BlackHat Mystery Bookstore

Isaac Asimov's
Robot Mysteries

         Isaac Asimov [1920-1992] was one of the giants of science fiction literature, as well as one of the most prolific: he wrote 470 books, while working as a professor of biochemistry at Boston University Medical School. He wrote his first robot short story in 1939, at the age of 19. His first bestseller was the book "I, Robot", which is included here because some say it is necessary as background to the robot mysteries.

         [The term 'robot' first appeared in Czech playwright Karel Capek's 1921 drama "R.U.R.", which stood for "Rossum's Universal Robots". The term is derived from a Czech word for worker or slave.]

         An editor at Galaxy Magazine suggested that Asimov write a robot detective novel, and Asimov followed the suggestion only partway, making the detective a human named Elijah Baley, who worked with a robot sidekick named R. Daneel Olivaw. The story "Caves of Steel" was serialized in Galaxy in 1953 and published in book form in 1954.
         The sequel novel, "The Naked Sun", was serialized in Astounding in 1956 and published in 1957. "The Robots of Dawn" was not published until 1983, and introduced a second robot sidekick, R. Giskard Reventlov. In the fourth book, "Robots & Empire", Asimov chose to allow Baley and Giskard to die while Daneel lived (and solved the case). Asimov was amazed at the storm of letters from readers more unhappy about the death of robot Giskard than about the death of the human Baley.
         The other Asimov books included on this page are early and late short stories about robots written by Asimov which often interconnect with the four Robot Mysteries.

         The 'Three Laws of Robotics' devised by Asimov before robots even existed may be the longest-lasting legacy from any sci-fi author, in that these laws are embedded in the science and design of robots in the XXIst Century and will likely remain significant as long as robots are built.
         These laws are:
              1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, thru inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
              2. A robot must obey the orders given it by a human being, except where such orders conflict with the First Law.
              3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

         Shortly before his death in 1992, Asimov approved an outline by Roger MacBride Allen for three novels set between "Robots and Empire" and the Empire series. And in September 2000, sci-fi author Mark W. Tiedemann published "Mirage", the first of a trilogy of mystery novels set in the Spacer worlds environment created by Asimov in the first four books; his central characters are taken from various Asimov-related works, such as "Robot City".