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