Foundation

Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING a must read and re-read (by ISAAC ASIMOV)
Review: Any coment's on this serie of books must be a positive one and if it's not then thats becouse you dident understand the story, so you should reread them all again, i stronly recommend this serie of books to anyone, not just sci fans, but to all that have the taste to read. The author of this serie wrote 470 books, he was a genius and died out of his time with the age of 72, in memory of ISAAC ASIMOV i recommend all of his books, but especially the foundation series,thaks for reading my review.

Rating:
Summary: One of the classics of 1940s and 1950s science fiction.
Review: This is the first published volume (which was originally published as four short stories in "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine, 1942-1944, with an introductory section written in 1949) of Asimov's famous trilogy, which affected many later works. This trilogy, which won a special Hugo Award in 1966 for the best science fiction series of all time, was later expanded into further volumes by Asimov (in fact, two prequels are Asimov's "Prelude to Foundation" and "Forward the Foundation"; after Asimov's death in 1992, other authors [for example, Gregory Benford's "Foundation's Fear," Greg Bear's "Foundation and Chaos," and David Brin's "Foundation's Triumph"] have contributed to the series [note that there are now five novels that serve as prequels to Asimov's first published Foundation book!]) . In these stories, spacecraft travel over large distances via "jumps." The ships spend most of their time in a form of hyperspace, each jump being aimed at a certain target star. The central character, Hari Seldon, is a psychohistorian. Psychohistory is the mathematics dealing with the reactions of very large masses of mankind to social and economic stimuli (and the recent advances in chaos theory in advanced mathematics lends credibility to Asimov's psychohistory). His calculations predicts an end to the Galactic Empire (an empire remarkably similar to the Roman Empire on Earth). Two Foundations are set up to ease mankind through the dark area predicted (or else, the dark period will last 30000 years) and, after a thousand years, will join together to form a second Empire. Although Asimov's early writing style leaves much to be desired (recall this was all put together in his early 20s during World War II when he worked for the U. S. Navy and when he was finishing his graduate work at Columbia Univ.), it is still fun reading; I enjoy every time I reread it. It is particularly enjoyable in the context of the other volumes. This first published volume has five parts. In "The Psychohistorians," an introductory tale (which begins about 46 years after the events described in "Prelude to Foundation" and thirteen years after the events described in the last story of "Forward the Foundation"), Dr. Hari Seldon and a young colleague are arrested on the planet Trantor (the governing center of the Galactic Empire) and tried for treason. Seldon's group are to be exiled to the planet Terminus on the galactic rim where they will form a scientific refuge. Seldon also plans to set up another group somewhere else. We later learn, in Part III, that this other group (the Second Foundation) is located at a place known as Star's End at the other end of the galaxy. In "The Encyclopedists," taking place about fifty years later, a large number of members of the original Foundation are on the planet Terminus and are compiling a massive encyclopedia to prepare for the upcoming dark age. But, why were no psychobiologists and only one psychologist present among the original colonists? The remaining three parts continue the development of the Foundation on Terminus.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at best.
Review: I was disappointed with the Foundation books. I thought the story was thin. Surprisingly, the best of the Foundation novels is not the first but the fourth - Foundation's Edge. I don't understand what all the hoopla is about these books; they're ok, but definately not something I would reread. If you're looking for truly exciting sci-fi about the human condition and empire-building I would suggest trying Herbert's Dune.

Rating:
Summary: The Essence of Science Fiction.
Review: Although the fact that this novel was really several stories put together into one format, which was slightly disconcerting, I still must say that Foundation is a masterpiece, and you cannot wait to see what happens next. With every story the Foundation grows in power and you see the intracacies involved in politics and war, trade and power. A blueprint for the eventual realization of a real Psychohistory. Another one of The Greats.

Rating:
Summary: I was expecting more...
Review: This was my first Asimov book. Based on the reviews I've seen for this series, I was expecting a more captivating story. However, another reviewer's comments has convinced me not to give up yet. That reviewer notes that this is an early work of Asimov's and the sequels are better. I'll give the next one a try.

Rating:
Summary: Read the others first!
Review: I never would have made it through this book if I hadn't read the other foundation novels first. Because this was originally published in magazines, this book is very fragmented and hard to follow if you don't already know the story. Still, I love Asimov. This is just so early, he isn't excellent yet

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing&entertaining,science-fiction writing at its best.
Review: There's no doubt about the fact that Isaac Asimov is a legend in his own right as a writer. But with "Foundation" he proves (if ever there was any doubt ) that he is indeed that peerless science fiction writer of his time. This is the most intelligently written science fiction book you'll ever get to read....and the good thing about it is that you don't really have to be a sci-fi freak to enjoy it - you can read it just for the joy of reading !!

Rating:
Summary: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." -Hardin
Review: While reading this book, I couldn't help exulting on the philosophy of the book and the characters' conduct. Though the Foundation keeps confronting belligerent forces, the heads of Foundation's government and those in charge do not resort to violence! Instead of the automatic jump to use violence in a threatening situation, they use civil disobedience, embargos, and gentle ways of subjugation. Even though some warhawks (the Actionists of Terminus in Hardin's time) agitate the Foundation to go to war, in the end, the doves prevail, using their tactics of nonviolence. Since Asimov (genius) published this book in 1951, three years since the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, I could tell that it was influenced by Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy. Albert Einstein recognized the enlightened mind of Gandhi, who advocated nonviolent tactics and change without shedding blood. Throughout Asimov's Foundation, published three years after Gandhi's assassination, Gandhi's teachings are very evident. Most readers probably didn't recognize this, but Foundation was probably influenced by one of the major figures of our century--Gandhi. Also, the nonviolent philosophies of Leo Tolstoy and Henry David Thoreau are also somewhat present.

Rating:
Summary: Asimov's Masterpiece
Review: Foundation was by far one of the best science fiction novels I have read. I especially loved his take on religion, and actually making a parody of it! Through the Foundation's organized religion, Asimov showed how science can possibly and really be equated with a new religion, or a set of superstitions and preternatural phenomenon. Asimov also showed how religion can sway the minds of the masses, as the subjucation of the Four Kingdoms illustrated. Asimov wrote his wonderful opus as a parallel of the Roman Empire, and the historical allusions show. However, there was something in the book that was surprisingly missing. There were no female characters! Except for the Commdora of Korell, most of the figures holding real political, social, or economic power in this society of the future, thousands of years ahead, were male. I find this hard to believe. I reasoned, though, that because Foundation was written by Asimov in the 50s, during the "Golden Age" of SF, female characters were a scarcity in most science fiction anyway. There were no female writers of SF either. Other than this glaring omission, Asimov has done a brilliant job with Foundation.

Rating:
Summary: Great, but you have to read the sequels too!
Review: the foundation series is just marvelous! but as the title says, the hafta be read together. only then the greatness is revealed (is that a correct sentence?).