Forward the Foundation

Rating:
Summary: While being boring at times, it is a good asimov book!
Review: After reading the orignal trilogy, I had to continue to his later books(i.e. Foundation's edge and Foundation and Earth and also the preqels.) I found them to be extremly dissapointing. They lack the "time jumps" of the first three. I read them anyway. Finaly I read Forward the Foundation, finally he returns to his orignal format! I soon found parts of it very depressing. (i.e. the end) Only hard-core fans like myself would enjoy this very well written book.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: As a teenager, I read the Foundation series and enjoyed it thouroughly. Unfortunately, this book, (which BTW should be read only AFTER the original series), exhibits all of Asimov's weaknesses, and very few of his great strengths.

Judged separately from the rest of the series, the book fails in most literary aspects: the plot is full of holes, and most twists are either predictable or implausible; the characters are not interesting or well-portrayed; the language and style are lacking.

All of these were also true to some extent in the original books, but this one lacks the merit of Asimov's great imagination and inventive power. As this book was written just to tie the loose ends, so to speak, it doesn't really present any new ideas or concepts, but simply tries to stop the gaps in the rest of the series.

I feel that the important content of this book, in the sense of completing the series, could be written as a much shorter account, perhaps a death-bed confession of Seldon, or some other literary device, and save us the more tedious parts of the book (which are numerous).

All this is not to say that this is a bad book; simply that it's really not a good one, and certainly doesn't measure up to the original (and much shorter) books in this great series.

Rating:
Summary: Only for the faithful
Review: As I recall, Asimov died while still working on this book. It shows. The book has a rushed feel. There is a lot of interesting stuff here, but it is not explored with Asimov's usual brilliance. The characters are also poorly drawn, especially that of Dors Venabili. That may actually be Asimov's fault as he was never very good at writing women characters -- certainly not in the same class as, say, Robert Heinlein. It's telling that several years after I read the entire series, I can clearly remember the plots of most of the books vividly, but had to thumb through Forward again to remind myself of what happened.

If you're a huge Foundation fan (like me), it's probably worth buying and reading, just to complete your journey through the Foundation series. It's not a BAD book, afterall. But for those of you new to Asimov in general and the Foundation series in particular, this is the wrong place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Isaac Asimov in his final triumph!
Review: As the Galactic Empire continues to crack and crumble around an aging Hari Seldon, who races to finish Psychohistory in time to save humanity, you feel that Asimov was describing his own life partly as he felt himself fading away. The sadness of it is real and pure. Three cheers for Asimov!

Rating:
Summary: Totally A book that will knock your socks off
Review: Asimov goes beyond a genius in this novel. He explains all that is wanted to be knowen. The way he can tie the events between his PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION and FOUNDATION books is amazing. It simply boggles the human mind. The way he gives his characters a real life persona. The connection that can be made between his characters and the role that they play. The plot twists and the ending in which really touches and reaches out to you. It makes his whole series complete. Bringing down the GOD like persona that he gave to Seldon in his other books. A must read!

Rating:
Summary: Humanity remains the same, but still greate.
Review: Asimov's "Forward the Foundations" is one of the best books I 've read this year and remains as one of my best choises. The ideas are original and the plot... No words for that one. It has almost everything any science fiction fan could ask. The only thing that I really didn't like was the state of humanity. Dammit, despite that they survived long enough to to a Galactic Empire, they remain with the same behavior. But the story shadows that little error.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: Asimov, in his final book of the classic foundation trilogy, never fails to provide though-provoking reading. In this novel, wea learn of the late life in the infamous Hari Seldon and the people he knew best. The book details his most intimiate times with his closest friends and damily members. Forward Foundation is written in a different style than the other books: it covers many more years, from Seldon's fourties to his death. Forward foundation is the kind of novel that makes one think about all the thing important to him or herself. We learn about the Second Foundation, the reasoning behind it and how it was founded. Faces from previous novels appear in this one as well. The robots from Foundation and Earth and Robots and empire are present. All in all, a wonderful read and the crowning achievment of Asimov's work.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: Asimov, in his final book of the classic foundation trilogy, never fails to provide though-provoking reading. In this novel,wea learn of the late life in the infamous Hari Seldon and the people he knew best. The book details his most intimiate times with his closest friends and damily members. Forward Foundation is written in a different style than the other books: it covers many more years, from Seldon's fourties to his death. Forward foundation is the kind of novel that makes one think about all the thing important to him or herself. We learn about the Second Foundation, the reasoning behind it and how it was founded. Faces from previous novels appear in this one as well. The robots from Foundation and Earth and Robots and empire are present. All in all, a wonderful read and the crowning achievment of Asimov's work.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent but Disappointing End to Foundation Series
Review: Book Review by C. Douglas Baker

FORWARD THE FOUNDATION is an excellent work and very entertaining. It is well written in the vein of the Foundation Series. But ultimately, FORWARD THE FOUNDATION is profoundly disappointing.

FORWARD THE FOUNDATION is a biography of Hari Seldon, filling in the areas of his life not previously covered in PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION. FORWARD THE FOUNDATION is written as a series of novellas covering major portions and events in Seldon's life as he continues his solidification of psychohistory and prepares for the establishment of the Foundation and the Second Galactic Empire. Hari Seldon is a fascinating character and many of his life experiences chronicled in FORWARD THE FOUNDATION were unexpected. FORWARD THE FOUNDATION probably could be enjoyed as a stand alone novel but it is not recommended. Without the background of the previous Foundation novels many of the events and explications of psychohistory would be much less significant to the reader.

Two key questions remained after the last novel, FOUNDATION AND EARTH. First, how and why was the Second Foundation originally established? Second, was the Seldon Plan truly a failure and would Galaxia really be the future of humankind?

FORWARD THE FOUNDATION clearly answers the first question. The First and Second Foundations were established to be complimentary to each other. The First Foundation is to be the backbone of the technological and political regeneration of humanity in the form of the Second Galactic Empire while the Second Foundation plays the role of advancing psychohistory and ensuring the survival of the First Foundation. While this is relatively clear in the previous Foundation novels, the Second Foundation seems vulnerable and venal in FOUNDATION'S EDGE and FOUNDATION AND EARTH. Both Foundations are more concerned with their own self-interest as opposed to the interest of the Second Galactic Empire or the Seldon Plan. In FORWARD THE FOUNDATION we clearly see that they are meant to work together to complete the Seldon Plan.

Ultimately FORWARD THE FOUNDATION is extremely disappointing as a denouement to the Foundation Series. The major question left from FOUNDATION AND EARTH, the latest chronologically of the Foundation Series, is the fate of humanity. It seems pretty clear at the end of FOUNDATION AND EARTH that Gaia or Galaxia, the all encompassing organic planet where every element is interconnected physically, will be the eventual fate of all humankind after Trevize discovers what he considers to be the fatal flaw of psychohistory and decides in its favor (for more detail see FOUNDATION'S EDGE and FOUNDATION AND EARTH). Trevize claims that psychohistory does not take into account the possibility of intelligent life in other galaxies. If such life exists then psychohistory is irreparably flawed (I think this is a terribly poor argument and lament that FOUNDATION AND EARTH was ever written). Therefore Trevize feels he must side with Gaia so that humankind can be united if it ever faces a threat from intelligent life outside the galaxy. Gaia is a very unpleasant and damning ending for humanity. Humankind as one large interconnected organism is defeatist.

Unfortunately, FORWARD THE FOUNDATION does not explicitly state that the Foundation ultimately establishes a Second Galactic Empire and that Galaxia is aborted. FORWARD THE FOUNDATION, however, does strongly imply that Galaxia is not the ultimate fate of humanity and that the Seldon Plan works out. First, if the Foundation does not succeed why should readers, who have already seen the future, care about the life a Hari Seldon? If Galaxia is the fate of humankind then Seldon would have played no role in the shape of humankind's future and would be unimportant in the long run. Surely Asimov would not have spent such effort writing about Seldon's life if Galaxia were to make Seldon's life ultimately purposeless. Additionally there is the continuing entries of the Encyclopedia Galactica which states at the end of FORWARD THE FOUNDATION: "It has been said that Hari Seldon left this life as he lived it, for he died with the future he created unfolding all around him..."

This passage could be interpreted that the Seldon Plan eventually molds the future of humankind.

Whether my assumption that the Foundation ultimately establishes a Second Galactic Empire is correct or not, FORWARD THE FOUNDATION does not bring closure to the Foundation Series. If the Seldon Plan is successful, then we must wonder how the Foundations are able to thwart the establishment of Galaxia after the seemingly firm impetus it had at the end of FOUNDATION AND EARTH. If Galaxia is indeed eventually established, certainly the two Foundations did not acquiesce without a fight. And both Foundations had the resources and ability to fight for their own survival and the Seldon Plan. This conflict would have been interesting and would have made a great premise for a final Foundation novel.

In sum I must say I am disappointed in the ending of the Foundation Series. For the most part FORWARD THE FOUNDATION is well worth reading in the context of the preceding novels. Unfortunately, we are left to speculate about the impending conflict between Galaxia and the two Foundations. I would have rather speculated about the interlude in Seldon's life filled by FORWARD THE FOUNDATION.


Rating:
Summary: Good plot, good storyline, good theme, unique format, ****!
Review: Forwaard the Foundation takes on where Prelude to Foundation left off. The book takes place 10 years afterwards, and Hari has accomplished practically nothing in his practice of 'psychohistory.' His entire life has been ruined by the project and, without giving away the surprize ending of the previous book, "Hummin" has decided to exile himself! -Isaac Asimov did a great job at blending the 4 parts of the story together, although sometimes I found it difficult to differentiate between a flashback and a present scene.

-A wide and interesting selection of characters that differ greatly from one another.

-Poor physical description of characters.

-Romance and sadness, but little humour.

-Can be somewhat depressing.

-It kind of seems like a historical version of a true story set in the distant future in a fictitious world--which, in fiction, would be a historical true story of the past.

-Good job of blending ending to make as a prelude to the original Foundation novel-This book is not too ahead of itself, even though it takes place in about 25 000 years from now.