Foundation Reading Order

If one man could be called the father of modern science fiction, it would be Isaac Asimov, and of all his well-known work, the Foundation novels have long been considered his best. So much so that others have since contributed to the universe.

What’s on the Foundation Reading Order?

The Foundation series started as just a few collections of short stories by Isaac Asimov. He eventually wrote several prequel novels, and connected it to other series that he had written, including the Robot series. After his death, several authors continued that stories in Foundation and filled in the holes, almost as a way to honor the original author.

As with our other timelines, lists, and reading orders, we hope you will let us know if there’s anything out of place or anything that needs to be added. In the mean time, we hope you enjoy this Foundation reading order. If you do, be sure to check out some of our other timelines, such as the Dune timeline.

Where to Start?

There are two good places to start on this timeline. If you’re interested in reading the proper Foundation saga, we recommend Prelude to Foundation. But I, Robot is also a great place to start, as it’s one of Asimov’s more well-known works.

Hide BooksHide Short Stories

#	Amazon	Name	Media	Author	Date	Series	Notes
1		I, Robot: To Protect	Novel	Mickey Zucker Reichert	2011-11-01	Robot Era
2		I, Robot: To Obey	Novel	Mickey Zucker Reichert	2013-09-03	Robot Era
3		I, Robot: To Preserve	Novel	Mickey Zucker Reichert	2016-02-02	Robot Era
4		I, Robot	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1950-12-02	Robot Era
5		The Rest of the Robots	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1964-01-01	Robot Era
6		The Complete Robot	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1982-01-01	Robot Era	Includes I, Robot and The Rest of the Robots
7		Robot Dreams	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1986-11-01	Robot Era
8		Robot Visions	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1990-01-01	Robot Era
9		The Positronic Man	Novel	Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg	1992-10-01	Robot Era
10		Nemesis	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1989-10-01	Robot Era
11		Mother Earth	Short Story	Isaac Asimov	1949-05-01	Robot Era	Collected in Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories, Vol. 1
12		The Caves of Steel	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1954-02-04	Robot Era
13		The Naked Sun	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1957-01-01	Robot Era
14		Mirror Image	Short Story	Isaac Asimov	1972-05-01	Robot Era	Collected in The Complete Robot
15		The Robots of Dawn	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1983-01-01	Robot Era
16		Mirage	Novel	Mark W. Tiedemann	2000-04-01	Robot Mystery
17		Chimera	Novel	Mark W. Tiedemann	2001-01-01	Robot Mystery
18		Aurora	Novel	Mark W. Tiedemann	2002-01-01	Robot Mystery
19		Have Robot, Will Travel	Novel	Alexander C. Irvine	2005-01-01	Robot Mystery
20		Robots and Empire	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1985-09-20	Robot Mystery
21		Isaac Asimov's Caliban	Novel	Roger MacBride Allen	1993-03-01	Caliban Trilogy
22		Isaac Asimov's Inferno	Novel	Roger MacBride Allen	1994-09-01	Caliban Trilogy
23		Isaac Asimov's Utopia	Novel	Roger MacBride Allen	1996-01-01	Caliban Trilogy
24		The Stars, Like Dust	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1951-02-15	Empire
25		The Currents of Space	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1952-01-01	Empire
26		Pebble in the Sky	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1950-01-19	Empire
27		Prelude to Foundation	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1988-11-01	Foundation
28		Forward the Foundation	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1993-04-01	Foundation
29		Foudation's Fear	Novel	Gregory Benford	1997-02-01	Foundation
30		Foundation and Chaos	Novel	Greg Bear	1998-02-01	Foundation
31		Foundation's Triumph	Novel	David Brin	1999-05-01	Foundation
32		Foundation	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1951-01-01	Foundation
33		Foundation and Empire	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1952-01-01	Foundation
34		Second Foundation	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1953-01-01	Foundation
35		Foundation's Edge	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1982-01-01	Foundation
36		Foundation and Earth	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1986-01-01	Foundation
37		Foundation's Friends	Anthology	Ray Bradbury, Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson, Harry Turtledove, Orson Scott Card	1989-01-01	Foundation
38		The End of Eternity	Novel	Isaac Asimov	1955-01-01	Beyond Time