History Literature / RobotsAndEmpire

* TranslationConvention: Daneel and Giskard speak to each other using only a few words instead of complex sentences; this is "translated" to English for the reader.

* JerkAssWoobie: Vasilia's downward emotional spiral continues. Basically she ruins her own life and manages to alienate everybody she ever cared about from her father to Giskard - but it's [[NeverMyFault never her fault]].

* BorrowedBiometricBypass: [[spoiler:Mandamus has a biometric lock on his nuclear intensifiers on Earth, but Amadiro threatens to kill him and borrow his fingerprint if Mandamus doesn't turn them UpToEleven, something Mandamus [[ApeShallNeverKillApe didn't see coming]].]]

* DeweyDefeatsTruman: The book cites [[spoiler:Three Mile Island]] as the event that irreparably stigmatized nuclear fission as a source of power. Not only did this not happen, but the far worse catastrophe at {{UsefulNotes/Chernobyl}} is never mentioned, as it occurred several months after the book was published.

* OneMarioLimit: In Baleyworld the names Daneel, Giskard, as well as Jezebel and Jessie are very common. However, Elijah ("The Ancestor") Baley specifically asked the Settlers not to name anyone Elijah or Gladia.

* GrandfatherClause: InUniverse. After the Auroran society refused to accept humaniform robots, the entire production run of fifty was mothballed. However, Daneel, who was already part of a prominent citizen's establishment, remained there.

* DeweyDefeatsTruman: The book cites [[spoiler:Three Mile Island]] as the event that irreparably stigmatized nuclear fission as a source of power. Not only did this not happen, but the far worse catastrophe at Chernobyl is never mentioned, as it occurred several months after the book was published.

Creator/IsaacAsimov's direct sequel to ''Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn'', ''Robots and Empire'' [[CanonWelding bridges]] the Robot Trilogy with the chronologically later ''Empire'' and ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' novels. 200 years after the death of the protagonist of the Robot Trilogy, Elijah "Lije" Baley, the balance of power has begun to shift back toward the humans of Earth, who have begun settling new worlds thanks to his efforts. The Spacers, descendants of the first wave of space colonists, are troubled by the apparent extinction of human life on Solaria, the latest- and most sparsely-settled of the Spacer worlds. Gladia "Solaria" Delmarre, Elijah's onetime lover and the only Solarian ever to emigrate, is sent along with one of Elijah's descendants, and her loyal robot servants R. Daneel Olivaw and R. Giskard Reventlov, to investigate. What they find there leads the real protagonists, Daneel and Giskard, to investigate a conspiracy with implications for human life on Earth and throughout the galaxy.

Because Elijah is only present [[PosthumousCharacter posthumously]] and the story is not a murder mystery, ''Robots and Empire'' is not considered truly part of the Robot Trilogy, which therefore escapes TrilogyCreep... barely. Nonetheless, three of the four main characters debuted in that series (one in each book, coincidentally) and the setting is very much informed by the events of that series. ''Foundation And Earth'', published a year after this book, would complete the link between the disparate elements of Asimov's major science fiction universe.

** Later reconstructed by [[spoiler:Daneel and Giskard]], who take a more nuanced view of the laws and learn how to bend them when necessary ForTheGreaterGood.

* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: [[spoiler:Giskard casts Daneel, an all-but-immortal, psychic, Zeroth-Law-Compliant RidiculouslyHumanRobot, into the future as the sole guardian of humanity. 20,000 years later, in ''Foundation and Earth'', he still stands as sentinel.]]

* AltumVidetur: Mandamus introduces his plans to Amadiro with a message reading "''Ceterum censeo, delenda est Carthago''"[[labelnote:translation]]"In my opinion, Carthage must be destroyed"[[/labelnote]].

* RevengeBeforeReason: Amadiro is so determined [[spoiler:to see Earth destroyed, that he's unwilling to allow a 150 years time for the citizens to leave the planet safely, because he won't be alive by that time. Instead, he wants Earth to become dangerously irradiated in about twenty years, despite that it would cause both millions of Earthmen to die and would raise suspicion among the Settlers, probably leading to a war between them and the Spacers. Amadiro even makes preparations to kill Mandamus himself if necessary, since he rightfully suspects the latter wouldn't agree to go along with his plan.]]

Creator/IsaacAsimov's direct sequel to ''Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn'', ''Robots and Empire'' [[CanonWelding bridges]] the Robot Trilogy with the chronologically later ''Empire'' and ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' novels. 200 years after the death of the protagonist of the Robot Trilogy, Elijah "Lije" Baley, the balance of power has begun to shift back toward the humans of Earth, who have begun settling new worlds thanks to his efforts. The Spacers, descendants of the first wave of space colonists, are troubled by the apparent extinction of human life on Solaria, the latest- and most sparsely-settled of the spacer worlds. Gladia "Solaria" Delmarre, Elijah's onetime lover and the only Solarian ever to emigrate, is sent along with one of Elijah's descendants, and her loyal robot servants R. Daneel Olivaw and R. Giskard Reventlov, to investigate. What they find there leads the real protagonists, Daneel and Giskard, to investigate a conspiracy with implications for human life on Earth and throughout the galaxy.

* FantasticRacism: The rapid expansion of the Settlers has inflamed the already simmering hostilities between them and the Spacers who, despite still being more technologically advanced, cannot compete with the Settlers' burgeoning population. Some spacers are content to live out their lives in peace and let the Settlers do what they want with the rest of the galaxy, while others feel the need for action. Amadiro, who never liked Earthmen to begin with, is the [[GeneralRipper most extreme form of the latter]].

** The Solarians, introduced two books past, have mysteriously vanished from their world at the start of the story, leaving only robots behind. Not even the other spacers know how or why they left.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Daneel isn't a girl, but he does have the appearance of a rather small spacer PrettyBoy, so the crew of D.G. Baley's ship is shocked when he easily overpowers the toughest one in their group. The only reason Baley lets the man know Daneel is actually a robot is because he knows his ego would otherwise never recover, believing he was defeated by a spacer half his size.

* MidLifeCrisisCar: Apparently, spacers have a tendency toward Mid Life Crisis ''Robots''.

* NothingLeftToDoButDie: Subverted. Gladia describes to D.G. how the long-lived spacers someday reach a point when life becomes boring, and they feel they have seen it all. However, when he asks her how common suicide is among spacers, she answers "Zero. Suicide is impossible when surrounded by ThreeLawsCompliant robots."

Creator/IsaacAsimov's direct sequel to ''Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn'', ''Robots and Empire'' [[CanonWelding bridges]] the Robot Trilogy with the chronologically later ''Empire'' and ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' novels. 200 years after the death of the protagonist of the Robot Trilogy, Elijah "Lije" Baley, the balance of power has begun to shift back toward the humans of Earth, who have begun settling new worlds thanks to his efforts. The Spacers, descendants of the first wave of space colonists, are troubled by the apparent extinction of human life on Solaria, the latest- and most sparsely-settled of the Spacer worlds. Gladia "Solaria" Delmarre, Elijah's onetime lover and the only Solarian ever to emigrate, is sent along with one of Elijah's descendants, and her loyal robot servants R. Daneel Olivaw and R. Giskard Reventlov, to investigate. What they find there leads the real protagonists, Daneel and Giskard, to investigate a conspiracy with implications for human life on Earth and throughout the galaxy.

* FantasticRacism: The rapid expansion of the Settlers has inflamed the already simmering hostilities between them and the Spacers who, despite still being more technologically advanced, cannot compete with the Settlers' burgeoning population. Some Spacers are content to live out their lives in peace and let the Settlers do what they want with the rest of the galaxy, while others feel the need for action. Amadiro, who never liked Earthmen to begin with, is the [[GeneralRipper most extreme form of the latter]].

* MidLifeCrisisCar: Apparently, Spacers have a tendency toward Mid Life Crisis ''Robots''.

* NothingLeftToDoButDie: Subverted. Gladia describes to D.G. how the long-lived Spacers someday reach a point when life becomes boring, and they feel they have seen it all. However, when he asks her how common suicide is among Spacers, she answers "Zero. Suicide is impossible when surrounded by ThreeLawsCompliant robots."
* OneMarioLimit: In Baleyworld the names Daneel, Giskard, as well as Jezebel and Jessie are very common. However, Elijah ("The Ancestor") Baley specifically asked the settlers not to name anyone Elijah or Gladia.

* WeAreAsMayflies: As with the rest of the books, Earthmen (and Settlers, who are directly descended from them), with their 100-year lifespans, are contrasted against the Spacers, who live to near 400. Notably, [[BigBad Kelden Amadiro]] seems to view this trope rather literally, describing the Settlers as disease-ridden insects that are infesting the galaxy.

* TheWatson: Daneel and Giskard are both, in a sense, half Sherlock and half Watson. Giskard's psychic abilities give him unique insight into human behavior, while Daneel's experiences with Elijah Baley make him better at investigative thinking. Both take turns explaining their lines of reasoning and pointing out the flaws in the others' theories.

* HomeworldEvacuation: A robot causes/allows a radioactive explosion which will slowly poison Earth, forcing the population to expand out into space.
** The Solarians, introduced two books past, have mysteriously vanished from their world at the start of the story, leaving only robots behind [[spoiler:instructed to kill anyone who steps foot on the planet]]. Not even the other spacers know how or why they left.

* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]]: The plot is kicked off when it is discovered that the entire population of Solaria has inexplicably vanished, making Gladia, the planet's sole expatriate, the only Solarian whose whereabouts are still known. Despite having cut all ties with her homeworld and assimilated into her new society, no one has forgotten Gladia's heritage (least of all her), and it is for this reason that she is dragged along to help investigate.

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Between books, Gladia and Elijah had a brief affair during a visit from him, despite how much he had physically aged in the interim relative to her. He is dead by the start of the book, while Gladia still has many decades of life remaining.
** The relationship she starts with D.G. Baley, one of Elijah's descendants, could be this, since she may just outlive him as well.

* MindRape: It's implied that Giskard's abilities could be used as such, and the First Law prevents him from making anything but tiny, benign changes to someone's mind. Anything more could do damage due to the delicate, complex nature of the human psyche. The danger is compounded when the alteration runs opposite to a person's thoughts.
** It also serves as the explanation for why he can't [[StatingTheSimpleSolution use his powers to stop the Big Bad from carrying out his]] EvilPlan; as Giskard tells Daneel, he is so committed that forcefully changing his mind would almost certainly kill him.

* TheWatson: Daneel and Giskard are both, in a sense, half Sherlock and half Watson. Giskard's psychic abilities give him unique insight into human behavior, while Daneel's experiences with Elijah Baley made him better at investigative thinking. Both take turns having to explain to the other their line of reasoning or the flaws in the other's theories.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The Solarian Overseers, while ostensibly ThreeLawsCompliant, are [[spoiler:purposefully given a much more exclusive definition of human]] than normal robots. Later, Amadiro tries to use it to argue that Earthmen aren't human... only to be told that Solaria sets a bad precedent.

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Earth was highly radioactive in the various ''Empire'' novels, and forgotten by the time of the ''Foundation'' stories. Therefore the plot more of less ''has'' to succeed to ste up future events.]]

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler]]Earth was highly radioactive in the various ''Empire'' novels, and forgotten by the time of the ''Foundation'' stories.[[/spoiler]]

Creator/IsaacAsimov's direct sequel to ''Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn'', ''Robots and Empire'' [[CanonWelding bridges]] the Robot Trilogy with the chronologically later ''Empire'' and ''{{Foundation}}'' novels. 200 years after the death of the protagonist of the Robot Trilogy, Elijah "Lije" Baley, the balance of power has begun to shift back toward the humans of Earth, who have begun settling new worlds thanks to his efforts. The Spacers, descendants of the first wave of space colonists, are troubled by the apparent extinction of human life on Solaria, the latest- and most sparsely-settled of the Spacer worlds. Gladia "Solaria" Delmarre, Elijah's onetime lover and the only Solarian ever to emigrate, is sent along with one of Elijah's descendants, and her loyal robot servants R. Daneel Olivaw and R. Giskard Reventlov, to investigate. What they find there leads the real protagonists, Daneel and Giskard, to investigate a conspiracy with implications for human life on Earth and throughout the galaxy.

* FantasticRacism: The rapid expansion of the Settlers has inflamed the already simmering hostilities between them and the Spacers who, despite still being more technologically advanced, cannot compete with the Settler's burgeoning population. Some Spacers are content to live out their lives in peace and let the Settlers do what they want with the rest of the galaxy, while others feel the need for action. Amadiro, who never liked Earthmen to begin with, is the [[GeneralRipper most extreme form of the latter]].