Turtleback
English language
Published Oct. 24, 2000 by Turtleback Books Distributed by Demco Media.
Led by its founding father, the great psychohistorian Hari Seldon, and taking advantage of its superior science and technology, the Foundation has survived the greed and barbarism of its neighboring warrior-planets. Yet now it must face the Empire still the mightiest force in the Galaxy even in its death throes. When an ambitious general determined to restore the Empire's glory turns the vast Imperial fleet toward the Foundation, the only hope for the small planet of scholars and scientists lies in the prophecies of Hari Seldon.
I liked this more than Foundation, but it’s still difficult to read old science fiction. It’s just not written as I would expect, like when the war is ended completely off screen in the first part.. But, this book is very good and the ending is superb, even if you do see the “twist” coming from a mile away.
I enjoyed this book more than the original Foundation. The majority of the book focuses on a small group of characters which made it easier to follow events. The story does a great job of balancing the activities of the core characters with the scale of the crisis spanning a large part of the galaxy. I initially found the abrupt end of the first crisis a bit grating but that was easy to forgive as the seconded crisis was more interesting for me.
This is a great book if you're already in the Foundation story and it really sets the stage for the series. The two parts feel a bit disjointed, but that is only superficial. The whole premise is whether psychohistory can be changed by individual action. The first part suggests no, the second suggests yes. In addition to the interesting premise, the story is strengthened by better characters that grow and act for much longer than in the prior novel. And now the stage is set for a race to see who will reach the Second Foundation.
For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2021/08/book-review-foundation-and-empire-by.html
This is a great book if you're already in the Foundation story and it really sets the stage for the series. The two parts feel a bit disjointed, but that is only superficial. The whole premise is whether psychohistory can be changed by individual action. The first part suggests no, the second suggests yes. In addition to the interesting premise, the story is strengthened by better characters that grow and act for much longer than in the prior novel. And now the stage is set for a race to see who will reach the Second Foundation.
For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2021/08/book-review-foundation-and-empire-by.html
Well things get weird in this second book of the trilogy. I don't feel any of the ideas I found interesting in the first book were expanded on and the plot got very odd towards the end. I'll be pushing through to the final book of this first trilogy next week. I hope it manages to turn things around.
Would have normally rated it 4* but that ending... Wow!
The 2nd in a really great series. It is amazing how entertaining the story is and how much you are pulled into the story since there is relatively little 'action'.
Il faudra un jour que je relise et que j'écrive une critique plus complète de ce grand classique de la science-fiction, un roman et une saga que j'avais lu avec énormément de plaisir quand j'étais plus jeune.
Middle, misogyny, collapse of reason.
This got better. It's almost as if you can see Asimov learning how to be a better writer as the book progressed. The second half is a marked improvement over the first (and both are better than Foundation itself). There are even female characters, and one of them is smarter than all the men!
A great continuation of the original Foundation book.
Really liked the characters of the last part of the book.
