Customer Reviews

Prelude to Foundation

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book wasn't that bad, but it wasn't great either. I never felt bored, and all the characters were mildly interesting. However, the story did seem a bit contrived, and as always, Asimovian logic doesn't make sense at times. However, I did enjoy all the exposition in the book, which is rare for science fiction. A book that has an exciting plot AND good dialogue is hard to find. I also enjoyed the twists at the end, which I didn't see coming.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend this book to any sci-fi fan, but it was an enjoyable read.

This is the first book I read by the author Asimov. I know there are many more famous books from him like the Robots collections and Foundation. I picked this one for the first book simply because this is the first entry to the Foundation series, on a chronological sense. I must say surprisingly, this is a very easy-to-read (compare to Dune, Lord of the Ring, etc), but exciting, and full-of-surprises book. At times, it also gives us thoughful issues (e.g. can we 'predict' the future?), which is what we are anticipating from a sci-fi. I know from many many readers that Foundation is the best among all the volumes, but I can imagine that this is already an enjoyable read, I cannot imagine how exciting the Foundation book will be. It also thrills me to read all other series (Robot, Empire, etc) so as to get a full understanding of the history under Asimov's reign. I recommend this one to everyone who has never touch Asimov's work before.

Although I am an Asimov fan, this book was disappointing. As he explained, the sole purpose for this volume was to connect the dots in his previous Foundation series, but I am not sure why that was necessary and why it had to be so dry.

Much of the dialogues are contrived and contain Asimov's musings about food, society and state of the Galaxy thousands of years from now. It is interesting that he projects the kind of social injustices and class struggles that dominated our political discourse during the cold war decades that far into the future. This theme of challenge of maintaining social order is common in most of his works. It would be so depressing if that were really the case for future civilizations that have supposedly solved so many of the fundamental problems of humanity.

The plot does have a few pleasant surprises, especially at the end and one also detects the innocent romanticism of Asimov throughout. I do not think it is a must to read this book to enjoy the other books in the series; they were all very well done and memorable on their own.

Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov, one of the most prolific writers of science fiction, is a prequel to his most acclaimed series, The Foundation Trilogy. The book traces the adventures of Hari Seldon, a young mathematician who thinks he has found a way to predict the future. He calls his theory psychohistory, and is based in part on the Chaos theory and lots and lots of math. The only downside of this is that his theory only works on large populations of people, meaning that it cannot foresee certain events for a particular person. Hari travels to Trantor, the "capital" of the Galactic Empire to attend a conference and present his new ideas. His idea however, catches the eyes of Cleon I, the emperor, and becomes the most wanted man in the universe and is soon hiding from the imperial guards. As he dodges the guards, he traverses the vast terrain of Trantor and further perfects his theory on psychohistory. The book continues on how he finally escapes and lays down the outline for the Foundation, a new empire more advanced and majestic than the previous.
I found this book to be intriguing and interesting. Asimov is great in developing his characters and makes them very believable and all have a great depth in their behaviors and thoughts. That is one reason why I liked this book. Another reason is because this book is paced much faster than the other Asimov books I've read, making it more suspenseful and an easier read. His older books were very technical and included lots of scientific words while this book has less of that and more excitement. Since Asimov wrote this book about 30 years after he wrote the Foundation Trilogy, he has had more time to think about the story and make it more believable. Also since he connected most of his works, this book also acts as a bridge between some of his works. I suggest this book to anyone who likes science fiction or just someone who wants a good book to read.

Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov, one of the most prolific science fiction writers of all time, is a prologue to his most acclaimed series, The Foundation Trilogy. The book traces the adventures Hari Seldon, a young mathematician who thinks he may have discovered a way to predict the future. Hari call his theory psychohistory, it is based in part on the Chaos theory and lots and lots of math. The one downside is that it can only foresee the future of a large population, so it cannot forecast, for example, the next day¡s events for a particular person. Hari goes to Trantor, the ¡§capital¡ of the Galactic Empire to attend a conference to present his ideas. Hari¡s ideas catches Cleon I ¡s eye and he suddenly becomes the most wanted man in the universe and is soon running and hiding from the imperial guards. He explores the terrain of Trantor in the process, looking at different civilizations and further perfecting his theory on psychohistory.
I find this book to be really intriguing and interesting, even though it¡s better to have read The Foundation Trilogy before reading the prelude, because there are many allusions and references that new readers might not understand. This book however, still stands very well on its own as an individual book and not part of a series. Asimov is great in character development, bringing all the characters to life with a depth in their thinking. This book is also pretty fast paced compared to some of the other Asimov books I¡ve read. Since Asimov wrote this book more than 20 years after The Foundation Trilogy, he has more time thinking everything through and therefore this book was more smooth and easier and more likeable to read. Asimov has also tied most of his major series together, including the Robot series and the Foundation series, along with other novels, so this book also acts as a bridge between works. Overall, the book is really good and I would recommend it to anybody just looking for a good book to read.

Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov, one of the most prolific science fiction writers of all time, is a prologue to his most acclaimed series, The Foundation Trilogy. The book traces the adventures Hari Seldon, a young mathematician who thinks he may have discovered a way to predict the future. Hari call his theory psychohistory, it is based in part on the Chaos theory and lots and lots of math. The one downside is that it can only foresee the future of a large population, so it cannot forecast, for example, the next day¡s events for a particular person. Hari goes to Trantor, the ¡§capital¡ of the Galactic Empire to attend a conference to present his ideas. Hari¡s ideas catches Cleon I ¡s eye and he suddenly becomes the most wanted man in the universe and is soon running and hiding from the imperial guards. He explores the terrain of Trantor in the process, looking at different civilizations and further perfecting his theory on psychohistory.
I find this book to be really intriguing and interesting, even though it¡s better to have read The Foundation Trilogy before reading the prelude, because there are many allusions and references that new readers might not understand. This book however, still stands very well on its own as an individual book and not part of a series. Asimov is great in character development, bringing all the characters to life with a depth in their thinking. This book is also pretty fast paced compared to some of the other Asimov books I¡ve read. Since Asimov wrote this book more than 20 years after The Foundation Trilogy, he has more time thinking everything through and therefore this book was more smooth and easier and more likeable to read. Asimov has also tied most of his major series together, including the Robot series and the Foundation series, along with other novels, so this book also acts as a bridge between works. Overall, the book is really good and I would recommend it to anybody just looking for a good book to read.

Maybe its because I'm not much of a fan of Asimov, but I was disappointed in this book. Asimov's "Foundation" was OK 3.5/5 stars, but Prelude to Foundation was a very disappointing 2/5. Why? The plot is "super extra simple", Hari Seldon has no dimension to him (he functions like a thinking robot more than a human), and not much happens in the book. There are pages where Asimov's characters comment endlessly about how good the food is, but the commentary, while long, isn't even very descriptive so it turns out plain old boring. You never get much of a sense of the danger Hari is in. The only really fun part is when Hari gets stuck on the roof of Trantor and has to stay the night. But that's short lived, and in the end, you wish he'd been left up there to die.

The only real interesting parts to the book are Asimov's commentary on science. His social commentaries, told through Hari Seldon are a total snorefest. I'm really suprised so many people liked this book. But I guess its because they are Asimov fans. If you're new to Sci Fi, or an Asimov fan, you might like it. If you're a sci fi veteran, you'll probably be disappointed like me.

I would recommend instead, if you prefer a richer more complex and compelling Sci Fi tale, to pick up a copy of "Nova" by Samuel R. Delany, "Dune" by Frank Herbert, or "Revelation Space" by Alistair Reynolds - all three are excellent.

Now I'm off to the bookstore to give "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons a try.

This Prelude is actually, in my opinion, better than the Foundation itself. It is much easier to read, more friendly, more human. It is a good starting place for new readers, but be forwarned, the style of the story changes to a much more technical dry story as you reach into the later parts of the series (Asimov's earlier work).

Can't say enough about Isaac Asimov, reading 'Prelude' was a great experience and seeing the peak of life on Trantor. What was most fascinating was Daneel Olivaw's appearance. Many of you remember him from the Robot series.

Harry Seldon's adventures start here; he is a very human and fallible subject (unlike the phrophesizing old man in Foundation.) I think you will find that this is the best of the foundation series and it'll be hard to put down

I want to give a Four star (for lack of character development) but the ideas Asimov works with and the way the story shifts and turns force me to give the exalted "five". The one thing I particularly liked about this book was that it was necessary to read the Foundation Trilogy to enjoy it. So many times, writers make the assumption that you have read all the other books of a series and present the reader with strange and unexplained ideas and people.

One advantage Asimov had in writing this story was time. He had over 30 years to think about the original series and how it fit in with the other works. He also could update the science which made it much more believable. We are on Trantor and this is the story of Seldon, his fights, his studies, his love life (very high-level as in all Asimov novels) and his triumphs.

Robots play a part in this prequel that they do not in the series itself for the obvious reason that Asimov had not yet come up with the idea of tying them together. After 30+ years he has most of the pieces in place and can manipulate them at will. The revelation of his "wife" was only too good.