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Foundation’s Edge

Foundation, Book 6

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Foundation’s Edge

By: Isaac Asimov
Narrated by: William Hope
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About this listen

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES

The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today.

After a long war which saw the First Foundation emerge victorious, the Second Foundation is now believed to be extinct, and all records of planet Earth’s existence have been erased.

No one suspects that the Second Foundation could still exist. None, except Council member Golan Trevize, who finds himself ordered to leave Terminus, accompanied by historian Janov Pelorat, in order to find it.

Yet this quest will lead an unsuspecting Golan further than he could have possibly imagined – closer than ever to Earth, where the fate of the whole galaxy awaits him.

©2021 Isaac Asimov (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
First Contact Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Space Opera Space Fiction Interstellar Robotics Star Wars
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Critic reviews

‘One of the most staggering achievements in modern SF’
The Times

‘Isaac Asimov was one of the great explainers of the age…It will never be known how many practicing scientists today, in how many countries, owe their initial inspiration to a book, article, or short story by Isaac Asimov’
Carl Sagan

‘Asimov displayed one of the most dynamic imaginations in science fiction’
Daily Telegraph

‘Asimov’s career was one of the most formidable in science fiction’
The Times

What listeners say about Foundation’s Edge

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excellent story well narrated.

the narrator was excellent at characterisation. easy to identify which character was speaking.
I love this book as it's Asimov's attempt at linking his works into his Asimoverse as we might say today.

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Wonderful and interesting … a great continuation

Great pace with many unexpected elements , right until the end. Will definitely be revisiting in the near future … and great to have advice on others in series , more to be done

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Brilliant

Bring back memories and also makes connections with othe Asimov books.
Now onto the last book in this series 😁

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Usual Brilliance

Having listened to the somewhat disappointing prequels this was a return to the high standards of the Foundation Series proper. Conversationally driven narratives by interesting characters voiced to perfection as always by William Hope. Straight into the last book I go.

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Great sequel

Fantastic addition to the original trilogy, expanding and fleshing out the foundation universe. Good performance from the narrator. I enjoyed this audiobook.

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A worthy sequel

This tale is a worthy sequel to the Foundation series, even though it was published thirty years after the original 1950s trilogy. It is a stand-alone novel, but will be enjoyed—and understood—far more if the earlier books have been read first. Once more it does not disappoint with its twists and turns, and has some excellent set-piece stand-offs, when it is the strength of the rhetoric of the characters rather than their military might or fancy gadgets that generally win the day.

Asimov reveals that the leaders of both of the Foundations that are supposed to save the Galaxy from 30,000 years of chaos have feet of clay. In spite of their exalted positions they are, after all, just human. He also manages to combine in this book elements of his robot stories and novels as well as his book on time travel, ‘The End of Eternity’. And yet again he succeeds in getting more mileage from his famous three laws of robotics.

Having said all of that, the book does suffer somewhat from Asimov’s failure in his later books to avoid padding the narrative with endless dialogue as well as the exposition of some of his pet theories. There are also aspects of the dialogue and plot line that reveal the book to belong to the permissive 1980s rather than the prim and proper 1950s, and personally I could have done without these. Nevertheless, in general it ‘feels’ like classic Asimov. Once more William Hope does sterling service as the narrator.

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A conjunction and challenging of ideas expressed in the series and in other Isaac Asimiv works.

The previous foundation trilogy expressed the first and second foundations largely are positive forces, physical science and innovation are champions, and benevolent psychohistorical manipulation is great. Though the scale is vast, the focus is on crossing the 1000 years of choas and getting to the other side, everything that helps toward this end is shown positively.

The focus is more a detective focus on how - how will it be revealed that macro sociopoliticoeconomic forces made the solution to a crisis inevitable, and the actions of individuals trivial. The mule introduces an interruption to the plan and the reveal of the nature of the second foundation.

I like that this book looks expands to the bigger picture and makes clear that 1000 years isn't the end, the long term future of humanity is at stake. It critically examines the long term direction each seperate strategy represents for the long term future of humanity:

******minor spoilers below******

The first foundation as physical power without an ability to escape inevitable sociological cycles, they do not have control over their own fate.

The second foundation bearing flaws sharply expressed in 'The end of eternity', though they have the power to escape the wheel and direct macro sociopoliticaleconomic forces, are still humans, and having power over your own fate does not mean it can be used wisely and beneficially. They would choose the safest path lowest risk path for humanity always, with implicit values in their prestine mathematical modelling, generating endless stagnation, and prevent humanity from facing real problems that necessitate real solution requiring fundamental change.

I thought in this and the next novel, the third path was not sufficiently investigated for flaws. Asimov likely felt the same way since I think he wrote himself into a corner and didn't finish the series (though these two books do come to a conclusion, it is a conclusion similar to that of the first trilogy, satisfying in its own right but indicating that a large development is on the horizon) - which is understandable since he was a sceptical man and would be unwilling to come to a definitive conclusion on the ideal future path for humanity. So in a way, these novels (this and the next one) are as conclusive as they could be - leaving us in a state of scientific experimentation where new emergent information may redirect events and change conclusions, with minds being open to change as new evidence emerges.

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Brilliant and enthralling

The each book in the foundation series has been unique while maintaining the fundamental theme and thoroughly entertaining. I look forward to the next

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The connections to some thing greater

Story teller very good. The story leaves you wondering what might be or happen in the future.

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