and while the mystery was engaging and I didn't guess the solution, Baley came of as, I don't know, a little clueless even though he wasn't. Some random chases, maybe too much stuff all at once. Whatever it was, I didn't see why people loved it so much except that maybe it was trailblazing the SF cop story. Also the relationship between the Baley and Olivaw, treating him at first as the machine he is, but not being able to do avoid forging a real friendship.
The Naked Sun - On the other one, this one was much more up my alley. I was fascinated by this extraterrestial world settled by humans who over time have chosen to have no physical interaction with them (kind of like our COVID times, we could hang out on Zoom but the thought of someone being in the same room as you would cause people to freak out). Here I found the worldbuilding and the mystery more engaging. There were no extraneous chase scenes (these people never leave their houses after all!). So why I liked this one and not the other I can't put my finger on. Guess the only thing to do is read the next one and see what I feel about the series as a whole!
The Robots of Dawn - well the next one confirmed it, the books grew on me. As Elijah worked through the mystery, putting the pieces together, the reader is also attempting to do the same. And while you always feel that in a regular detective novel the detective is able to make some leap of logic that is impossible for the reader to make, here we are constantly inside Elijah's head so he can't really keep stuff from us. That of course is not true of the other characters so one must determine when they are speaking the truth, or when they ard omitting something important.
Robots and Empire - Ok, I think I liked this one best, perhaps exactly because it takes place two hundred years after our main protagonist, Elijah Baley, passed away of old age. But Daneel and Giskard can go centuries more, but they haven't forgotten him and will do what they can to protect his vision. I found this one not only a good mystery but a very touching tale in general. And also perhaps a bit of a warning, as Asimov slips into most of his books, seeing how his three laws can be twisted and stretched or even just taken literally, and this will have implications in any A.I. we develop in the future. I assume with the word Empire in the title it ties into Asimov's Empire series, but as I didn't get around to reading that this year, I'll have to wait and see how that works out.
The Positronic Man - I read the Bicentenial Man short story near the start of the year, so to be honest, I had difficulty picking out what got added to extended the story into a novel. But that's ok. And it was also ok knowing the story before I started since it's a good one. A robot, with what is arguably a defect, starts to develop a personality, to develop creativity, and more significantly, to develop wants. And one of the things Andrew wants is to be acknowledged as being human. A very touching tale since honestly, if humans were more like this robot we'd all be happier people, it's almost an insult to apply the term human to Andrew. But just like Data in Star Trek, it challenges us humans to define what it means to be human. At first glance its obvious, a human is an organic being and a robot isn't. But as humans start replacing body parts with mechanical ones, and robots start replacing body parts with organic ones, it becomes rather more difficult to draw the line. Especially when the difference between the two, one considered an independent sentient being and the other as property, one can see how a unique and intelligent machine might want to be considered as something more than a factory product. You may need a kleenex box for this one. BTW, I must say the writing style of this one, one appropriate given it is about the point of view of Andrew, an "innocent" of sorts, was perfect. I can't quite put into words exactly what this style was but it was the one this story needed. And I love the touches where Asimov tosses in changes in fashion, since that's exactly what will happen in the future and most SF authors miss that!
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