Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not the best
Review: I was expecting so much more from this book as it was once awarded best sci-fi series ever. It was good, but not that great. Maybe in the 1950's it was the best of sci-fi, but compared to today's standards it was a little boring and out of date. It contains long dialogs and a lot of politics wrapped in a sci-fi environment. It doesn't contain fascinating worlds and interesting glimpses of the future. There's not a lot of action but I have to admit the dialog is pretty good. If you're into nostalgia, politics and interesting dialog this book is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is a gerat book to read. I read it first from all the other books in the series, and now I own all the books. That is really a great start. If you are just begining to read the series, here's somehting to help you know the order- 1) PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION 2) FORWARD THE FOUNDATION 3) FOUNDATION 4) FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE 5) SECOND FOUNDATION 6) FOUNDATION'S EDGE 7) FOUNDATION AND EARTH (it's out of print) ALL of these books are available at a great price here on Amazon.com, even Foundation and Earth. read the whole series if you're a big sci-fi fan, like I am!
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the finest sci fi series of all time
Review: In reviewing the book Foundation I am recommending that you read all of the Foundation books by Asimov. Just get started and read them all. Even though each book can be read individually, do yourself a favor and read them in order. I won't be reviewing any other books in the series. I want you to do the whole series.One of the most interesting ideas that Asimov gives us is the ultimate form of self defense. No, it isn't karate or jiu jitsu, boxing or wrestling. It's touching the other person's mind. There are enough circles within circles, things that aren't what they seem to be, surprises that put the theories into a cocked hat, to keep you on your toes. Don't deprive yourself of the best sci fi series ever written.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I recently read Foundation, all I can say is Wow!. First let me say this is not STAR WARS and it isn't STAR TREK, This is what Science Fiction is all about. Truly epic in every sense of the word, Foundation offers us a window into a future so far away Earth is forgotten completly. And like any good epic, their is no main character, instead the story is a series of short stories. Each story features new characters and plots decades, sometimes centuries apart. The best part of this book is that its only part one! I can't recommend this book enough! If you consider yourself a serious Sci-Fi fan then get this book today.
Rating:
Summary: Asimov at his best
Review: When Isaac Asimov was writing at his best, he was the one of the best science fiction writers to ever heft a typewriter. He wrote the orginal short stories to make up the Foundation novels in the 1940's for John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction Magazine. In large messure, he modelled the history in the stories after the fall of the Roman Empire. Hari Seldon, Salvor Hardin, Hober Mallow are names that stand in the history of Science Fiction like the names of real people in many ways. "Violence is the last resort of the incompetent" and "Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" are quotes that every reader of SF knows well. Only names like Jubel Harshaw and David Bowman (who came to life from the pens of Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke) rank with these characters created by Isaac Asimov. I'm not positive if this is the best SF/F novel ever written, but it definitely makes the top five list of best SF novels ever written. It is a great loss to the world that Asimov slipped off his mortal coil back in 1992. His writting is great. At least we still have his books.
Rating:
Summary: Setting the stage
Review: Foundation was the first Asimov book I read and that was about 15 years ago. Subsequently I purchased and read multiple times, every Asimov sci-fi book. All but one of the Foundation Series I have in hard-cover in addition to paperback. Reading Asimov is for me a pleasure. How he wrote in conjunction with his rich and diverse use of English I have found unequalled. A must read without which the stage for the rest of Foundation remains unprepared. True it is not his best book, but how do you decide between Masters from The Master.
Rating:
Summary: REPLY TO SHERRY V. NEAL
Review: If you had bothered to read the entire series, you would know that one of the major heroes in the book is a young girl, Arkady. In fact, once the Foundation books tie in with the Robot series, you will find another woman hero, the "mother of robotics", Dr. Susan Calvin. So your comment about the "deplorable" lack of women in the Foundation books is off the mark. And the characters are not poorly developed - what you learn about characters like the Mule is staggering - but you wouldn't know that because it is in the second book. I hope you don't do this with all literature - try getting the facts first, then give an honest opinion. You will be well respected for it, even if most people disagree with you.
Rating:
Summary: Asimov's Foudation is the start of Sci-Fi
Review: This is the best Sci-Fi ever. Asimov's Foundation universe was the start of modern sci-fi, Star Wars & Star Trek's ships and technology are both copied from the Foundation. This the start of the best sci-fi series ever. The Foundation trilogy is a must read. = )
Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: As an avid sci-fi reader, I felt I had to rectify an oversight and read the book that really is a foundation of much of today's sci-fi. When I started the book, I planned to read the entire series. I was so completely let down that I don't know if I'll ever read Asimov again. Foundation simply failed to ignite any spark in my imagination. The characters are poorly developed, largely because of the huge leaps in time throughout the book. In addition, the inability of a person writing sci-fi -- which by its nature looks to the future -- to envision any role for women in that future is deplorable. I thought Asimov's work trite, boring, and completely lacking in the sort of foresight that makes books by authors like William Gibson and Tad Williams so amazingly captivating. Kudos to Asimov for opening the door for better writers but too bad his work (at least this early work) is terrible. Don't waste your time reading this one. Go straight to the many better post-Asimov authors.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books from the best author!
Review: Foundation is an amazing story about the ingenuity of one man whose quests bring him to the brink of barbarism-- in a time a million years from now. Hari Seldon is the character we'd all like to be, and Isaac Asimov is the writer we'd all like to be. Definately five stars. I recommend for anyone with a likeness to math, history, or science, or anyone who has read anything by Asimov, Brin, or Bear.
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