Rating: 
Summary: Not Asimov. but A good Modern SF story
Review: I can't beleive Mrs. Asimov approved this story. It's not at all connected to Asimov's stories, themes, or style of writing. Once accepted it's not related to Asimov, and taken as something seperate then it's a good story. It's a good modern SF novel.
Rating:
Summary: I was disappointed...
Review: Benford is a good author but sadly his addition to the Foundation Saga did not fit at all. First, the personalities are way too different than in the original series. Secondly, the story contradicts way too many of the things set forth by Asimov such as the non-existance of aliens. Finally, some events are unbelievable such as Superhero Seldon performing feats even James Bond wouldn't attempt.Benford took his previous writings (Immersion, etc.) and simply 'meshed' them into the book, put in the characters, and called it "Foundation". Had he written outside of Asimov's universe, the book would have been much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Rehashed Material
Review: I am very disappointed in Gregory Benford. If he wasn't up to the task of writing a Foundation Novel, then he should have passed the opportunity to do so. Instead, more than half of this novel is previously published material. The Joan and Voltaire material is lifted from a novella he wrote for Robert Silverberg's Time Gate shared world, and the Chimpanzee Immersion material is lifted from a short story he wrote in 1996 called "Immersion." The rest of the novel is, in my opinion, mainly poor characterization of Asimov's characters, acting in ways that would cause the Good Doctor to spin in his grave. I really like Benford's work...but this is certainly the worst effort he has ever put to paper. The fact that much of the book is lifted material (even if it is fairly good material) is inexcusable. The material does not even mesh well with the rest of the book, much less the Foundation Universe.
Rating:
Summary: Big Science, Small Conflict
Review: Maybe if the first half of this treatise had been lopped off, the story could have been salvaged. As it is, one slogs through 600 agonizing pages of pseudo-science with little conflict and no suspense. Benford should have written a concordance to Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, then he wouldn't have had this weak story getting in the way of his speculation.
Rating:
Summary: Lucky Asimov isn't arround to read it.
Review: This book is terrible. I sincerelly doubt Benford ever read asimov. Please start reading this 'trilogy' from the second book on. The worst characters in all the book are Joan and Voltaire. How did he manage to convince his editor to let this pass as an Asimovian novel is beyond me, as well as the fact that the book is authorizad by the Estate of Isaac Asimov. Do yourself a favor and pretend you know nothing about this book. Start with Greg Bears 'Foundation and Chaos'.
Rating:
Summary: It's not good because it's not good
Review: This book is not good, not because it's not Asimov but because it's simply not good. I had the luxury of reading it within the context of the other two "new" books and while that helps in hindsight, it doesn't while you're slogging through Benford's weighty prose. Don't expect Asimov but then the reader shouldn't. As Bear and to a lesser extent Brin show, authors can bring a fresh perspective on the topic and do it fairly well. Benford never seems to make up his mind which of his myriad little sub plots will be the main plot and thus, nothing really happens that expands our understanding of the Foundation Galaxy. Moreover, instead of fleshing out some of Asimov's admitedly skimpy ideas in the Foundation galaxy or introducing new themes that build upon previous concepts, instead, we take a quantum leap into a muddled unknown with concepts (aliens and tiktoks being the two most egregious examples) that clearly don't belong in the Foundation setting. The use of the sims, an overlong plot device with precious little payoff in the end, seems to be an excuse for Benford to write philisophical, sci-fi *literature*. Someone like Mary Doria Russell (The Sparrow) succeeds in this and someone of that calibre might have taken the sims and said something meaningful and undertandable. Benford horribly does not in either case. In the end, the reader is left grasping for the few pearls in an otherwise very very rough work. Not having read any of Benford's other material, I can't really say if this effort was an aberation or is typical of his writing style. It certainly hasn't made me want to rush out and read anything else he has written. I'm reminded of C.J. Cherryh to a certain extent and those who like her writing style and plotting, might like this book. If not, read it only because you want to read all the Foundation Books, not because you'll find anything particularly interesting. And make sure you read it with the other two books. That will help a little bit at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent book but not Asimov quality
Review: The story was very interesting and the author shows a great deal of promise. However, I don't feel that the story fit the Foundation series well.
Rating:
Summary: Uhhh....
Review: Firstly, I have read all three books in the new series. I would ask you to save your money, as the only real reason you would want to read these books is if you are an Asimov die-hard, and must include anything remotely Asimov-ian in your collecion. I must say, though, that if you are insistent on reading this series anyway, skip this first one. Oh my God. Nothing like Asimov (as you can tell by these other reviews). Even Daneel acts differently, which is a shame. It truly seems that when the Asimov estate approached Benford to write this novel, he quickly read the Foundation series, then merely tied in several story ideas Benford himself was working on anyway, slapped them together with a minimum of stitching, and turned them into something remotely Foundational. I also noticed that you can get no real sense of time (in later books, Hari and Dors's pan adventure is explained to be quite a long period of time's worth, but you can't tell that at all from Benford's book -- it seems like only a week at most). As a matter of fact, if you read Bear's or Brin's entries (which are much better by the way -- Greg Bear's is more action-oriented and fast-paced, where poor David Brin has to bat clean-up and seems to do more explaining for the whole mis-begotten affair than anything else) you'll see the other two authors almost trying to shy away from Benford's novel: there's hardly anything mentioned in Bear's book regarding the Voltaire and Joan sims until the end (thank goodness -- they were annoying and the most pointless characters in this book, and, unfortunately, they were the majority of it), and Brin worked with the sims as best he could. Avoid the first book, but give the other two a try. There's not much you'll miss at all if you don't read "Foundation's Fear" that couldn't be explained in three sentences. Actually, I think that's exactly how it was explained in the following books anyway! As mentioned before, even though I think the last two are better, Bear's book is a classic sci-fi action film in book form, and Brin's book almost makes you want to hate the robots for being so "controlling" of humans. But they're still better written and thought out than "Fear". I've never read anything else by Mr. Benford, and not planning on it.
Rating:
Summary: Foundation's Fear
Review: Too much useless information. It could have been a much better book (possibly three or four stars) if it had been scaled down in content. I.E. remove ridiculous subplots involving sims and assignation attempts and trips to Planet of the Apes. Also, for future authors, please keep in mind if you want to take on a story in another author's universe then confine yourself to that universe. It reasonable to expand somewhat on the original idea. However, Aliens in a universe without aliens, wormholes in a universe with hyperdrive, tiktoks in a universe WITHOUT robots in the public arena and a mysterious brain disease that I don't recall ever even being hinted at by Asimov. Why? We know why there are no aliens (read The End of Eternity), We know why there are no robots (the Settlers chose automation in the long run), and a "hyperdrive" is no more implausible than a wormhole. I had hoped for real answers to real questions. What happened to the spacer/settler struggle? How was the first empire created and nurtured over twelve thousand years? And most glaringly- Do the Solarians strike at the galaxy as a whole as IS hinted at by Asimov at the end of Foundation and Earth. Anyway, not a bad book just not really a "Foundation Universe" book and not what was really needed as far as extending the history of the future was concerned.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not great
Review: I never really expected this to be that in similar style to Asimov, and wasn't disapointed when it wasn't. My main qualm is that the plot simply wasn't put together in a concise way, it nearly seemed as if the writer was being paid per word that he wrote in the book that i am reviewing right now.
| 
