Rating: 
Summary: Not what I hoped for or expected, but Asimov nonetheless...
Review: I need to share with other readers the feeling that this book is not up to the usual standards set by the previous Foundation stories. It had a rushed feeling, as if the master tried to tie in all loose ends before his death. This resulted in gaps in the plot, in sketchy, monodimensional characters, in unlikely coincidences (example : in a 40-billion people planet, Seldon just happens to stumble upon the second "mentalic" and hires him as a bodyguard before his grandaughter finds out the truth!?!). Already with Prelude to Foundation I had the feeling that Asimov tried too hard to tie the Foundation series and the Robot series, attributing to R. Daneel Olivaw an even more important role (as if this was necessary...) This book continues in reducing the importance of Seldon, from a unique genius to a simpler man with a brilliant idea which nonetheless would have amounted to nothing if not for people around him. According to this book, together with Prelude, Seldon would not have further researched his "psychohistory" were it not for Daneel / Demerzel. He would not have built the science were it not for Yugo Amaryl's devotion. He had nothing to do with the invention of the Primary Radiant. And the Second Foundation was the result of a fluke, of a granddaughter with mind-reading powers. What a disappointment... BUT...
I really appreciated the way he described the fall of the Empire. The decline in morals, the deteriorating infrastructure, the increased corruption in government, the prejudices and the racism, all struck a cord, which was probably what Asimov intended anyway. I see in this book that Asimov has lost the optimism of the original Foundation series, has lost his infinite belief in the rigorousness of the human spirit. Maybe it was a result of old age, maybe it is a result of the disappointment caused by a humanity that has negated all the promises of peace and prosperity given with the revolutionary breakthroughs in science and technology. And his descriptions of a civilisation in decay rings a bell deeply in my soul : I recognised signs of our civilisation, and it scared me. Also, I loved the description of Seldon's progress in old age. Touching, deeply humane, and definitely a result of Asimov's himself ageing process. Not the stuff you expect when reading a science fiction novel, but realistic and emotional. Asimov became famous writing about robots, yet in this book he reminded us what it really means to be human, the joys and the losses, the disappointments and the hopes, life and death.
Rating: 
Summary: A worthy conclusion...
Review: I really wasn't expecting much from this book, which I worried would be yet another cashing in on the Foundation franchise, but I was pleasantly surprised. Hari Seldon, Asimov's alter ego, shines again in this fascinating denouement to the Foundation story and to Asimov's career. The book reveals more about the fate of the robots, and of the humans, and has a more hopeful tone than some of Asimov's other works. There is something about the tone here that suggests he knew his time was running out, and he treats his master epic with the care it deserves. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting! Captivating! Prevelent and Pertinent to the Future
Review: I thought that Forward to Foundation was a very exciting book. It went into great detaila about what came of society in the far future. I enjoyed reading this adventurous and captivating novel. It was one of Isaac Asimov's most impressive creations. Truling an outstanding masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I would like to start by saying that I am a big Asimov fan, and that this is the only novel I have ever read of his which would earn anything under four stars. "Forward the Foundation" takes place about 10 years after "Prelude to Foundation" (which was one of my favorites by the way,) and continues to feature Hari Seldon as he develops his psychohistory. While all the other Robot and Foundation novels offered some unforseen twist or new emphasis, this book did nothing of the kind. The first two stories were fun and interesting and promised to make this at least a four star book, but it was all downhill from there. I grew so board with the reiterated speculations about "lemonade death," that it took me a week to read that one section. Although the epilouge provided a somewhat satisfying (if somewhat predictable) ending, for the most part the entire second half of this book is extremely boring. Another unsatisfying aspect of this book, is that Asimov never even answers all the questions raised at the beginning when the emperor is killed. He asks how could psychohistory ever acount for such random events as that? and then never answers at the end. although you should definitly read this book if you've read the others in the series, you may be disappointed, as I was.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I would like to start by saying that I am a big Asimov fan, and that this is the only novel I have ever read of his which would earn anything under four stars. "Forward the Foundation" takes place about 10 years after "Prelude to Foundation" (which was one of my favorites by the way,) and continues to feature Hari Seldon as he develops his psychohistory. While all the other Robot and Foundation novels offered some unforseen twist or new emphasis, this book did nothing of the kind. The first two stories were fun and interesting and promised to make this at least a four star book, but it was all downhill from there. I grew so board with the reiterated speculations about "lemonade death," that it took me a week to read that one section. Although the epilouge provided a somewhat satisfying (if somewhat predictable) ending, for the most part the entire second half of this book is extremely boring. Another unsatisfying aspect of this book, is that Asimov never even answers all the questions raised at the beginning when the emperor is killed. He asks how could psychohistory ever acount for such random events as that? and then never answers at the end. although you should definitly read this book if you've read the others in the series, you may be disappointed, as I was.
Rating:
Summary: I hope his stories live on as long as Seldons ingenius plan
Review: I've been an Asimov fan since I was 14 years old and he has alot to answer for in all the school work I avoided to escape to his worlds, whether by reading about them or day dreaming about them. However I admit I did not expect much of this book, when I saw it on the shelf for the first time I was highly dubious that it could be anything other than an attempt to make money and milk the success of his foundation series. Surely there could be nothing more to say? How wrong I was. I will not go into plot details but I truly believe that this is Asimov's master work, it goes beyond his usual solid sci-fi style to create a scope that reminds the reader how precious and awe inspiring a life can be. For Asimov it marks the culmination of a life time of writing and I have heard it was finished only weeks before his death. I am certainly guilty of comparing Hari and Asimov all through this book, but with or without comparisons, the emotions it draws out truly are a wonder. Unintentionally it seems, in Forward the Foundation, Asimov has written a beautiful tribute to his own life. This is not suprising since he always found it irrisistable to share his opinion on everything, not least on himself. And all I can say is thankyou Asimov, wherever you may be or not be.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting.
Review: Interesting but not as well constructed as his other books. In some instances does not seem to follow its predecessor, Prelude to Foundation which is by far a more superior work. Worth reading but not a classic
Rating:
Summary: Forward the Foundation-Filling in the Gaps
Review: Isaac Asimov is, in my opinion, the greatest modern science fiction writer. His crowning achievement, the Foundation series, is widely aknowledged to be one of the greatest Sci-Fi series of all time. The series, Prelude to F-, Foundation, F- and Empire, Second F-, F-'s Edge, and finally Forward the Foundation, is the consummate of some 40 years of intermittent "dabbling" in the series. For this reason, there are, as can be expected, some continuity problems with the plot line. However, Asimov's skill as a storyteller through the characters is unparalleled in the genre. He is able to weave from words great characters such as Salvor Hardin, Hober Mallow, Lethan Devers, Bayta and Arkady Darrell, Stor Gendibal, Sura Novi...chracters as human as they are fictional. His greatest character, however, is Hari Seldon. Forward the Foundation represents Hari Seldon. It continuies the job of tying together all of Asimov's major novels begun in Foundation's Edge, and gives a sense of resolution, while only describing events that occur 500 years prior to those in Foundation's Edge. This book is not without flaws...though for it's insight into one of the greatest fictional characters of all time, I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Forward the Foundation-Filling in the Gaps
Review: Isaac Asimov is, in my opinion, the greatest modern science fiction writer. His crowning achievement, the Foundation series, is widely aknowledged to be one of the greatest Sci-Fi series of all time. The series, Prelude to F-, Foundation, F- and Empire, Second F-, F-'s Edge, and finally Forward the Foundation, is the consummate of some 40 years of intermittent "dabbling" in the series. For this reason, there are, as can be expected, some continuity problems with the plot line. However, Asimov's skill as a storyteller through the characters is unparalleled in the genre. He is able to weave from words great characters such as Salvor Hardin, Hober Mallow, Lethan Devers, Bayta and Arkady Darrell, Stor Gendibal, Sura Novi...chracters as human as they are fictional. His greatest character, however, is Hari Seldon. Forward the Foundation represents Hari Seldon. It continuies the job of tying together all of Asimov's major novels begun in Foundation's Edge, and gives a sense of resolution, while only describing events that occur 500 years prior to those in Foundation's Edge. This book is not without flaws...though for it's insight into one of the greatest fictional characters of all time, I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A fitting close to the Foundation series
Review: It's a prequel, of course, but in realtime it was the last book written in the series. Strictly _as_ a Foundation book, I don't think this one is quite as strong as its immediate predecessor, _Prelude to Foundation_. It's good, all right -- but it's not very tightly unified, the writing is sloppy in places, and it introduces a few things that seem to contradict the original series at certain points. What really makes this four-vignettes-plus-an-epilogue volume so engaging is that in it, Hari Seldon has clearly become a literary alter ego for Asimov himself. And Asimov was well aware as he wrote it that he hadn't long to live. And _that_ suggests that in writing about Dors Venabili, Wanda Seldon, and psychohistory, Asimov was "really" _also_ writing about his wife Janet Jeppson Asimov, his daughter Robyn, and his own literary oeuvre. So completely aside from its value as an SF novel (or, really, a story collection), it's also of great interest for the light it sheds on Asimov himself. Asimov is generally credited with three autobiographies: _In Memory Yet Green_, _In Joy Still Felt_, and _I. Asimov_ -- the last being my personal favorite because it's the most introspective and revealing of Asimov's character. (Excerpts from all three, plus some further surprising revelations that you've probably heard about by now, are included in Janet Jeppson Asimov's _It's Been a Good Life_.) But there's a case to be made that he wrote a fourth volume of autobiography, and that this is it. At the very least, this work of ostensible fiction is almost as revealing of Asimov's character and end-of-life concerns as any of his nonfictional autobiographies. For that alone, it will be of interest to every Asimov fan. May the Good Doctor rest in peace.
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