Rating: 
Summary: Foundation's Drear
Review: I disagree with those who criticize Benford for neither writing like Asimov nor adopting the now outmoded science underlying the great Foundation trilogy. Asimov himself developed a more polished style in later works, and, as a scientist, would doubtlessly approve the use of the most accurate technology. Such criticisms miss a more damning point -- that "Foundation's Fear" is a bad book by any standard. The book is bloated with pointless dialogue and description. The hamhanded plot telegraphs the "twists" so far in advance that their final arrival is cause for relief rather than surprise. The secondary characters are so paper thin that it's impossible to understand their motivations or to develop any sympathy for them. Benford does manage better with his main character. His exposition of Hari Seldon's character and of the development of psychohistory provide believable coverage for holes in Asimov's account. But Benford sacrifices some of the character's credibility by having Seldon engage in James Bondian heroics while avoiding a series of implausible assassination attempts. But worst of all are the scenes with the Voltaire and Joan of Arc artificial entities. Their actions and reactions to events around them are unrealistic, the development of their "characters" doesn't make sense, and and their philosophizing about artificial entities mostly rehashes points that have been made better by more skillful writers.I borrowed this book from the library, and am glad that I didn't waste $6.00 on it. I advise everyone else to either do the same or skip straight to the vastly superior Greg Bear book, which can be read independent of "Foundation's Fear." If you insist on owning the book, wait to find it for 50 cents at flea markets, where it should be appearing in abundance soon.
Rating: 
Summary: The sequel is never as good...but this one comes close.
Review: I've read a LOT of Asimov, not just Sci-Fi, but nearly everything he's written. Since "Foundation's Fear" I've tried to read more of Benford's works as well. While I did not enjoy this work as much as the Robot series or the Empire series, this is at least a decent start to what could be a interesting sequel. My view is this, if you like the idea of Foundation or Asimov's original concept of it, this is an excellent book to add to your library. R. Daneel Olivaw was always my favorite character, since the early days in "Stars Like Dust" or "Naked Sun," and I was really glad to have him back. It seemed that Asimov's vision left a lot to be asked, very large holes could be seen even by mere mortals like myself. I found that while the writting style was a little too conversational for my tastes, it did fill a nice gap in the Foundation history. It focused on a certain time instead of leaping millenia into the future. I only hope the 2nd and 3rd books are as good.
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the worst book ever written...
Review: I'm an avid reader. I swear I'll read anything...But this was too much even for me to handle!! I have never written a book review before, but I feel truly compelled to prevent others from spending money on this book. Asimov must be turning in his grave to know that the Foundation has been used as the backdrop for this lame excuse of a story. It seems to me that Benford wanted an outlet to show the world how much useless information he had accumulated throughout the years, and he just threw everything together into a long book. I'm sorry, but this book has no plot, no climax, NOTHING!!! It is just an endless string of character introspections that have little to do with Asimov's vision of the future. And what's up with the dialogues between Dors and R. Daneel??? Not one sentence is finished!!! They just keep interrupting each other. And then there's the "sims" -- Joan of Arc and Voltaire - Huh?? What??? How does this all tie in with the pans?? (I haven't finished reading the book, and don't know if I ever will, but I truly hope there's some sort of connection here.) Lastly, the book contains too many inconsistencies with respect to the original series. If you're an Asimov fan, as I am, I advice you to stick to the original...otherwise, prepare to be very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Just Plain Bad
Review: Other reviewers have more than amply pointed out that this book utterly lacks Asimov's style, and the familiar characters have changed (brief examples: despite numerous attacks, not one mention of Seldon's twisting; only one line regarding Seldon's adopted son Ryach; and most upsetting, the utter lack of connection and sympathy we feel for Daneel, who has become a weary -- and wearying -- collection of stock phrases and contradictions). Most awful is that this book suffers from lack of a good editor. Hundreds of pages of the dialog between the computer simulated characters Joan of Arc and Voltair should have been cut, and that's just a start. The book is filled with future techno babble which is neither engaging or germain to the story. In short, don't read this expecting to be re-engaged in Seldon's world. And if your time is limited, don't bother reading it at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Future history...again.
Review: I was desperately anticipating this book, wanting an explanation of the time between the fall of the Empire and the creation of the Foundations. But this was not what I was looking for. While the book was very well written, it lacked the spark Asimov's original idea gave his books. I will definitely buy and read the 2nd two installments, but I do so out of a fond memory of Asimov, Hari Seldon and R. Daneel Olivaw. This book seemed to be an attempt to capture the minds of today's readers with stories from our past. And at some points, the reverant past of the characters in the later timeline is amost made flippant with some trite dialogue and a stab at CyberWar. Creating such historical figures such as Voltare and Joan of Ark helped give the sense of history repeating itself, but the story seemed to have little to do with the whole history of the foundation. In my opinion it could have been a totally seperate sci-fi story plugged with Dr. Asimov's name.
Rating: 
Summary: Glad Gregory Benford is such as good author
Review: I was worried when I found out that somebody else was going to be writing about Asimov's storyline. He might try to change things, make them his own, and thereby wreck the story in the process. I am extremely glad it turned out the way it did. Benford took the story and wrote it the way I believe Asimov would have liked it to be written like. it turns out to be a fine story that is tru to the Foundation spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Not Asimov, nor Foundation, nor good Benford, not good atall
Review: I don't like trashing honest efforts, and I guess this was an honest effort by Gregory Benford, but it fails inexorably. It's supposed to take off from PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION, and does include the two principals from that book, Hari & Dors, also Yugo who's much less interesting than he was in the first book. I especially wonder what happened to Raich who Hari & Dors seemed to be taking in as a son. It is much too heavily laden down with technical talk. There's precious little action on any level for much of the book. Therefore, reading it does become a bit of a chore, not the fun it was reading Asimov's stories. You'll probably want to read it as preparation for the other two books, so just be prepared not to be very excited by it.
Rating:
Summary: Weird Social Commentaries
Review: I was disappointed in Benford's attempt at Foundation writing, which I found drab, banal, and at times, aimless. He's written much better books (e.g., Eater and Timescape). However, I'm submitting this review to voice my frustration with the antiquated social views Benford presents. I have enjoyed Asimov's Foundation books because they contained big ideas and grand plots. I liked Asimov's books despite his quaint views about society and people. After all, he's from another, older generation. But Benford is from our generation, and it annoyed me to come across his weird social views about "homosexuals" (e.g., paperback page 208) and male dominance over women as part of human nature (e.g., pages 244-45). It almost seemed like Trent Lott was writing science fiction. What we know about human society so far suggests (ok, arguably) the unlikelihood of Benford's social vision 15,000-plus years from now. But even more, Benford's, well, prejudiced, views undermines what makes science fiction great. And what makes science fiction great is that it expands what we can conceive. Now I realize that some readers will ascribe to Benford's "quaint" view of things. Fine. I just found it irritating and distracting. So much so that I probably will not buy another Benford book. (I probably will buy the other books in this Foundation trilogy, however, because I like Bear, and I really like Brin. Ah, well.)
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Gregory!
Review: I appreciated the glimpse into a world that would otherwise have been limited to the original Foundation series. The style is noticeably different than the spare wording of Asimov's Foundation series, which let me imagine most of the scenery and so on. I kept reading to the end, and really enjoyed the book. But I only gave four stars because I think the writing could have been leaner. I skimmed over the details that I didn't care about, yet I was left wishing I could have had more of certain other details that I did care about. Such as how Dors, Hari's robot wife, came to be with him, and when exactly this book fit into the timeline of the original series. I'm not sure why I wanted details that weren't there but didn't want some of the details that were there. I will definitely get the next two books, and I'm so glad this was written.
Rating:
Summary: I am crying
Review: There are tears in my eyes and a histerical laugh. I am 26. This is the worst book I've ever read, and the worst I'll ever read in my life. I never thought I could say this about a book. But it is that bad. Thirty pages are left and I can't stand it. I just won't finish it. I am still waiting for ANYTHING to happen. It is too bad. I never thought a book like this existed. It is incredible. There is a cereal box beside me and I surprised myself reading the nutritional data on the side, while reading the book. I want to turn the page on the cereal box. I have the other two installments, that's why I did not throw it away some days ago. What a punishment
I will burn it. Do not even think about buying this book. NOTHING HAPPENS.
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