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Prelude to Foundation

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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.

In a time before the Foundations, psychohistory’s creator Hari Seldon is made to stand before the Emperor of the crumbling Galactic Empire to present how his scientific theory of predicting the future might be applied to the real world.

However, Hari refuses to deploy his theory for political gain, setting off instead with reporter Chetter Hummin in quest of a place to safely apply his theory: Earth, the original home of humanity.

All records of Earth have been lost to time. Hari will therefore have to look back into the past, in order to seal the future of humanity for ever.

©2021 Isaac Asimov (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Classics Fiction First Contact Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Space Opera Interstellar Star Wars
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This prequel proceeds the excellent original Foundation trilogy by thrusting a younger Hari Seldon into the role of main protagonist for a longer form tour of Trantor as he attempts to understand the beginnings of psychohistory.

For the most part the book feels as if no major time gap had taken place between the writing of the previous book and this prequel. The major difference being that the trilogy books are a series of contained story vignettes whereas this book is one longer continuous story of a more relaxed pace.

We visit and explore much more of Trantor, which is fleshed out in much greater detail than the original trilogy. Hari Seldon gets some degree of character development through his growing relationship with Dors Venabilli who accompanies Seldon throughout the book.

I give Asimov an 'A' for effort by trying to include character development, but as with most Asimov books the ideas and concepts are much better executed than people.

William Hope continues to be a top narrator, with excellent performance and delivery well suited to bring Asimov's work to life.

Enjoyable slower paced prequel expertly narrated

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A fascinating story. It feels like a history book of a real universe. Easy to listen to. Once started the story draws you to the conclusion leaving you wanting more. Luckily it is only the beginning of the end.

The science fiction master

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There’s reason why the name Asimov is synonymous with Sci-fi. He is a master of it. Original ideas and plots with more twists than French braids. Great story as one would expect

There’s reason why the name Asimov is synonymous with Sci-fi

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Certamente il testo non è discutibile. Asimov è un monumento della letteratura fantascientifica e purtroppo la serie televisiva prodotta da Apple ha sconvolto l’opera dello scrittore distorcendone profondamente personaggi e trama al fine di adattarla al neo politically correct, BLM, LGBTQ, cancel culture, etc.
Il volume recensito, scritto tardivamente dall’autore, si pone come antefatto alla trilogia della Fondazione, fornendo le informazioni di base per conoscere meglio i personaggi, l’ambiente e i presupposti della psychohistory.
L’interpretazione del testo di William Hope è semplicemente magistrale!

Lettura magistrale

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I have re read the Foundation series several times over the last 35 years. I remember the shock when I heard that Isaac had died.

In the same way that Tolkien created the entire genre of fantasy with the Lord of the Rings, Asimov created the entire genre of what we think of as science fiction.

His two major contributions are the idea of humanoid robots and galaxy wide empires. Whenever you read a book or watch a film that has these two features know that Asimov created the entire cultural framework for these concepts. As companies such as Tesla and Boston Dynamics move into the manufacture of humanoid robots the engineers are paying homage to Asimov. As SpaceX lifts humanity into space and onto Mars it is the dreams created by Asimov that inspired them.

William Hope is the perfect narrator for this series. Each character is given a memorable voice which enhances the entire story.

Skip the AppleTV TV adaption of the Foundation series and settle yourself down to the best Asimov experience available today. Once you have finished this book you will find yourself instantly downloading the next book in the series.

Masterful narration of the master of science fiction

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