Rating: 
Summary: Stands on its own
Review: I want to give a Four star (for lack of character development) but the ideas Asimov works with and the way the story shifts and turns force me to give the exalted "five". The one thing I particularly liked about this book was that it was necessary to read the Foundation Trilogy to enjoy it. So many times, writers make the assumption that you have read all the other books of a series and present the reader with strange and unexplained ideas and people. One advantage Asimov had in writing this story was time. He had over 30 years to think about the original series and how it fit in with the other works. He also could update the science which made it much more believable. We are on Trantor and this is the story of Seldon, his fights, his studies, his love life (very high-level as in all Asimov novels) and his triumphs. Robots play a part in this prequel that they do not in the series itself for the obvious reason that Asimov had not yet come up with the idea of tying them together. After 30+ years he has most of the pieces in place and can manipulate them at will. The revelation of his "wife" was only too good.
Rating:
Summary: Asimov still hasn't been rivalled
Review: Isaac Asimov never lost his touch. Like Heinlein, he devoted much of his late-period writing to wrapping all of his stories (robots, the Galactic Empire, and the Foundation(s)) into one grand Future History. Although I've long been primarily a Heinlein fan, I think Asimov did by far the better wrap-up job. And when I go back to reread this stuff, I pick Asimov over Heinlein more often than not. I credit Heinlein with three absolutely magisterial novels (_Double Star_, _The Door into Summer_, and _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_), a handful more that were really really good, and a boatload of third-tier stuff I don't care if I ever read again. (And in contrast to the Good Doctor, Heinlein's _non_fiction writings were uniformly awful. In real life Heinlein seems to have had something of a nasty side that I don't care for at all.) On the whole, Asimov seems to be wearing better. And his more recent novels -- like this one -- are just plain excellent. This one (and its followup, _Forward the Foundation_) is way more interesting than it has any right to be. For heaven's sake, we already _know_ how the Foundation stories come out. We know Hari Seldon doesn't get killed. We know he develops psychohistory. We know he establishes two Foundations at opposite ends of the Galaxy. There just shouldn't be a whole lot of tension here. And with another author, there probably wouldn't be. But in Asimov's hands, the intrinsic interest of the story carries the day. We get a fascinating tour of Trantor, a lot of Imperial intrigue, some insights into the initial development of psychohistory, and a couple of the Good Doctor's closing twists (one of which will not be altogether unexpected if you know _Foundation's Edge_ and _Foundation and Earth_). It's extremely well done and pretty much unputdownable. As of the mid-1960s or so, the field of SF has been dominated by writers with more style than substance. Asimov is still one of the three or four best and greatest.
Rating:
Summary: What a Way to Start a Series!
Review: For me, the first book in many series is something like a warm-up for the series itself, less interesting or poignant. This proved totally unture with Prelude to Foundation! Right away, Asimov let you know just what the book was about, and introduced you to a few major characters that you'll need to know about to make sense of the rest of the series. Prelude to Foundation begins on Trantor, the heart of the Galactic Empire. Trade in the empire prospers, and all is peaceful. There's only one catch - the empire is slowly but surely dying. Only one man, with the help of a few others, can soften the blow to the galaxy. A man named Hari Seldon is called to give a paper on his new theory called psychohistory to the Emperor. Psychohistory, we are told in the book, is a way of predicting the probability of events - in the future! Because the theory is unfinished and Seldon will not "predict" the Emperor's future, the Emperor gets mad. That can't be good, having the leader of 25 million planets angry at you! With the help of two friends, Seldon is forced to flee the Emperor as he develops his theory. Prelude to Foundation tells what happens during this time, known as the Flight. A man named Chetter Hummin helps Seldon flee. Hummin has a knack for being where you need him, right when you need him, as well as a few other very unnatural characteristics... A pretty, bright young woman named Dors Venabili also helps Seldon. She was told by Hummin to protect Seldon, and she takes her job very seriously. Seldon, who comes from a tiny planet called Helicon, needs her to help him get around on busy and dangerous Trantor. Prelude to Foundation was one of the few books that passed my "Test of Time" - I could read it five times over without stopping! This is an absolutely amazing book, and a wonderful start to a series.
Rating:
Summary: Great prequel for a great trilogy.
Review: This story to answer my nagging questions as to how Hari Seldon came to be is a welcome addition to my favorite science-fiction trilogy. I would love to see the series put on the big screen. If so, I hope the director will refrain from too great a dependence on special effects or big name movie stars. The key to this series is the story and character development. Give this book and the next three in the series your attention. Stop reading the series there, for that is how it should have ended. But do go on to read other Asimov works - I especially recommend his Guide to Earth and Space! Then find his history of Europe and read it. Then, mail it to me as the last person I lent it to failed to return it to me before he left Egypt! Yikes...careful who you loan your Asimov books to!
Rating:
Summary: The Start
Review: A full and proper start to this epic story of mathemetician and Psycohistorian Hari Seldon. His prediction for the future of the galaxy he knows, one where the human race with the help of robots have created an empire so grand, all has to come to an end. This story takes us on the great Flight the Hari had to endure as his prediction of humanity's survival did not impress the emperor in the slightest. The old tale of where humans came from is dotted in this book as with all the Asimov epics of this story. Characters are introduced that would be a major influence in the Foundation trilogy as well as the next prequil, Forward the Foundation. Reading it before or after the Trilogy dosen't really matter but treat the second prequil as a continuation of the first.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: Asimov's "Prelude to Foundation" was fortunately the first work I ever read from this master writer. My expectations were more than fulfilled. The main character is Hari Seldon who possesses a rudimentary mathematical framework for predicting future events. His problem is living in a universe where there are 25 million planets and trying to take the massive amount of information from each to make a reliable model from which to predict the future. Seldon is aided by Hummin who helps transport him across the planet and Dors, a historian, who try to keep Seldon and his ideas from being seized. Seldon gradually refines his approach to predicting the future, leading Seldon (and the reader) to a great many surprises about the many whom he trusted along the way. Asimov creates a complex plot which could have easily unraveled, but he ties all loose ends together in this skillful and brilliant novel. A must read for anyone interested in science fiction!
Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent start to a classic sci-fi series.
Review: Isaac Asimov lost none of his ability in the long gap between writing the original, Hugo award winning (Best All Time Science Fiction Series) Foundation Trilogy and Foundation's Edge. Hari Seldon is a young man of about 30 who has just arrived at Trantor from his native Helicon to present a lecture on his theories of psychohistory. He does so and is immediately sucked into a web of other people's ambitions and ideals, including the Emperor's and his aide's and other rival factions. This is an engrossing, politico-science fiction thriller that involves a planetwide chase, a puzzle to solve (for Seldon AND for the reader), and even some developing romance. An excellent read, I could not put it down.
Rating:
Summary: A most pleasant surprise
Review: Having enjoyed the original Foundation trilogy and the two follow-up books, I was reluctant about Asimov's telling of Hari Seldon's life. It didn't really seem interestin to me, and if it was interesting, I was leery of peeking at the magic behind the curtain, as it were. What I found instead was an excellent character study. I've read elsewhere that the character of Seldon is in many ways autobiographical of Asimov himself, and that's not hard to believe. Seldon often comes across in the novel as Asimov himself does - driven and humorously self-effacing. In this way, Seldon himself is perhaps the most clearly fleshed out of all the characters Asimov has written about. When combined with the surprising (at least to me) plot points of Hari's life, you're left with a whole new spin on the series itself. In short, strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Genisus of the serise
Review: When Asimov first came up with the idea for this series he was trying to model it on the fall of the ancient Roman empire, but even he never guessed at the wonderful legacy he would unleash. Here we first meet Harry Seldon, who at this point is just a struggling mathematician. It is also in this "Prelude" to the epic as it were we meet characters never before seen in the other books (although we do meet their descendants in other books). Asimov was the last of his kind there will never be another to match imagination and sear attention to detail. This another one my essential additions to any serious Sci-fi fans itinerary.
Rating:
Summary: An interestng diversion from the traditional Foundation plot
Review: Here, in what is the first of the Foundation series, Hari Seldon comes to Trantor to discuss his paper on a mysterious theory (Psychohistory) at a conference. The plot quickly thickens when we find out that the Emperor's right-hand man is interested in this theory. Seldon is contacted by the Emperor, and after an unproductive meeting he goes into hiding in the relatively safe University district of Trantor. The book continues, but ends with an explosive and suprising finale
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