Foundation's Fear

Rating:
Summary: mountain out of a molehill
Review: In and of itself, the book was enjoyable. As an entry in the Foundation saga however, it was a let down. I suppose Asimov didn't leave Benford a lot to work with. Confined as Benford was to this chapter in the life of Hari Seldon, the contribution was mostly filler, not to mention eerily autobiographical. It was hard to become involved with the story because it seemed as if Benford was drawing from his own personal experiences at some points and then mixing in some Indiana Jones at other points. Interrupt this regularly with background info (Joan and Voltaire), end result: soap opera. Once again, apart from the striking incongruity, this was a good book. For Benford to turn this tiny part of the story into page-turning entertainment is a testament to his ability.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't Asimov already write this one?
Review: Just from reading the reviews, I can see what is in the book that is "Foundational" simply rehashes, storyline-wise, the two pre-foundation books Asimov wrote. No. Hari is dead, both of them. Let them rest in peace.

Rating:
Summary: Well, it's different...
Review: I think that Benford has actually done a good job with this novel - it is well written, if not in the style of the other Foundation books. I was rather surprised to find some important aspects of the Foundation universe and its inhabitants changed - the replacement of the hyperspace Jump with wormholes, Trantor's social structure, and the character of Seldon. One thing that particularly annoyed me was Seldon's psychohistorical conclusions about societies and governments: Benford is using Seldon to push his own political views. And why on earth call Seldon a "mathist" rather than a "mathematician", especially given that Asimov always used the normal word? In general, the book is readable, but it is clearly a Benford book in the Asimov universe.

Rating:
Summary: Managing To Continue A Legacy
Review: Gregory Benford has taken upon himself the gigantic task of preserving and extending Asimov's Foundation legacy in "Foundation's Fear." As an avid sci-fi reader and a devotee to the original Foundation series, at first I found Benford's version dismaying and as Benford himself admits in his afterword using a more indirect and more expansive style than Asimov's own "direct and spare" approach to writing. I had hoped that this Asmiov approach would have been maintained because it helped to involve the reader directly by allowing the reader more control over the novel's images and to become part of the adventure instead of having it spill out so much like a movie. Benford by becoming more detailed begins to lose the very unique quality of the written medium. As with his other recent publication "Artifact" he again has left some of the more relevant information until the last. The information in the afterward was terribly important to set up expectations and the setting for this novel and would have been much better as a preface. I also missed the organized chapter headings and table of contents of the original series. Lastly, the opportunity to revisit Hari Sheldon even earlier was lost and the audience is unable to glean some appreciation of the person and the growth development behind this pivotal character in science fiction history. This much said, however, Benford is able to capture the feel of Asimov's Foundation series and extends it in intriguing directions. While the introduction of virtual reality and Voltaire and Joan of Arc almost tears the series apart, Benford manages to keep the story line and interest intact and weave the plots together until the end reasonably well. I become engrossed at times with these two characters (with the faint resemblance to the Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jack The Ripper espisodes). There are the hits of the pyschohistory magic and the special delightful weaving of plot design that Asimov so masterfully handled in each of his chapters so that each chapter seemingly became a little story gem by themselves. But how Benford ultimately handles the Lamurk character (a scheming foil) seemed somewhat too contrived and strangely not convoluted enough to completely satisfy. While this first book of The Second Foundation Trilogy does not rise to the level of the original series, it does keep and maintain, pressing forward somewhat uncertainly what has become the best all time sci-fi series. A risky endeavor, a shaky start, but one that is able to make it over the high hurdle of Asimov's almost impossible original creative masterpiece. Benford has written a decent beginning for expanding Asimov's future worlds something that I would not have dared attempt.

Rating:
Summary: Half good / half bad
Review: I found that the half of the story that dealt with Hari and Dors was interesting and reasonably close to the original Foundation style. However, the other half that involves Voltaire and Joan of Arc was WAY overdone. It would have been better to limlit them to 3 or 4 chapters (or none at all). I found Benford's "publishing tricks" (e.g. two of Voltaire's simultaneous trains of thought printed in two columns down the page) to be jarring making those sections of the book interrupt the flow of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Major letdown
Review: Normally I check out other Amazon.com reader's comments on novels that I intend to buy, before I actually buy. I bought this book without doing so because it was "approved by the Asimov Trust". What a major mistake! A "Voltaire & Joan D'Arc" tangent filled half the book, and contributed nothing to the main storyline. I think the author found sudden fascination with the concept of bodyless simulated "souls" and just happened to be writing this book at the time. So he went ahead and "core dumped". The book does, however, in the tradition of the other Foundation books, make comments on *current* social mores and on the "decline" of the physical science research (in conjunction with the ascendancy of the engineering disciplines).

Rating:
Summary: The only interesting part is it's title - Foundation
Review: This book could be interesting only to those who read other Foundation novels - without Asimov's original series, this one would be complete waste of time. It is full of pointless explanations and dialogues which make you skip chapters, not pages. Really uncomparable to Asimov's books, this doesn't deserve to be part of the Foundation series...

Rating:
Summary: Skip It
Review: Seeing Foundation's Fear in the bookstore, I was estatic. No, it wouldn't be the same, but I still wanted to discover where Hari and R. Daneel were heading these days. The first part of the book was great, but then Benford had to resurrect Joan of Arc and Voltaire as "Sims." Pure tripe and hogwash, if you ask me. I decided to skip all of the "Sim" action and stick with Hari and Dors; that made a halfway decent book. I just wish I had received half off at the register. I have never read any other Benford books and now I doubt that I ever will, if Foundation's Fear is an accurate example of his work.

Rating:
Summary: Boring Boring Boring
Review: I read close to a book a day and read many good book and many bad books. In my estimation, Benford is a fine author with many fine books written. However, this is not one of them. As a fan of Asimov, I am quite familiar with the Foundation universe. Sadly, this book takes that universe and rips it to shreds. Benford's Voltaire and Joan subplots were contrived and did not fit into the story. One thinks that Benford, in his bid to stretch literary boundaries, crossed a line that should never have been crossed. In all, I was totally disappointed with this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Dear Isaac, please forgive Gregory Benford
Review: When I found out that there is a continuation of Asimov's Foundation series, I was terribly excited. I absolutely had to have the book. But disappointment followed swiftly. I love Asimov's stories and, I must say, I think dear old Isaac would turn in his grave if he knew about this book. If your rating system were to allow zero stars, that would be it. Quite frankly, I have hardly ever read a more boring book. As one of your readers commented -- 200 pages less would have been more (cut out all the technological and mathematical jargon!). And, as another reader noted, the Pans - Joan and Voltaire - are pointless. After the first half of the book I kept skipping the pages where they appeared just so that I would finish the book sooner. Hari Seldon just seem to be some character on the sidelines in this book, judging from how little he actually does. I am sorry to say it, but this book is a waste of time (and money, for that matter) and, above all, of a wonderful opportunity to expand on Asimov's Foundation universe.