Prelude to Foundation

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: I know why this is a classic...
Review: This is the first book I read by the author Asimov. I know there are many more famous books from him like the Robots collections and Foundation. I picked this one for the first book simply because this is the first entry to the Foundation series, on a chronological sense. I must say surprisingly, this is a very easy-to-read (compare to Dune, Lord of the Ring, etc), but exciting, and full-of-surprises book. At times, it also gives us thoughful issues (e.g. can we 'predict' the future?), which is what we are anticipating from a sci-fi. I know from many many readers that Foundation is the best among all the volumes, but I can imagine that this is already an enjoyable read, I cannot imagine how exciting the Foundation book will be. It also thrills me to read all other series (Robot, Empire, etc) so as to get a full understanding of the history under Asimov's reign. I recommend this one to everyone who has never touch Asimov's work before.

Rating:
Summary: Foundation of Foundation
Review: Although I am an Asimov fan, this book was disappointing. As he explained, the sole purpose for this volume was to connect the dots in his previous Foundation series, but I am not sure why that was necessary and why it had to be so dry.

Much of the dialogues are contrived and contain Asimov's musings about food, society and state of the Galaxy thousands of years from now. It is interesting that he projects the kind of social injustices and class struggles that dominated our political discourse during the cold war decades that far into the future. This theme of challenge of maintaining social order is common in most of his works. It would be so depressing if that were really the case for future civilizations that have supposedly solved so many of the fundamental problems of humanity.

The plot does have a few pleasant surprises, especially at the end and one also detects the innocent romanticism of Asimov throughout. I do not think it is a must to read this book to enjoy the other books in the series; they were all very well done and memorable on their own.

Rating:
Summary: 4 stars? Not even!
Review: Maybe its because I'm not much of a fan of Asimov, but I was disappointed in this book. Asimov's "Foundation" was OK 3.5/5 stars, but Prelude to Foundation was a very disappointing 2/5. Why? The plot is "super extra simple", Hari Seldon has no dimension to him (he functions like a thinking robot more than a human), and not much happens in the book. There are pages where Asimov's characters comment endlessly about how good the food is, but the commentary, while long, isn't even very descriptive so it turns out plain old boring. You never get much of a sense of the danger Hari is in. The only really fun part is when Hari gets stuck on the roof of Trantor and has to stay the night. But that's short lived, and in the end, you wish he'd been left up there to die.

The only real interesting parts to the book are Asimov's commentary on science. His social commentaries, told through Hari Seldon are a total snorefest. I'm really suprised so many people liked this book. But I guess its because they are Asimov fans. If you're new to Sci Fi, or an Asimov fan, you might like it. If you're a sci fi veteran, you'll probably be disappointed like me.

I would recommend instead, if you prefer a richer more complex and compelling Sci Fi tale, to pick up a copy of "Nova" by Samuel R. Delany, "Dune" by Frank Herbert, or "Revelation Space" by Alistair Reynolds - all three are excellent.

Now I'm off to the bookstore to give "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons a try.

Rating:
Summary: More than a Prelude
Review: This Prelude is actually, in my opinion, better than the Foundation itself. It is much easier to read, more friendly, more human. It is a good starting place for new readers, but be forwarned, the style of the story changes to a much more technical dry story as you reach into the later parts of the series (Asimov's earlier work).

Rating:
Summary: Best of the foundation
Review: Can't say enough about Isaac Asimov, reading 'Prelude' was a great experience and seeing the peak of life on Trantor. What was most fascinating was Daneel Olivaw's appearance. Many of you remember him from the Robot series.

Harry Seldon's adventures start here; he is a very human and fallible subject (unlike the phrophesizing old man in Foundation.) I think you will find that this is the best of the foundation series and it'll be hard to put down