Robot/Empire/Foundation universe (modified chronological order)

flopwaffle Host

3 participants (11 books)

Overview

This reading order for Isaac Asimov's R/E/F universe is based primarily on the internal chronological order but puts the prequels after the sequels to avoid spoilers and give a better sense of the story's development. There are events referred to in the prequels which assume you've already read the sequels.

I, Robot is a fixup novel of 9 short stories wrapped in a framing narrative. They give some background and are referenced later but are not strictly necessary for the main series, so this book is bonus but highly recommended.

There are 3 more short stories that are connected to the R/E/F universe, but they're also not necessary, so they're also bonus.

"The Bicentennial Man"
"Mother Earth"
"Mirror Image"

The Empire stories are set in the R/E/F universe, but they don't share any plot connections with each other or any other story on the list, so they're bonus and mostly included for completeness.

The Stars, Like Dust
The Currents of Space
Pebble in the Sky
"Blind Alley"

While not part of the main series, The End of Eternity is referenced in Foundation's Edge, so it's included as bonus.

Full chronological order:

Robot series:
- I, Robot
- "The Bicentennial Man”
- "Mother Earth"
- The Caves of Steel
- The Naked Sun
- "Mirror Image"
- The Robots of Dawn
- Robots and Empire
Empire stories:
- The Stars, Like Dust
- The Currents of Space
- Pebble in the Sky
- "Blind Alley"
Foundation series:
- Prequels (read after sequels):
  - Prelude to Foundation
  - Forward the Foundation
- Original Trilogy:
  - Foundation
  - Foundation and Empire
  - Second Foundation
- Sequels:
  - Foundation's Edge
  - Foundation and Earth
The End of Eternity