Galactic Empire series

Lore & Background

These stories share a setting defined by the future Galactic Empire, featuring technology like hyperdrive, blaster pistols, "neuronic whips," and the potential invention of the "Visi-Sonor." A recurring location is the planet Trantor. The short story "Blind Alley" holds a unique place as the only Foundation-universe tale to feature non-human intelligence; other stories like Foundation and Earth include non-humans descended from or created by humanity, such as those on Solaria or Gaia. Robots and Empire later revealed how Earth became radioactive, as mentioned in all three novels. Some sources suggest The Stars, Like Dust occurs roughly one thousand years after Robots and Empire, utilizing the same calendar introduced to Lije Baley in The Robots of Dawn.

Reader's Guide

The three novels were first published between 1950 and 1952, marking Asimov's earliest works under his own name. David Starr, Space Ranger preceded them but used the pen name "Paul French," while Foundation books were short story collections. The Stars, Like Dust was serialized as Tyrann in Galaxy Science Fiction (Jan–Mar 1951) and published by Doubleday later that year. Its first paperback edition by Ace Books retitled it The Rebellious Stars without Asimov's consent. The Currents of Space was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction (Oct–Dec 1952). Post-1952, the novels appeared in an omnibus called Triangle and later as The Empire Novels in 2002 by the Science Fiction Book Club. In 1986, Ballantine Books released them as "Galactic Empire Novel[s]," followed by a 1992 Spectra edition titled "The Empire Novels." A 2010 Orb Books edition paired them with The End of Eternity.

Did You Know?

• Asimov stated in 1988 that The Currents of Space (1952) was his first Empire novel, despite it being published after Pebble in the Sky.
• The title 'Pebble in the Sky' was adapted from Robert Browning's poem Rabbi ben Ezra, with the original draft titled 'Grow Old with Me'.