Prelude to Foundation

This is the most entertaining book among the Foundation series. Other Fondation books usually deal with political issues and lots of talk and talk and talk but this book has some action. (Poor Harry Seldon would have never imagined that himself would have been a active young man who could do some martial art and do some physical stuffs when he first appeared in the Foundation) The style is very much like the Currents of Space and this book is just as well written as the Currents of Space. If you like adventure and thrill just try this book even if u don't know what Foundation series is. Well, but 'some' knowledge over the history of Earth (Asimov history, that is) would be quite helpful to understand the whole situation. (When I read the book i didn't know about the Aurora and Earth stuffs and didn't quite understand..so i had to read it again after i finished the Robot triology)

I would strongly recommend this book to any Science Fiction fan, particularly a Trekkie - it is here that we see where Gene Roddenberry got the idea of a Posotronic brain, and the concept of Data and Lore.

For anyone who has not read the original trilogy, this book provided the background information that leads into the earlier books. I first read the Foundation trilogy in the 50's, and it is still exciting.

I am totally turned on to the great Isaac Asimov. Incredible that this author wrote the Foundation series 50 years ago. What a mind! He is the first and best Science Fiction writer of all time. I am speeding through the Foundation series and loving every word.

I am dubious of prequels, mainly because I have found them to be less than entertaining, mainly thanks to the Star Wars films; however I must admit Prelude to Foundation was my favorite of the Foundation series. Part of this may be because I endeavored to read the books in chronological order as opposed to their order of publication. I found the book to be the most exciting of the entire series, abandoning the often-used collection of short stories format in favor of a continuous ongoing tale.

Prelude to Foundation takes place, of course, well before Foundation, and some time before Forward the Foundation, and finds The Galactic Empire at the Height of its power and Hari Seldon trying to perfect his theory of Psychohistory -- a way of predicting future events through mathematical calculation. This is a theory that Seldon's peers of course find ludicrous, but which gains the attention of the Emperor (Psychohistory would, of course, be valuable to an Empire that wished to retain its power). But there are apparently other forces that do not wish for Seldon's theory ever to ess fruition, and so begins a chase accross worlds with a twist ending that reveals the return of a recurring character from some of Asimov's previous works.

I actually liked this book better than the original Foundation. I understand they will be doing a movie based on Foundation some time in the near future. If so, this is the model I would like to see them use. This was by far my favorite of the series.

The Foundation trilogy was one of my favorite Sci fi book collections to read. This book is fantastic for it's great story connections to his previous Robot novels. It was a well paced book that I couldn't put down, and after reading it, I have just been working my way through others in the series.

Noticing an Asimov I had not read was exciting but this unfortunately was the highlight of the reading experience. The book really had little to offer as it laboured between pointless Trantorian sectors, was this parody or what, millions of years hence and we have short folk with moustaches and tall folk with blond hair as the highlight of this `sci-fi`. There were also air jets in this future and knife fights and a monarchy as the political system. Perhaps Asimov was forced to write this empty vessel that lacked any real originality and with one late obvious twist only was very disappointing. Still a big fan of the author but not this book.

Foundation? How why? What's the history? The where-did-they-come-from-and-where-do-they-go.
That's what Seldon tries, as a mathematician, to figure out, with the help of the lovely Dors.
Nothing is what is seems to be.

Reading this, makes you think about our own planet earth... written so long ago and still so up-to-date. Just waiting for the next book now!

I am reading the entire Robot and Foundation series by this author, it was recommended to me. It is interesting to read about political and scientific things from the perspective of the 50's, some of these books go back that far. They are a great scifi read with an interesting political slant to them. I totally recommend them.

Cliffhangers don't let you hanging much, but good book overall considering its age, it still offers an interesting take on the future, and has not been overcome by modern times... there is still enough time for it to become "true".

I find that this book Is gripping. some years ago I did read a another book with regard to the foundation some time in the future of this book. Many of the items noted in that book left me with questions about how the story had evolved. This book has answered many of the questions raised by the future book