Una maravilla
5 stars
Casi no es necesario decirlo, pero esta es una obra atemporal.
Mass Market Paperback
English language
Published July 12, 1984 by Del Rey.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-345-31798-8
- OCLC Number:
- 228958095
- Goodreads:
- 1706324
Copied ISBN!
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 …
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.
Levi reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
None
4 stars
Asimov's Foundation presents an audacious premise: what if sociology could become so precise that it functions like physics, allowing someone to predict the rise and fall of civilizations thousands of years in advance? It's patently absurd, and yet somehow completely intoxicating.
Hari Seldon, the founder of "psychohistory," foresees the collapse of the galaxy-spanning Empire and the inevitable 30,000-year Dark Age that will follow. But the hook is, he has a plan that can shorten this catastrophe to just 1,000 years by establishing a Foundation of scholars on the galaxy's edge, provided they follow a precise path.
But, for some reason, it's totally fundamental to Seldon's science that they can't know in advance how to solve the problems...he knows what the problems will be and how they will have to solve them, but instead of him just telling them, they have to figure it out for themselves. It's obviously a narrative …
Asimov's Foundation presents an audacious premise: what if sociology could become so precise that it functions like physics, allowing someone to predict the rise and fall of civilizations thousands of years in advance? It's patently absurd, and yet somehow completely intoxicating.
Hari Seldon, the founder of "psychohistory," foresees the collapse of the galaxy-spanning Empire and the inevitable 30,000-year Dark Age that will follow. But the hook is, he has a plan that can shorten this catastrophe to just 1,000 years by establishing a Foundation of scholars on the galaxy's edge, provided they follow a precise path.
But, for some reason, it's totally fundamental to Seldon's science that they can't know in advance how to solve the problems...he knows what the problems will be and how they will have to solve them, but instead of him just telling them, they have to figure it out for themselves. It's obviously a narrative constraint so that the characters must solve each crisis as it arrives, blind to the larger pattern only Seldon could see. But...it works. It makes for a much better story than the alternative, that's for sure.
The real protagonist isn't any individual character (Seldon himself dies early on) but humanity itself, struggling across millennia. We jump forward in time to witness key moments when Foundation leaders realize they're facing another "Seldon Crisis" and must find solutions that fly in the face of conventional wisdom.
The stories pivot mostly around two Seldon Crises, each of which has an uber smart dude who figures it all out and then has to get the Foundation society to completely reimagine their approach based on how human psychology and social structures have evolved. It's essentially A Series of Really Smart Individuals Saves the Human Race, which ironically undermines psychohistory's core premise that individual actions can't be predicted, only mass behavior.
The execution has its issues. Written in 1951, it carries all the baggage you'd expect—the galaxy's saviors are uniformly male, the dialogue is stiff and theatrical, and Asimov's characters all sound the same. Character development was never his strength; he's all about the big ideas and intricate plotting.
There's a comment I just have to make, after reflecting on how many books have this trope...it is kind of a wet dream to think that if one individual was smart enough, they could save the human race. We all want to think we're that person. Am I going to stop reading books like that? Eh, probably not. Probably not completely, at least. But, I do feel like it's one of those things that now I've seen, I can't un-see.
But honestly, I'm poking too many holes in this to convey how I actually felt about the book. As a whole it was quite good. I found myself genuinely hooked. The ending in particular made me sit back and think about the actual progression of human history, trying to identify the dominant sociological forces of different eras. I feel like I can tell what Azimov was thinking: if you look at history, the pattern kind of makes sense. First we needed religion in order to survive, then trade became the next big way of interacting with each other, etc. I'm obsessed now with trying to predict what the next crisis might be and what radical solution it would require.
And ultimiately that's what I am searching for most in science fiction: when it takes a wild premise and uses it to make you think differently about Big Stuff, like the patterns of human civilization, for instance.
Foundation is the kind of book that you gulp down easily because of its sheer conceptual audacity. It's far from perfect, but the chapters are short and punchy, the scope is genuinely epic, and at just 300 pages, it moves quickly enough that you don't have time to get bogged down in its flaws. I'm already planning to read the rest of the series, almost despite myself.
suffolkbadger reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
None
2 stars
Really did not enjoy this book. I was attracted by the plot idea and it starts well enough but found it lacking in the scripting in places and lacking action.
Really did not enjoy this book. I was attracted by the plot idea and it starts well enough but found it lacking in the scripting in places and lacking action.
Alex Keane reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
Sci Fi Classic
5 stars
What if you could mathematically prove that the government was going to fail? More, what if you had magical math showing you the one path forward to limit how long chaos would reign following that fall? That's the premise for Foundation: Hari Seldon's psychohistory predicts the fall of the Galactic Empire and he must act to plant the seeds of the future to come to limit how long humanity will be subject to the whims of arbitrary and capricious kings splitting up the territory as the scientific knowledge of the empire is lost.
I really enjoy the separate stories of the Foundation.
I'm reading science fiction classics to get a feel for what led to the Traveller RPG right now and revisiting this one was well worth it.
Asimov isn't great at character development, the characters tend to fall off and be replaced by the next generation …
What if you could mathematically prove that the government was going to fail? More, what if you had magical math showing you the one path forward to limit how long chaos would reign following that fall? That's the premise for Foundation: Hari Seldon's psychohistory predicts the fall of the Galactic Empire and he must act to plant the seeds of the future to come to limit how long humanity will be subject to the whims of arbitrary and capricious kings splitting up the territory as the scientific knowledge of the empire is lost.
I really enjoy the separate stories of the Foundation.
I'm reading science fiction classics to get a feel for what led to the Traveller RPG right now and revisiting this one was well worth it.
Asimov isn't great at character development, the characters tend to fall off and be replaced by the next generation right as they would need to change to meet the new times. But the situations are great and keep you engaged as you see how the history of the foundation has been carried forward by each generation.
This is honestly one of the science fiction classics that has aged pretty gracefully.
crochetedman reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Review of 'Foundation' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
The Foundation series are some of my favorite books. They're definitely a product of their time (Asimov was clearly more comfortable with writing short stories for magazines than with writing novels, and his biases are obvious in the misogynistic treatment of the few women in the story) but their basic ideas hold up well.
I personally really enjoy the rather dry political tone, and both the lack of focus on character development and the long time-skips are fitting given the premise of the story (which posits a theory of "psychohistory" in which the overall trajectory of a large group is emphasized over the actions of individuals, and which can be used to predict and direct the future over long periods of time). The plot twists and reveals also never come out of nowhere, and sufficiently tie back to previous details to make each individual part feel neat and tidy.
The Foundation series are some of my favorite books. They're definitely a product of their time (Asimov was clearly more comfortable with writing short stories for magazines than with writing novels, and his biases are obvious in the misogynistic treatment of the few women in the story) but their basic ideas hold up well.
I personally really enjoy the rather dry political tone, and both the lack of focus on character development and the long time-skips are fitting given the premise of the story (which posits a theory of "psychohistory" in which the overall trajectory of a large group is emphasized over the actions of individuals, and which can be used to predict and direct the future over long periods of time). The plot twists and reveals also never come out of nowhere, and sufficiently tie back to previous details to make each individual part feel neat and tidy.
po3mah reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
masterpiece of sociology
5 stars
I wonder why th I didn't read this book before. Almost all modern scifi is borrowing ideas from it.
I wonder why th I didn't read this book before. Almost all modern scifi is borrowing ideas from it.
Ted reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
Review of 'Foundation' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Would give it a 3.5 if I could. Read like a radio play. Roil of confusing characters, mostly bellicose, repetitive men.
Mountaineerdave reviewed FOUNDATION (Foundation Novels (Paperback)) by Isaac Asimov (Foundation (3))
This is not at all the sci-fi exploration of humanity I expected
1 star
Boring from page 10 on, I just did not connect with anything in this book. I counted the things stolen by Lucas for Star Wars, but otherwise, nothing in this book interested me in the slightest. I only finished it because it was short enough not to finish.
saraujojr reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
Best Science Fiction book ever
5 stars
If you don't know, this book basically is the reference for all great movies in this category...
If you don't know, this book basically is the reference for all great movies in this category...
n-gons reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
Must read scifi classic
5 stars
There are so many classic ideas introduced here, it's essential reading if you are interested in scifi.
There are so many classic ideas introduced here, it's essential reading if you are interested in scifi.
madklowns reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
Review of 'Foundation' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Great book, reminds me a lot of Dune, which I really love.
ManyRoads reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
Review of 'Foundation' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is a very good novel- the beginning of a major life's work. Clearly no one should expect this novel comes to a closure. It is instead a beginning of a' mystery' and tale of evolution.
This is a very good novel- the beginning of a major life's work. Clearly no one should expect this novel comes to a closure. It is instead a beginning of a' mystery' and tale of evolution.
Zuzoju Zaba reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
A lovely journey
5 stars
This book was lovely.
Eph (they, them) reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, #1)
How mankind can never get it right
5 stars
Content warning Plots and themes revealed broadly
Now that I am getting an understanding of Bookwyrm, this is my first useful Review. We tend to critically review literature through the lens of evolutionary psychology.
What we find in both sci-fi and all fiction really is the ignorance of how enslaved we are to evolutionary drives, behaviors, and thinking. In this fabulous book, once again mankind has surpassed all imaginable science and technology. Yet, humanity's nature destroys it all, taking the universal Empire back to chaos.
You might argue, well ain't that showing our evolutionary natures. Why, yes, it is. My critique is, why can't we grow in intrinsic self-awareness as we grow cerebrally? The problem always is in fiction is such intrinsic self-awareness cannot be attained in a top-down manner. The ability to manage our primitive drives, behaviors, and beliefs, is attained through somatic and mindful awareness.
But, if we evolved beyond our evolutionary behaviors along with our progress in science and technology, we'd have no good science fiction to read!
oad@bw.diaspodon.fr reviewed Fondation by Isaac Asimov (Le cycle de Fondation I)
Foundation
4 stars
Voilà un auteur et une œuvre dont j’ai évidement entendu parlé depuis longtemps. Selon le 4ème de couverture, c’est « L’œuvre socle de la SF moderne, celle que tous les amateurs du genre ont lue ou liront un jour ». Rien que ça!
Mieux vaut tard que jamais, j’ai enfin sauté le pas, et je dois avouer que j’ai été immédiatement happé par le récit. La première partie nous plonge directement dans ce décor futuriste, où l’humanité a colonisé la Galaxie entière et où les voyages dans « l’hyperespace » sont aussi communs que nos vols long-courriers. Il faut atteindre la deuxième partie et les suivantes pour se rendre compte que les personnages ne sont pas le sujet le sujet principal de l’histoire. C’est bien de la Fondation elle-meme dont il s’agit, de sa naissance à son avènement. Son évolution, prévue près de mille ans à l’avance grâce au …
Voilà un auteur et une œuvre dont j’ai évidement entendu parlé depuis longtemps. Selon le 4ème de couverture, c’est « L’œuvre socle de la SF moderne, celle que tous les amateurs du genre ont lue ou liront un jour ». Rien que ça!
Mieux vaut tard que jamais, j’ai enfin sauté le pas, et je dois avouer que j’ai été immédiatement happé par le récit. La première partie nous plonge directement dans ce décor futuriste, où l’humanité a colonisé la Galaxie entière et où les voyages dans « l’hyperespace » sont aussi communs que nos vols long-courriers. Il faut atteindre la deuxième partie et les suivantes pour se rendre compte que les personnages ne sont pas le sujet le sujet principal de l’histoire. C’est bien de la Fondation elle-meme dont il s’agit, de sa naissance à son avènement. Son évolution, prévue près de mille ans à l’avance grâce au génie scientifique de la psycho-histoire, la verra succéder à un Empire, d’abord déclinant puis complètement décadent. Chaque partie nous fait faire un bon dans le temps, afin que l’on puisse observer les moments clé de l’histoire de la Foundation.
Ce premier volume m’a donné l’impression que l’auteur ne fait que poser les bases, et qu’on ne fait que gratter la surface d’une œuvre bien plus riche. On y retrouve de nombreux codes populaires du genre (et pour cause). Je trouve fascinant de se dire que le livre original a été écrit dans les années 40, à une époque où l’exploration spatiale était encore balbutiante. Il faudra attendre 10 ans après la publication du livre (1951) avant que le premier humain soit envoyé dans l’espace!
Subjects
- Science Fiction - Series
- Non-Classifiable
- Fiction - Science Fiction