The Foundation Trilogy (Adapted by BBC Radio) This book is a transcription of the radio broadcast Paperback – August 30, 2010

If you love Scifi, you can't wait 40 years to read this, like I did. When you read Stanislaw Lem, Arthur C Clark, Bradbury, and Herbert, you just have to realize that the Foundation Trilogy must also be read. The first question I had, was how does the trilogy fit into the larger framework of the Foundation Series? Well, if you consider the 7 book series, know this: the first two, and last two books were written much later. Of all the later books, read FOUNDATION'S EDGE. Definitely do NOT read PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION and FORWARD THE FOUNDATION before you read the trilogy. Prelude has spoilers that refer to the end of the last book, FOUNDATION AND EARTH. There are parts of the FOUNDATION TRILOGY which I absolutely love, and other aspects which seemed to me aggravating. For starters, if you're looking for a character to stretch thru these books, you'll be disappointed. The central character is the historical dialectic itself, in fact an idea, that of a renewed civilization after the Galactic Empire ruled by aristocracy falls. This new civilization will be founded by a confluence of two factors, the FOUNDATION, composed of scientists, traders, and politicians, and the SECOND FOUDATION, which is made up of psychologists, empaths, and philosophers. During the Trilogy, we watch as the Galactic Empire falls, while the FOUNDATION takes control of the trade, scientific advancements, and the social infrastructure, such as nuclear power, and intergalactic travelPart of the construction of this trilogy, is the reason why some people find fault with the book. Originally Asimov released the Trilogy as a series of 5 novellas, plus an added introduction story. Hundreds of years separate most of these stories, at least until you reach the part of the tale that concerns The Mule, who attempts to conquer the Galactic Empire thru his ability to supplant the will of others, with his own. The MULE will take up most of the second book, and the first half of the third. The other theme in the books is PSYCHOHISTORY as a scientific discipline, and HARI SELDON as a sort of prophet of the coming New Age. (He invents PSYCHOHISTORY in the PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION book.) So if you can handle a story that's more about theme than character, this is your book. Most of Asimov's characters seem a bit cliché, sometimes analyzing a situation for pages, or engaging in long conversations with other intellectually strong characters. That's not to say there is no action, or conflict. Its just you won't read pages of exposition about space battles, or ground battles, or love stories. The action is more of a political intrigue type, with Hari Seldon's psychohistory attempting, and sometimes failing, to predict the outcome of every "Seldon Crisis". I've never read a book much like this, although if you view Tolkien's Silmarrillion as a historical narrative centered around the attempt of the Morgoth-Sauron hegemony to destroy the world of Elves, men, and all free folk, then that would be the obvious parallel.A final note, concerns what Asimov's influences for the Trilogy might have been. It was written at the end of WWII, when the final death blow to European aristocracy occurred, and civilization was almost destroyed for a thousand years (the length of the Nazi Third Reich), I would believe that is his main influence. I often wondered if Marxist theory's dependency on the Historical Dialectic pushing us into a utopian communist society, was also influencing him. Marxism was a strong intellectual movement in the USA during the first half of the 20th century. Although Psychohistory as a utopian society isn't much bandied about, its obviously central to the book's theme, though of course we never know the outcome of Foundation's watch on historical trends, since the last book in the series (FOUNDATION and EARTH) ends 500 years before the new Empire. However, the goal of a society to hang onto the knowledge of the past, while evolving into a future utopia, seems to be the fundamental theme. Also, that the intelligentsia must rule the political process, if we don't want 30000 years of chaos, instead of a 1000 year interregnum between the fall of the Galactic Empire, and the Foundation run Second Empire. These questions will haunt you, as you read Asimov's work. Once you've read the trilogy, you might as well read the other books in the Foundation Series, though at least read FOUNDATION'S EDGE, since the Trilogy doesn't really end at a place which would wrap up the themes very well. You're left dangling, about whether the Galaxy ever reaches the hoped for utopian vision of order, discipline, and scientific progress.

I wrote my master’s thesis on this trilogy. I’ve read it cover to cover over a dozen times, and parts of it more than that. I have come to a conclusion about Asimov generally and this text specifically, and that is that Asimov was not that great of a writer when it came to plot or characters but awesome when it came to ideas. What do we know about his texts? Psychohistory and the three laws of robotics! But the characters and the things they do? Not much.I didn’t go down this path to find out just what has been researched about the writing of the books, but I feel like Asimov came across the idea of Psychohistory (Basically history plus math and economics to tell (and control) the future). And he’s writing the first stories and the who arc is that there’s a crisis and then the characters go to the Time Vault and see Seldon, and the problem is solved though his Deus ex machina. That gets boring so he needed something outside of his own creation which is why he created the Mule and then had to bring in the Second Foundation. It’s like the old lady who swallowed the fly thing – and worse when you think of how he integrated everything in the late books he wrote in the 80s. Everything works if you don’t think too hard about it, but I literally spent years thinking about the thing and it falls apart on examination. Is it worth reading? Yes, a thousand times yes. But is it good? Not really.

Good quality book. Like the bookmark the book has. Book is sturdy (red hardcover inside the paper sleeves) and looks good quality. Paper is not pure white, but has a yellow feel to it. Looks natural and good on the eyes. Pages seem good, could be better (slightly thicker). There is a little page see though, but not too bad. Text is printed clearly and font is a Times New Roman, and it is easy on the eyes. Book was printed in Germany so that is good. Not sure where everything was binded and assembled though.

Asimov is one of the best authors I have ever read. Part of his brilliance is the complete degree with which he creates a very real world for the reader. But another crucial part is that the people you read about are real people. Sometimes sci-fi can do silly things, like "and then he pulled out his super-gun and blew up the evil space-ship." Asimov never settled for silly or second rate endings. The endings feel real--the sci-fi element just adds another dimension to the tale. This book can be kind of a slow starter--especially if you've read any of Asimov's Lije Baley novels--but the depth of this book is entirely worth it. It also has a bit of a lull in the middle for some readers. Keep going. It ties up so well at the end, that you wonder why you ever doubted Asimov.The trilogy is best read as a trilogy. The books are good individually, but amazing all together. I almost feel like the trilogy would have been better divided into two books instead of three... but I'm not the brilliant writer here.Reading the Foundation Trilogy is also great because much of today's science fiction takes it's cues from this earlier work. The galactic empire of Star Wars is perhaps a darker reflection of the galactic empire of the Foundation trilogy. Star Trek also takes a number of cues from this series. Yet one of the way it differs is that there are no extra terrestrials in the universe of Foundation. This makes it an unusually intimate exploration of humanity. (Much in the way Firefly has no aliens.)All in all, if you like Science Fiction, you will love this book. If you like books that make you think about things from a different perspective, you will like this book. If you like books with unexpected plot twists, you will love the ending of the trilogy. If you like books that explore human nature, you will like this book.

Una historia increíble y cautivante en todos los sentidos. Recomiendo para los amantes de la ciencia ficción.Me gusta mucho la encuadernación del libro. Las hojas y la impresión son de buena calidad.

I brought this book as I loved it for 50+ years. Thank you for this nice hardback copy.

This book is a transcripion of the radio novel!!!! I bought to give as a gift and I am ashamed !!!

i'm only getting to know the work of asimov and this is a great way to start

Me encantó la presentación, bastante rápido y a muy buen precio, cada que haya promociones, aprovecharé para hacer más grande la colección