Prelude to Foundation

Rating:
Summary: Incredible, instant classic of all time !!!!!
Review: The book that Assimov fans waited 30 years for. If you read the Foundation Trilogy, this book answers all the questions about Harri Seldon. We miss you Mr. Asimov.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: A must-read! This book details the life of Hari Seldon. When it opens, Hari Seldon has just started researching psychohistory. The book traces the arduous process of developing psychohistory and shows the Empire's fall. It also portrays Hari Seldon first as a young man, then as a middle-aged man, and finally old age and death. It ends with Seldon recording the Crisis messages, and the beginning of the Foundations. If you've ever wondered about Seldon's life, or how he set up the Foundations (especially the Second), or if you just enjoy the Foundation series, you should definitely buy this book

Rating:
Summary: The greatest book of the series
Review: This book makes evident and unifies all of the sub-plots and schemes of the entire series. It is the culminating novel of the Foundations and is Asimov's best. However, I also recomend I. Asimov, A Memior

Rating:
Summary: Opera Prima
Review: Fundation is a fiction of the real view of the history. All what you know about History is nothing if you are not prepared to think in this way.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: Stunningly written novel... the most humanistic and compelling novel ever written by Asimov. A big must! Entertaining and never dull, exactly what science fiction ought to be

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing prequel to the classic trilogy
Review: Isaac Asimov was an author whose work exerted a seminal influence on modern SF. I read much of his work, including the original Foundation trilogy, when I was in high school and have recently begun to reread it. "Prelude to Foundation" was one that I had missed. Since it dealt with the events leading up to those of the original trilogy-namely Hari Seldon's development of psychohistory, I decided to read it first. I wish I hadn't.

"Prelude to Foundation " begins as a very naïve Hari Seldon, fresh from presenting a paper on the theoretical possiblity of psychohistory, is summoned to a meeting with the Emperor. The Emperor, and his top henchman would like to use psychohistory as a means to hold onto power. Soon afterwards, Hari is set upon by thugs and rescued, almost in deus-ex-machina fashion, by Chetter Hummin, a journalist with contacts. Hummin warns Hari of his Danger and arranges his flight from the Emperor's surveillance. The rest of the book follows Hari's progress through the various cultural enclaves of Trantor, as he tries to gather information to make psychohistory a reality and flees the Emperor's clutches. Through all of this, Hari is protected by Dors Venabili, a historian to whom Hummin has given the job of guarding the young mathematician.


"Prelude to Foundation" is one of Asimov's later works, written several decades after the publication of the original Foundation trilogy. The original trilogy was conceptually daring, with its exploration of the idea of scientifically predicting future events. Characterization, never Asimov's strong suit, didn't matter as much as the plot, since the novels were really shorter pieces linked together by a frame story. The novels were carried by the intellectual and philosophical premises underlying them. Unfortunately, "Prelude to Foundation" has most of the weaknesses and few of the strengths of Asimov's best work. The characters are wooden and, at times, stilted. Some of the different districts of Trantor through which Hari and Dors travel are potentially interesting, but there is little depth to them. Asimov's narration is too sketchy to permit adequate development of their intricacies. Although the book is supposed to depict the beginnings of pyschohistory, there's a shallowness to this as well. Hari makes some major discoveries about galactic history, but at times he makes them as a result of logical leaps that stretch believability.

"Prelude to Foundation" connects the dots between several of Asimov's earlier series and fills in details about Hari Seldon's background, but it's pedestrian SF by an author who was capable of better.


Rating:
Summary: only for devotees - otherwise, boring
Review: There is absolutely no development of the Trilogy concept here, and as such it is only character filler and not that coherent as a novel. Asimov knew what would sell, and he wrote some great stuff, but to be honest I thing he wrote WAY too much. THis is too much.

Not recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Philosophical Sci-Fi
Review: I liked this book, a genuine like. Most hard-core Sci-Fi-ers would probably be disappointed though. Most of the storyline takes place via the three main characters' dialogue, which means there is not a lot of descriptive rambling, nor is there detailed technical workings. This is the first Asimov book I have read; from it it is clear that Aismov's a philosopher/scientist.

The entire book deals with the main character's theory of "Psychohistory," which is something akin to a probability/prediction via historical generalizations. As the main character (Hari Seldon - a mathematician) wrestles with developing his theory, the book explores societal issues. The questions that are presented are relevant to learning and education, historical analysis, social & political manipulation, and the aims and purpose of scientific inquiry. However, please do not think that this is a dense book overwrought with esoteric philosophical musing. It is still a quick read. Along with "Sophie's World," this would make a great text for Philosophy in Literature courses. The text is really quite tame, PG-rated, if even that, so it would be fine for anyone high-school age and up!

Some problems: the characters adapt too quickly and comfortably with new things they are confronted with (particularly words and languages). Hari Seldon, while present constantly, is still a vague and undeveloped character who says some pretty "duh" things. I think this is because Asimov creates Hari via dialogue and not description. When you finish the book, you don't feel any sort of connection whatsoever with Hari or the other characters.

Nevertheless, the last 50 pages have a couple interesting "twists," which surprised me. But then, I like being surprised in books - and am open to the possibility. In general, I don't like figuring out the mystery before the main characters do.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not important
Review: The Foundation trilogy, written more than 50 years ago, was an amazing accomplishment in science fiction -- a construction of a galactic society of near-infinite complexity that also (as it happens) correctly anticipated the mathematization of the social sciences.

This 1988 novel is chronologically (although not in publication date) the first of the Foundation series, one of two prequels that fill in the back story of the Foundation trilogy. Its main goal is to bridge the Robot and Empire novels, while Forward the Foundation explains how the Foundation came to be in the dying days of the Empire.

The plot (such as it is) covers "The Flight" (as the Encyclopedia Galatica explains it), how Hari Seldon begins his psychohistory research and also makes a series of friends that will last the rest of his life. The Flight itself has as much plausibility as a typical 80s chase movie, with our heroes careening into yet another crisis, only to be saved (Deus ex Machina) to continue on to the next.

Both prequels deal with the flesh-and-blood exploits of Seldon, the mythological figure that overshadows the trilogy. As such, they offer insights into Seldon's character not available in the later books. But since the trilogy was written more than three decades earlier, such insights are superfluous to an understanding of the basic premise of the two foundations and psychohistory.

The book is somewhat more interesting as a travelogue across the various city-states of Trantor, and (like its sequel) in demonstrating the latent decline in the final days of the empire.

But along with the plot, the book also suffers by projecting (needlessly) details from today into the year 12,000 G.E. This includes allegorical commentaries on late 20th century U.S. social issues that demonstrate both a political correctness and contrived intrasocietal controversy that would be implausible to continue into an advanced civilization 20 millenia hence. Equally implausible are the mention of three distinct races within the human species continuing without impact from 600 generations of intermarriage, and age milestones of birth, puberty, marriage and death that (despite presumed advances in medicine) changed less in 200 centuries than they have in the past five.

The book fails badly to live up to the impact of the classic trilogy. Although it fills in some of the gaps, even for a hard-core Asimov fan (as I once was) there's nothing in it essential to understand the three core books (as 35 years of readers would attest). So it is more a curiosity, one of the final works of an incredibly prolific and influential author.

Rating:
Summary: a page-turner, but not memorable
Review: This book wasn't that bad, but it wasn't great either. I never felt bored, and all the characters were mildly interesting. However, the story did seem a bit contrived, and as always, Asimovian logic doesn't make sense at times. However, I did enjoy all the exposition in the book, which is rare for science fiction. A book that has an exciting plot AND good dialogue is hard to find. I also enjoyed the twists at the end, which I didn't see coming.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend this book to any sci-fi fan, but it was an enjoyable read.