Mass Market Paperback, 200 pages
English language
Published Aug. 13, 1966 by Avon.
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 …
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.
If you don't know, this book basically is the reference for all great movies in this category...
There are so many classic ideas introduced here, it's essential reading if you are interested in scifi.
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 book was lovely.
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!
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 …
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!
I expected to like this more than I did. It blandly assumes "empire" is a good thing and equates imperialism with civilization, while simultaneously equating the old Empire with decay. This is an unsophisticated approach that should have been apparent even in Asimov's time.
hhhhh
The classic space science fiction read still holds up! Covers hundreds of years of political struggle.
4 stars because it's becoming a bit dated, but it's still a great read.
Sure it’s great literature kind of dripping in bigotry and misogyny but I’m sure it had its time and place in the sci-fi hall of fame. Cool TV series though.
Of its day. Interesting from the perspective of the history of the genre, and for the exploration of the fundamental idea. As a piece of story-telling, a little weak.
This time, I'm not gonna read the whole trilogy.
I'm baffled that I don't enjoy another one of those books that so many people hype. I like some of his other books, but maybe I just don't fancy his writing style.
This whole system of "Is it gonna work? IS IT REALLY GONNA WORK?!?!? Yes it worked" is just not my jam. There wasn't that much sci-fi in this one as well, it's just a very minor detail to it.
This whole books starts with a guy that invents a way to guess what will happen in the future and nobody else can do that somehow. It was something that was invented and not some magic device. How is it impossible for everyone else to figure this out? Why did everyone just fall back a thousand steps in technology? Why did nobody look much more into it the first time …
This time, I'm not gonna read the whole trilogy.
I'm baffled that I don't enjoy another one of those books that so many people hype. I like some of his other books, but maybe I just don't fancy his writing style.
This whole system of "Is it gonna work? IS IT REALLY GONNA WORK?!?!? Yes it worked" is just not my jam. There wasn't that much sci-fi in this one as well, it's just a very minor detail to it.
This whole books starts with a guy that invents a way to guess what will happen in the future and nobody else can do that somehow. It was something that was invented and not some magic device. How is it impossible for everyone else to figure this out? Why did everyone just fall back a thousand steps in technology? Why did nobody look much more into it the first time he was right?
I just don't get this book and have no idea to whom I would recommend this one. Maybe these kind of books don't age that well? Maybe I'm just too young to get it. 🤷🏼
Really shows its age, but still a page turner.
I enjoyed re-reading Foundation and plan to continue to read the others in the series. As I've grown older I've become more appreciative of history and how it has shaped our lives, so reading about a science fiction setting where people effectively write the history they want to have is just fun.
The principles of psychohistory, the statistical study of masses of humans to predict their behavior, was fascinating and today's real-world applications of data science scratch at similar concepts. Of course, this is a science fiction book, but it nonetheless explores the what-if: what-if this psychohistory were real and could be applied on human civilization at large?
For a more in-depth review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2021/08/book-review-foundation-by-isaac-asimov.html
