Norby is a fictional robot created by Janet Asimov and Isaac Asimov who stars in his own series of children's science fiction books, "The Norby Chronicles". His first appearance was in the 1983 book "Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot", in total he appeared in 11 novels in the 'Norby' series. According to Isaac Asimov, although Janet Asimov did 90% of the work, his "name was wanted on the book for the betterment of sales [and he] went over the manuscript and polished it a bit."
Novels in the "Norby" series.
Collections.
The 'Norby' novels were combined into collections (each with a new cover image and title) by Ace Books:
Origin, appearance, and abilities.
Norby was originally a robot named the Searcher, created by the robot Mentor First on the planet Jamya. When the Mentor's robots were in danger of deactivation due to exhausting their fuel, the Searcher was deployed in order to find a promised refueling ship sent by the Others, the creators of the Mentors. The small robot succeeded in locating the ship, but before he could warp it back to Jamya, it crashed in Earth's asteroid belt. The impact of the crash also rendered the Searcher immobile, until the ship was discovered many years later by a salvager and inventor named McGillicuddy. McGillicuddy was a robot maker himself, albeit his were of cruder design than the Mentor's. One of his damaged robots was created from a tubby barrel that originally contained Norb's Nails, later becoming the basis for Norby's name. McGillicuddy used the Searcher's parts to repair his damaged robot. Norby eventually fell into the possession of a used-robot shop where he was sold to Jefferson Wells, a space cadet looking for a teaching robot.
Norby's body reflects his outer origins as a barrel, while his arms are retractable and have double-sided palms (and two thumbs). His head is round with four eyes, two on each side, and the top is a dome which he can retract into his barrel. His feet are also extendable/retractable. Norby has a tenor voice but can communicate through telepathy by touch.
Norby is equipped with a miniature anti-gravity device allowing him to float. He also possesses the ability to travel through hyperspace, although his navigating abilities are sometimes unreliable. He also has the capability to travel through time via hyperspace. Norby's many features make him a target for scientists, the army, and the rogue Inventor's Guild who wish to disassemble and study him.
Heroic feats.
In the first Norby book, "Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot", Norby and his owner Jefferson Wells stop the villain Ing the Ingrate from taking over the Solar System.
In the second book, "Norby's Other Secret", Norby and Jeff travel to the planet Jamya to restore the mental health of Norby's creator, Mentor First. Along the way they learn about the Others, a race that bio-engineered the intelligent Jamyn dragons.
The third book, "Norby and the Lost Princess," introduces the planet Izz and its displaced human settlers. While Norby and company prepare for a singing contest, they go to Izz where they find out that Princess Rinda has taken the only Izzian hyperspace ship to Melodia. Norby, Jeff, Fargo, Yobo, and Albany go to the planet on a rescue mission only to be imprisoned by the native insect life.
The fourth book, "Norby and the Invaders", pits Norby and Jeff against a race of balloon-shaped aliens nicknamed the Invaders. The Invaders kidnap the Grand Dragon at the novel's outset and place her in an underwater zoo on their homeworld. An intelligent vine named the Dookoza attempts to thwart a rescue mission by Jeff and Norby, but they end up freeing the Grand Dragon and leaving the Dookoza on the planet Melodia.
The fifth book, "Norby and the Queen's Necklace" sends Norby and Jeff to the French Revolution using the Queen's Necklace, a time travel device that also involved Marie Antoinette in a scandal. After escaping the Bastille, Norby and Jeff take a Frenchman named Marcel on a wild romp through time as they attempt try to find the origin of the device. Jeff meets a council of the Others in this book.
The sixth book, "Norby Finds a Villain" introduces the character of Threezey the Clown, the alter ego of Ing. In this book, Ing/Threezey kidnaps Pera at a magic show and tries to use her to create a superbomb that will leave him as the only thing left in the universe. He instead opens a portal to another reality where the tree-like Master Cult (MC) rule, and accidentally bring them to the Solar System where they proceed to conquer Earth.
In the seventh book, "Norby Down to Earth", Norby learns about his origins as well as the fate of the spacer McGillicuddy, who converted him to his current form.
The eighth book, "Norby and Yobo's Great Adventure", finds Norby and Jeff stranded in ancient Africa with Admiral Yobo.
The ninth book, "Norby and the Oldest Dragon", takes place almost entirely on the planet Jamya, which is being menaced by an attack from an intelligent cloud. The dragon in the title refers to the Dowager Dragon, mother of the Grand Dragon (the current ruler of Jamya).
The tenth book, "Norby and the Court Jester", is set once more on the planet Izz and brings back the villain Ing for a third appearance.
The final book in the series, "Norby and the Terrified Taxi", centers around Lizzie, an intelligent taxi first introduced in "Norby Down to Earth". They must find and stop "Garc the Great" who wants to change history.
Miscellany.
It has been speculated that Norby was named by his authors after Norbert Wiener, the "Father of Cybernetics".
Note that in "Norby and the Lost Princess", King Fizzwell talks about a Spacecraft Challenger Disaster, more than one year before the real disaster occurred.
Comics.
The Norby Chronicles were made into serialization comics for the Scouting magazine Boys' Life in the 1990s. The comics were adapted from the first and second books in the series. The first was "Norby the Mixed-Up Robot" running for 18 chapters, from January 1990, to July 1991. The second series "Norby's Other Secret" ran from January 1993, to December 1995 and was presented in 32 chapters. The first chapter of each series being two full pages in length while the subsequent chapters were in one page.