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 Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot (1983) Norby's Other Secret (1984) Norby and the Lost Princess (1985) Norby and the Invaders (1985) Norby and the Queen's Necklace (1986) Norby Finds a Villain (1987) Norby Down to Earth (1989) Norby and Yobo's Great Adventure (1989) Norby and the Oldest Dragon (1990) Norby and the Court Jester (1991) Norby and the Terrified Taxi (1997) (written alone by Janet Asimov, after her husband's death) Collections The 'Norby' novels were combined into collections (each with a new cover image and title) by Ace Books: The Norby Chronicles (featuring 'Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot', and 'Norby's Other Secret'.) Norby: Robot for Hire (featuring 'Norby and the Lost Princess', and 'Norby and the Invaders'.) Norby Through Time and Space (featuring 'Norby and the Queen's Necklace', and 'Norby Finds a Villain'.) 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