Rating: 
Summary: The only thing missing is the tri-lateral commission
Review: I enjoyed reading all three books in this "second trilogy", but after reading each of them, I felt a mounting disappointment that culminated just after finishing the last book.First, I'm disappointed how Dors and Lodovic were used, perhaps I should say not used. Second, I'm disappointed how the author kept bringing in still more dissident robot groups. Talk about Deus ex machina! Got a plot problem, bring in another group! The only behind the scenes group that's missing is the fabled tri-lateral commission. Third, I am disapointed at all the loose ends and hints for plot ideas to come. Finally, I'm disappointed how absolutely nothing ever happens through the strength of the individual or even, God forbid [and there's a word you won't find anywhere in this book] by chance. Everything happens due to behind the scenes machinations by Daneel or some other group. These books are the polar extreme opposites to anything by Stephen Donaldson---who celebrates the strength of the individual. I realize that Asimov was the one who decided to combine the Robots and Empire books and he did it well. I can't say the same for the killer B's continuation. The second trilogy books are like desserts that taste good but leave you feeling empty.
Rating: 
Summary: Foundation¿s what?
Review: If you're a fan of Asimov's "Foundation" series, you may want to read the subseries about the Second Foundation as a kind of penitential chore. It was a sure-fire marketing ploy, but I think it will soon be forgotten, if it hasn't been already. David Brin starts _Foundation's Triumph_ with a certain amount of enthusiasm, but it eventually flags; he seems to realize he's stuck to a Tar Baby. And like Bre'r Fox, he gets entangled in contrivances that become all the more implausible and convoluted the more he tries to extricate himself. It was a big mistake to tie in almost all of Asimov's galactic novels; the story loses its own dynamic and becomes a kind of -- pardon the expression -- encyclopedic encomium. For example, it was quite gratuitous to rewrite completely Joseph Schwartz's adventure from _Pebble in the Sky_. Recasting it as part of Daneel's omnipresent string-pulling ill serves the humble hero of Asimov's original novel. To be fair, Brin struggles mightily with the issues inherent in Asimov's creation. For example, why are the two Foundations necessarily a good thing? How can Seldon's "psychohistory" be more than a political platform in the face of naturally chaotic events? What are the social and psychological implications of telepathy? How can the gap be bridged between morality and Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics"? Brin is on the right track in having his characters wrestle with such issues. However, while they humanize the problems, they do little more than restate them. He might have had some success if he had recast the story in a more economical format. What, then, is Foundation's "triumph"? It's hard to tell. At the end, Hari Seldon wagers with humanity's éminence grise par excellence, R. Daneel Olivaw, that his two Foundations are not foredoomed to irrelevance. Rather, they will continue to foster individuality even after humanity has plugged into Daneel's "Galaxia," a kind of cosmic "mentalic" Internet. At least that expands a bit on Asimov's "Galactic Spirit," which was originally a throw-away concept exploited briefly and a bit cynically in _Foundation_. Can one define a potboiler, then, as a battle of irrelevancies? Brin explains in an afterword that he leaves a lot of loose ends to be followed up. Take my advice. Don't!
Rating:
Summary: No worse than any of Asimov's later Foundation books
Review: Not as good as Bear's effort in this series but light years ahead of Benford's attrocious book, Brin actually does too neat a job trying to tie everything together. At the same time, he deliberately throws out a few loose ends on the outside chance someone wants to use them later on in the series. What really makes this book not so good is the fact that the reader must engage in a huge amount of "willing sense of disbelief" when it comes to an 80 year old scientist trapsing around the galaxy one last time. And there are simply too many pat plot devices to get around this plain fact. Plus, we're now expected to believe that mankind's 12K years of lassitude was once again brought about by massive behind the scenes efforts of robots. At the same time, Brin does an excellent job of exploring the entire "robot sect" theory--that in itself makes the book a worthwhile read. Like many of the other reviewers, I hope that we've now explored Hari Seldon's life for the absolute last time. The whole Foundation Universe would have been better off with less detail about Seldon's "adventures" and more work on other interesting aspects of the story. Is this book worth purchasing? Not in hard copy it isn't. Go to your library. If you want all the Foundation/Robot books on one shelf, wait for the paperback version.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Killer B Foundation book
Review: First, I believe that the Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov are one of the best novel series in all of modern SF. Second, I liked the later Foundation novels by Asimov almost as much as I liked the orginal three novels. Third, I didn't like Gregory Benford's first novel expanding into Foundation terrotory. I did like Greg Bears second novel of this newer Foundation series. And I like this treatment by Brin the best of the new series of Foundation material. Now... It really isn't the good Doctor's writing style. But then, the Good Doctor had that styleless style that never gets in the way of the Story. But, Brin has one of the better writing styles in modern SF/F. Which makes this very much worth reading. It is pretty much required that you have read both Benford's and Bear's books in the series first. But then, that is why it is called a "series".
Rating: 
Summary: The wrap up
Review: Ok, so Foundation Triumph's over Gaia. Hurrah! Brin gives the readers what they want by showing how Psychohistory can win out. How can Gaia win out if there exists a galactic encloypedia since Gaia doesn't need books? That was the ERROR(intentional?) that was pointed out to Issac Asimov that was mentioned in the book review sections for Foundation and Earth. Knowing this, I KNEW psychohistory had to win out, but HOW was another matter. Well, All I can say is that BRin doesn't really give much of a explaination . In terms of style, I agree Brin's book is the closest in terms of plot and style to the orginals. As the reviewer says this book is full of intrigue and "Secerts" linking everything together. I agree that the second "shocking" secert was why the empire must fall is rather forced . Personally I find all the talk about "Chaos" and "brain fever" merely irriations that were hinted and easily guessed by readers of the past 2 BB books In conclusion, the BBB books are definitely inferior to any of the orginals (even Foundation and Earth! ) The only elements that I found interesting were the inclusion of the "robotic civil wars" and the "zeroth law heresy" . Personally I wished there was some more explorations about the "zeroth law"
Rating:
Summary: Not that bad, really.
Review: I was expecting a continuation of the events that occurred in Asimov's "Foundation and Earth". I was eager to see how Gaia factored into the situation. Instead, I got more about Hari Seldon. This isn't a bad thing, but the former would've been a better topic. Despite not having my Foundation hunger satisfied, I think David Brin did a decent job with the book. While I agree that the pans and the memes and whatnot brought in a non-Foundation element, Brin's explanation at the back of the book helped me to accept them. Of the three books, Brin's "action" style was the closest to Asimov's writing. However, the constant thinking on the part of the core characters kind of got annoying. Brin's Hari seemed to be dead on, but the "new" Dors was frustrating. And having read the Robot series, Brin's Daneel seemed a little too human. Overall, however, I found it hard to put the book down. Brin kept me riveted despite the drawbacks and in the long run, that's what matters.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not necessary.
Review: I am surprised that others think that Brin's book is better than Bear's book. Is this because it is the most recent or because it attempts to answer so many questions ? Benford's book did not add anything useful to the Foundation story (I HATE the pans, sims, memes, wormholes, etc). Bear's book expanded on the "Epilogue" of "Forward the Foundation" (which I assume that Asimov intended to do). I think that the plot and the characters are best in "Foundation and Chaos". "Foundation's Triumph" spends a lot of time referencing things from other Foundation books and attempting to add insight into things that we already know. The main plot is that the Daneel robots want Hari to give the robots permission to destroy the ships that were used to teraform the planets 20,000 year ago, and the anti-Daneel robots (and cyborgs) want Hari to go 500 years in the future to judge the things that Daneel plans to do. It ties in "I, Robot", "Caliban", "Pebble in the Sky", "Blind Alley", and many of the other Foundation books. Unfortunately, the pans, sims, and wormholes are also in the story, although not as heavily as in "Foundation's Fear". But, unfortunately it does introduce cyborgs, and fountain-of-youth-machines. The story makes Daneel sound like a god. He created the Empire, and the class structure. He used genetic engineering to make Hari a genius and to introduce mentalic people. He developed persuasion satellites and brain fever to keep humans from creating robots and to fight the chaos plague. A wave of robot terraforming ships secretly prepared the planets for the colonists (and may have killed other life in process). Daneel setup the pan immersion assassination attempt (Foundation's Fear) to test Hari for the roll of First Minister. Daneel plans to find (or rather create genetically) a human 500 years in the future who is always right to judge Gaia 500 year before "Foundation's Edge". The biggest thing that I could not swallow is that chaos is a virus developed by Earth. It also says that the Empire death can be stopped, but it needs to occur so that the bureaucracy dies. What ? I do like the fact that the book indirectly states that Gaia does not take over in it pure form since the Encyclopedia Galactica quotes are from 1054 F.E. and Hari and Daneel agree that there will be no need for the Encyclopedia if Galaxia occurs in it's pure form. It leaves room for a future book when two characters go to the future via the time warp on Earth. The book introduces some interesting ideas, and the plot has a lot of twists and turns. But, overall I do not think that it is as good as Bear or Asimov (Of course it is better than Benford). Only Bear captured the spirit of Asimov in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: I am glad I finished reading this series!
Review: Book One of this series was lousy. Book Two was decent. Book Three was the final one in the series, which is probably the best thing that can be said about it. I feel that the writers' goal in getting involved with this project, other than making money, was to attract Asimov fans to read their other works. In my case, at least, they have failed. If there is anything that can break a deeply-ingrained habit of finishing a series once it is started, this series is it. There are some decent moments in this book, but it is confusing and filled with pointless activity that ultimately accomplishes very little. I gave it 2 stars only because it does tie everything together and because of the timeline in the appendix. I checked this book out from the Library. I absolutely cannot recommend that anyone pay hardcover prices for this one.
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for Foundation's Yawn
Review: Any of the Benford/Bear/Brin books are worth reading only if you really loved all of the Foundation series. But get your copy from library, don't waste trees on buying your own copy -- the books aren't worth 25-cents at a yard sale. Oh, the books by B/B/B were OK, but the "Tales of Hari Seldon" genre they invented is really not deep enough to support more than one book (and we have how many, four? five?). There were a few interesting moments, e.g., more on the the existential robot debate a la "I, Robot" (which Brin resolves by destroying the debaters, oops); and that one single chapter in the first B book that introduced the otherwise needless Voltaire and Joan sims was remarkable. But even the last book written by Asimov about Hari Seldon wasn't all that great, as if Asimov himself got bored. Perhaps the Asimov estate will be more judicious about allowing more sequels, i.e., how much to exploit His legacy. Perhaps they won't allow any more at all (excepting more family members to send to college). I admit I am curious to see the Foundation reach its 1,000th birthday (i.e., fulfill Seldon's prediction to establish a Second Empire that will last 30,000 years or whatever). But the rate at which B/B/B have moved the overall Foundation plot forward* suggests it will, in fact, take 30,000 years for us readers to get through as well. --Jeff M *Here's how it ends: Fallom's descendants contribute telekinesis just-in-time to Gaia and combined with that psychic computer interface, defeat several rounds of local and extra-Galactic invaders. They add planets to Gaia while the Foundation joins Gaia and unites the plot lines, and everyone (resistance is futile, ha) finishes building Galaxia while eyeing -eek!- Universia. Surprise ending: Sunset fade-out in Second Galactic Empire Year 29,999 with the now-50,000 year old Daneel or his sim hovering over a little boy (or girl; assuming women advance in the sciences, or at least in sci-fi writing) who *somehow* gets the idea that the future of history can be predicted by, oh heck, mathematics (i.e., game theory, for any mathematicians reading this). The End. You're welcome -- and the publisher can please send my residual to the Home for Retired Sci-Fi Writers.
Rating:
Summary: I expected good writing and got it, a fine tribute...
Review: I believe Brin did a great job tying together the new concepts introduced in the first two books of the new trilogy (which had me worried, I must admit), reached broadly to include Caliban and Inferno (an unexpected treat)and tied up many loose ends of the original Foundation Trilogy and Robot Series (which was all I expected). He explains Hari Seldon, 'pans', chaos, robot religions, the lack of alien intelligence in the galaxy, Daneel's amazing part in the creation of the empire, what happened to the earth, the spacer worlds, the list goes on. A must read for anyone who has followed the whole saga and thirsts for more.
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