Foundation's Edge (Foundation Novels)

The third in series great read bad read it years ago as a one book liked it thought it left to many questions unanswered and saw Foundtaion Earth so far another good read Good author way ahead of his time

This book does an excellent job of describing the interplay of the politics of the two foundations. It brings us closer to the end of the Galactic Empire as for seeing by Selden. It's an excellent book and I highly recommend it to anyone.

As the winner of the special one-time Hugo for "best series," I had expected a lot more out of these books. Not being a literary critic I probably can't be very clear in why, exactly, I was disappointed, but I guess I just expected *more* from such a praised series. I feel like there were some interesting ideas, but the characters were flat and their motivations were often kind of contrived (a lot of the time, the "what is this person doing all this stuff for" was explained, at the end, with an unforeshadowed plot-twist-reveal that sort of justified the characters' actions, but didn't really do much for my having been totally nonplussed for 150 pages). There was also a lot of hopping from setting to setting with no better reason than "time to go to this planet/city/region" now...the narrative was very disjointed. Too much deus ex machina, even though that was sort of the point.

I feel like I did when I read the "Chronicles of Amber" - some good ideas, not a lot of characterization or direction, and overall bad pacing and motivation. There just wasn't much of a story here.

It's especially disappointing because one of my favorite old-school sci-fi series, E.E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensmen" series, was a runner-up for the special award, so I was all excited to read the series that beat it out. Overall, I don't think you'll be missing much if you skip the "Foundation" novels.

It is extremely creative. I read this book as part of a 15 book list and this being number 14 was pleasantly different in its style and structure. Women play very critical roles, at this point the writing has improved incredibly and you can tell he is a master of both science and science fiction.

After reading the earlier Foundation novels, the Robot series, and the Foundation-era novels written by others, this brought me back to Asimov's original works and I have to say I'm not disappointed.

The book makes you think about certain issues and, I personally believe, gives us more insight into how Asimov's views changed over time as he wrote the series. I won't go into details to avoid spoilers, but I can see a clear difference between this book's characters and descriptions compared to the first book, "Foundation."

A good start to the second segment of the Foundation's progress through psychohistory.

Where the first Foundation trilogy was a collection of fresh, exciting stories with dynamic characters, Asimov's addendum in the 80s are slow, cumbersome and not a joy to read. What struck me is that at no time are the characters found to be in actual danger, preventing the plot twists and character development that made the original series fun.

After many years, I finally got around reading the Foundation books and what a surprise! these books have been utterly delightful and it is interesting to see how Asimov grew as a writer while working on them.

I still have one book to go (not counting the prequels) and I have to say that this volume was immensely addictive and enjoyable. I couldn't let go and now I can't wait for others in my family to read them.

I bought the complete series of the Foundation for my husband, because he hadn't read it before. There are 7 books, not three, and I can say that Isaac Assimov is one of the great brains of the past century. His story about the History of the future is so awesome!

I am a huge fan of the first three books of the foundation trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation). I recently re-read it and picked up Foundation's Edge to continue the fun. I was weary at first to pick up another chapter, but I must say that he did not disappoint! The series goes off in another wonderful direction and I would say that this is a must-read for science fiction buffs. Bravo!

How can you not like it? The master of science fiction and space travel. The whole foundation series is a master piece of a continuing account of the possible (probable??) future of mankind in the distant future. That is if we survive the mess we are making of our planet long enough to develop the technology to achieve Asimov's visions.

unfortunately I red Foundation and Earth first. when I got Foundation's Edge I realized that it was the perfect lead up for Foundation and Earth. But I was still enthralled with the plot of the book even though I new the final outcome of the next book. Both books are a great read

The story makes an uncomfortable mash up of all things Asimov.  It is only his ability as a writer that keeps it from flying off the rails.  In short, if you like all things connected, go for it.

The whole foundation series is definitely a masterpiece. The way time passes in the Foundation universe is extremely captivating. The way the multi layer traps are built and exposed will most certainly keep you awake at night while reading for hours.

As a fourth book (written much later) to the Foundation Series, surprisingly successful and actually on re-reading, one of the best installments. The plot: a Foundation counsel member, Golan Trevize, announces that the too-close-for-comfort resolution of a Seldon Crisis called by Mayor Harla Branno is proof that the Seldon plan is being secretly manipulated, maybe by the Second Foundation of mentalic controllers, who were not actually the only ones who were rooted out on Terminus (Book:Second Foundation.)

Meanwhile, the Second Foundation of course is going strong, but one of the younger Speakers, Stor Gendibal, comes head to head with the other speakers but..supported by the First Speaker, he leaves to find a secret group of "anti-Mules"--mentalics who are supporting the Seldon Plan secretly, for reasons of their own. (So Gendibal and Trevize have a similar problem and face similar ostracization from their government posts.)

Gendibal discovers a local farm woman who seems to have been delicated tampered with, mentally, proving that there are "anti-Mules" at work. Meanwhile, a whole new group of Gaians, those devoted to a unified galaxy, emerge to bring all the opposing forces together.

Very fun--though the surprises are not particularly surprising. Still, a worthy addition to the Foundation series.

After three decades Isaac Asimov finally gave in to pressures from fans (and publishers) and produced a sequel to his seminal Foundation trilogy. Sharp eyed readers will notice when reading Foundation's Edge references to other Asimov books. Asimov had already linked the Foundation novels with his Galactic Empire novels, but with this book he begins to link his Robot books as well, giving one giant history of the Galaxy. Interestingly there is also a brief reference to the events of the stand alone novel The End of Eternity.
As far as the plot goes <SPOILER> Foundation's Edge once again explores the rivalry between the First Foundation and the Second Foundation, where our protagonist Golan Trevize has to decide the Galaxy's future: a Galaxy controlled by the First Foundation, a Galaxy controlled by the Second Foundation or the concept of Galaxia where all life participates in a kind of group consciousness forming a sort of super-organism, Galaxia.
Needless to say I think Trevize makes the wrong choice. At any rate if you think of Foundation's Edge as just the set up for the much more interesting Foundation and Earth, it goes down a lot easier.
One thing I noticed was that Asimov writes that the Second Foundation (and by extension Hari Seldon himself) continually underestimates the rapid technological advances being made by the First Foundation. I can't help but feel this reflects Asimov's own feelings on the rapidity of technological change (especially in computers) made in the 30+ years since his original trilogy was written.

It is 200 years after Second Foundation, marking the halfway point between the fall of the first Galactic Empire and the forming of a new one, according to the Seldon Plan. There are new characters and plots in both the First and Second Foundations, and a new unexpected power emerges, but not in a way we would expect.
A councilman of Terminus, Golan Trevize, denies the existence of the Seldon Plan, upsets the council, and under the leadership of Mayor Harla Branno, exiles Trevize to search for the Second Foundation, suspected of surviving, and thriving, from its thought of destruction by Terminus two hundred year prior to the story. He brings along Janov Pelorat, a researcher who searches for Earth. This is the first time in the entire story where Earth is mentioned at all, for in the Trilogy, the planet of origin was long forgotten, including its name.
Meanwhile, Stor Gendibal, a speaker of the Second Foundation, on Trantor, now a farming planet, meets up with a Novi Sura, supposedly a farm woman, who saves him from a lynching by other farmers. Sura wants to be a scholar, and after a conflict with the council, sets off after Golan Trevize, who he’s never met, but somehow senses, through informers, that the First Foundation is after the Second once more, and tries to stop him.
Alternately, both side meet at a planet known as Gaia (not to be confused with Earth), and find not only a new discipline, but the birthplace of the Mule, why he had his powers, and how he got to conquer half the galaxy 200 years earlier, before his downfall.
Gaia, and the search for Earth, is where this story deviates. The Mules power are common to the people of Gaia, but the Mule was an aberration. Gaia exiled the Mule, where he sought power only for himself. The people of Gaia are known as the “anti-Mules” because even though they had his abilities, they had no desire to conquer others. In fact, the opposite. They wanted to offer a peaceful existence to anyone, or civilization who wanted it, but they have to want it, or they would do nothing.
The story is also where the First and Second Foundation become mortal enemies, determined to destroy each other, or the First Foundation wanted to destroy the Second. Do Seldon mean for this to happen? It is 500 years after his death, so, like any plan, it takes a mind of its own. The First Foundation feared that if the Second Foundation continued to exist, after the formation of the new galactic empire, the Second Foundation would come in, take over, and use their mental discipline to rule the galaxy.
The Second Foundation feared a new military rule by the First, and this is not far fetched. Mayor Branno indicated that she wanted to form the new empire in her time, 500 years earlier than planned, with her at the throne.
So as the two forces meet as Gaia, Gaia comes in with a new form, a galactic Gaia, a Galaxia, for peace in the galaxy. The description of Gaia is being of all matter living and non-living as a single unit yet able to retain their individualities.
It is Golan Trevize that has to choose which form the new galactic empire will be, First Foundation, Second Foundation, or Galaxia?
This is unexpected, considering that this book was written 30 after the original Foundation Trilogy. Back then, I’m sure even Isaac Asimov had not thought of this concept. It is hard for any reader to swallow, the connection being that the Mule originate from there, answering one question from the original trilogy.
The book is mostly dialogue, and twice as long as any book of the trilogy, but it is not boring, and there is a plot, and questions are answered, and new ones are raised.
There are references to the Robot Novels, one of the pre-Galactic Empire novels, "Pebble in the Sky," and even the Eternals in the book, "The End of Eternity." All of these can form sort of a "Future History" of humanity in space, leading up to the Foundation Trilogy. All were written by Asimov and all should be checked out, in their own right. This is all explained in the afterward by the author.
The concept of Gaia, or Gaea, does exist now, especially amongst the environmental movement, in which what is done in any part of the earth, land, ocean, or sky, affects every other part of it, and we must be careful on how we treat it, especially in the areas of farming, mining, and just plain development our land and natural resources.
Asimov brings this on a galactic scale.
The search for Earth, humanity’s origin, continues in the next book, “Foundation and Earth.”

It is 200 years after Second Foundation, marking the halfway point between the fall of the first Galactic Empire and the forming of a new one, according to the Seldon Plan. There are new characters and plots in both the First and Second Foundations, and a new unexpected power emerges, but not in a way we would expect.
A councilman of Terminus, Golan Trevize, denies the existence of the Seldon Plan, upsets the council, and under the leadership of Mayor Harla Branno, exiles Trevize to search for the Second Foundation, suspected of surviving, and thriving, from its thought of destruction by Terminus two hundred year prior to the story. He brings along Janov Pelorat, a researcher who searches for Earth. This is the first time in the entire story where Earth is mentioned at all, for in the Trilogy, the planet of origin was long forgotten, including its name.
Meanwhile, Stor Gendibal, a speaker of the Second Foundation, on Trantor, now a farming planet, meets up with a Novi Sura, supposedly a farm woman, who saves him from a lynching by other farmers. Sura wants to be a scholar, and after a conflict with the council, sets off after Golan Trevize, who he’s never met, but somehow senses, through informers, that the First Foundation is after the Second once more, and tries to stop him.
Alternately, both side meet at a planet known as Gaia (not to be confused with Earth), and find not only a new discipline, but the birthplace of the Mule, why he had his powers, and how he got to conquer half the galaxy 200 years earlier, before his downfall.
Gaia, and the search for Earth, is where this story deviates. The Mules power are common to the people of Gaia, but the Mule was an aberration. Gaia exiled the Mule, where he sought power only for himself. The people of Gaia are known as the “anti-Mules” because even though they had his abilities, they had no desire to conquer others. In fact, the opposite. They wanted to offer a peaceful existence to anyone, or civilization who wanted it, but they have to want it, or they would do nothing.
The story is also where the First and Second Foundation become mortal enemies, determined to destroy each other, or the First Foundation wanted to destroy the Second. Do Seldon mean for this to happen? It is 500 years after his death, so, like any plan, it takes a mind of its own. The First Foundation feared that if the Second Foundation continued to exist, after the formation of the new galactic empire, the Second Foundation would come in, take over, and use their mental discipline to rule the galaxy.
The Second Foundation feared a new military rule by the First, and this is not far fetched. Mayor Branno indicated that she wanted to form the new empire in her time, 500 years earlier than planned, with her at the throne.
So as the two forces meet as Gaia, Gaia comes in with a new form, a galactic Gaia, a Galaxia, for peace in the galaxy. The description of Gaia is being of all matter living and non-living as a single unit yet able to retain their individualities.
It is Golan Trevize that has to choose which form the new galactic empire will be, First Foundation, Second Foundation, or Galaxia?
This is unexpected, considering that this book was written 30 after the original Foundation Trilogy. Back then, I’m sure even Isaac Asimov had not thought of this concept. It is hard for any reader to swallow, the connection being that the Mule originate from there, answering one question from the original trilogy.
The book is mostly dialogue, and twice as long as any book of the trilogy, but it is not boring, and there is a plot, and questions are answered, and new ones are raised.
There are references to the Robot Novels, one of the pre-Galactic Empire novels, "Pebble in the Sky," and even the Eternals in the book, "The End of Eternity." All of these can form sort of a "Future History" of humanity in space, leading up to the Foundation Trilogy. All were written by Asimov and all should be checked out, in their own right. This is all explained in the afterward by the author.
The concept of Gaia, or Gaea, does exist now, especially amongst the environmental movement, in which what is done in any part of the earth, land, ocean, or sky, affects every other part of it, and we must be careful on how we treat it, especially in the areas of farming, mining, and just plain development our land and natural resources.
Asimov brings this on a galactic scale.
The search for Earth, humanity’s origin, continues in the next book, “Foundation and Earth.”

This sequel was published in 1981, years after the original Foundation trilogy (1951-1953). The writing is more modern, meaning that it is clearer. Asimov has stopped focusing on why civilizations fall and increased the emphasis on the Seldon Plan, which is using psychohistory to predict and guide the future, and which has been the main theme of the trilogy.

It is about 20,000 years in the future and five centuries after the fall of the Galactic Empire. The new power is the Foundation which is based on the planet Terminus on the edge of the galaxy. The Foundation has been basically run as a democracy with a council governing matters. But after five centuries it is turning into a dictatorship with the mayor having dictatorial powers. This is reminiscent of Rome at the end of the Republic era when people like Caesar began taking over. It is also somewhat reminiscent of the United States which, while not yet having any dictator, has given government agencies like the EPA and the IRS increasing dictatorial powers.

Nevertheless the main plot centers around the Foundation's battle with its nemesis the Second Foundation, a battle that was supposedly decided in the last novel of the trilogy (Second Foundation) but has been revived. An interesting side note is that the Foundation sends out a spaceship to look for remnants of the Second Foundation but disguises its mission as a search for Earth. At this time there were some mythological beliefs that humans originated on a planet called Earth but the experts doubted that any such place ever existed. Nevertheless one historian is convinced it does exist.

For the first time, Azimov goes into detail about the formerly mysterious Second Foundation. It is headquartered on Trantor, the capital of the former Galactic Empire, but keeps its presence hidden. Its mission is to use psychohistory behind the scenes to guide the recovery of the galaxy towards a new galactic empire. The first Foundation's mission is to advance technology. Both believe they are running things in the galaxy.

A new theme is the never before questioning of the Seldon Plan. The two main characters, one from each foundation, have independently declared the plan to be meaningless at this point in their history. This is something like what we have experienced here with the basic plans (documents) of the United States to be in the same state with the Bible long considered meaningless and the US Constitution in the same state where any federal judge can largely circumvent it for any reason.

As usual, Asimov makes some general comments about society. One is where the Second Foundation is described as being egalitarian on the outside but really run by the council. This of course describes the United States perfectly. While the public is distracted and entertained by countless elections the elites rule this country, mainly through the federal judiciary which can overrule any democratic decision it wants to as being "unconstitutional." This is quite easy as anything can be defined as being a violation of "due process" or "equal protection."

Another is that as civilization advances privacy diminishes. This has been a big issue in the US recently with government "wiretaps" of telephone calling patterns to detect terrorism (not real wiretaps as no conversation is heard). This has become a big issue because it is new. But a bigger invasion of privacy is the government's monitoring through the IRS of every dollar we make. This is apparently not a big issue now because people are used to it.

Meanwhile the commander of the Foundation spaceship has decided to look for the Second Foundation on this mysterious planet Earth. The historian on board has a plan. The galaxy has millions of planets that can sustain human life but they must approach the conditions of the mythical planet of origin. The Galactic Standard day is 24 hours and the Standard Galactic Year is 365 days but none of the known planets match this exactly. No one now knows where this ancient standard came from. The historian decides that the solution to find Earth is to look for a planet that has these exact conditions. The historian has also discovered information that Earth has a large satellite.

The two end up on the planet Sayshell, which they believe must be near Earth. There the spaceship commander runs into a colleague (but actually a Second Foundation agent) who is certain Earth is now radioactive and uninhabitable due to past nuclear activity. Then the two find a Sayshell ancient historian who has a different theory. He believes there was some sort of war between humans and robots which caused humans to flee to Sayshell. It is believed that Sayshell was the first planet colonized and the rest of the galaxy was colonized from there. Contrary to today's conventional wisdom robots eventually became extinct.

It is believed that Earth is in the Sirius Sector. But the two find out that there is a mysterious planet called Gaia (the Greek word for Earth) in the Sayshell Sector. They go looking for it and find that it is not Earth. Here the science fiction element is pronounced as it is a planet where all things comprise a superorganism governed by telepathic group consciousness. It is a strange planet with strange powers.

I read the Foundation Saga a while ago. Back then, I'd bought the first few volumes in Spanish. In fact, I think the first volume I bought was actually, "Prelude to Foundation," of which I'll have to write a review soon because it probably is my favourite in the entire saga. However, while Prelude may be my favourite, "Foundation's Edge" isn't far behind.

This time around I read it in English during an 8-hour bus ride to and from. It must've taken me around 10 hours to finish due to Asimov's rather unique writing style. As you may be aware by now, his novels don't have a whole lot of action (sometimes none) and instead rely heavily on dialogue between characters, along with the required introspection if it serves a purpose. I'm fine with this style, it's undoubtedly the reason I devour his books.

FE stands apart from the original trilogy in that it was Asimov's first novel, and by that I mean it was a single story throughout, not a collection of short ones. It also introduced us to Golan Trevize, the main character who would remain so in the sequel, "Foundation and Earth." His is a character who has the uncanny ability to follow a reasoning through to a correct conclusion even when working with limited data. It is for that very reason that he will play a pivotal role in the inevitable showdown between the forces of the First and Second Foundations.

Another reason I heavily favour the latter Foundation books over the former is because they also tie together Asimov's Robot novels rather nicely, and that's all I'm going to say about that, at least in this review. Saying anything more would spoil it.

If you like intrigue, there's plenty. Trevize is a Terminus Councilman who's exiled by the Mayor of Terminus for his blasphemous views on the perfection of the Seldon Plan and his conclusion that it means the Second Foundation is still around. He's right, of course, and the Mayor knows it. At the same time, a Second Foundation Speaker by the name of Stor Gendibal partially agrees. The Second Foundation is still around, naturally, but even he's puzzled about the distinct lack of deviations from the Seldon Plan and poses that a third party is fine-tuning the Plan unbeknownst to them. So begins an intricate weave of plots and counterpplots that will put Trevize front and center in deciding the fate of a galaxy.

Oh, and if you've played ME3, you'll probably find something in common with its ending only Asimov does it much better.

What are you waiting for? Read it.

Now.

Isaac Asimov is still the king of science fiction and the Foundation's Edge proves this. Isaac has created a fantastic premise of the First Foundation and the Second foundation that seek to destroy each other. His characters are Vivid and amazing. Together they attempt to negotiate with each other and this reminded me of the cold war. This book has a fantastic well thought out plot. Overall, an astounding work that gave me a lot to think about.

Foundations Edge is the first book written by Asimov in the Foundation series after a 29 year break. Being the 4th book published in the series and 6th book chronologically, this should not be the first book you read about the Foundation (see list below). For those engrossed in the series already, Foundations's Edge contains all the intrigue and style found in the prior books, but now he includes an entirely new element of mystery. The original three books contain mostly ideas about the Empire and the two Foundations, but now a new power comes into play that sheds some light on the mysterious powers of the Second Foundation as well as the Mule's background. The book introduces Trevize, a character whose inquisitive attitude carries the story along perfectly. As an added bonus, among all the twists and turns, Foundation's Edge has perhaps the biggest cliff hanger of all the books in the series and will leave you rushing to get a hold of the final book: Foundations & Earth.

***
For those new to the series, here are the specific seven books tied directly into the Foundation story line and their original date of publication. I read these in the order they were published and was very happy to have chosen that order. Asimov also tied in some of this other book series into this one (specifically his Robot series) thus making the entire story line a much larger volume of books.

Prelude to Foundation (1988)
Forward the Foundation (1993)
Foundation (1951)
Foundation and Empire (1952)
Second Foundation (1953)
Foundation's Edge (1982)
Foundation and Earth (1986)

Finally! Asimov realizes the potential of his Foundation stories in this fourth volume in the series. There is an altogether different feel to it. Less a dramatic history and more of a suspense/mystery tale, Foundation's Edge focuses on Councilman of the Foundation Golan Trevize whose conspiracy theories concerning the existence of the Second Foundation get him in a lot of trouble. Set up opposite Golan is a young speaker of the Second Foundation, also aware that something is completely wrong with the Seldon Plan. Golan is exiled for his challenge to the status quo by the Mayor of the Foundation, his secret mission, to explore, from the peripheries, his belief that the Second Foundation exists and if so, what it is up to. The speaker's goal: to find who or what is manipulating the Seldon Plan outside the Second Foundation. Two mysteries intertwine and combine in a wonderfully new direction for the Foundation series that leaves so many more questions than before.

I loved the brilliant new twist to this storyline comes in Golan's companion, Historian Jan Pelorat, a fringe academic who believes, astonishingly, that human beings, now spread over millions of habitable planets across the galaxy, actually originated on a single planet: Earth. Pelorat joins Golan as a cover for his investigation of the Second Foundation. Why did people leave Earth 20,000 years ago? And why are there no precise records of it's history or even location? Through their journey the explore mythology and legend, folklore and fairytales of the future. Was Earth destroyed in a radioactive cataclysm? Did a war between robots and humanity force human beings to flee the planet to establish a world without?

The difference in this particular novel is Asimov's focus on just a couple of characters. He builds the mystery of Earth throughout the entire novel and does it in a very intriguing fashion. Written 30 years after the original Foundation trilogy, this novel shows Asimov's growth as an author. Gone is a lot of the repetitive explanations of bits of technology or futuristic custom and in it's place is solid character and plot development. Foundation's Edge ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, Golan is forced to make a choice for the future of humanity and it's not altogether clear what his decision entails. The Seldon Plan takes a backseat for the first time in the Foundation's history and a new force outside the Foundation makes its presence known. Guess I'll be finishing this series after all...

Isaac Asimov continues the Foundation Story in this 4th installment of the series, published around 30 years after the original trilogy. In Foundation's Edge, Asimov does a great job of continuing and expanding the Foundation story without missing a beat, despite the amount of time between this book and the first 3 books. The novel's style is somewhat different from the original trilogy in that it has somewhat more depth and more sophistication. This is only expected, however, considering this novel was published in the 1980s, and the original trilogy was published 50 years ago in "pulp" monthly magazine format. Foundation's Edge is also close to 500 pages, wheras the entire original trilogy, combined, wasn't much more.
The book follows members of both the 1st and 2nd Foundations who believe that some force in the Galaxy, besides either of the Foundations, is at work controlling the Seldon Plan and causing it to proceed a little perfectly. But who or what is controlling it nobody knows, nor what their ultimate intentions are. Not knowing if the mysteryious third party means good or bad for the Foundations (and the Galaxy, in general), the characters must discover the truth, or else it could mean the end of both of the Foundation's as well as Hari Seldon's vision for a new empire.
This was a very enjoyable book to read and flowed well from cover to cover. As with many of Asimov's novel, this sci-fi reads like a mystery in which characters are missing major pieces of the puzzle, but must seek to uncover the truth. The ending may be considered a little disapointing by some in that it basically winds up heading the galaxy in a completely different direction than the original trilogy. It's always a bit dissapointing when an author basically contradicts what readers believed from reading previous books in a series. However, all in all, I strongly recommend the entire series to be read (and in the order published, I might add!)

Asimov is great. I grew up with him, I love his books, and his contributions to the genre cannot be overstated. I have to begin with that.

The world he has built (and I never connected ALL of the worlds he has built together until I read the afterword to this book) is, to say the least, extensive. The hard sci-fi in here is really enjoyable, and the plot is good. This book is pretty much consistent with his other works.

Unfortunately, that means some pretty flat characters. I can really only come up with three or four of his characters who aren't in this category (R. Daneel Olivaw, Dr. Susan Calvin).

Still, definitely a worthwhile read

SOme one hundred years after The Second Foundation, the [First] Foundation is mostly complacent that the Seldon Plan is in full swing, and that they will successfully establish the Second Galactic Empire in another 500 years, as predicted. But there is a problem. The progression of the Foundation follows the Seldon Plan PRECISELY!
Such absolute perfection rings to a select few as too unlikely to occur naturally. Especially in light of the severe deviations in the past, as in the conquest by the Mule. Even the Second Foundation, the guardians of the Plan are unable to explain the uncanny adherence. The First Foundation believes this to be the result of the Second Foundation's influence. The Second Foundation is uncertain as to who may be causing such undue influence.
So two individuals are sent on somewhat parallel missions. One from the First Foundation, ostensibly to discover the location of the Second Foundation. This mission quickly becomes a drive to locate Earth, the legendary planet of origin of mankind.
The Second Foundationer's mission is to pursue this other man, as he seems to be indelibly entwined with the future of the Plan, despite the fact that Psychohistory is unable to predict the actions of an individual. Further complicating this chase is the fact that the Second Foundation has been infiltrated, as evidenced by the distinct absence of specific information from all their databases.
This novel continues the drive by Asimov to link his Robot, Empire and Foundation Series. We get several tantalizing references to some things that are not completed, leaving the door open to an obvious sequel. The writing is classic Asimov, with sufficient twists to keep the reader entertained. The ending is very much different from what might be expected at the outset, as the degree to which outside forces have interfered is vast. Overall this is a good read, although it tends to drag in places. As a continuation of the epic chronicle of future history, it is invaluable.

Isaac Asimov continues the Foundation Story in this 4th installment of the series, published around 30 years after the original trilogy. In Foundation's Edge, Asimov does a great job of continuing and expanding the Foundation story without missing a beat, despite the amount of time between this book and the first 3 books. The novel's style is somewhat different from the original trilogy in that it has somewhat more depth and more sophistication. This is only expected, however, considering this novel was published in the 1980s, and the original trilogy was published 50 years ago in "pulp" monthly magazine format. Foundation's Edge is also close to 500 pages, wheras the entire original trilogy, combined, wasn't much more.
The book follows members of both the 1st and 2nd Foundations who believe that some force in the Galaxy, besides either of the Foundations, is at work controlling the Seldon Plan and causing it to proceed a little perfectly. But who or what is controlling it nobody knows, nor what their ultimate intentions are. Not knowing if the mysteryious third party means good or bad for the Foundations (and the Galaxy, in general), the characters must discover the truth, or else it could mean the end of both of the Foundation's as well as Hari Seldon's vision for a new empire.
This was a very enjoyable book to read and flowed well from cover to cover. As with many of Asimov's novel, this sci-fi reads like a mystery in which characters are missing major pieces of the puzzle, but must seek to uncover the truth. The ending may be considered a little disapointing by some in that it basically winds up heading the galaxy in a completely different direction than the original trilogy. It's always a bit dissapointing when an author basically contradicts what readers believed from reading previous books in a series. However, all in all, I strongly recommend the entire series to be read (and in the order published, I might add!)

Isaac Asimov has had a lot of time to reenergize himself into another Foundation novel and this one is one of his best. For one thing, the whopping plot hole in "Second Foundation" is addressed (e.g. I never could accept The First Foundation so easily accepting the 'fake' destruction of the Second Foundation.). In this book, Asimov from the start confronts that error!
Foundations Edge starts off, without revealing too much, introducing a young Foundationer who sets out to discover the location of the Second Foundation and along the way gets introduced to the concept of Earth where all of humanity is supposively originated from. The Second Foundation of course is hot on the trail trying to discover who or what is really going on suspecting that this Foundationer is really more than he seems. What results is a bit of a "road picture plot" , but a very suspensful one. The conclusion is a terrific confrontation between the First Foundation, the Second Foundation, and a third force unlike anything we have encountered before in these books.
Along the way Asimov has lots of time to talk science advancement, race theory and of course logically realizes that his original idea had a flaw: The First Foundation is managed by the forces of the Second Foundation, but of course who keeps track of the Second Foundation? Asimov introduces the idea of checks and balances in a very brilliant way. There are plots within plots within plots and Asimov never slows the pace down and keeps the book going. I would call it one of my all time favorite reads. Sadly, I cannot say the same for the follow up "Foundation and Earth" which could have ended the series on a much higher note. As is, I like to think it ended with this book instead!

It seems to me that so many have missed a very important point at what's happened here. Isaac Asimov created, in his youth and from his brilliance, a future universe. Then, as is so with all authors, he moved on to other projects, developing his philosophy and his story telling skills and also his sense of humor as his career continued. Of his own, he really had no idea of returning to Foundation, but of course, readers wanted and began to demand more. Finally, his publishers applied pressure, and the result was FOUNDATIONS EDGE, FOUNDATION AND EARTH, PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION, & FORWARD THE FOUNDATION.
Just as the earlier "novels" were actually shorter stories strung together, FOUNDATIONS EDGE and FOUNDATION AND EARTH are two longer segments of the next step in his future history. Much has happened during the thirty years to affect the author's philosophy, and these two books which represent the necessary trip back to the beginning of it all reflect changes in thinking and of course of advances in scientific knowledge.
We see what is happening from two different viewpoints, the First Foundation viewpoint and the Second Foundation viewpoint. Each has its flaws and one can see that the Second Empire will indeed be deeply flawed if either of the foundations has its way over the other.
Humanity, however, is being guided by intelligence beyond that of Hari Seldon's plan, and those who have read PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION are quite aware of this. FOUNDATION'S EDGE works to lead us in the direction of the true master plan.
Read this book with an open mind, and do continue the thread by reading FOUNDATION AND EARTH before coming to concussions...er, conclusions...about it.

After the first few Foundation stories were published (those that ended up collected in the "novels" called Foundation, and Foundation and Empire), Asimov stated that he couldn't write any more stories in the series because with the Seldon Plan in motion, everything was already determined. Importantly, it should be noted that the Plan was not about establishing a Second Empire after the fall of the first, but only reducing the time between those Empires (and therefore, reducing the amount of strife and hardship). To continue the series, Asimov had to create crises to be resolved.
The first crisis was the attack of the Mule, which followed the idea that one powerful man might be able to alter the course of history, or at least disrupt the Plan. This was the equivalent of introducing a Genghis Khan, Alexander, or Napoleon. It's a matter of debate whether they actually altered the course of history (e.g., they don't speak Macedonian in Iran, or Mongolian in Russia), so the Mule's disruption would be one of timing, not the ultimate establishment of the Second Empire. Thus, the series rested for 20 years.
By its nature, technological advances cannot be imagined by more "primitive" scientific societies, and this is the crisis that sets up this novel, Foundation's Edge. Just as our great political philosphers of the 19th century could not have predicted nuclear weapons, Hari Seldon could not predict the technological advance of the First Foundation. Thus, some of the Foundation's leaders decide the time has come to dispense with the Plan, and by extension the Second Foundation. This is an intriguing setup, and like all of Asimov's works, you are quickly drawn into the story and immediately get to know the characters intimately. It centres around an exile - Trevize - sent out by the leader of the 1st Foundation as a "lightning rod" to try to flush out the Second Foundation. Naturally, the Second Foundationers find out and take moves to stop it. Both Foundations are also concerned that the Plan is too precise - is there something/someone else guiding the plan for its own purposes?
Unfortunately, the story doesn't live up to its promise, or rather, the characters and specific situations don't. They just aren't as interesting or likeable as in other books written during the same few years - namely, the final two robot books (Robots and Empire and Robots of Dawn). It even suffers in comparison to Second Foundation, the immediately previous book in the Foundation series (written 20 years earlier). Thus, while interesting, and a must read for Foundation (and Asimov) fans, it's a little disappointing relative to his other works.

There was a reason why Asimov's original FOUNDATION TRILOGY was voted the best science fiction trilogy of all time by the Association of SF Writers. It covered a vast sweep of post-Galactic rise and fall that brought to mind Gibbons' RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. Asimov's plots are straightforward, but often convoluted and requires a reader's careful attention to hints that suggest a surprise ending. In his original series, the action is set perhaps 50,000 years from now in an empire ruled by Trantor, covering hundreds of millions of worlds. The empire is falling, and only Hari Seldon sees it. He sets up one foundation in the full glare of light and a secret second foundation buried under the ruins of a devastated Trantor.
Fully thirty years after Asimov wrote this trilogy, he returned to the same theme, but this time he tries to connect other themes from his past: the destruction of earth from his robot series and his fascination with a long-lived sect of humans who exist only to plot the end of their more short-lived brethren.
FOUNDATION'S EDGE tells the stories of two protagonists: Golan Trvize, an upsetter of his superior's political plans, who travels through space to locate the hidden Second Foundation; and Stor Gendibal, a member of the secret Second Foundation, who is on a similar trek to locate Earth. Soon enough, their respective journeys co-incide, but not on Earth. Both wind up on Gaia, a planet that was probably settled long ago from Earth. The complicated plot leaves many loose ends for sequels as both Golan Trevize and Stor Gendibal realize that someone unconnected to either foundation had previously removed all references to Earth from all historical sources and libraries.
To appreciate how this novel fits in to Asimov's Foundation universe, it is useful to have first read other works in the canon. I recommend his robot series and Pebble in the Sky. Still, FOUNDATION'S EDGE can be enjoyed on its own basis.

Foundation's Edge was a Hugo and Nebula Award winner, and carries on the engaging story of Hari Seldon's mathematical formulas purporting to be able to predict history ("psychohistorical mathematics"). This book presents the encounter of two new empires (rising in the power vacuum left by the collapse of the former galactic government, which Seldon predicted): One empirical, one mystical.

Hari Seldon is long dead. Two gifted men, Golan Trevize and Stor Gendibal from the First and Second Foundations, respectively, (both cultures founded by Hari Seldon in opposite corners of the galaxy on opposite philosophical premises) find themselves catapulted into intragalactic mayhem by the machinations of their political rivals. They will meet with catalytic force seeking to discover the hidden power moving galactic politics. Trevize (empiricist) suspects Second Foundation political influence while Gendibal (mystic) intuits a deeper, far more elusive force at work. (Gendibal's right.)

Foundation's Edge strains credibility in its intricate plot twists, but because Stor Gendibal has mastered Hari Seldon's hyper-reality psychohistorical equations AND a newly-developed mystical science of titanic psionics, perhaps not. Deep minds' fusion of magic and science makes for a great plot device, as the George Lucas franchise has conclusively shown.

If you've read the earlier Foundation volumes you'll probably want to read this --- another good read to get away from it all.

The first three quarters of this book were engaging and almost compulsively readable. That section was worth 5 stars. Now, for the first time, we get an idea what life in the 2nd Foundation's inner circle is like. The mystery of the home world, Earth is brought out. All of this makes for a very tightly packed excellent read until we get to Gaia. The book hits with a huge splat at this point. It becomes a 1 star book after that.

Spoiler warning:

The planet Gaia was thought to be Earth at one point, but the book veers off into silly garbage about a planet filled with mind readers who claim to be the Mule's people. They are terrible New Age stereotypes and I wonder if Asimov was making fun of this group. The idea that they are one with their planet and everyone is intimately connected mentally with everything, from rocks to animals, even to each other - (no privacy, even during sex they share it ALL) the whole situation is very disappointing. I remember from the previous books, it was mentioned that the Mule lived in a dystopian world as a boy in some sort of slum. I got the idea it was a large metropolis and he was abused for being a freak. Nothing about a whole planet full of mind readers who have willfully lost their personal identities.

The love story is god awful. I'm sorry, but I was pretty put off by the unlikely May December pairing of the old librarian with the 18 year old girl from Gaia, and when they are intimate, her link with the whole planet broadcasts to everyone what is going on . . . Ugh. The entry of this girl into the story is the point it begins to nosedive. This signals the introduction of Gaia and begins the unraveling of the Foundation universe.

The Foundation series takes a major hit with the introduction of New Age feel good stuff on planet Gaia. If this was meant as some sort of satire, I don't get it. It just ruins the great concept of the Foundation and prevents the story from developing to its conclusion. What happens at the end of 1000 years? Apparently, Asimov lost his way and we do not ever find out at the end of Foundation and Earth, the final book in the series. A serious disappointment. The story of finding Earth had great potential, but the reader is left hanging wondering what will happen at the 1000 year mark, the point at which the Foundation was supposed to prevent the Dark Ages extending to thirty thousand years. Instead, we follow the wooden Trevize and the lovebirds through the next book on an increasingly silly adventure that ends in disappointment.

Foundation's Edge won the 1983 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of the year. Asimov himself, in his humble way, said that this prestigious award should go to some other younger writer. His own self-imposed controversy aside, this is a great novel and is arguably deserved of the Hugo Award for that year. That aside, it's the sequel to the original 1950's Foundation series, and thus with a 30 year gap between the two sets of books, it has a different flavor. I myself am leery of sequels. I thoroughly loved Dune and I suppose what could have been called the original Dune trilogy, but by the 4th Dune book became uninterested in following that series any further. But Foundation's Edge is worth reading. I haven't continued on with the series after this so I cannot comment on the subsequent books. However, after reading reviews of Foundation & Earth (which is the sequel to Foundation's Edge), it seems Asimov's novels follow the `Star Trek syndrome' of the movies with the original crew. It's not clear if there will be a follow up sequel so the books conclude fairly nicely, so that when the next one is released, it has to shake up the previous book's ending to continue. That's somewhat the case with Foundation's Edge. There's another entity that seems to manipulating events. It's not clear what this is (I don't know if Asimov planned Foundation & Earth when he wrote Foundation's Edge), but I've always thought of this new entity as possibly a Third Foundation, if not in name, then in spirit.

If you enjoyed the original Foundation series take a deep breath, realize that it'll be different and try not to concentrate on it corrupting the series but rather that it'll embellish it, and you'll probably enjoy it.

Who but the MASTER could have thought to add on to the most celebrated science fiction series of the past 50 years? When I first read this book back when it came out, I found myself at a loss as to a few things mostly because it had been SO LONG since I had read the original series--but after reading it a 2nd time, I realize it was able to stand on its own fairly well as a single novel, and not an addition to an amazing series.
I'm not the only one who felt it was fantastic, it received I believe the Hugo & Nebula award that year as well as best Sci-Fi novel--an honor very much deserved, I might add. The scope of Foundation's Edge is clearly that of an imaginative genius, and it continues un-abated in the next book, 'Foundation and Earth' which is MY personal favorite of ALL the Foundation books. Asimov isn't just good, he's legendary and only Frank Herbert has come close to writing science fiction that is as compelling, thought provoking and just plain GOOD (actually I believe that 'Dune' beats ALL science fiction books--including Foundation). Pick this up and if you are one of the millions who have enjoyed the Foundation series over the years but were reluctant to pick up a new book, trust me, it's GOOD.

It's worth reminding yourself before you pick up this book that it was written a looong time after he wrote the original three Foundation books-- thirty years after, to be precise. It is also the first of the Foundation books that was written as a single book; the others were originally written and published as a series of short stories. When the Asimov's publisher asked for a new Foundation book, he jumped at a chance to finally make a fully developed book out of the theme.
Given these facts, it's not surprising that there's some fairly significant differences between the thematic focus and tone of _Foundation's Edge_ and the three novels preceding it. I think this accounts for some of the dismay from fans of the trilogy and the feeling that Asimov somehow stopped fighting the good fight.
The Seldon plan still plays an important role, but it is no longer the backbone of the story as it was in the trilogy. Instead, Asimov takes the opportunity to tie together the Robot and Foundation universes, creating a meditation on autonomy and government styles that asks a number of questions about strategic choices and also asks about the relationship between governed and the governors. When the warlike first Foundation sends a troublesome politician in search of the manipulative second Foundation, every party finds more than they bargained for when they reach the planet Gaia.
I *liked* _Foundation's Edge_ although I would agree that it doesn't reach the heights of the trilogy itself-- it has a number of weaknesses (the lame explanation of the Mule's origins, for one) and doesn't feel as important somehow. But the original trilogy was a darned difficult act to follow, true?

In "Foundation's Edge," author Isaac Asimov returns to the fascinating storylines he initiated in the Foundation trilogy some 30 years earlier. The older Asimov turned out a new novel that is not only better technically than its predecessors, it is much more subtle and nuanced. It is a thought-provoking and enjoyable book.

After spending three novels detailing the Seldon Plan and how the future cannot be influenced by inidivuals, Asimov throws everything out the window by creating a situation where the future of the galaxy rests on a single man. Along the way, Asimov manages to tie in elements of his Robot series as well. Brilliant.

The book is not without fault. As was the case in editions of the previous three Foundation novels, there are an annoying number of typographical errors. And the older Asimov unfortunately developed into a bit of a dirty old man. Portions of the book are quite sexist, and there are more than a few sexual references which feel totally unnecessary, not to mention a bit creepy.

Ok - if one were to follow just the books we have had a Prequel to Foundation, then the series itself, and now this Sequel. But all the while, Asimov has been expanding and introducing many externals, principally robots and their story and making it coincide with the Foundation Series.
Again, Asimov has an advantage of writing 30+ years after the publication of the original stories. This has allowed further advances in technology and more time to flesh out the story. We are involved with two men - Golan Trvize, an rebel of sorts who is searching for the mysterious Second Foundation and Stor Gendeibel who is part of the Second Foundation. They are both interested in the ancient planet "Earth" and somewhere along the way they end up on Gaia, that was obviously settled long ago by humans.
Sorry, but the characters in here just do not excite. They are worse that Asimov's usually lackluster rendering and I just can't keep them in mind after the story has concluded. Also, the action toward the end gets confused as if Asimov suddenly had a change of heart or (more likely) he had an idea for a future book and had to incorporate some information here to make it work.
I was expecting something different, something more. Maybe next time.

This is as good as any of the original three books of the Foundation Trilogy, and is in my opinion a work of Creative Genius. Some readers have commented on the seeming non-religious philosophy of the book, but although the philosophy is somewhat strange (not to give away the ending), I think that it is compatible with either a religious or non-religious viewpoint, and furthermore Asimov intended further books to follow to develop his themes further. Others have indicated that his characters are psychologically or emotionally lifeless, but the main characters Trevize and Gendibal and Sura Novi and Mayor Branno and Pelorat are as alive as most of Shakespeare's characters without the unnecessary violence. In this book, Asimov reveals himself to be a master of surprise, characterization, conflict and its resolutions, and an openness to ethical and even environmental questions. Most of all, perhaps, he is the ultimate opponent of bureaucracies in this book, whether academic, political, or any others. His conclusion is a bit confusing on this matter, but I do not think it was intentional but rather was dictated largely by the element of surprise and telling a good and entertaining story.

I've tried reading some of the newer SF authors and some of them, especially in the last several years, have turned out to be surprisingly excellent. Nevertheless I keep returning to the old masters with whom I grew up.
You know which three. Just so you know where I'm coming from: I've always been primarily a Heinlein fan and Asimov was a close second; although I've read Clarke I never really got into him too much. (Among SF writers since that time, my main loyalties have been to Spider Robinson and James Hogan, and among the _really_ recent ones I've been especially impressed by China Mieville, Richard Morgan, Neal Stephenson, and Robert Sawyer.)
Of the big three, Asimov undoubtedly had the highest literary output as measured in sheer wordage. I've been of the opinion for several years now that the only reason the Good Doctor stopped writing is that somebody went and told him he'd died. I have my own views about what parts of his output were of the highest quality, but there's little doubt that the Foundation series (not a "trilogy"; it was originally published as a series of short stories and novellas) is among his best known.
(He's also known, of course, for his famous robot stories. Long before the current generation of cyberwriters started screaming mouthlessly and crashing snowily, Asimov was writing compelling tales of mechanical intelligence on the presumption that such technology was on _our_ side. And like Heinlein -- and with just as little credit among modern writers -- he anticipated the recent explosion in information technology. For Heinlein, see especially _Friday_; for Asimov, drop by Trantor and visit the Galactic Library.)
He had secured his place in SF history fifty years before his death. But (again like Heinlein) he spent some of his later years tying up his better-known works into one big future-history package (including not only his Foundation stories but also his robot stories and his Galactic Empire novels). I think he did this more successfully than even Heinlein did.
This one -- _Foundation's Edge_ -- was his first return to the world of the Foundation stories after some thirty years. In it, he began to address a big fat problem he had left at the end of the original series of tales: how come the First Foundation bought so easily into the fabrication that the Second Foundation had really been defeated and dismantled, when in fact it hadn't?
Now, I have to say at once that purely _as_ a Foundation novel, this one probably isn't the most satisfying of the bunch. In fact both _Prelude to Foundation_ and _Forward the Foundation_, (excellent novels both, by the way) include _much_ more interesting Foundation-y stuff. But the very points that make this one weak as a Foundation novel also make it strong as an SF novel.
You see, it's hard to write really engaging novels about Hari Seldon's science of psychohistory, because the science itself is supposed to be statistical and to work only in the abstract with large masses of human beings. That fact means that a good psychohistory tale is bound to focus on broad historical forces at the expense of individual character development. Indeed, even in the original series of stories, Asimov had to introduce a radical departure from the Seldon Plan (via the Mule) in order to generate a really compelling human-interest tale.
This novel is probably among Asimov's best in terms of character development. That's one of the reasons I like it best as a novel; it's probably that I tend to empathize with the rebellious Golan Trevize (and to some extent with the equally mavericky Stor Gendibal) and to enjoy hopping around the galaxy with these guys nearly as much as with Lazarus Long.
Unfortunately that's also why it doesn't advance the ball much as far as Foundation history is concerned. _Prelude_ and _Forward_ are filled to the brim with scientific research, Imperial intrigue, and cool plot twists; this one is more of a character piece. It's not that nothing interesting or significant happens; far from it. It's just that the cool stuff mostly doesn't involve the outworking of the Seldon Plan.
At any rate, the Good Doctor was an expert at telling an engaging tale and keeping the reader involved until the very end. I, at least, have found this to be one of his most unputdownable (and the two Foundation prequels are darned close).
I didn't like _Foundation and Earth_ as well (and I'm not sure Asimov served the series terribly well by trying to tie in all the robot stuff), but I hope it returns to print so that I can buy a replacement copy.

Throughout the Foundation series, there was the implied message "one man can not make a difference." The last book of the original series, plus the four books of the extended series are contrary to that ideal, with this, the first of the extended series.
This book is the introduction to the 4 volume extended tie in series. Two people against the entire galaxy, balancing contending forces, being manipulated by three sides, all wanting to win on their own and being manipulated by each other, and the choice comes down to one man who was the focus of all their attention and they one they all tried to use, so that he alone, in defiance of all probability, decides the fate of the galaxy.
He is sent out to find the Second Foundation. He searches for Earth instead. He finds the Second Foundation, and an even more deeply buried secret, but not earth. With this book, he first hears about Robots, and that begins the tie in.

This novel won the 1983 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of the year. This book is the sequel to Asimov's Second Foundation (1953), beginning about 98 years after the end of the events described in that novel. It is, in turn, followed by Foundation and Earth (1986). In this story, a renegade Councilman of the First Foundation (Golan Trevize), together with a historian, are sent out ostensibly to search for the original planet from which man comes (Earth). Actually, Trevize is in search for the Second Foundation, which most of the members of the First Foundation believed to have been destroyed. A renegade leader of the "underground" Second Foundation sets out to stop him. They both discover another controlling force in the galaxy. Personally, I disliked the "pat" ending somewhat. But, perhaps that is mere inducement to read the next book in the series.

I thought this would be interesting as I remember reading one of the original Foundation novels. This would reveal more of what psychohistory is all about. And plus, a search for earth- I enjoy that kind of SciFi novel. But this was more a search for other things, and focusing on the two characters, Trevize and Pelorat, rather than philosophy. It was entertaining. It had a good plot that moved forward. It's just not exciting. Perhaps it's Asimov's attempt to create a universe completely void of the supernatural and the numinous. Everything is explained. There is control from outside- but the main character sees it as negative. And the control is always explainable as a natural force- not as something beyond the ken of all humanity. This leads to a somewhat depressing feeling as you delve into this manufactured universe. The final few pages give an interesting turn, unexpected. But this too, is somewhat sad, not uplifting. When the real world is more exciting and hopeful than a science fiction novel, something is wrong.

But I really did enjoy the concept of communal life envisioned in part of the book. That we are more than one thing, that we are part of a group. That the individual is not as important as we often believe them to be. Here Asimov improves, and does a very good job of understanding how a collectivist person sees reality- for there are many people on this earth in kinship societies who feel just the way those in the group society feel.

If you've already formed an opinion about Isaac Asimov's writing, FOUNDATION'S EDGE isn't likely to change your mind. The book has all of Asimov's earmarks, both good and bad: wooden characters who almost always know exactly how they feel and say exactly what they mean; dialogue-heavy scenes in which the exchanges are drenched with ideas and cerebral analysis but almost devoid of emotion or neurosis; an inventive setting replete with plausible details; and a propulsive, energetic plot that delivers lots of suspense and surprises. I already liked Asimov before I picked up the book, and it certainly didn't disappoint me, but it's not going to convert anybody who only wants to read about nuanced characters making subtle self-discoveries.
Because the plot is one of the book's best features, to say too much about it would spoil the fun for too many readers, so I'll limit myself to one of its most interesting aspects, which is that it attempts to tie together a number of Asimov's works. Without giving too much away, it's fair to say that part of the book's project is to meld the fictional "universes" of the Robot stories, the Empire novels, and THE END OF ETERNITY with that of the FOUNDATION trilogy. Many Asimov fans have derided this decision, claiming that it marks the beginning of his decline as a science fiction writer. For myself, while I can't say that I find the attempt at retrofitting fictional consistency onto highly disparate works to be particularly compelling or convincing, I do find it interesting. Consider that Asimov was an atheist, who argued that in the absence of any persuasive evidence of a Supreme Being (of which he could find none), it was more rational to believe in God's nonexistence than in His existence. Yet for us to credit Asimov's notion of psychohistory, we must posit that certain characteristics are common to all humans. I would contend that the religious or spiritual impulse is such a characteristic, and that as people get older and their desire for comfort, security, and meaning increases, that impulse only gets stronger. I wonder: as Asimov aged, did he channel his own growing spiritual impulse into the project of forcing his fictional creations into an overall rubric, of imposing meaning where none previously existed?
If you're an Asimov fan, FOUNDATION'S EDGE should be required reading. It did, after all, win the Good Doctor the 1983 Hugo award for best novel. On the other hand, if you're new to Asimov, this isn't the place to start. Instead, check out the FOUNDATION trilogy, or the Robot novels (THE CAVES OF STEEL and THE NAKED SUN -- the later ROBOTS OF DAWN and ROBOTS AND EMPIRE were part of Asimov's retrofitting project.) Better yet, read his short stories, collected in two excellent volumes titled THE COMPLETE STORIES I and II. It is those stories which cemented his reputation as a world class sf author, and I would argue that it is that reputation, rather than any particular virtue of this novel, that FOUNDATION'S EDGE's Hugo acknowledges.

it has been more than 10 years since i read this book and foundation and earth. as far as i can remember when i read this book, i immediately noticed that these books were written by a much mature hand than the ones which wrote the first three - asimov apparently wrote these two almost 20 years later. and afaicr i enjoyed these two more than its predecessors - i still remember the character gendiball. the comparison between hobbit and the lord of the rings with the original foundation trilogy and these two books would not be totally unjustified. these are much more complete and professionally written novels than the original foundation trilogy.

btw one reviewer has compared gaia with the communist utopia. but such a comparison is totally off mark. gaia is the greek philosopher plato's spiritual vision of the universe. it is that which asimov clearly referred to.

great reads - this and "foundation and earth".

The book, although having Foundation in its title, was written long after the original series, and does not have the feel of being part of the Foundation series. It feels more like a desperate attempt at linking Foundation with the rest of the Asimov universe.
I think the worst part is that I liked the Foundation concept as presented by Hari Seldon in the first three books. The Foundation was not perfect, but that imperfection was part of the Seldon Plan and would eventually lead to a great new galaxy, under the Foundation government. This book gave me the feeling that Seldon's Foundation lost. Not a good way to write a book. I finished the book angry at Asimov for destroying the "Foundation" concept. And I will not read Foundation and Earth because of it. My advise is stop with the original trilogy.

After thirty years, Isaac Asimov finally wrote Foundation's Edge. It is a book undeserving of the name, "Foundation."
Foundation's Edge is the long awaited continuation of his famous Foundation series. It has been four hundred and ninety eight years since the establishment of the foundation by Hari Seldon, which was created to save the galaxy. Being fifty thousand years in the future, society is immensely different. Golan Trevize, a councilman of the Foundation Federation, had been sent off of the capital, under a cover-up. The leaders said that he had been sent to find Earth, the long lost origin planet of the human race. He was actually being sent to find the threatening, Second Foundation. There is great character development. They seem to actually be alive when you read it. At first, it seems like another Foundation book. After awhile, when no "bad guy" shows up, and the main character Golan, says he doesn't like Hari Seldon, (gasp!), die hard fans will start to lose faith in this book. Trevize is actually another boring political leader, who has no sense of adventure.
This book, with beautifully descriptive writing, and great character development, just cannot stand up to the original trilogy's greatness. Instead of answering age-old questions from the first three books, it just gives way to new ones. For example, should he have chosen Gaia? Finally, the ending to this book is the most disappointing ending imaginable. Unlike all of the other books, it says, " The End."

This is by far the worst book in foundation/robot series by Isaac Asimov. Don't get me wrong -it's still better than most other works in the field of science-fiction. However, the fans of Hari Seldon and his Plan will find this book somewhat disappointing due to this new twist. First of all, THIS IS NOT THE LAST BOOK IN FOUNDATION SERIES. Foundation and Earth, is the last novel , and the action takes place right where Foundation's Edge left off. However, FOUNDATION AND EARTH, THE LAST BOOK IN THE SERIES, THE BOOK THAT TIES ROBOT AND FOUNDATION NOVELS TOGETHER, FOR SOME REASON, IS OUT OF PRINT. ( Publishing companies work in mysterious ways....) Anyways, back to the book. The main character, who is the citizen of the First Foundation takes off along with few other people on the quest (which concludes in Foundation and Earth) to find the long lost planet, where human life began, Earth. In the meanwhile, Second Foundation's telepaths feel that something is not right, something is interfiering with the order of things. In the end, chosen people from two foundations arrive to some mysterious planet, where one person will decide the fate of the galaxy.

Issac Asimov's Foundation trilogy is perhaps one of the best sci-fi series ever writtien, and the Foundation preludes are pretty good too. The best two books in the series are Fowrd the Foundation and Foundation. Asimove was clearly not inspired when he wrote this book, it destroys the Plan that has bee set up throughout the rest of the series. While the original trilogy deal with psychohistory ans its practicality, this simply tears it all down. The only plus that can be attributed to the book is that it does indeed keep one on his or her edge. Die hard Foundation fans would do better to reread Foundation, people who want to see the entire timeline of the "Asimovian Universe" tied up neatley should just read Prelude to Foundation. I for one was completely disillusioned with Asimov after this book, fortunately i had not yet read Foward the Foundation, a most readeaming book.

This, the fourth novel in the "Foundation Series", is quite different in tone from the classic, preceding 3 novels which established the legend.
While the original 3 books dealt with the evolution of Seldon's Plan in a more cursory, time-jumping fashion, "Foundation's Edge" focuses on one group of characters (intuitive Terminus Councilman Golan Trevize and avuncular earth-seeking historian Janorav Pelorat) in their journey throughout the galaxy, looking to draw out the Second Foundation.
Some cannot make the adjustment to the more garrulous, leisurely style of this book, when contrasted to the sparse, tightly controlled plotting and prose of the original trilogy. In this way, it mirrors the differences between The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. However, Asimov still has the ability to make us imagine a future we will never see, and thrill to the chase and counter-chase between the two Foundations and a mysterious, outside force.
Take the trip. Relax. Let Asimov put you on-board a gravitic starship, supposedly searching for the lost homeworld of humanity's origin, while actually hurtling towards a confrontation at "intersection point" that will decide the fate of the galaxy.

At last the war between the Two Foundations as ended. The recriminations are not over and there is still alot of bad blood reigning between the victorious Scientists and the vanqushed Second Foundation. A new empire is now in it's acendancy and it looks like the Seldon plan is working out.
A new race is now beginning, the race to find Earth the mysterious home planet of humanity, and robots. Is it still habitable or have the stories of it's poisoning by ancient Atomic weapons have a ring of truth about them.
Two outcast councillors have been given the task to find out.
They set off on the journey to find the truth.

I can't possibly say enough good things about the original trilogy. I thought that those books were incredible in their scope and aims. That's why I hate this book. Asimov starts it off great and he gets you interested. But by the end he has basically taken what made you love the original three books and thrown it out the airlock. I can't say anything more about what he does because that would constitute a spoiler. But be advised: if you like the original trilogy because of its over all plot, stay away from this book! You'll wonder how Mr. Asimov could do this to his own series. It probably deserves more than one star but because of the ending I just can't give it anything else.

Foundation's Edge is a worthy successor to the Foundation Trilogy, written over 30 years earlier. As is typical of the Foundation books, each story reveals new mysteries, and new twists. Characters from various factions all come together to decide on the fate of the Galactic Empire that is yet to be.

Issac Asimov's Foundation trilogy is perhaps one of the best sci-fi series ever writtien, and the Foundation preludes are pretty good too. The best two books in the series are Fowrd the Foundation and Foundation. Asimove was clearly not inspired when he wrote this book, it destroys the Plan that has bee set up throughout the rest of the series. While the original trilogy deal with psychohistory ans its practicality, this simply tears it all down. The only plus that can be attributed to the book is that it does indeed keep one on his or her edge. Die hard Foundation fans would do better to reread Foundation, people who want to see the entire timeline of the "Asimovian Universe" tied up neatley should just read Prelude to Foundation. I for one was completely disillusioned with Asimov after this book, fortunately i had not yet read Foward the Foundation, a most readeaming book.

Asimov's Foundation books are well-crafted, masterfully imagined, and peopled with fascinating characters. Spanning some several thousand years, and multiple generations of characters (often more than one per book), the author does a fantastic job keeping each set unique and captivating. The stories follow the progression of Psychohistory, a technique for predicting the future behavior of masses of people, and the people set up to use its information to further the birth of a greater galactic empire. Space battles, intrigue, mutants, telepathy and mind control, as well as personal triumphs and failures run throughout all the novels. They are, in my opinion, among the best crafted series in the sci-fi genre ever produced. Read them all, and try to read them in chronological order.

The Foundation Series is more important, more provocative, and more relevant now than ever before. I strongly suggest reading them in narrative chronological order. While the writing _style_ is dated, the questions raised are not. If you can handle science fiction without explosions or inter-species sex that is.

Of the Foundation novels thus far in the series, this is the first to dedicate the whole book to a single story line - one that continues in the next book. As always, Asimov is masterful with the mystery aspects of the story, and how the characters figure things out in a Sherlock/Watson manner.
Asimov kind of lost some points with me by making Gaia the central aspect, that hippie treehugger world-is-alive idea that's nowadays extreme cliche, but I cut him slack given that he wrote this over 25 years ago.
Looking forward to the next book in the series!

This book was disappointing to me, and I am an enormous fan of the original "Foundation" trilogy--viewing it second only to LOTR. It is important to know that Asimov wrote this novel after much pressure from fans and his publisher to continue the series. Also, this book was written 31 years after the conclusion of the trilogy (i.e., past Asimov's prime). In addition, Doubleday instructed Asimov that this volume had to be at least 140,000 words--twice that of any of the earlier volumes. Well, all of this proves to be a recipe for mediocrity. While the story begins strong and is relatively enjoyable, it is stretched too thin and in the last 1/4 of the book it all unravels. As all the plot lines converge, Asimov resorts to far-fetched ideas and a "deus ex machina" to wrap it all up. You can still see traces of Asimov's brilliance, but his age and reluctance to write this book shows. Recommened for "Foundation" fans, but don't expect anything close to the level of the original trilogy.

I agree with those that feel that Foundation's Edge is a departure from the previous series. As a totally stand-alone tale, however, it is nothing short of excellent portraying a capacity of storytelling and vision that is unequaled by today's authors. The essence of this book is the importance of history (Trevize's journey "back" to Earth) and Asimov's concern for the importance of the human soul. This work is Asimov's reminder to us all that the human soul, despite "God" and Hari Seldon's own religion should never be inderestimated.

In a continuation of the by now immortalized Foundation series, Asimov builds the conflict between the two Foundations to an apocalyptic level. The scope and creativity of the novel is unmatched, and the strength of the characters is unquestionable. However, the end of the book diverges sharply from the precedent established in previous Foundation novels, and the change can be a little disillusioning for dedicated readers of the series. This abrupt change is part of what keeps the series interesting, but Asimov gives little reason for the new course.

I have never read any of the othe Foundation books before but still enjoyed this one emensely. Sure, I had to read the prologue and may have appreciated smaller details of the story if I had read all the preceeding novels in the series (as well as a few other of Asimov's well-known series), but not enough to complain.
The ending is cool if you are a huge Asimov fan and leads into a another book that hardcore sci-fi fans will drool over.
All in all it's a good read for anyone interested in reading a good story. Asimov has mastered his craft inside and out. This is good even if you don't like sci-fi but can appreciate a well-told story.

I really enjoyed this book. I read the entire Foundation series (minus the non-Asimov books, and Forward the Foundation) about 10 years ago. I have re-read all of them (except Foundation and Earth) plus I read Forward the Foundation within the last few weeks. I found the second time through that Foundation's Edge was my favourite (after Prelude). I could not put the book down at all as it was constantly building towards the climax. Even though this was my second read of this series, so that I knew what would happen, it was extremely enjoyable to engulf my mind in it once again. The greatest asset to this book is the extensive conflicts between individuals on an intellectual perspective that Asimov covers quite well. Reading how individuals were trying to outwit one another and dealing with those of lower intellect was quite stimulating especially when I compared it to how similiar these interactions are from current modern day life. I apologize in advance if my descriptions are vague at best but I do not want to ruin the reading experience for anyone who is trully considering reading this book. If you enjoyed Prelude to Foundation (which I strongly suggest you read along with the other 4 Asimov foundation novels prior to this one) then you should enjoy this one immensely.

The publishers and readers who "pressured" Asimov into writing this unnecessary installment should be drawn and quartered. It totally ruins your conception of the Mule and his upbringing, and delves into a never ending foray of "I am manipulating them, but someone is manipulating me, and that someone is being manipulated by someone else..." ad nauseam. By the end of the story Asimov has turned a amicable, socially inept professor (the only likable character in the book) into a lovesick schoolboy, while psychohistory turns into useless bull, with mind manipulation being all the rage now, Hari Seldon be damned. As is nearly always the case, the original Trilogy masterpiece has been soiled by an unnecessary sequel. By the way, the nice climax and an unforgettable quote about human nature by Trevize midway through the book are the only reasons for a 2 star rating. Now, unfortunately, let me get back to slogging through Foundation and Earth so I can have more of my Trilogy dreams and imaginations smashed by Mother Gaia.

This was my least favorite of the Foundation novels. It seemed a bit contrived, and at the end Asimov was obviously trying to pique interest in another book. I should have stopped with the trilogy (and possibly the two prequels).

This book would be interesting only if you have read the foundation trilogy and are just dying for more. Otherwise, this book is just an episodic bumbling from place to place. The previous books challenged the reader to imagine a world where a very sophisticated mathematical and social science could predict the course of humanity. However, Foundations Edge does not add anything significantly new, and the empire saga begins to feel tired

Having read the original trilogy years ago, I find this a fascinating sequel. It carries on the dynamic between the two Foundations and introduces a third force which even explains the Mule. At the same time, it sets the stage for the next sequel, which is, I assume, the search for Earth.

This being the first book back into the Foundation Series after Asimov took a long almost 20 year break was still amazing. He keeps all the energy of the first trilogy and brings in a whole new aspect I had not seen coming. Asimov's attention to detail and flawless ability to layer stories beyond your imagination is so much fun to read. Definitely read the first 3 books before coming into this one. There is a prologue that reestablishes where the story is so far, but it doesn't do it justice. Definitely a must read for any Sci-fi fan, let alone Asimov fan. :)

More than the Foundations?

There may be an as yet undiscovered third leg in the struggle for control, and this leads to a couple of the characters involved searching for Earth.

Not sure there is any real reason to read this if you have read the original Foundation books, but if you are more of a fan you will likely enjoy it, with all the psychohistory, prediction and mind games.

Say you didn't take the most exciting story in science fiction and turn it into . . . this!

Foundation's Edge opens with a Seldon Crisis having just been /concluded/. Apparently it was a political squabble over whether to move the capital further toward the galactic core, now that the Foundation controls a massive amount of territory. Seldon Crises ain't what they used to be.

Actually, that's a point which the book makes, one of a handful of interesting points that led me, with some reluctance, to award it the second star. The First Foundation characters are aware that, with their nice cushy hegemony to give them stability and prosperity, the heroism of Hardin and Mallow, of the desperate struggle against Bel Riose and the even more desperate struggle against the Mule, of the days when women named Darrell were able to make themselves the only things standing between themselves and telepathic colonialism, is a thing of the past.

The mayor, a woman named Branno, has seen her political stock rise by correctly anticipating Seldon's "desire" that the capital remain on Terminus. But she chafes under the knowledge that she's a very ordinary mayor and that her place in history will be nowhere near that of great mayors past. She's also a far less compelling character than the protagonists and antagonists of the original series. She knows that the Foundation is strong enough to conquer the galaxy and rule as Trantor once did without having to wait another 500 years (we're halfway between the founding of the Foundation and the scheduled establishment of the Second Empire). The only thing is, the Second Foundation would stop her if she tried. So much for the very satisfying ending to Second Foundation the novel--It's been rolled back, and the powers that be on Terminus are once again suspicious that the Second Foundation has survived, as though Preem Palver had never fooled the Darrells into thinking they'd eradicated it.

Golan Trevize is an earnest young councilman who believes the same thing and publicly demands that Branno prepare to take action against the mentallics. That's publicity Branno can't have, because she's preparing to move against them, but in secret. So she convinces Trevize's friend to betray his treasonous actions (apparently he's a traitor) so that Branno can get him out of the way by sending him off to look for Earth with a doddering old historian. Trevize is actually looking for the Second Foundation, or trying to, but is doing it behind Branno's back, or trying to.

Before we go any further, I'd like to request a moment of silence as we reflect upon the great life and tragic death of the original premise of Foundation. Psychohistory used to be what Bel Riose called the "Dead Hand." Riose's position relative to the Foundation was as strong as would be Branno's against any prospective conquest en route to premature galactic imperialism, but he was defeated just the same, because sociopolitical forces had arranged themselves in a way that precluded victory, and that Seldon had known this ahead of time when he built the Foundation where and when he did. He wasn't defeated by telepaths but for whose intervention he would have conquered Terminus. The Mule was, but he was a special case. But Seldon, and then the Second Foundation which continued his work, had always been about /predicting/ inevitable outcomes, not manipulating people into otherwise avoidable ones.

Anyway, on Trantor the Speakers are squabbling politically as well. Like Branno knowing she's no Salvor Hardin, they're self conscious about the fact that their penises are shorter than Preem Palver's. A young Speaker named Stor Gendibal discusses with the First Speaker that, ever since the First Foundation was fooled (umm . . . ) into thinking they'd destroyed the Second, and the Second was able to get the Plan back on track, history has preceded EXACTLY according to plan--which is mathematically impossible, unless someone is manipulating history with far greater precision than the Second Foundation is capable of, manipulating it on the individual level. (Wouldn't a nation full of mathematicians have noticed by now that items in a statistical set are not arranging themselves in the curve they'd predicted, that every standard deviation is turning out to be zero? That's kind of hard to miss if you're well trained in mathematics.) The First Speaker calls this agency anti-Mules: They have the Mule's power, but they're using it to maintain the plan rather than disrupt it. I found it useful to think of them as the Third Foundation: They were checking the work over the Second Foundation's shoulder, as the Second always has for the First.

The problem is, Seldon created no Third Foundation, so this force is maintaining the Plan for its own purposes, which may stop aligning with Trantor's at any moment. Though we're now even farther from the original premise of Foundation, I do find this situation interesting, another reason for the second star. If its resolution weren't so lame, this might have even been a positive review.

The Second Foundation must search for the Third. They contact Trevize's friend-turned-betrayer, who has been their agent all along, and say they want Trevize tailed, believing he's the key to all of this. This is not without controversy, as Gendibal must face impeachment hearings from a political enemy among the Speakers, but it's really not interesting enough to talk about. One effect is that Gendibal ends up going after Trevize himself,eventually. Another is that he gets a sidekick, a woman from Trantor's non-Second Foundation population, which we knew had reverted to an agrarian society after the last vestiges of Empire were lost, but which we didn't know apparently turned into cave men while they were at it.

If this is hard to follow, that's because the book keeps jumping among these various threads. But gradually they all come together for a climactic ending--another reason this is not a one-star review. Trevize, the lynchpin of this entire convoluted operation, ends up on Sayshell, the capital of a small union of worlds which has maintained independence despite being completely surrounded by a superpower--an interstellar Lesotho. Sayshell, in turn, surrounds but does not rule Gaia, a super-mysterious world which destroys anyone who gets close enough to find out what it is, and which is so powerful the Mule himself was afraid to approach it. Of course Trevize must go there. And so must Gendibal, and his Trantorian cavewoman of a sidekick (who is in fact a Gaian), and Branno with a great fleet.

It takes a long, long time for them all to come together, but some worthwhile exposition fills the wait. For example, we learn the true nature of Gaia: that Gaians are all part of some weird collective consciousness. Not just the humans--the animals and plants and rocks and clouds and protons and neutrons and electrons. And of course they're mentallics, very powerful ones. The Mule was born into this Circle of Life but was declared a criminal because he left. Or maybe he left because he was a criminal. They offer both explanations at different points, and say that this should have been impossible--not the circular logic, the leaving without the collective's permission. All I know is, the Mule seems a lot less badass now that he was just a misfit running from these freaks, this wacky cult that somehow manages to be both a hippie compound and the soul-crushing Borg Collective. Also, it doesn't quite fit with the backstory he gave Bayta at the end of Foundation and Empire, but I guess you could say he was lying to her.

The Gaians want Trevize to do something but won't tell him what it is. They take him on a ship where he runs into both Gendibal and Branno, who has almost but not quite perfected the mentallic shield Toran Darrell had been tinkering with. She's prepared to attack Gaia and then Trantor and seize control of the galaxy free of mentallics. The Second Foundation has decided it's a good time to develop non-mental weapons and wants to use them to wipe out Gaia, then cause Branno to forget everything and go back to Terminus. These two developments have been building for a long time and were soon to come to a head, and the Gaians needed to intervene. They must not only prevent their own destruction--a distant priority indeed, actually--they must prevent either Foundation becoming a hegemon, fearing the consequences to humanity of both versions of Second Empire. But there's a catch.

Gaia, it seems, was founded by robots (thus connecting this series to Asimov's other great story) who had grown so advanced they realized their very existence was harming humanity by crushing the individual spirit. So they were obligated by the First Rule to withdraw from human affairs, but to do so in such a way that would leave humanity in as advantageous a position as possible. They determined respect among humans for one another's lives and for the worlds around them was needed, and they founded Gaia as an experiment in collectivism, with the hope that itwould one day expand into Galaxia.

Now whatever the Gaians need to do to create Galaxia is already figured out, but must be implemented before either Terminus builds an empire of blood or Trantor makes human society a mathematical abstraction. Unfortunately for the Gaians, they can't act independently due to being derived from the Laws of Robotics, so they must have someone instruct them on what to do--allow Branno to have her way, allow Gendibal to have his way, or allow Gaia to have its way. They identified Trevize as a man of uncommonly sound judgment and engineered this entire situation to let him decide for them. Representatives of all three camps make their cases, and then Trevize decides for Gaia.

Later, while accepting the gratitude of the senior Gaian, he reveals that he had done so because both Branno and Gendibal would have acted immediately and irrevocably, whereas Gaia's plan would take centuries--during which it would continue to maintain the Seldon Plan on behalf of the Second Foundation, and thus would lead to hegemony for the First Foundation. You see why I call them the Third Foundation? Trevize explains that he intends to use this window of time to find out why Gaia hid information on Earth from him, information which may have led him to decide against Gaia. The senior Gaian says Gaia has done no such thing, and they realize that Gendibal's cavewoman acted under the influence of a possible Fourth Foundation, a greater and more secretive power still. (If it was so great and secretive, why didn't it keep Trevize from deducing its existence?) So Trevize, his long-forgotten historian sidekick, and the senior Gaian must go off on another adventure, which I'm putting off reading.

The book does some things right. It convincingly shows how the Foundations should look once the Seldon Plan has really gone into high gear, enjoying peace and prosperity their predecessors couldn't have imagined, but in danger of falling into a decadent malaise because of it, and growing restless to avoid this. Trevize is quite nearly as strong and memorable a character as any of Asimov's earlier creations, and will perhaps leave an even stronger impression because he has an entire novel to himself--two, actually, though as I said I'm in no great hurry to read Foundation and Earth. The idea of *both* Foundations, not just the First, as unwitting pawns in someone else's project is at least intriguing despite its many problems. Trevize and his sidekick have some interesting diversionary conversations about the broad strokes and cycles of history in a 20,000 year old society which has quite literally forgotten where it came from, and discuss other interesting topics besides. Sayshell is a likeable setting, even though we're not there for very long. The way all the plot threads are gradually woven together into a tighter and tighter story until the epic final showdown is always fun to watch. The unification of Foundation with the Robot series is, I suppose, handled about as well as it could have been, though since I like Foundation better I would prefer if they had merged on equal terms, or at least, if one had to absorb the other, Foundation be The Bob Newhart Show to Robot's Newhart. (Maybe the next book will redress that.) And the bombshell ending does create cliffhanger suspense, even if I found it wore off quickly enough.

But I just can't get over the way this book kicked what had made Foundation great to the curb. Psychohistory's powers of anticipation are now far, far less important than mentalism's powers of manipulation, even though all of Foundation and half of Foundation and Empire were driven by the former exclusively (unless someone in Foundation and Earth is going to say "Oh, by the way, Hardin and Mallow and Riose were all being controlled." They've already made the Mule lame, so why not?) The outcome of the book completely throws out the Seldon Plan in favor of Gaia and whatever force is pulling Gaia's strings. This process of "There's a power manipulating us behind the scenes" "Yes, that's us, but we too are being manipulated from even farther behind the scenes" can continue ad infinitum, and each new layer makes the possibility of a satisfying conclusion more remote. Add to this the irritatingly stupid feel of Gaia and a series of pointless subplots like the impeachment of Gendibal and the romance between the doddering historian and a Gaian who's probably a robot but won't admit it, and this book's in a hole that's just too deep for a positive review to be possible. It makes me want to go back and reread the original trilogy--in the way that a gulp of what you learn too late is expired milk makes you desperate for another beverage to wipe the taste off your tongue.

If you read the Foundation Trilogy and anxious about what happened next, get this book as well as Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation, and Foundation and Earth. Also read the robot series connected to Foundation :The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn, Robots and Empire.

Two altogether likable characters, Golan Trevize, and Janov Pelorat are thrown together and commence an around the galaxy jaunt that eventually leads them to a profound revelation about the Foundation, humankind, and Life itself. A work of Godly perfection.

It was weird to follow the same characters along without skipping years and/or generations. Very good read. For those of you who have followed the adventures of Elijah Baley, there is a little treat at the end.

Like the rest of the series, this 'last' book is great. Only, this isn't the last book! There's 'Foundation And Earth', which can't seem to be found anywhere anymore. So if you finish this book and feel that the series is somehow incomplete, don't go about blaming Asimov.

Iassc Asimov remains one of the greats of Science Fiction. The original Foundation trilogy still ranks as the best of the best, and this book is an expansion of the original story into a grand saga. The entire 7 book Foundation series is still my all-time favorite SciFi!

Finally, it seems that Asimov will bring his seminal Foudation Series to a conclusion. Edge starts out well by building on the other Foundation books. It's good to see a space adventure that seeks out both Earth and the final answers. But it is hard to imagine that Asimov would have taken the Gaia route if he had written this book immediately after he wrote Second Foundation. For that reason, the introduction of this philosophy at this point seems quite disingenuous.

Written in 1982 - about three decades after the publication of Second Foundation, the original end to the trilogy - Foundation's Edge is a cautionary tale about not letting a publisher talk you into writing an unnecessary sequel to an otherwise successful book or series. It starts out well enough, with the events of the previous novel a century in the past and the Galaxy seemingly on the track to peace, love, and happiness thanks to psychohistorian Hari Seldon and his thousand-year Plan to transition the human race from the end of their beloved Galactic Empire to a Second one, avoiding the three hundred millennia of chaos and barbarism that would have ensued without Seldon's help. Things are going well for the Foundation and its ever-expanding sphere of influence - too well, as it turns out, prompting a quest to see if the secretive mentalists of the Second Foundation are still attempting to control history despite their presumed destruction at the end of the last book.
Okay, so far so good. One of the things I found odd about the Seldon Plan is that we only get to see the first few centuries of it in the original trilogy, whereas in Foundation's Edge we begin at the halfway point between the First and Second Empires. Even better. Unfortunately the direction that the novel takes from here ultimately undermines what that has gone before by making everyone in the Galaxy- not only even the puppetmaster psychics of the Second Foundation but the ones pulling their strings as well are under his/her/its control - a puppet of a mysterious force that Asimov gamely refuses to reveal at the end of the book, leaving the door open for an unnecessary sequel to this unnecessary sequel.
The funny thing is that I remember loving this book when I read it as a kid. I also happily devoured the novels that would follow this initial sequel - Foundation and Earth, Prelude to Foundation, and Forward the Foundation. The latter two of these novels are mildly interesting, as they revisit the details of Hari Seldon's life as a psychohistorian, but as the revelations made in Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth tend to minimize the importance of Seldon in the grand scheme of things, they too end up falling flat. What a shame! I think this time around, I will call it quits with Foundation's Edge, which as it turns out is quite aptly named, though not for reasons Asimov would be pleased with: in this book, you can actually pinpoint the very page number where the Good Doctor sails right off the edge of a carefully and lovingly constructed universe and into the abyss of cliched mediocrity.

"Foundation's Edge" chronicles yet another stage in the development of Hari Seldon's vision;perhaps one of the most inspired chapters yet. There is, in its pages, a suggestion of a link between Asimov's Foundation Universe and the universes of his other novels.

Ok. This book is incredibly incredibly great. It is well written, and about 5/6 of the book is perfect! Then there are robots and galaxia. I'm sure that many of you don't agree with me, but I think Galaxia is pretty lame and not a good ending for this massively good book.

This was another Christmas present for my husband. He has read the Foundation Trilogy and enjoyed it very much so when I saw that this was a continuation of the series, I thought he would enjoy it as well.
The book arrived in time for Christmas in excellent condition.

A lot better than the first three Foundation novels, which were really a collection of short stories. This one is a well developed novel with better developed characters and situations. Overall, I preferred it to the original three novels, although you really do have to read them first in order to understand the context of the story.

This was another Christmas present for my husband. He has read the Foundation Trilogy and enjoyed it very much so when I saw that this was a continuation of the series, I thought he would enjoy it as well.
The book arrived in time for Christmas in excellent condition.