Two questions:

I’d like to start reading the Foundation series. What order should I read them in? I’ve seen a recommended reading order by Asimov himself posted in /c/Foundation, which is in order based on when the events take place, but I’ve seen it suggested to instead read them in publication history order to avoid spoilers and so that things make sense. Which order would you recommend?

Also, where’s the best place to pick up hardcover editions? I’d love to add them to my library. Is the Robot series sold as a hardcover collection anywhere?

  • Jordan LundEnglish
    5•1 year ago

    The trick is, as the series went on, he dovetailed it into the Robot novels.

    First, good hardcovers here:

    https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/the-foundation-trilogy.html

    Now, that being said, reading order, I favor publication order:

    1. Foundation (1951)
    2. Foundation and Empire (1952)
    3. Second Foundation (1953)
    4. Foundation’s Edge (1982)
    5. Foundation and Earth (1986)
    6. Prelude to Foundation (1988)
    7. Forward the Foundation (1993)

    Now…

    Foundation and Earth (the last book chronologically, 6 and 7 are both prequels) hooks it into the Robot stories and serves as a capstone to BOTH the Foundation series and the Robot series.

    1. Mother Earth (1949)
    2. I, Robot (1950)
    3. The Caves of Steel (1954)
    4. The Naked Sun (1957)
    5. Mirror Image (1972)
    6. Bicentennial Man (1976)
    7. Robots of Dawn (1983)
    8. Robots and Empire (1985)

    3, 4, 7, and 8 are the “Robot series proper”.

    Complicating matters, some of these are short stories and there have been MULTIPLE compilations of them over the years.

    Bicentennial Man (1976) started as a short story and was reworked into the novel The Positronic Man in 1992, but it’s the same story.

    Collections are:

    The Rest of the Robots (1964)
    The Complete Robot (1982)
    Robot Dreams (1986)
    Robot Visions (1990)
    Gold (1995)

    • The Giant KoreanOPEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      So with regard to the Robot series and publication order, would you suggest that I start with the Robot series first, then Foundation? Looking at the dates, it seems like it would be weird to read both series together in publication order.

      • @Khanzarate
        4•1 year ago

        I have yet to read the robots series but I have read all of foundation.

        I’m doing a reread and I intend to read the robots series with it this time, after Second Foundation. That’s the part where they blend more and I can tell I’m missing some context from Robots.

      • Jordan LundEnglish
        3•1 year ago

        To get the most out of both series, it would probably look like this:

        1. Mother Earth (1949)

        2. I, Robot (1950)

        3. Foundation (1951)

        4. Foundation and Empire (1952)

        5. Second Foundation (1953)

        6. The Caves of Steel (1954)

        7. The Naked Sun (1957)

        8. Mirror Image (1972)

        9. Bicentennial Man (1976)

        10. Foundation’s Edge (1982)

        11. Robots of Dawn (1983)

        12. Robots and Empire (1985)

        13. Foundation and Earth (1986)

        14. Prelude to Foundation (1988)

        15. Forward the Foundation (1993)

        Those final two, chronologically, would be inserted prior to Foundation (#3), but because they were written SO MUCH later, you should save them for last.

        • The Giant KoreanOPEnglish
          2•1 year ago

          Thank you for typing that all out! I really appreciate it.

          • Jordan LundEnglish
            2•1 year ago

            Mostly a copy/paste, but I did re-do the numbers so I’ll take it! ;)