Reading order · 5 books · 1950 to 1985
Robot Books in Order
Asimov’s Robot books range from the short stories of I, Robot, which set out the Three Laws of Robotics, to novels in which the Earth detective Elijah Baley works with the robot R. Daneel Olivaw to solve murders.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Series facts
- Books
- 5
- Published
- 1950 to 1985
- First book
- I, Robot
- Latest
- Robots and Empire (1985)
The reading order
Every Robot book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
5 books
- 1I, Robot1950With Susan CalvinA series of linked stories told through the memories of robopsychologist Dr Susan Calvin, showing how robots built to follow the Three Laws of Robotics can still behave in puzzling ways.Buy on Amazon
- 2The Caves of Steel1954With Elijah BaleyIn a future where Earth’s people live in vast enclosed cities, New York detective Elijah Baley must solve the murder of a Spacer, one of humanity’s wealthy colonists.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Naked Sun1957With Elijah BaleyElijah Baley is sent to Solaria, a world where people live far apart on huge estates served by robots and avoid meeting in person, to solve a murder that seems impossible.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Robots of Dawn1983With Elijah BaleyElijah Baley travels to the Spacer world of Aurora to solve a case of roboticide: the destruction of a humaniform robot, which only its creator seems able to have caused.Buy on Amazon
- 5Robots and Empire1985With R. Daneel Olivaw and Gladia DelmarreTwo centuries after Elijah Baley, the robots R.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read I, Robot first, then the Elijah Baley novels in order: The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn and Robots and Empire, which leads into the Foundation books.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Elijah Baley | R. Daneel Olivaw | Gladia Delmarre | Susan Calvin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 I, Robot | LLead | |||
| 2 The Caves of Steel | LLead | MMajor | ||
| 3 The Naked Sun | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 4 The Robots of Dawn | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 5 Robots and Empire | ·Minor | LLead | LLead |
Characters in the Robot books
4 characters from Isaac Asimov’s chart, with the number of Robot books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Elijah BaleyNew York plainclothesman | 4 | The Caves of Steel 1954 |
| R. Daneel OlivawHumaniform robot detective | 4 | The Caves of Steel 1954 |
| Gladia DelmarreSolarian woman | 3 | The Naked Sun 1957 |
| Susan CalvinRobopsychologist | 1 | I, Robot 1950 |