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Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac…
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Foundation (Foundation Novels) (original 1951; edition 1991)

by Isaac Asimov

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
20,473386213 (3.99)2 / 535
One of the great masterworks of science fiction, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building. The story of our future begins with the history of Foundation and its greatest psychohistorian: Hari Seldon. For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. Only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare--that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation. But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. And mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and live as slaves, or take a stand for freedom and risk total destruction.… (more)
Member:deraymoon
Title:Foundation (Foundation Novels)
Authors:Isaac Asimov
Info:Spectra (1991), Edition: Revised, Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:Sci-Fi

Work Information

Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1951)

  1. 345
    Dune by Frank Herbert (Patangel, JonTheTerrible, philAbrams)
    JonTheTerrible: The pace of these books are similar as well as the topics they cover: society and government. The science plays only a small role in both books but is present enough to successfully build the worlds in which the characters inhabit.
  2. 152
    The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov (karnoefel)
    karnoefel: de eerste drie foundation boeken in een robuuste hardcoverband. Dit boek was een van de eerste sf boeken die ik las in de jaren 70 in de bibliotheek van Tegelen
  3. 132
    The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov (Cecrow)
  4. 92
    Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (br77rino)
  5. 83
    A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. (yokai)
  6. 50
    Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov (br77rino)
    br77rino: Pebble in the Sky is the first book Asimov wrote regarding the Galactic Empire, a subject he used in his later masterpiece trilogy, Foundation.
  7. 52
    Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford (Patangel)
  8. 41
    Ringworld by Larry Niven (nar_)
    nar_: Space travelling and interminable, huge lands and space... so huge !
  9. 20
    Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov (philAbrams)
  10. 21
    Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury (goodiegoodie)
  11. 11
    Shadow of Heaven by Bob Shaw (Polenth)
  12. 00
    The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu (aulandez)
  13. 01
    The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer (missmaddie)
  14. 01
    Even Peons are People: Interplanetary Justice by D. Pak (Anonymous user)
  15. 02
    The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (br77rino)
1950s (42)
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» See also 535 mentions

English (354)  Spanish (5)  Dutch (4)  French (4)  Italian (4)  Slovak (2)  Finnish (2)  Danish (1)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  Polish (1)  Catalan (1)  German (1)  Portuguese (1)  All languages (381)
Showing 1-5 of 354 (next | show all)
I've been meaning to read this series for a half a decade now. Let's hope the rest of them have me as hyped up as this one ( )
  bookonion | Mar 10, 2024 |
Older sci-fi but definitely appropriately cynical for todays world. Spot on Asimov! ( )
  cmpeters | Feb 2, 2024 |
Galactic Empire is crumbling from within. Hari Seldon, sociologists and mathematician is aware of this so he starts up the plan to reduce the inevitable period of complete Empire breakdown from 30 millennia to a single one. To achieve this he establishes the Foundation(s), bastions of human knowledge and only remaining torch of glorious old days that should rekindle the human society during the dark ages and bring back the civilization as it was.

This is space opera t its best. Stories of people working on saving and preserving the civilization are stories I like a lot (for stories like this you can also check the Space Viking, Raj Whitehall, Lost Puzzler and even Warhammer 40k (although this one shows what happens when things go belly up)). There is something truly epic and noble in people trying to preserve the whole of humanity's knowledge during the dark and dangerous times.

Story covers beginnings of the Foundation and so-called Seldon's crisis in first two centuries of its existence. We are shown how universal is general behavior of the society - rise of religion as mechanism for controlling the rival kingdoms and finally the ultimate tool for establishing the inter-stellar connections, trade.

Excellent book, highly recommended to all SF fans. ( )
  Zare | Jan 23, 2024 |
Foundation has a very unusual structure, broken into 3-5 parts that tell very similar stories. As such, the book lacks a strong ending, one that has been repeated 2-4 times before in the book. ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
These are excellent ideas presented in vignettes tied around an cool framing structure. Every fifty years or so a civilization at the edge of the galaxy gets a cryptic message from its founder, a statistician-prophet that predicted the galactic dark ages and the solutions on how to get out of it. He's like a space Nate Silver. Anyway, every cycle the brightest minds on this planet must solve a grand socio-political crisis using wits and nonviolence. It's pretty rad as far as its broad themes go.
But it falls short in a number of areas. I've also read Asimov's The Caves of Steel and I've come to the conclusion that Asimov was a scientific visionary but a social illiterate. In a galaxy of quadrillions of people we get the same three or four basic character archetypes in every vignette: a smug heroic author stand-in, a mustache twirling villain, an exposition machine ("as you already know, we were originally a mining colony..."), and a horde of ignorant rubes. Once there was also a chick character who existed to get condescended to. The point is that we are getting these big-picture ideas in the packaging of poor writing. The book became a contest between how often I rolled my eyes and how often I smiled with satisfaction. My overall opinion of the book hung in the balance!
Asimov also failed to fully flesh out his dying interplanetary empire of quadrillions in a believable way. It extended to more then just that they all spoke English (we could probably assume some kind of translator device-- although this was never mentioned.) I'm referring to the cultural and psychological diversity that should inevitably occur in such a vast edifice. Compare this sterility with the empire of Frank Herbert's Dune with its strange religions and its baroque nobility. That was a galaxy that felt lived in.
But I'm not being fair. Somebody had to start this whole space opera biz. Besides, the truth is this: I smiled more often then I rolled my eyes. ( )
1 vote ethorwitz | Jan 3, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 354 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (34 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Asimov, Isaacprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bergner, Wulf H.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Brick, ScottNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Foss, ChrisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fruttero, CarloForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Giralt, PilarTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lucentini, FrancoForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rosenthal, JeanTraductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Scaglia, CesareTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sweet, Darrell K.Cover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
Dedication
Post-1973 reissues:
To the memory of my mother
(1895–1973)
1951 issue:
To my Mother

Of whose Authentic Gray Hairs
Not a few were caused by myself.
First words
HARI SELDON ... born in the 11,988th year of the Galactic Era: died 12,069.

ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA
His name was Gaal Dornick and he was just a country boy who had never seen Trantor before.
Quotations
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
Violence is the last refuge of the competent.
He had brought down his first Nyak when scarcely thirteen; had brought down his tenth the week after his accession to the throne; and was returning now from his forty-sixth.

‘Fifty before I come of age,’ he had exulted. ‘Who’ll take the wager?’

But courtiers don’t take wagers against the king’s skill. There is the deadly danger of winning.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

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Wikipedia in English (1)

One of the great masterworks of science fiction, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building. The story of our future begins with the history of Foundation and its greatest psychohistorian: Hari Seldon. For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. Only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare--that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation. But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. And mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and live as slaves, or take a stand for freedom and risk total destruction.

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Book description
First issued as Ace Double D-110 (with Poul Anderson's "No World of Their Own"); shortly thereafter, reissued as a stand-alone with the same publisher's number (D-110); reissued again a few years later as D-538. One of the stories that make up the 'fix-up' novel "Foundation".
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