Rating: 
Summary: Almost as good as Asimov, better than Foundation's Fear
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was written in the style of Asimov himself, and remained faithful to the original series. It is better than the first book in the series. Although Foundation's Fear was a pretty good read, I felt the author deviated too much from Asimov's universe. Parts of the book were tedious to read. Greg Bear did an excellent job of "fixing" the deviations from the first book. Whereas Book 1 made me doubtful of wanting to continue the new trilogy, Book 2 has me anxiously awaiting the third installment from David Brin.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Series
Review: I was actually disappointed by this series as a whole, having built up quite an expectation in my mind after learning that it was a collaboration by three of my top five favorite SF authors (Stephenson and Sterling make up the balance). Benford's tedious start made me think twice about continuing the series, but the promise of Greg Bear made me come back to it. And I wasn't disappointed. (At least until I moved on to Brin's contribution.)It really seemed to me like this series wasn't as much a collaboration as a competition... Bear seems to take pains to instantiate his own ideas and opinions about the Robots/Empire/Foundation universe at the expense of Benford's. (And later, Brin will do much of the same.) I much rather would have seen a true collaboration that brought out only the best of the authors involved (much like the Niven/Pournelle collaborations do). Unfortunately, we're subjected to something that comes across as literary oneupsmanship. But I give Bear 4 stars for his effort, which is easily the most "Asmiovish," in my opinion. Not that Asimov wasn't tedious (like Benford), or didn't take lurching left turns (like Brin), but of the three novels in this series, Foundation and Chaos was most like what I expected. Brin's conclusion is easily worth reading, if you make it this far, but don't expect it to be better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Almost like asimov's work
Review: I was extremely dissapointed with the first installment in the second trilogy so I thought for a while of not reading this book in case it was just like the first. I'm glad I didn't skip it; it was the exact opposite of Benford's book -- interesting, well written, and it does a great job of keeping the Foundation universe alive; the parts with R.Daneel had me turning pages for a while! It was almost enough to save the series on its own. Hopefully brin's book will be as good!
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic and imaginative!
Review: I was impressed beyond my wildest expectations (which were quite low after having read Foundation's Fear)! Greg Bear's creative imagination has added a powerful, page-turning interpretation of the Grand Master's universe. What a fantastic idea R. Lodovic presented! Bear's climactic recreation of Seldon's trial also had me fully engrossed. I finished the book in 3 hours without pause. Asimov would have been proud to see his Foundation series added to with this wild tale.
Rating:
Summary: Very much worth reading.
Review: I was skeptical of any attempt to extend Asimov's work. This book is true to both the style and originality of the original works. Greg Bear makes the cut.
Rating:
Summary: Bear has captured Asimov's style and bettered it.
Review: If you are a fan of Greg Bear's sci fi, you will find it hard to believe he could capture the essential style of another writer so perfectly. Greg has suppressed his own identity and has written this book as an Asimov meme. And, as sometime's the case, the student outshines the master, giving an unmatched sense of humanity (or robotity!) to the classic characters and new players. Isaac (and perhaps Hari Seldon) are smiling down on this one. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Yay! Another Foundation Book
Review: If you've read my review of Foundation's Fear, you know I was disappointed in the type of story that it was. It wasn't really a Foundation book. Enter Greg Bear, who NAILS it. The only problem I have with this book is the plot ties that it has with the "meme" stuff from the first book...but it seems that that's just a requirement of the overall storyline of the trilogy (though I think that this story on its own could have survived without it). I enjoyed this book immensely. I can't wait to see where David Brin takes it from here.
Rating:
Summary: Yay! Another Foundation Book
Review: If you've read my review of Foundation's Fear, you know I was disappointed in the type of story that it was. It wasn't really a Foundation book. Enter Greg Bear, who NAILS it. The only problem I have with this book is the plot ties that it has with the "meme" stuff from the first book...but it seems that that's just a requirement of the overall storyline of the trilogy (though I think that this story on its own could have survived without it). I enjoyed this book immensely. I can't wait to see where David Brin takes it from here.
Rating: 
Summary: I hate books like this
Review: It is books like this that thoroughly disgust me. When someone takes the well-developed universe of a dead author, and twists it to his own purposes, royalty-hunting. A true author would make his own universe. This one didn't.
Rating:
Summary: There is hope for this "second" foundation trilogy.
Review: Like many of the other reviewers, I found Bear's work more entertaining than Benford's. Bear seems more mindful of the importance of plot and characters you care about to the success of a novel. The essential genius of authors like Asimov and Clarke has always been in getting the reader to become absorbed in the idea he or she is a part, however small, in the unfolding of a purposeful evolution of mankind in the universe. Bear succeeds where Benford became too entranced in the dialectic.
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