A millennium into the future, two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer. The relationship between Baley and his Spacer superiors, who mistrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot---and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!

Reissued after seventy-five years out of print -- and in hardcover for the first time in a generation -- Lucky Starr and the Pirates of Asteroids is the second book in the Lucky Starr series written by the legendary Isaac Asimov, author of Foundation, the Galactic Empire series, and I, Robot. Twenty-five years before, Lucky Starr's parents had been destroyed during a pirate raid on the Terrestrial Empire. Now Lucky was a man, and an officer of the Council of Science. His ship was heavily armed and the pirates were at hand. The time for sweet blaster vengeance was near! Lucky Starr's Ergometrics probed space with widely stretching fingers. It detected many ships, but Lucky watched only for the one which he would recognize with certainty the instant it appeared. Nor did he fail. At a distance of twenty-million miles, the first quiverings roused his suspicions. At 100-thousand miles, his telescope showed it as a faint dot. At ten thousand, it had form and shape -- it was the flagship of Anton, the pirate chieftain! At a thousand miles, Lucky sent out his first message -- a demand that Anton return to Earth. At one hundred miles, Lucky received his reply -- a blast of energy that made his generators whine and rocked his ship as if he had collided with another. Lucky's tired face took on a drawn look. Anton's ship was heavily armed. It was not what Lucky had expected ...

Jeff Wells leaves the space academy with his mixed-up robot Norby,and the two of them head back to Earth to help Jeff's brother unravel a mystery involving zapped robots and stolen computer parts.