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Foundation (Publication Order) #1-3
The Foundation Trilogy
A saga of enormous scope and boundless imagination, Isaac Asimov’s Hugo-winning Foundation Trilogy is one of the great masterworks of science fiction. Set 50,000 years in the future, it tells of the decline and fall of the Galactic Empire and the history of a universal ruling organization created to reduce the duration of the coming Dark Age.
Foundation introduces mathematician Hari Seldon, whose science of psychohistory can predict the future on a colossal scale. But what Hari foresees is an empire’s collapse and an age of barbarism lasting 30,000 years. Gathering the finest minds in the galaxy, he devises a Plan to preserve the collective knowledge of the human race...only to find that the Foundation itself is under seige.
In Foundation and Empire, the Foundation has attained power, but can it prevail against an ambitious young general determined to restore the Empire to its former glory, or a mutant intelligence whose mysterious power to bend minds to his will not even Hari Seldon could have predicted?
In Second Foundation, the mutant sets out to find the last threat to his power: a secretly evolved Second Foundation, whose colony of telepaths the First Foundation also wants destroyed.
Foundation introduces mathematician Hari Seldon, whose science of psychohistory can predict the future on a colossal scale. But what Hari foresees is an empire’s collapse and an age of barbarism lasting 30,000 years. Gathering the finest minds in the galaxy, he devises a Plan to preserve the collective knowledge of the human race...only to find that the Foundation itself is under seige.
In Foundation and Empire, the Foundation has attained power, but can it prevail against an ambitious young general determined to restore the Empire to its former glory, or a mutant intelligence whose mysterious power to bend minds to his will not even Hari Seldon could have predicted?
In Second Foundation, the mutant sets out to find the last threat to his power: a secretly evolved Second Foundation, whose colony of telepaths the First Foundation also wants destroyed.
624 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1953
4680 people are currently reading
82100 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,337 books27.8k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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March 25, 2012
Love...is...Forever...
CHAPTER ONE
The Foundation Trilogy
By Isaac Asimov
INTRODUCTION:
In my life, there have been three science fiction books/series that will always hold special shelf space in my heart’s library. The first, and the subject of this review, is The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. Yet, before I begin my history with this extraordinary story, let me briefly mention my other two great loves.
A. Dune:
The second of these pivotal SF relationships was with Dune, who I first met while in college during my “wilder” days. Dune, being born in 1965, was 5 years my senior when we first “hooked up.” I was so immediately and powerfully smitten with thistail tale that I actually became fearful that I had so completely spun out of control. But now is not the time to discuss that relationship as there may be children present. I’ll just say that Dune, that saucy, talented cougar, took me to heights of ecstasy that I’d never before experienced with its richly exotic and poetically descriptive prose, its nuanced characters and its plot as complex as anything I’d encountered before.
Give me just a minute...*wipes brow*
Where was I?
Oh yeah...anyway, being less than a literary Casanova at the time, I was only able to read a few pages at a time due to premature...fatigue. Later, as my endurance improved, I was able to last for hours before reaching the point of satiation.
I’ll always be grateful to Dune for being my Mrs. Robinson and so eloquently teaching me that science fiction = literature.
B. Hyperion:
My third great SF love was Hyperion. I first encountered this alluring novel several years after having graduated law school and become established in what is now my life. Prior to first laying eyes on this beauty, I honestly thought I was beyond the age of going “gaga” or experiencing the kind of sweaty-palmed, stutter-causing, bladder-control-losing nervousness that I used to feel when I was chasing comic books around the grade school schoolyard.
Well, I was WRONG!!
When Hyperion showed up on my doorstep with its bodaciously brainy concepts, its gorgeously sensual prose and a plot so stacked and loaded with curves that you could actually hear ”BOOM CHICKA WAH WAH” when its pages turned, all I remember was my sweaty hands slipping off the doorknob as I wet myself while falling and gasping “H...H...He....Hellllloo” just as my head hit the floor.
Again, since this is not a review of Hyperion, I will save the details of that affair for another time. However, I can say that Hyperion currently represents to me the “ideal of perfection” within the science fiction genre. I have never read better and it is the book against which all other science fiction experiences are judged.
C. Foundation Trilogy:
Finally, we get to my very first SF love: The Foundation Trilogy. They say you never forget your first. They are right.
It was “The Trilogy” that began my life-long affair with science fiction. Without Asimov’s epic space opera, I might never have met Dune or Hyperion and my life would have been the poorer for it. Therefore, this series will always hold a special, sentimental place with me.
Of course, I was very inexperienced when I first “awkwardly” touched this book and clumsily fingered the first few pages. I had no idea what to expect, I only know I was excited. I mean there were 3 of them, 3 stories, and only one of me. I was petrified that I would be inadequate to the task. Later, when I was older and had “been with” many, many other books (don’t judge me), I looked back on my initial nervousness and chuckled.
Heck, this is the kind of experience people write letters about in magazines.
Anyway, as it turns out, I could not have wished for a better “first” in the world of science fiction. Asimov’s tight, straight-forward prose took me “in hand” and gently guided me through the amazing world of the two Foundations. Each of the stories that make up The Trilogy are special in their own way and so I’ve decided to review each of them separately at a later date. Here, I will just summarize the series as a whole.
SERIES OVERVIEW:
The Galactic Empire spans 25 million worlds and has a population of over a quadrillion people...FYI, that is 1,000,000,000,000,000 or over 166,000 times the population of Earth. It’s huge...TWSS.
The empire is in decline. However, only a handful of brilliant scientists can see the collapse coming, thanks to the science of “psychohistory” created by their leader, Hari Seldon. Hari and his group have determined that the empire’s demise will lead to 30,000 years of barbarism and have formulated a plan (named after Seldon) to reduce that “dark period” to only 1000 years.
The 3 books in The Trilogy chronicle the formulation and the initial implementation of the Seldon Plan.
This series is such an amazing way to be introduced to the science fiction genre. The prose is uber readable, the pace is lickity split and the stories themselves are full of larger-than-life characters doing larger-than-life things. It’s just highly entertaining, with a “feel good” vibe that will whet the appetite for more.
Now I would not argue with those that find this work less than compelling when viewed against the complete body of science fiction work out there. This does not hold up under scrutiny with subsequent works (including both Dune and Hyperion). Still, this a terrific starting point for someone new to science fiction and embodies the essence of what grand old space opera is supposed to be. Big ideas, larger than life characters and a story packed with smiles.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In conclusion, I’d like to say a few words to those who may doubt the depths of my feelings for this book given my literary promiscuity. Those who’ve seen my “currently reading” shelf and know that I go through books like the U.S. spends money. You might think me a bit disingenuous for writing so “glowingly” about these books in light of my behavior. To those who would judge me, let me just say, with all due respect:
I’ll grant that I enjoy a bit of experimentation when it comes to literature, and frequently hook up with other genres, sometimes several at a time. However, this practice in no way diminishes my love for science fiction. Therefore, please stop your moralizing. What Science Fiction and I have is very special and I’ll thank you not to point your judgments in our direction.
6.0 stars. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!
Winner: Hugo Award for Best All Time Series (The Foundation Trilogy) (1966)
Voted onto the Locus List of All Time Best Science Fiction Novel (4th)
CHAPTER ONE
The Foundation Trilogy
By Isaac Asimov
INTRODUCTION:
In my life, there have been three science fiction books/series that will always hold special shelf space in my heart’s library. The first, and the subject of this review, is The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. Yet, before I begin my history with this extraordinary story, let me briefly mention my other two great loves.
A. Dune:
The second of these pivotal SF relationships was with Dune, who I first met while in college during my “wilder” days. Dune, being born in 1965, was 5 years my senior when we first “hooked up.” I was so immediately and powerfully smitten with this
Give me just a minute...*wipes brow*
Where was I?
Oh yeah...anyway, being less than a literary Casanova at the time, I was only able to read a few pages at a time due to premature...fatigue. Later, as my endurance improved, I was able to last for hours before reaching the point of satiation.
I’ll always be grateful to Dune for being my Mrs. Robinson and so eloquently teaching me that science fiction = literature.
B. Hyperion:
My third great SF love was Hyperion. I first encountered this alluring novel several years after having graduated law school and become established in what is now my life. Prior to first laying eyes on this beauty, I honestly thought I was beyond the age of going “gaga” or experiencing the kind of sweaty-palmed, stutter-causing, bladder-control-losing nervousness that I used to feel when I was chasing comic books around the grade school schoolyard.
Well, I was WRONG!!
When Hyperion showed up on my doorstep with its bodaciously brainy concepts, its gorgeously sensual prose and a plot so stacked and loaded with curves that you could actually hear ”BOOM CHICKA WAH WAH” when its pages turned, all I remember was my sweaty hands slipping off the doorknob as I wet myself while falling and gasping “H...H...He....Hellllloo” just as my head hit the floor.
Again, since this is not a review of Hyperion, I will save the details of that affair for another time. However, I can say that Hyperion currently represents to me the “ideal of perfection” within the science fiction genre. I have never read better and it is the book against which all other science fiction experiences are judged.
C. Foundation Trilogy:
Finally, we get to my very first SF love: The Foundation Trilogy. They say you never forget your first. They are right.
It was “The Trilogy” that began my life-long affair with science fiction. Without Asimov’s epic space opera, I might never have met Dune or Hyperion and my life would have been the poorer for it. Therefore, this series will always hold a special, sentimental place with me.
Of course, I was very inexperienced when I first “awkwardly” touched this book and clumsily fingered the first few pages. I had no idea what to expect, I only know I was excited. I mean there were 3 of them, 3 stories, and only one of me. I was petrified that I would be inadequate to the task. Later, when I was older and had “been with” many, many other books (don’t judge me), I looked back on my initial nervousness and chuckled.
Heck, this is the kind of experience people write letters about in magazines.
Anyway, as it turns out, I could not have wished for a better “first” in the world of science fiction. Asimov’s tight, straight-forward prose took me “in hand” and gently guided me through the amazing world of the two Foundations. Each of the stories that make up The Trilogy are special in their own way and so I’ve decided to review each of them separately at a later date. Here, I will just summarize the series as a whole.
SERIES OVERVIEW:
The Galactic Empire spans 25 million worlds and has a population of over a quadrillion people...FYI, that is 1,000,000,000,000,000 or over 166,000 times the population of Earth. It’s huge...TWSS.
The empire is in decline. However, only a handful of brilliant scientists can see the collapse coming, thanks to the science of “psychohistory” created by their leader, Hari Seldon. Hari and his group have determined that the empire’s demise will lead to 30,000 years of barbarism and have formulated a plan (named after Seldon) to reduce that “dark period” to only 1000 years.
The 3 books in The Trilogy chronicle the formulation and the initial implementation of the Seldon Plan.
This series is such an amazing way to be introduced to the science fiction genre. The prose is uber readable, the pace is lickity split and the stories themselves are full of larger-than-life characters doing larger-than-life things. It’s just highly entertaining, with a “feel good” vibe that will whet the appetite for more.
Now I would not argue with those that find this work less than compelling when viewed against the complete body of science fiction work out there. This does not hold up under scrutiny with subsequent works (including both Dune and Hyperion). Still, this a terrific starting point for someone new to science fiction and embodies the essence of what grand old space opera is supposed to be. Big ideas, larger than life characters and a story packed with smiles.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
In conclusion, I’d like to say a few words to those who may doubt the depths of my feelings for this book given my literary promiscuity. Those who’ve seen my “currently reading” shelf and know that I go through books like the U.S. spends money. You might think me a bit disingenuous for writing so “glowingly” about these books in light of my behavior. To those who would judge me, let me just say, with all due respect:
I’ll grant that I enjoy a bit of experimentation when it comes to literature, and frequently hook up with other genres, sometimes several at a time. However, this practice in no way diminishes my love for science fiction. Therefore, please stop your moralizing. What Science Fiction and I have is very special and I’ll thank you not to point your judgments in our direction.
6.0 stars. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!
Winner: Hugo Award for Best All Time Series (The Foundation Trilogy) (1966)
Voted onto the Locus List of All Time Best Science Fiction Novel (4th)
June 25, 2021
"La apariencia de fuerza no es más que una ilusión. Parece tener que durar siempre. No obstante, el tronco de árbol podrido, hasta el mismo momento en que la tormenta lo parte en dos, tiene toda la apariencia de sólido que ha tenido siempre. Ahora la tormenta se cierne sobre las ramas del imperio"
Isaac Asimov, conocido como el padre de la CF, consigue llevar los juegos mentales y el control de las masas a un nivel muy alto. Nos presenta la psicohistoria, el futuro de la humanidad de un imperio galáctico y un plan para salvarlo. Esta Trilogía de la Fundación está compuesta por; Fundación (1° libro), Fundación e Imperio (2° Libro) y Segunda Fundación (3° Libro), nos encontramos ante un clásico que no solo marco un inicio también fue un bombazo en su momento por las increíbles ideas de, Isaac Asimov. Un gran clásico y una gran lectura que disfruté. Y, sí, tiene sus cosas no todo es bueno, más aún leyéndolo hoy y teniendo ya cierto recorrido como lector pues le encuentras cosas.
Hablaré en general antes de entrar en cada libro; lo peor se lo llevan los personajes, nos encontramos quitando en mi caso tres personajes que me gustaron mucho a personajes de cartón, vacíos, no transmiten mucho, ni están muy bien construidos, esto se debe a que apenas los conocemos ya que Fundación no sigue una línea fija, se trata de relatos y va cambiando de personajes y cuando acabas de situarte con uno, cambia a otro. Se centra más en la historia, en su desarrollo y en ese plan Seldon. Esa línea cambiante que sigue a mi no me molesto, de hecho es una de las cosas que me llamó la atención, esos saltos temporales hicieron que la historia que creo, Asimov y la trama que se fue desarrollando me enganchara y además desde las primeras páginas.
"Me están acusando de modestia, un horrible crimen totalmente antinatural"
He de decir que me costó al principio. Se me hizo densa su lectura pero no densa en el aspecto de que plantease una dificultad leerlo o que el estilo de, Asimov sea complicado, todo lo contrarío me gusta como esta escrito, su narrativa es aceptable y fácil se sigue sin ningún problema. Fue densa especialmente al principio por que da demasiada información y datos, lo que se conoce por estos lares por el término "infodump" pero de esto negativo sale algo positivo que lo salva y es que la trama al lograr absorberte, al estar metido en la historia y querer seguirla es lo que hace que esto no se convierta en un problema a la hora de leerlo y que puedas acabar saturado.
Otra cosa es el escaso protagonismo de la mujer en estos libros, en el primero casi ni aparecen después en el segundo libro se empieza a ver una posible protagonista. Lo "entiendo" aunque sea triste por la sociedad en la que vivía de aquella, Asimov.
El personaje, Hari Seldon es el eje central de la historia, con su psicohistoria y su plan Seldon es lo que hace que cada conflicto que se desarrolla se solucione prácticamente solo. Por que todo entra en ese plan. Todo sigue su lógica por supuesto así lo plantea, con una ciencia perfecta. Pero es algo que me llamó la atención especialmente en el final del segundo y tercer libro.
"Un traidor incompetente no es un peligro. Son los hombres capaces los que hay que vigilar"
¿Este clásico de CF ha envejecido mal? Yo diría que ha envejecido, punto. Pero para nada mal, han envejecido ciertos conceptos, cosas que ahora como lectores vemos sus defectos y ciertas ideas del momento en el que vivió, Asimov. Como el uso que se le da a la energía atómica, que en sus tiempos se pensaba que era la energía definitiva, la energía del futuro. Y es normal, esto se escribió hace más de 80 años y considero que debe analizarse y valorarse como tal. Flaquean algunas cosas, sí. Pero cumple aún a día de hoy con algo esencial. Que es una lectura que puede enganchar y que se disfruta en mi caso de principio a fin queriendo saber que ocurriría. Cuando llegue al segundo libro Fundación e Imperio, fue una maravilla, ese libro se lleva un diez como una montaña y ese personaje que me hizo lanzarme a esta trilogía, El Mulo... no decepciono.
Asimov en esta trilogia le da más impulso a las ideas que a los personajes, elabora el ascenso y la caída de la civilización en una prosa intrincada. Aborda temas que van desde la religión hasta la política y el control de las masas. Nos trasporta a un período del tiempo en el que el imperio galáctico ha prosperado durante milenios. Y la historia da comienzo cuando el psicohistoriador, Hari Seldon anuncia una caída inminente del Imperio. A menos que la Comisión de Seguridad Pública del Imperio le permita establecer un plan de respaldo que garantizará una caída más corta y con la promesa de un nuevo renacimiento. Aquí es donde comienza la aventura, los dilemas y las preguntas, ¿Tendrá resultados el plan de Hari Seldon, habrá consecuencias, cambios?
"Cualquier dogma, basado primariamente en la fe y el sentimentalismo, es un arma peligrosa usada sobre los demás, puesto que es imposible garantizar que el arma nunca se vuelva contra el que la emplea"
Fundación: Asimov presenta a los lectores la psicohistoria. La idea de este estudio es que el comportamiento de las masas se puede predecir gracias a complejos algoritmos matemáticos, mientras que el comportamiento de un individuo sigue siendo casi imposible de anticipar. Me parece una idea bastante original para leer y explorar. De los tres libro este fue el que menos me gustó por una sencilla razón, por esa cantidad de información y datos (infodump) aunque también tengo que reconocer que Asimov se las arregla para encajar una enorme cantidad de contenido en solo 250 páginas. La trama tiene giros, cambios en el juego de maneras inimaginables. Asimov nos ofrece innumerables preguntas sobre las que reflexionar a medida que se desarrollan los acontecimientos, una de las que me llamó la atención por ejemplo; la idea del libre albedrío que se ve cuestionada ya que el plan de Seldon básicamente le quita a las personas su capacidad para controlar sus destinos a niveles sociales. Me gusta también cómo se representa la violencia y cómo se representa el verdadero poder.
Nos plantea que unos comportamientos, acciones e ideas tienen una serie de consecuencias y efectos unas ganan la guerra entera, mientras que otras ganan una simple batalla. Los saltos en el tiempo formando historias cortas y la narrativa fluida y sencilla de, Asimov, hicieron que tuviera un nivel de intriga adecuado para mantenerme pegado a las páginas. Personajes que van y vienen, sus diálogos cumplen su función. Como mencioné, esta historia no se trata de un solo individuo. Hay saltos en el tiempo sobre las líneas de la historia que dificultan o vuelven imposible el formar conexiones con los personajes. La falta de calidad de los personajes y la cantidad a mi parecer demasiado grande de información, es lo que hizo que le bajara nota. Se lleva 4/5 estrellas.
"La violencia es el último recurso del incompetente... Para triunfar, el solo planteamiento es insuficiente. También se debe improvisar"
Fundación e Imperio: Tiene lugar unos años después. Nos presenta una Fundación más poderosa que se esta encargando de cierta amenaza que no mencionaré, hasta que una gran fuerza inesperada entra en el tablero, aquí ya tenemos algo más de acción. Este individuo que se conoce con el nombre de, El Mulo. Un personaje que me lanzo a leer esta trilogía aún sin saber casi nada de él salvo susurros. Y que decir es un villano genial, bien planteado, me encantó, desde lo que puede hacer, su historia, su motivación y las descripciones que se hacen de él. Es algo que el propio plan de Seldon no había tenido en cuenta. El Mulo puede poner fin a un futuro que parecía cosa hecha, lo que le da cierta acción y aventura en un nuevo camino a una historia que parecía que iba a tener un solo final. Este segundo libro también nos presenta por fin a nuestro primer personaje femenino. Hasta ahora la historia solo había tenido básicamente hombres intentando cambiar el futuro. Esto hizo que la historia fuese aún másinteresante ya que le consiguió aportar algo, las emociones. Aquí ya no tenemos historias cortas como había en el primer libro. Se lleva 10/5 estrellas xD.
"Y si la Segunda Fundación no vence al Mulo, las cosas irán mal... definitivamente mal. Tal vez signifique el fin de la raza humana, tal como la conocemos"
Segunda Fundación: Se centra en una segunda Fundación, sería una continuación del anterior libro, no entraré en detalles. Aquí vuelve los científicos y los psicohistoriadores de la Segunda Fundación. Asimov nos cuenta una historia plausible con algunas partes curiosas, sutiles o mismo raras, y luego cuando llegamos al final aparece algo o alguien y te hace reinterpretar lo que ha pasado y por qué las partes raras y que no entendías eran importantes, aunque yo como lector lo pasé por alto y me centre en otros eventos. Esto lo usa en los tres libros pero en este, quizás lo noté más. Podría entrar en más cosas de los tres libros pero esta reseña ya es demasiado larga y ya he contado demasiado. Se lleva 5/5 estrellas.
Si te gusta la CF esta es una lectura necesaria, te termine gustando o no. Para mi ha sido toda una experiencia y una aventura. Como Dune, perdurará en el tiempo, ambos autores lograron convertir sus libros en memorables, yo no los olvidaré.
"Estoy convencido de que la Segunda Fundación.. puede ganar, si no es atacada prematuramente por el Mulo. Se ha mantenido en secreto; este secreto debe guardarse, tiene un propósito. Debéis ir allí; vuestra información es vital... puede cambiarlo todo. ¿Me escucháis?"
Isaac Asimov, conocido como el padre de la CF, consigue llevar los juegos mentales y el control de las masas a un nivel muy alto. Nos presenta la psicohistoria, el futuro de la humanidad de un imperio galáctico y un plan para salvarlo. Esta Trilogía de la Fundación está compuesta por; Fundación (1° libro), Fundación e Imperio (2° Libro) y Segunda Fundación (3° Libro), nos encontramos ante un clásico que no solo marco un inicio también fue un bombazo en su momento por las increíbles ideas de, Isaac Asimov. Un gran clásico y una gran lectura que disfruté. Y, sí, tiene sus cosas no todo es bueno, más aún leyéndolo hoy y teniendo ya cierto recorrido como lector pues le encuentras cosas.
Hablaré en general antes de entrar en cada libro; lo peor se lo llevan los personajes, nos encontramos quitando en mi caso tres personajes que me gustaron mucho a personajes de cartón, vacíos, no transmiten mucho, ni están muy bien construidos, esto se debe a que apenas los conocemos ya que Fundación no sigue una línea fija, se trata de relatos y va cambiando de personajes y cuando acabas de situarte con uno, cambia a otro. Se centra más en la historia, en su desarrollo y en ese plan Seldon. Esa línea cambiante que sigue a mi no me molesto, de hecho es una de las cosas que me llamó la atención, esos saltos temporales hicieron que la historia que creo, Asimov y la trama que se fue desarrollando me enganchara y además desde las primeras páginas.
"Me están acusando de modestia, un horrible crimen totalmente antinatural"
He de decir que me costó al principio. Se me hizo densa su lectura pero no densa en el aspecto de que plantease una dificultad leerlo o que el estilo de, Asimov sea complicado, todo lo contrarío me gusta como esta escrito, su narrativa es aceptable y fácil se sigue sin ningún problema. Fue densa especialmente al principio por que da demasiada información y datos, lo que se conoce por estos lares por el término "infodump" pero de esto negativo sale algo positivo que lo salva y es que la trama al lograr absorberte, al estar metido en la historia y querer seguirla es lo que hace que esto no se convierta en un problema a la hora de leerlo y que puedas acabar saturado.
Otra cosa es el escaso protagonismo de la mujer en estos libros, en el primero casi ni aparecen después en el segundo libro se empieza a ver una posible protagonista. Lo "entiendo" aunque sea triste por la sociedad en la que vivía de aquella, Asimov.
El personaje, Hari Seldon es el eje central de la historia, con su psicohistoria y su plan Seldon es lo que hace que cada conflicto que se desarrolla se solucione prácticamente solo. Por que todo entra en ese plan. Todo sigue su lógica por supuesto así lo plantea, con una ciencia perfecta. Pero es algo que me llamó la atención especialmente en el final del segundo y tercer libro.
"Un traidor incompetente no es un peligro. Son los hombres capaces los que hay que vigilar"
¿Este clásico de CF ha envejecido mal? Yo diría que ha envejecido, punto. Pero para nada mal, han envejecido ciertos conceptos, cosas que ahora como lectores vemos sus defectos y ciertas ideas del momento en el que vivió, Asimov. Como el uso que se le da a la energía atómica, que en sus tiempos se pensaba que era la energía definitiva, la energía del futuro. Y es normal, esto se escribió hace más de 80 años y considero que debe analizarse y valorarse como tal. Flaquean algunas cosas, sí. Pero cumple aún a día de hoy con algo esencial. Que es una lectura que puede enganchar y que se disfruta en mi caso de principio a fin queriendo saber que ocurriría. Cuando llegue al segundo libro Fundación e Imperio, fue una maravilla, ese libro se lleva un diez como una montaña y ese personaje que me hizo lanzarme a esta trilogía, El Mulo... no decepciono.
Asimov en esta trilogia le da más impulso a las ideas que a los personajes, elabora el ascenso y la caída de la civilización en una prosa intrincada. Aborda temas que van desde la religión hasta la política y el control de las masas. Nos trasporta a un período del tiempo en el que el imperio galáctico ha prosperado durante milenios. Y la historia da comienzo cuando el psicohistoriador, Hari Seldon anuncia una caída inminente del Imperio. A menos que la Comisión de Seguridad Pública del Imperio le permita establecer un plan de respaldo que garantizará una caída más corta y con la promesa de un nuevo renacimiento. Aquí es donde comienza la aventura, los dilemas y las preguntas, ¿Tendrá resultados el plan de Hari Seldon, habrá consecuencias, cambios?
"Cualquier dogma, basado primariamente en la fe y el sentimentalismo, es un arma peligrosa usada sobre los demás, puesto que es imposible garantizar que el arma nunca se vuelva contra el que la emplea"
Fundación: Asimov presenta a los lectores la psicohistoria. La idea de este estudio es que el comportamiento de las masas se puede predecir gracias a complejos algoritmos matemáticos, mientras que el comportamiento de un individuo sigue siendo casi imposible de anticipar. Me parece una idea bastante original para leer y explorar. De los tres libro este fue el que menos me gustó por una sencilla razón, por esa cantidad de información y datos (infodump) aunque también tengo que reconocer que Asimov se las arregla para encajar una enorme cantidad de contenido en solo 250 páginas. La trama tiene giros, cambios en el juego de maneras inimaginables. Asimov nos ofrece innumerables preguntas sobre las que reflexionar a medida que se desarrollan los acontecimientos, una de las que me llamó la atención por ejemplo; la idea del libre albedrío que se ve cuestionada ya que el plan de Seldon básicamente le quita a las personas su capacidad para controlar sus destinos a niveles sociales. Me gusta también cómo se representa la violencia y cómo se representa el verdadero poder.
Nos plantea que unos comportamientos, acciones e ideas tienen una serie de consecuencias y efectos unas ganan la guerra entera, mientras que otras ganan una simple batalla. Los saltos en el tiempo formando historias cortas y la narrativa fluida y sencilla de, Asimov, hicieron que tuviera un nivel de intriga adecuado para mantenerme pegado a las páginas. Personajes que van y vienen, sus diálogos cumplen su función. Como mencioné, esta historia no se trata de un solo individuo. Hay saltos en el tiempo sobre las líneas de la historia que dificultan o vuelven imposible el formar conexiones con los personajes. La falta de calidad de los personajes y la cantidad a mi parecer demasiado grande de información, es lo que hizo que le bajara nota. Se lleva 4/5 estrellas.
"La violencia es el último recurso del incompetente... Para triunfar, el solo planteamiento es insuficiente. También se debe improvisar"
Fundación e Imperio: Tiene lugar unos años después. Nos presenta una Fundación más poderosa que se esta encargando de cierta amenaza que no mencionaré, hasta que una gran fuerza inesperada entra en el tablero, aquí ya tenemos algo más de acción. Este individuo que se conoce con el nombre de, El Mulo. Un personaje que me lanzo a leer esta trilogía aún sin saber casi nada de él salvo susurros. Y que decir es un villano genial, bien planteado, me encantó, desde lo que puede hacer, su historia, su motivación y las descripciones que se hacen de él. Es algo que el propio plan de Seldon no había tenido en cuenta. El Mulo puede poner fin a un futuro que parecía cosa hecha, lo que le da cierta acción y aventura en un nuevo camino a una historia que parecía que iba a tener un solo final. Este segundo libro también nos presenta por fin a nuestro primer personaje femenino. Hasta ahora la historia solo había tenido básicamente hombres intentando cambiar el futuro. Esto hizo que la historia fuese aún másinteresante ya que le consiguió aportar algo, las emociones. Aquí ya no tenemos historias cortas como había en el primer libro. Se lleva 10/5 estrellas xD.
"Y si la Segunda Fundación no vence al Mulo, las cosas irán mal... definitivamente mal. Tal vez signifique el fin de la raza humana, tal como la conocemos"
Segunda Fundación: Se centra en una segunda Fundación, sería una continuación del anterior libro, no entraré en detalles. Aquí vuelve los científicos y los psicohistoriadores de la Segunda Fundación. Asimov nos cuenta una historia plausible con algunas partes curiosas, sutiles o mismo raras, y luego cuando llegamos al final aparece algo o alguien y te hace reinterpretar lo que ha pasado y por qué las partes raras y que no entendías eran importantes, aunque yo como lector lo pasé por alto y me centre en otros eventos. Esto lo usa en los tres libros pero en este, quizás lo noté más. Podría entrar en más cosas de los tres libros pero esta reseña ya es demasiado larga y ya he contado demasiado. Se lleva 5/5 estrellas.
Si te gusta la CF esta es una lectura necesaria, te termine gustando o no. Para mi ha sido toda una experiencia y una aventura. Como Dune, perdurará en el tiempo, ambos autores lograron convertir sus libros en memorables, yo no los olvidaré.
"Estoy convencido de que la Segunda Fundación.. puede ganar, si no es atacada prematuramente por el Mulo. Se ha mantenido en secreto; este secreto debe guardarse, tiene un propósito. Debéis ir allí; vuestra información es vital... puede cambiarlo todo. ¿Me escucháis?"
July 26, 2020
*4.5 pra trilogia no geral, mas favoritadíssimaaaa!!!
August 4, 2008
When Isaac Asimov learned that the World Science Fiction Convention would be giving a special Hugo Award in 1966 for "Best All Time Series," he believed that the category had been created specifically to honor J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Indeed, for a modern reader, it's surprising to learn that Asimov's Foundation Trilogy was once so highly revered in the canon of speculative fiction that it beat Tolkien's masterpiece for the prize. Such are the fortunes of a genre built on the challenge of looking forward: when the future actually arrives, even its greatest masterpieces are left looking like the relics of a hopelessly distant past.
The Foundation Trilogy is not the greatest multi-novel series to emerge from modern science fiction. Nor is it, by even a generous assessment, a masterpiece. Perhaps the series fared better in a time when the expectations placed upon sci-fi writers was that they would produce entertaining pulp -- when the novelty and intellectual reach of Asimov's ideas could distract from his lacking style. By today's standards, however, the work is almost hopelessly inept.
The premise is this: Harry Seldon, the greatest psychologist of the far future, predicts that the Galactic Empire will crumble ala Rome within a few hundred years of his writing. Using the "science" of psychohistory (his own invention), he foresees an intellectual Dark Age of approximately 30,000 years following this collapse, but he also calculates that this period can be shortened to a single millennium if the right people are in the right places to keep the flame of knowledge lit. Thus, he creates two "Foundations," groups that work behind the scenes to keep learning alive through the empire's fall.
The story spins bizarrely but predictably from there: wars, rumors of war, deranged mutants, psychologists with seemingly supernatural abilities, resolution. Asimov's unflinching faith in the potential of science is the real focus throughout. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, we've come to understand that even closed systems are fundamentally unpredictable over any considerable length of time; in Asimov's time, there was still faith that science could predict the future of a galaxy-spanning empire over the course of thousands of years.
The naivety of the late 40s and early 50s, however, is not what prevents The Foundation Trilogy from being the masterpiece it was once considered to be. Asimov's plot isn't perfect, but it's functional. Rather, the work's real failings are literary. The characters are flat, cardboard cutouts of people, the great leaders of one generation virtually indistinguishable from the next (women, of course, are almost never to be seen, with the notable exception of a rather likable young heroine in the second part of Second Foundation). Nor is there poetry in Asimov's prose; instead, there are merely endless pages of expository dialogue occasionally graced with the most meager of descriptions.
Fundamentally at issue here is the fact that science fiction has earned the right to be considered literature, and that the canonization of works like Foundation serve only as unpleasant reminders of the genre's humble beginnings. It is not an altogether terrible work, and certainly worth reading for historical context alone, but advocates of contemporary science fiction can only hope that novels such as these will one day no longer be the standard by which the genre's literary merits are weighed.
The Foundation Trilogy is not the greatest multi-novel series to emerge from modern science fiction. Nor is it, by even a generous assessment, a masterpiece. Perhaps the series fared better in a time when the expectations placed upon sci-fi writers was that they would produce entertaining pulp -- when the novelty and intellectual reach of Asimov's ideas could distract from his lacking style. By today's standards, however, the work is almost hopelessly inept.
The premise is this: Harry Seldon, the greatest psychologist of the far future, predicts that the Galactic Empire will crumble ala Rome within a few hundred years of his writing. Using the "science" of psychohistory (his own invention), he foresees an intellectual Dark Age of approximately 30,000 years following this collapse, but he also calculates that this period can be shortened to a single millennium if the right people are in the right places to keep the flame of knowledge lit. Thus, he creates two "Foundations," groups that work behind the scenes to keep learning alive through the empire's fall.
The story spins bizarrely but predictably from there: wars, rumors of war, deranged mutants, psychologists with seemingly supernatural abilities, resolution. Asimov's unflinching faith in the potential of science is the real focus throughout. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, we've come to understand that even closed systems are fundamentally unpredictable over any considerable length of time; in Asimov's time, there was still faith that science could predict the future of a galaxy-spanning empire over the course of thousands of years.
The naivety of the late 40s and early 50s, however, is not what prevents The Foundation Trilogy from being the masterpiece it was once considered to be. Asimov's plot isn't perfect, but it's functional. Rather, the work's real failings are literary. The characters are flat, cardboard cutouts of people, the great leaders of one generation virtually indistinguishable from the next (women, of course, are almost never to be seen, with the notable exception of a rather likable young heroine in the second part of Second Foundation). Nor is there poetry in Asimov's prose; instead, there are merely endless pages of expository dialogue occasionally graced with the most meager of descriptions.
Fundamentally at issue here is the fact that science fiction has earned the right to be considered literature, and that the canonization of works like Foundation serve only as unpleasant reminders of the genre's humble beginnings. It is not an altogether terrible work, and certainly worth reading for historical context alone, but advocates of contemporary science fiction can only hope that novels such as these will one day no longer be the standard by which the genre's literary merits are weighed.
August 28, 2025
Every solution risks becoming a problem when the power remains in the hands of the same people. I’m not a fan of episodic novels, but I did enjoy seeing the evolution of the Foundation, and I did ask myself, "Where are we now?"
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October 30, 2019The Foundation trilogy is made up from a series of short stories published between 1942 and 1953. At the dawn of American dominance, Asimov as a fiction writer was inspired to write about decline and fall, rather like Edward Gibbon turned his attention to the end of Rome no sooner had victory in the Seven Years War set the seal on British ascendancy, but with science-fiction as his medium.
Asimov was fond of locked door murder mysteries and this technique of creating a seemingly impossible situation and resolving it cleverly is one that he used in the Foundation series. The resolutions are clever. The series is enjoyable for its interest in big questions rather than big battles in spaces with loads of exploding things.
But back to locked door mysteries. First Asimov locks the door by inventing a concept that he calls psychohistory. This is a super-science that allows the reasonably precise prediction of the future and this is the basis of the whole set of stories. Super scientist Harri Seldon using hismagic powers mcguffin technique of psychohistory realises that the Galactic Empire in which he lives, is going to decline and collapse into a horrible galactic dark age in the very near future. However he has also calculated that by planting a colony of scientists in a safe spot this dark age can be minimised. This Foundation will undergo various ups and downs and existential threats as it grows to create/become a future galactic republic, all of which ups and downs are predicted by psychohistory, and by means of a fancy nuclear powered hologram thingamajig, he, Harri Seldon, can broadcast suitably condescending messages to impress the people of the future. The door is closed - how can the stories be interesting if the results are known and predictable in advance - and the key turns in the lock.
The first solution is that the people of Foundation don't have access to the predictions and so fulfil them unwittingly. Then random events do occur (particularly in Foundation and Empire), which appear spectacular but don't turn out to have a long term impact. Finally it turns out that a super secret cabal of psycho-historians had been hidden away to keep the plan on course. In the last of these early stories the Foundation becomes aware of this Second Foundation and embarks on a McCarthite witch-hunt for them.
Very much of its time with its fear of infiltration by people with mysterious mental powers (think of The Manchurian Candidate), its interest in technology as the under pining of power, and its concern with Imperial rise and fall. Since apparently this series went on to influence Newt Gingrich I can only recommend it to careful readers.
Asimov was fond of locked door murder mysteries and this technique of creating a seemingly impossible situation and resolving it cleverly is one that he used in the Foundation series. The resolutions are clever. The series is enjoyable for its interest in big questions rather than big battles in spaces with loads of exploding things.
But back to locked door mysteries. First Asimov locks the door by inventing a concept that he calls psychohistory. This is a super-science that allows the reasonably precise prediction of the future and this is the basis of the whole set of stories. Super scientist Harri Seldon using his
The first solution is that the people of Foundation don't have access to the predictions and so fulfil them unwittingly. Then random events do occur (particularly in Foundation and Empire), which appear spectacular but don't turn out to have a long term impact. Finally it turns out that a super secret cabal of psycho-historians had been hidden away to keep the plan on course. In the last of these early stories the Foundation becomes aware of this Second Foundation and embarks on a McCarthite witch-hunt for them.
Very much of its time with its fear of infiltration by people with mysterious mental powers (think of The Manchurian Candidate), its interest in technology as the under pining of power, and its concern with Imperial rise and fall. Since apparently this series went on to influence Newt Gingrich I can only recommend it to careful readers.
February 22, 2018
Les presento la mejor novela que he leído hasta ahora, una trilogía, en concreto, con la que se inicia el Universo Asimov, una colección de 16 libros de ciencia ficción que desde luego forman parte de los clásicos de la literatura Universal.
Un estilo narrativo excelente, tramas originales e inteligentes, personajes atractivos y un libro muy adictivo, que engancha. Pero por encima de todo hay algo que hace que este libro sea especial, tiene un mensaje, y es un mensaje sobre el valor de la ciencia.
Les dejo una reseña completa en mi vlog de física, sin spoilers, para el que quiera profundizar un poco más:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br3Hv...
Yo creo que es de esos libros que todo el mundo debería leer, de los que incitan a que seamos mejores ciudadanos. Un verdadero homenaje a la ciencia.
¡Viva la ciencia y viva Asimov!
Un estilo narrativo excelente, tramas originales e inteligentes, personajes atractivos y un libro muy adictivo, que engancha. Pero por encima de todo hay algo que hace que este libro sea especial, tiene un mensaje, y es un mensaje sobre el valor de la ciencia.
Les dejo una reseña completa en mi vlog de física, sin spoilers, para el que quiera profundizar un poco más:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br3Hv...
Yo creo que es de esos libros que todo el mundo debería leer, de los que incitan a que seamos mejores ciudadanos. Un verdadero homenaje a la ciencia.
¡Viva la ciencia y viva Asimov!
December 13, 2017
Volver a leer la trilogía de la Fundación 15 años después y esta vez del tirón (un tirón que me ha llevado 6 meses), me ha permitido entender mejor la idea general que planteó Asimov.
Ahora tengo más experiencia como lector y he visto alguno de los fallos en los que cae (la trilogía entera es un infodump continuo). Pero a pesar de los fallos me he vuelto a sumergir durante casi mil páginas en las mismas sensaciones que tuve de pequeño y me he asombrado aún más del enorme proyecto en que se metió Asimov.
Podrá gustarte más o menos su estilo pero es uno de los trabajos indispensables de la Ciencia Ficción del último siglo.
Ahora tengo más experiencia como lector y he visto alguno de los fallos en los que cae (la trilogía entera es un infodump continuo). Pero a pesar de los fallos me he vuelto a sumergir durante casi mil páginas en las mismas sensaciones que tuve de pequeño y me he asombrado aún más del enorme proyecto en que se metió Asimov.
Podrá gustarte más o menos su estilo pero es uno de los trabajos indispensables de la Ciencia Ficción del último siglo.
December 10, 2021
Es bueno, pero no es lo que esperaba ni lo que estaba buscando.
Hace un tiempo había querido leer algo de Asimov; el representante de la ciencia ficción. O algo así. No hay razón destacable para explicar por qué escogí este libro para empezar con él, sólo había encontrado dos de sus novelas y ésta me llamaba más la atención por el tema de la psicohistoria.
La trilogía de la fundación es una novela (aunque parece más un compendio de cuentos) que trata sobre los inicios de la Fundación a lo largo de varios siglos. El inicio de la Fundación como un planeta con poca población, hasta los tiempos donde se vuelve una potencia galáctica.
La psicohistoria es una ciencia que combina las matemáticas estadística y la psicólogia. Con ella, los psicohistoriadores más experimentados son capaces de calcular los hechos del futuro con un porcentaje. Es más fácil calcular las masas, pues es casi imposible calcular el futuro de una sola persona, por esto, entre más grande sea la población, el porcentaje será más alto. Ejemplo, la probabilidad de que tal planeta ataque al otro es del 97%
Bueno, esta idea me parecía maravillosa y original, creí que haría de la historia una bomba, pero, sinceramente, me parece que ocurrió todo lo contrario. Diré mi porqué sin dar spoilers.
«El hombre más irreversiblemente estúpido es aquel que ignora su sabiduría»
Pensé que este libro prometía una aventura de ciencia ficción, o por lo menos bastante ciencia ficción, pero no. Es historia; cómo empezó la Fundación, sus cambios, la religión, política, etc, etc. La ciencia F aparece muy poco, se mencionan naves, armas, lugares, pero solo eso: mencionar. Así que yo mismo le había puesto altas espectativas a este libro. Grave error.
La psicohistoria puede definirse en un sustantivo: aguafiestas. Al preveer muchos eventos a futuro, le da la oportunidad de evitarlos. A lo largo de los siglos de la Fundación pasan muchas cosas, y todas ellas se resuelven enseguida gracias a la psicohistoria. La psicohistoria o deus ex machina, como dijo uno de los personajes del libro. Además, la primera guerra que no pudo ser prevenida fue desaprovechada. ¡No leímos nada de ella!
La psicohistoria se ve mejor reflejada y mejor usada en las últimas páginas del libro, hay una serie de revelaciones que nos dejan cada vez más boquiabiertos. La primera revelación es genial, pero es inútil comparada a la segunda, y la segunda a la tercera. Es en la búsqueda de la Segunda Fundación cuando el libro mejora.
«Los tiempos hacen al hombre»
Algo que quiero rescatar son algunos personajes, Mulo y Arcadia. No son profundos pero tienen una personalidad que agrada. El primero, Mulo, con solo describir físicamente podría ser un spoiler, pero fue quien inició una guerra y logró gobernar la Fundación. La segunda, Arcadia, es una chica que se ve envuelta en un plan para descubrir el paradero de la Segunda Fundación. Ambos personajes y sus historias fueron lo mejor del libro.
También quiero agradecer a la manera fácil que tiene Asimov para escribir, pensé que sería algo complicado, pero no, y esto me ayudó a acabar este largo libro.
Cómo dije antes, hay muchos giros de trama, lo cual me impidió saber siquiera un poco para donde iba la historia, aunque esto también puede ser algo malo. Pero la verdadera trama del libro me parece que es la tercera parte, el tercer libro, La Segunda Fundación
«La gratitud mejor y más efectiva es la que no se evapora en frases vacías»
En conclusión, esta ha sido una lectura que pronto olvidaré, pero que no me incita a abandonar al autor. Quiero leer un libro de cuentos, tal vez ese me guste más y contenga mayor presencia de ciencia ficción, de lo contrario, será lo último que lea de Isaac Asimov.
Hace un tiempo había querido leer algo de Asimov; el representante de la ciencia ficción. O algo así. No hay razón destacable para explicar por qué escogí este libro para empezar con él, sólo había encontrado dos de sus novelas y ésta me llamaba más la atención por el tema de la psicohistoria.
La trilogía de la fundación es una novela (aunque parece más un compendio de cuentos) que trata sobre los inicios de la Fundación a lo largo de varios siglos. El inicio de la Fundación como un planeta con poca población, hasta los tiempos donde se vuelve una potencia galáctica.
La psicohistoria es una ciencia que combina las matemáticas estadística y la psicólogia. Con ella, los psicohistoriadores más experimentados son capaces de calcular los hechos del futuro con un porcentaje. Es más fácil calcular las masas, pues es casi imposible calcular el futuro de una sola persona, por esto, entre más grande sea la población, el porcentaje será más alto. Ejemplo, la probabilidad de que tal planeta ataque al otro es del 97%
Bueno, esta idea me parecía maravillosa y original, creí que haría de la historia una bomba, pero, sinceramente, me parece que ocurrió todo lo contrario. Diré mi porqué sin dar spoilers.
«El hombre más irreversiblemente estúpido es aquel que ignora su sabiduría»
Pensé que este libro prometía una aventura de ciencia ficción, o por lo menos bastante ciencia ficción, pero no. Es historia; cómo empezó la Fundación, sus cambios, la religión, política, etc, etc. La ciencia F aparece muy poco, se mencionan naves, armas, lugares, pero solo eso: mencionar. Así que yo mismo le había puesto altas espectativas a este libro. Grave error.
La psicohistoria puede definirse en un sustantivo: aguafiestas. Al preveer muchos eventos a futuro, le da la oportunidad de evitarlos. A lo largo de los siglos de la Fundación pasan muchas cosas, y todas ellas se resuelven enseguida gracias a la psicohistoria. La psicohistoria o deus ex machina, como dijo uno de los personajes del libro. Además, la primera guerra que no pudo ser prevenida fue desaprovechada. ¡No leímos nada de ella!
La psicohistoria se ve mejor reflejada y mejor usada en las últimas páginas del libro, hay una serie de revelaciones que nos dejan cada vez más boquiabiertos. La primera revelación es genial, pero es inútil comparada a la segunda, y la segunda a la tercera. Es en la búsqueda de la Segunda Fundación cuando el libro mejora.
«Los tiempos hacen al hombre»
Algo que quiero rescatar son algunos personajes, Mulo y Arcadia. No son profundos pero tienen una personalidad que agrada. El primero, Mulo, con solo describir físicamente podría ser un spoiler, pero fue quien inició una guerra y logró gobernar la Fundación. La segunda, Arcadia, es una chica que se ve envuelta en un plan para descubrir el paradero de la Segunda Fundación. Ambos personajes y sus historias fueron lo mejor del libro.
También quiero agradecer a la manera fácil que tiene Asimov para escribir, pensé que sería algo complicado, pero no, y esto me ayudó a acabar este largo libro.
Cómo dije antes, hay muchos giros de trama, lo cual me impidió saber siquiera un poco para donde iba la historia, aunque esto también puede ser algo malo. Pero la verdadera trama del libro me parece que es la tercera parte, el tercer libro, La Segunda Fundación
«La gratitud mejor y más efectiva es la que no se evapora en frases vacías»
En conclusión, esta ha sido una lectura que pronto olvidaré, pero que no me incita a abandonar al autor. Quiero leer un libro de cuentos, tal vez ese me guste más y contenga mayor presencia de ciencia ficción, de lo contrario, será lo último que lea de Isaac Asimov.
September 19, 2021
In the last days of a future human Galactic Empire spanning countless galaxies, mathematician Hari Seldon develops psychohistory theory using research analysis and statistics of significant numbers of humans across the Empire; it can be used to predict the future of large populations. He foretells the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, a 30,000 year dark age and a second empire rising. Seldom devises a plan of action, creating the Foundations to limit the length of the dark age and preserve civilization, to become the seeds from which the second empire will grow far more quickly.
How did this book make me feel?
This made me feel full of wonderment that a writer could produce such a detailed and believable galactic saga over 1000s of years centred around mathematical theory, and make it a compelling and entertaining read! Foundation, Foundation & Empire and Second Foundation - a supreme sci-fi work by a grand master and now, in the 21st century, still a scintillating read! It deservedly won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. 9 out of 12.
How did this book make me feel?
This made me feel full of wonderment that a writer could produce such a detailed and believable galactic saga over 1000s of years centred around mathematical theory, and make it a compelling and entertaining read! Foundation, Foundation & Empire and Second Foundation - a supreme sci-fi work by a grand master and now, in the 21st century, still a scintillating read! It deservedly won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. 9 out of 12.
October 15, 2021
Siempre he sido un fanático de la ciencia ficción. Pero sin embargo hay mucha ciencia ficción de baratillo por ahí, y a menos que realmente te dediques al género, es difícil ir a la librería y comprar algo que no va a ser terriblemente aburrido. Digamos que a veces me han quemado compras terribles de ciencia ficción.
Pero el respetado nombre de Isaac Asimov puede acabar con todos tus temores de inmediato. Si eso no es suficiente para ti, hay que decir que la serie Fundación es la ganadora del Premio Hugo a la mejor serie de ciencia ficción de todos los tiempos.
Aunque ahora hay varias novelas de la Fundación, la trilogía original,Fundación, Fundación e Imperio y Segunda Fundación, se escribió treinta años antes de que la presión de los fans y de su editor obligara a Asimov a regresar a la serie. Cuando se otorgó el Premio Hugo, solo existían estos tres primeros libros.
El primer libro, Fundación, es más una colección de cuentos que una novela. A pesar del hecho de que las mujeres son prácticamente inexistentes en este libro (excepto por una esposa cuyo único propósito en la trama es estar fascinada por las joyas), es mi favorito con diferencia. El hecho de que muchos autores de ciencia ficción puedan concebir culturas y tecnologías totalmente extrañas con las que nadie había soñado antes pero a menudo no puedan crear buenos personajes femeninos me fastidia bastante. Pero eso es una perorata por otro lugar y momento, ya que Asimov se redime con los fabulosos personajes femeninos de los otros dos libros. Fundación es una colección de casi accidentes, cosas que ocurren por casualidad pero llevan a un magnifico desenlace. Cuenta la historia de una civilización al margen del universo, muy fuerte en ciencia pero débil en recursos. Lo que lo distingue de la mayor parte de las historias de ciencia ficción, y lo que lo hace tan bueno, es la forma en que los hombres de la Fundación usan su ingenio para burlar a cada señor de la guerra y gobierno de turno que los amenaza, a menudo sin un solo disparo. Al comienzo del libro, posiblemente sean el planeta más vulnerable de la galaxia. Al final, son el planeta regente de un imperio floreciente.
El segundo libro, Fundación e Imperio, son en realidad dos novelas. En la primera novela, el imperio de la Fundación choca con lo que queda de El Imperio, que una vez gobernó toda la galaxia, pero ahora se está desmoronando. Esta puede ser la menos satisfactoria de todas las historias de la Fundación, ya que su resolución no depende en absoluto del genio o la astucia de una sola persona. En la segunda historia, la Fundación es amenazada por un mutante, el Mulo, algo imprevisible por el plan Seldon, que predice que la Fundación eventualmente gobernará toda la galaxia. Aunque me decepcionó un poco lo fácil que fue adivinar la identidad secreta del Mulo, la forma en que una mujer descubre su identidad y frustra sus planes por destruir todo por lo que la Fundación ha trabajado hace que la historia valga la pena.
El libro final, Segunda Fundación también son dos novelas. Este libro mantiene sus misterios e intriga hasta el desenlace. Lo único un poco frustrante es el final (no quiero desvelar nada). Es por eso que se presionó tanto a Asimov para que retomara la serie Fundación.
Entonces, si vas a leer ciencia ficción, lee la serie Fundación o al menos la trilogía o al menos Fundación. Porque es muy buena. Esto es lo que debería ser la ciencia ficción. No solo artilugios geniales y extraterrestres inimaginables, sino una investigación sobre el comportamiento humano y la civilización, las fuerzas que lo mantienen unido y finalmente lo destruyen. Y esta serie es mucho más entretenida que El ascenso y caída del Imperio Romano, en serio.
Pero el respetado nombre de Isaac Asimov puede acabar con todos tus temores de inmediato. Si eso no es suficiente para ti, hay que decir que la serie Fundación es la ganadora del Premio Hugo a la mejor serie de ciencia ficción de todos los tiempos.
Aunque ahora hay varias novelas de la Fundación, la trilogía original,Fundación, Fundación e Imperio y Segunda Fundación, se escribió treinta años antes de que la presión de los fans y de su editor obligara a Asimov a regresar a la serie. Cuando se otorgó el Premio Hugo, solo existían estos tres primeros libros.
El primer libro, Fundación, es más una colección de cuentos que una novela. A pesar del hecho de que las mujeres son prácticamente inexistentes en este libro (excepto por una esposa cuyo único propósito en la trama es estar fascinada por las joyas), es mi favorito con diferencia. El hecho de que muchos autores de ciencia ficción puedan concebir culturas y tecnologías totalmente extrañas con las que nadie había soñado antes pero a menudo no puedan crear buenos personajes femeninos me fastidia bastante. Pero eso es una perorata por otro lugar y momento, ya que Asimov se redime con los fabulosos personajes femeninos de los otros dos libros. Fundación es una colección de casi accidentes, cosas que ocurren por casualidad pero llevan a un magnifico desenlace. Cuenta la historia de una civilización al margen del universo, muy fuerte en ciencia pero débil en recursos. Lo que lo distingue de la mayor parte de las historias de ciencia ficción, y lo que lo hace tan bueno, es la forma en que los hombres de la Fundación usan su ingenio para burlar a cada señor de la guerra y gobierno de turno que los amenaza, a menudo sin un solo disparo. Al comienzo del libro, posiblemente sean el planeta más vulnerable de la galaxia. Al final, son el planeta regente de un imperio floreciente.
El segundo libro, Fundación e Imperio, son en realidad dos novelas. En la primera novela, el imperio de la Fundación choca con lo que queda de El Imperio, que una vez gobernó toda la galaxia, pero ahora se está desmoronando. Esta puede ser la menos satisfactoria de todas las historias de la Fundación, ya que su resolución no depende en absoluto del genio o la astucia de una sola persona. En la segunda historia, la Fundación es amenazada por un mutante, el Mulo, algo imprevisible por el plan Seldon, que predice que la Fundación eventualmente gobernará toda la galaxia. Aunque me decepcionó un poco lo fácil que fue adivinar la identidad secreta del Mulo, la forma en que una mujer descubre su identidad y frustra sus planes por destruir todo por lo que la Fundación ha trabajado hace que la historia valga la pena.
El libro final, Segunda Fundación también son dos novelas. Este libro mantiene sus misterios e intriga hasta el desenlace. Lo único un poco frustrante es el final (no quiero desvelar nada). Es por eso que se presionó tanto a Asimov para que retomara la serie Fundación.
Entonces, si vas a leer ciencia ficción, lee la serie Fundación o al menos la trilogía o al menos Fundación. Porque es muy buena. Esto es lo que debería ser la ciencia ficción. No solo artilugios geniales y extraterrestres inimaginables, sino una investigación sobre el comportamiento humano y la civilización, las fuerzas que lo mantienen unido y finalmente lo destruyen. Y esta serie es mucho más entretenida que El ascenso y caída del Imperio Romano, en serio.
May 3, 2020
“Todos los sufrimientos de la humanidad pueden atribuirse al solo hecho de que ningún hombre en la historia de la Galaxia, hasta Hari Seldon, y muy pocos hombres después de él, pudieron entenderse mutuamente. Todos los seres humanos vivían tras un muro impenetrable de espesa niebla dentro del cual existían aisladamente. De cuando en cuando se oían tenues señales desde el fondo de la caverna habitada por otro hombre… Y así comenzaba un intento de aproximación entre los dos. Pero como no se conocían y no podían comprenderse, ni se atrevían a confiar el uno en el otro, y habían sentido desde la infancia los terrores y la inseguridad de aquel aislamiento total, existía el profundo temor del hombre hacia el hombre, la salvaje rapacidad del hombre hacia el hombre.”
Después de más de diez libros leídos de Asimov, llegó el momento de ponerme con su saga más famosa y reconocida, la saga de “La fundación”. Mi motivo para tardar tanto en leer esta trilogía ha sido precisamente seguir una guía de lectura del autor que recomendaba leerse otras de sus obras y sagas antes, así que eso he hecho. Y al fin llega el turno de su saga más notoria, así que las expectativas estaban por las nubes, teniendo en cuenta que en líneas generales todo lo que había leído de él hasta ahora me había gustado bastante.
Como esta edición que yo tengo trae agrupados los tres libros que conforman la trilogía, voy a intentar puntuar y reseñar cada uno por separado para después dar una puntuación y una opinión algo más global de la trilogía como conjunto.
Pero primero… ¿De dónde partimos? La humanidad ha conseguido tras siglos de avances tecnológicos dispersarse por prácticamente toda la Galaxia, formando el Imperio Galáctico. Formado por millones de mundos colonizados, parece que es difícil que algo pueda hacer tambalearse a este gran Imperio, sin embargo un reputado científico llamado Hari Seldon, predice la caída del mismo mediante el estudio de una rama de la ciencia, la psicohistoria, que presagia las tendencias sociales mediante las matemáticas, más concretamente mediante el estudio del comportamiento y las tendencias de las masas dentro de la civilización.
Parece que esta caída es inevitable, pero se podrían tomar diversas medidas para reducir su impacto y que el periodo entre el Imperio Galáctico y el Segundo Imperio, así como ese lapsus de anarquía resultante, sea lo más corto posible. De esta forma se decide enviar una colonia formada por científicos a Términus, un planeta situado en el borde del Imperio, para que de forma aislada e independiente lleven a cabo la creación de una gran enciclopedia que recoja todos los conocimientos del Imperio.
FUNDACIÓN
⋆⋆
Con este libro llegó mi primera decepción con el autor. Es cierto que entre todo lo que he leído hasta ahora me he encontrado novelas más de mi gusto y otras que se me han hecho un poco más pesadas, pero ninguna hasta ahora había bajado de las tres estrellas. Y me da mucha pena que mi primer contacto con esta saga sea así, pero no voy a mentir… De momento es el libro que menos me ha gustado Asimov.
La idea principal es súper interesante y creo que empieza muy fuerte, pero para mi gusto se va deshinchando debido a varios problemas que he tenido con la historia. La primera de ellas, que pasan muchos años en muy pocas páginas, lo que hace que los personajes pasen muy desapercibidos sin apenas desarrollo. Realmente en este libro no tenemos unos protagonistas, sino que el protagonista es la propia Fundación y como va afrontando las distintas crisis que se le van presentado a través de todos estos años. El segundo problema es que creo que, a pesar de ser un libro que se basa sobre todo en diálogos entre personajes, con nada y menos de descripción, se me ha hecho muchísimo más denso (y en ocasiones hasta aburrido, para qué mentir) que otros libros del autor. Y por último un tema que aunque podría pasar desapercibido para otras personas, yo me veo en la necesidad de comentarlo, y es la casi absoluta ausencia de mujeres en la trama. Cuando digo ausencia es que sin exagerar solo habla una, en una página de las 280, para que acto seguido su marido le mande callar. Vale, es cierto que hay que tener en cuenta que es un libro de los años 50 y que Asimov no es que sea la panacea en representación femenina… Pero esta sensación tan negativa no la he tenido en otros de sus libros. Gladia por ejemplo es un personaje que evoluciona mucho dentro de su saga de los Robots. Ya sea mejor o peor desarrolladas, las mujeres al menos aparecen en otras obras del autor, y me chocó muchísimo que en la saga más avanzada cronológicamente, con un gran Imperio Galáctico colonizando tantos planetas, parezca que la mitad de la población ni siquiera existe. Lo siento, me ha dolido.
Creo que con este libro las expectativas me han hecho mucho mal. Después de disfrutar de tantos libros del autor pensaba que con esta trilogía sería algo superior, y al final ha sido precisamente lo contrario, al menos con este primer libro.
FUNDACIÓN E IMPERIO
⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
Con esta segunda parte me he reconciliado con el autor. Le he reconocido de nuevo de otros de sus libros que están entre mis favoritos. Con un ritmo muchísimo mejor, personajes bastante más interesantes y una estructura con más conexión y continuidad. Por no hablar de ese giro final que me dejó totalmente sorprendida.
En este tomo seguimos a una Fundación que se va reforzando a medida que el Imperio se desintegra. Con una tecnología muy superior a sus vecinos y un sistema económico fortalecido por sus comerciantes, la influencia de la Fundación se expande, sin saber que tarde o temprano tendrán que hacer frente a un nuevo e inesperado enemigo…
SEGUNDA FUNDACIÓN
⋆⋆⋆⋆
Ya en el final del libro anterior nos quedó bastante claro que fueron dos las Fundaciones establecidas en extremos opuestos de la Galaxia. Una de ellas se llevó a cabo con mucha publicidad, mientras que otra fue establecida en el más absoluto silencio. A lo largo de las páginas se intentará descubrir dónde se encuentra esta Segunda Fundación y cual es su razón principal de ser.
De nuevo ha sido una buena lectura, como su segunda parte. Entretenido, aunque quizá algo más denso y confuso que el anterior. Pero en general, una lectura muy disfrutable.
EN RESUMEN…
Es cierto que el primer tomo de esta trilogía se me hizo bastante denso, pesado y carente de cohesión. Pero todo remontó con su segunda y tercera parte, donde redescubrí lo que me gusta de Asimov. A partir de “Fundación e imperio” disfruté muchísimo de la lectura e incluso me sorprendió con algún que otro giro. Aunque Asimov no es un autor que destaque por la profundidad de sus personajes, sí que creo que en estas dos últimas partes están muchísimo mejor en ese aspecto, y tenemos al fin mujeres con un papel muy relevante en la trama. También son partes menos centradas en el diálogo y con algo más de descripción que, aunque pueda parecer contradictorio, a mi me ha hecho la lectura mucho más amena.
Sí que recomiendo la trilogía aunque el primero se pueda hacer un poco hueso para algunas personas. Merece la pena sabiendo que todo va a mejor.
La puntuación total vendría a ser 3.6, y como Goodreads me hace redondear, creo que esas dos últimas partes bien merecen que la saga alcance las 4 estrellas.
Después de más de diez libros leídos de Asimov, llegó el momento de ponerme con su saga más famosa y reconocida, la saga de “La fundación”. Mi motivo para tardar tanto en leer esta trilogía ha sido precisamente seguir una guía de lectura del autor que recomendaba leerse otras de sus obras y sagas antes, así que eso he hecho. Y al fin llega el turno de su saga más notoria, así que las expectativas estaban por las nubes, teniendo en cuenta que en líneas generales todo lo que había leído de él hasta ahora me había gustado bastante.
Como esta edición que yo tengo trae agrupados los tres libros que conforman la trilogía, voy a intentar puntuar y reseñar cada uno por separado para después dar una puntuación y una opinión algo más global de la trilogía como conjunto.
Pero primero… ¿De dónde partimos? La humanidad ha conseguido tras siglos de avances tecnológicos dispersarse por prácticamente toda la Galaxia, formando el Imperio Galáctico. Formado por millones de mundos colonizados, parece que es difícil que algo pueda hacer tambalearse a este gran Imperio, sin embargo un reputado científico llamado Hari Seldon, predice la caída del mismo mediante el estudio de una rama de la ciencia, la psicohistoria, que presagia las tendencias sociales mediante las matemáticas, más concretamente mediante el estudio del comportamiento y las tendencias de las masas dentro de la civilización.
Parece que esta caída es inevitable, pero se podrían tomar diversas medidas para reducir su impacto y que el periodo entre el Imperio Galáctico y el Segundo Imperio, así como ese lapsus de anarquía resultante, sea lo más corto posible. De esta forma se decide enviar una colonia formada por científicos a Términus, un planeta situado en el borde del Imperio, para que de forma aislada e independiente lleven a cabo la creación de una gran enciclopedia que recoja todos los conocimientos del Imperio.
FUNDACIÓN
⋆⋆
Con este libro llegó mi primera decepción con el autor. Es cierto que entre todo lo que he leído hasta ahora me he encontrado novelas más de mi gusto y otras que se me han hecho un poco más pesadas, pero ninguna hasta ahora había bajado de las tres estrellas. Y me da mucha pena que mi primer contacto con esta saga sea así, pero no voy a mentir… De momento es el libro que menos me ha gustado Asimov.
La idea principal es súper interesante y creo que empieza muy fuerte, pero para mi gusto se va deshinchando debido a varios problemas que he tenido con la historia. La primera de ellas, que pasan muchos años en muy pocas páginas, lo que hace que los personajes pasen muy desapercibidos sin apenas desarrollo. Realmente en este libro no tenemos unos protagonistas, sino que el protagonista es la propia Fundación y como va afrontando las distintas crisis que se le van presentado a través de todos estos años. El segundo problema es que creo que, a pesar de ser un libro que se basa sobre todo en diálogos entre personajes, con nada y menos de descripción, se me ha hecho muchísimo más denso (y en ocasiones hasta aburrido, para qué mentir) que otros libros del autor. Y por último un tema que aunque podría pasar desapercibido para otras personas, yo me veo en la necesidad de comentarlo, y es la casi absoluta ausencia de mujeres en la trama. Cuando digo ausencia es que sin exagerar solo habla una, en una página de las 280, para que acto seguido su marido le mande callar. Vale, es cierto que hay que tener en cuenta que es un libro de los años 50 y que Asimov no es que sea la panacea en representación femenina… Pero esta sensación tan negativa no la he tenido en otros de sus libros. Gladia por ejemplo es un personaje que evoluciona mucho dentro de su saga de los Robots. Ya sea mejor o peor desarrolladas, las mujeres al menos aparecen en otras obras del autor, y me chocó muchísimo que en la saga más avanzada cronológicamente, con un gran Imperio Galáctico colonizando tantos planetas, parezca que la mitad de la población ni siquiera existe. Lo siento, me ha dolido.
Creo que con este libro las expectativas me han hecho mucho mal. Después de disfrutar de tantos libros del autor pensaba que con esta trilogía sería algo superior, y al final ha sido precisamente lo contrario, al menos con este primer libro.
FUNDACIÓN E IMPERIO
⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
Con esta segunda parte me he reconciliado con el autor. Le he reconocido de nuevo de otros de sus libros que están entre mis favoritos. Con un ritmo muchísimo mejor, personajes bastante más interesantes y una estructura con más conexión y continuidad. Por no hablar de ese giro final que me dejó totalmente sorprendida.
En este tomo seguimos a una Fundación que se va reforzando a medida que el Imperio se desintegra. Con una tecnología muy superior a sus vecinos y un sistema económico fortalecido por sus comerciantes, la influencia de la Fundación se expande, sin saber que tarde o temprano tendrán que hacer frente a un nuevo e inesperado enemigo…
SEGUNDA FUNDACIÓN
⋆⋆⋆⋆
Ya en el final del libro anterior nos quedó bastante claro que fueron dos las Fundaciones establecidas en extremos opuestos de la Galaxia. Una de ellas se llevó a cabo con mucha publicidad, mientras que otra fue establecida en el más absoluto silencio. A lo largo de las páginas se intentará descubrir dónde se encuentra esta Segunda Fundación y cual es su razón principal de ser.
De nuevo ha sido una buena lectura, como su segunda parte. Entretenido, aunque quizá algo más denso y confuso que el anterior. Pero en general, una lectura muy disfrutable.
EN RESUMEN…
Es cierto que el primer tomo de esta trilogía se me hizo bastante denso, pesado y carente de cohesión. Pero todo remontó con su segunda y tercera parte, donde redescubrí lo que me gusta de Asimov. A partir de “Fundación e imperio” disfruté muchísimo de la lectura e incluso me sorprendió con algún que otro giro. Aunque Asimov no es un autor que destaque por la profundidad de sus personajes, sí que creo que en estas dos últimas partes están muchísimo mejor en ese aspecto, y tenemos al fin mujeres con un papel muy relevante en la trama. También son partes menos centradas en el diálogo y con algo más de descripción que, aunque pueda parecer contradictorio, a mi me ha hecho la lectura mucho más amena.
Sí que recomiendo la trilogía aunque el primero se pueda hacer un poco hueso para algunas personas. Merece la pena sabiendo que todo va a mejor.
La puntuación total vendría a ser 3.6, y como Goodreads me hace redondear, creo que esas dos últimas partes bien merecen que la saga alcance las 4 estrellas.
August 5, 2020
Introduction
Bibliographical Note
Select Bibliography
Chronology
--Foundation
--Foundation and Empire
--Second Foundation
Bibliographical Note
Select Bibliography
Chronology
--Foundation
--Foundation and Empire
--Second Foundation
August 19, 2024
07/06/2023 (*****)
Vuole la leggenda che l'idea alla base del ciclo delle Fondazioni venne a Asimov mentre aspettava nervoso il suo editore e, negli scaffali della sala d'attesa, scorse il Declino e caduta dell'Impero romano del Gibbon.
Da lì venne l'intuizione di raccontare non l'ascesa, ma il declino di un immenso Impero galattico, letto con preveggenza e infallibilità matematica da uno scienziato, che ne intuì il progredire e progettò le misure futuribili atte a contenerne l'impatto.
Usciti divisi in più racconti su varie riviste negli anni Quaranta e poi raccolti in tre libri usciti nel 1951, 1952 e 1953, questi racconti mostrano Asimov al culmine della propria creatività e abilità letteraria, capace di livelli di eccelenza mai più raggiunti dopo, né da lui né da altri.
Fu una rivoluzione copernicana nel modo di intendere la fantascienza e rimane un capolavoro mai più superato nel genere.
Il primo romanzo, Prima Fondazione, è strutturato su quattro racconti brevi ed è in tal senso un unicum, dovuto al fatto che i singoli racconti uscirono, come detto, a puntate su una rivista. Perfettamente fra loro consequenziali, raffinatissimi per composizione e intuizioni, insieme rappresentano una formidabile overture, che intersecano in maniera clamorosa rielaborazione storica, analisi politica, ambientazione fantascientifica. Emergono le figure chiave di Salvor Hardin e Hober Mallow, che traghettano con abilità e sagacia la Prima Fondazione creata da Seldon per tramandare ai posteri le conoscenze tecnologiche della civiltà imperiale dall'insignificanza all'egemonia della periferia galattica.
Il secondo romanzo, Fondazione e Impero, ha una più semplice ripartizione in due parti, intitolate rispettivamente Il generale e Il Mulo. Se la prima parte segue la china, vertiginosa, del primo libro perseguendo l'impostazione fanta-storica con rimandi, chiarissimi eppure mai banali né di maniera, alla storia antica, la seconda parte è sensazionale. L'apparizione, fondamentale nell'economia della storia, del mutante chiamato Il Mulo (uno dei migliori villan della storia della letteratura), l'improvvisa e inaspettata sterzata alla trama, il crollo del piano Seldon, innestate su una narrazione che diventa tesa e drammatica, con un finale clamoroso e indimenticabile, sono l'apice netto e incontestabile della letteratura fantascientifica del Novecento.
Il terzo libro, Seconda Fondazione, è ancora diviso in due parti: sensazionale e magnifica la prima, con la sua trama in climax costruita in maniera splendida, con l'ulteriore colpo di scena finale che racconta la sconfitta del Mulo. Più ordinaria la seconda parte, pur se godibile.
Come già rilevato nel 2019, editing abbastanza scadente, con parecchi refusi.
Al netto di ciò, è una delle più grandi opere dell'intera letteratura mondiale del Novecento, capace di trascendere dal genere con autorevolezza e maestria. Andrebbe imposta come lettura obbligatoria nei corsi di storia delle nostre Università.
§§§§§§§§
05/10/2019 (*****)
E così, alla veneranda età di 35 anni suonati, con un ritardo non giustificabile (né raccomandabile) mi finisce tra le mani questo libro, in cui Mondadori rimette insieme in volume unico i tre romanzi che compongono il cosiddetto Ciclo delle Fondazioni (con qualche sciatteria di editing di troppo, specie nell'ultima delle tre parti. Ma pazienza).
Ne avevo sentito parlare, di questo Ciclo, ma vagamente. Nè sapevo bene di cosa trattasse, se non che il racconto era ambientato nel futuro dell'umanità, nello spazio. Infine, di Asimov ho letto poco (qualche racconto in varie raccolte, e un ottimo romanzo: La fine dell'eternità).
Quindi non ero preparato a una tale magnificienza.
Lungi dall'essere una saga fantascientifica come la possiamo concepire noi contemporanei, sulla scia della nutritissima filmografia di genere, ci si trova di fronte a un qualcosa che trascende completamente il genere e gli stereotipi connessi. Non c'è azione, innanzitutto: battaglie e avventure rocambolesche avvengono tutte fuori scena. La narrazione è nettamente impostata verso tematiche quali la storia, la politica, la sociologia, in una spettacolare e raffinata partita a scacchi che si risolve in continui colpi di scena (va detto, assolutamente inaspettati) e capovolgimenti di situazioni. Non c'è un eroe, né un personaggio che assuma più importanza di altri. Eppure siamo di fronte, in maniera veramente inequivocabile, a un capolavoro letterario.
Già solo l'idea di base da cui parte Asimov è geniale.
L'Impero Galattico, che governa su tutto l'universo da 12.000 anni, è all'apice del potere; uno scienziato, Hari Seldon, attraverso la cosiddetta psicostoria, una nuova disciplina matematica che attraverso sofisticati calcoli probabilistici applicati alle grandi masse riesce a prevedere l'andamento futuro dello sviluppo politico e sociale dell'universo, arriva a intuire come l'Impero sia prossimo a un esiziale quanto imprevedibile collasso, rapido nella periferia e più lento, ma inarrestabile, al centro. La prognosi è di 300 anni al collasso, seguiti da 30.000 anni di caos.
Per abbreviare tale periodo e preservare intatte le conoscenze scientifiche raggiunte dal genere umano, che altrimenti andrebbero perdute nella lunga barbarie, Seldon riesce a ottenere dall'imperatore di trasferire 500 fra i migliori scienziati dell'Impero in uno sperdutissimo avamposto della più sperduta periferia, il pianeta Terminus (nomen omen). Lo scopo, fittizio, è quello di creare una immensa enciclopedia contenente tutto il sapere umano; lo scopo reale è invece quello di creare il nucleo di un nuovo stato capace di riunire tutta la galassia, conservandone la tecnologia e riducendo il periodo di buio a soli 1.000 anni (è questo il Piano Seldon).
Isolato, il nuovo mondo (la Fondazione) dovrà emergere dalle tenebre dell'infinita periferia e ricostruire il Secondo Impero: Seldon d'altra parte ha già previsto tutto, con infallibile precisione psicostorica, e gli eventi del primo libro (Prima Fondazione) sembrano confermare in pieno tutto questo: dotata di energia atomica, la Fondazione si espande conquistando i mondi vicini, sprofondati nella barbarie e nel sottosviluppo, ritornati addirittura all'energia chimica (cioè ai nostri motori a benzina), alternando la carota e il bastone con straordinaria sagacia, sotto il governo di capi intelligenti, volitivi e pieni di iniziativa.
La sensazione diffusa che la Fondazione non possa essere sconfitta e sia destinata certamente all'edificazione del Secondo Impero, come il Piano Seldon ormai a tutti noto aveva predetto, si manifesta in tutta la sua ineluttabilità nella prima parte del secondo libro (Fondazione e Impero), dove si mostra come nemmeno la volontà individuale del miglior generale di un Impero ormai in piena decadenza - ma ancora infinitamente più potente della Fondazione - sia sufficiente a vincere le leggi psicostoriche e i relativi calcoli, che non si curano minimamente dei singoli individui ma solo delle grandi masse nel loro complesso, con un metodo analitico che prosegue per stime fondandosi su principi di approssimazioni del contorno, esattamente come la moderna teoria del gas si occupa per approssimazioni del comportamento delle miliardi di miliardi di molecole che compongono un fluido, con semplificazioni accettabili che permettono di non prendere in considerazione il comportamento della singola molecola.
E' a questo punto che Asimov precede le critiche che certi lettori, fra cui il qui medesimo, avrebbe potuto muovergli sul fatto che la Storia è sì fatta da grandi correnti ineluttabili, ma anche da insignificanti fatterelli, episodi o casualità (la morte improvvisa di un dato personaggio, un certo evento naturale, ecc) che incidono in maniera decisiva sui grandi fatti: l'episodio del generale Bel Riose (che richiama forse, anche nel nome, la storia di Belisario?) spiega tuttavia come la molecola impazzita, la singola individualità - per quanto grande - non sia in grado di invertire la marcia inarrestabile della corrente su cui si fonda il Piano Seldon. Materialismo storico un pò troppo estremo, poco adattabile al mondo (e alla Storia) reale, ma che nell'economia della Trilogia ci sta tutto, per come questa è costruita.
La Fondazione vince la sfida col generale e con l'Impero senza far nulla, e la sua leggenda di invincibilità si espande in tutto l'universo.
Finché succede un fatto che nemmeno il Piano Seldon aveva potuto prevedere: la nascita di una personalità eccezionale, dotata di intelligenza e poteri psichici talmente grandi da poter conquistare interi pianeti senza colpo ferire. La comparsa del Mulo - così si chiama l'uomo, un mutante - sembra distruggere fin dalle basi il grande Piano: il potere psichico di cui è dotato, ossia la capacità di modificare le emozioni altrui a proprio piacimento, mina la principale condizione al contorno della psicostoria, che prevede l'evoluzione futura partendo proprio dall'inviolabile assunto che la psicologia delle grandi masse non possa essere artificialmente modificata, ma si sviluppi naturalmente secondo quella che è la situazione e il momento storico-culturale dell'ambiente nel quale essa vive.
Succede infatti l'impossibile: la Fondazione viene sconfitta, conquistata con una facilità assoluta: niente sembra potersi opporre al Mulo. Niente, tranne il fatto che il Mulo stesso rimane, in ogni caso, un essere umano - fallibile - e tranne l'esistenza di una Seconda Fondazione (da cui il titolo al terzo romanzo) che Seldon aveva (o, almeno, così si diceva) fondato da qualche parte all'altra estremità della galassia per scopi non chiariti.
Poi non proseguo sennò il lettore avvisato mi tirerebbe il collo.
Tuttavia, il sunto era necessario, sia per far capire la complessità della trama sia per mostrare come tutto il Ciclo sia davvero una partita a scacchi fra le parti in causa, a cui il lettore assiste immaginandosi il prossimo colpo di scena che Asimov sta inevitabilmente preparando.
L'ispirazione al mondo ci cui parla il Ciclo, cosa chiarissima fin da subito (almeno a me, che non ne sapevo assolutamente nulla ma che di storia un poco me ne intendo), è l'Impero Romano nei suoi ultimi anni e nella sua prosecuzione greco-bizantina: sia le cause del collasso, che lo sviluppo della trama (che richiama in maniera evidente grossissime fette dalla storia europea - e italiana, in particolare, basti pensare all'epopea dei mercanti spaziali - anche se temporalmente rimescolate) rimandano immediatamente a quella storia, a quei secoli (bui fino a un certo punto) e all'ineluttabilità delle cose e dei tempi.
Con una differenza: che Roma non aveva Seldon, mentre Trantor (che è il pianeta centro e capitale dell'Impero, l'epigono di Roma nel Ciclo) sì.
Ciò detto (e scusate la prolissità), il romanzo vola, senza mai un momento di stanca, in un miracolo di raffinatezza, suspence e qualità. Il più grande ciclo narrativo della storia della fantascienza? Non saprei, ma è veramente difficile fare meglio, sia per costruzione del mondo di ambientazione che per approfondimento (storico, sociale, politico) senza cadere nel dejà vù e nella banalità, anche perché trattasi di romanzo corale, privo di personaggi principali (o almeno, privo di personaggi principali il cui ruolo dura più di qualche capitolo, anche se i rimandi sono continui - soprattuto nel caso dei personaggi il cui ruolo risulta fondamentale ai fini della trama: Hari Seldon e il Mulo su tutti).
Non una pecca, non un difetto, nemmeno per certe complessità fanta-scientifiche di complessa divulgazione. Alla fine si rimane a bocca aperta di fronte a tanta magnificienza, rapiti.
Purtroppo anche questo libro finisce: ci sono dei sequel e dei prequel, ma mi par di capire che la critica (e i lettori) siano discordanti sulla loro qualità. Per ora passo, consigliando vivamente a tutti quanti, indipendentemente dalle inclinazioni personali verso la fantascienza, la lettura il prima possibile di questo capolavoro assoluto.
Vuole la leggenda che l'idea alla base del ciclo delle Fondazioni venne a Asimov mentre aspettava nervoso il suo editore e, negli scaffali della sala d'attesa, scorse il Declino e caduta dell'Impero romano del Gibbon.
Da lì venne l'intuizione di raccontare non l'ascesa, ma il declino di un immenso Impero galattico, letto con preveggenza e infallibilità matematica da uno scienziato, che ne intuì il progredire e progettò le misure futuribili atte a contenerne l'impatto.
Usciti divisi in più racconti su varie riviste negli anni Quaranta e poi raccolti in tre libri usciti nel 1951, 1952 e 1953, questi racconti mostrano Asimov al culmine della propria creatività e abilità letteraria, capace di livelli di eccelenza mai più raggiunti dopo, né da lui né da altri.
Fu una rivoluzione copernicana nel modo di intendere la fantascienza e rimane un capolavoro mai più superato nel genere.
Il primo romanzo, Prima Fondazione, è strutturato su quattro racconti brevi ed è in tal senso un unicum, dovuto al fatto che i singoli racconti uscirono, come detto, a puntate su una rivista. Perfettamente fra loro consequenziali, raffinatissimi per composizione e intuizioni, insieme rappresentano una formidabile overture, che intersecano in maniera clamorosa rielaborazione storica, analisi politica, ambientazione fantascientifica. Emergono le figure chiave di Salvor Hardin e Hober Mallow, che traghettano con abilità e sagacia la Prima Fondazione creata da Seldon per tramandare ai posteri le conoscenze tecnologiche della civiltà imperiale dall'insignificanza all'egemonia della periferia galattica.
Il secondo romanzo, Fondazione e Impero, ha una più semplice ripartizione in due parti, intitolate rispettivamente Il generale e Il Mulo. Se la prima parte segue la china, vertiginosa, del primo libro perseguendo l'impostazione fanta-storica con rimandi, chiarissimi eppure mai banali né di maniera, alla storia antica, la seconda parte è sensazionale. L'apparizione, fondamentale nell'economia della storia, del mutante chiamato Il Mulo (uno dei migliori villan della storia della letteratura), l'improvvisa e inaspettata sterzata alla trama, il crollo del piano Seldon, innestate su una narrazione che diventa tesa e drammatica, con un finale clamoroso e indimenticabile, sono l'apice netto e incontestabile della letteratura fantascientifica del Novecento.
Il terzo libro, Seconda Fondazione, è ancora diviso in due parti: sensazionale e magnifica la prima, con la sua trama in climax costruita in maniera splendida, con l'ulteriore colpo di scena finale che racconta la sconfitta del Mulo. Più ordinaria la seconda parte, pur se godibile.
Come già rilevato nel 2019, editing abbastanza scadente, con parecchi refusi.
Al netto di ciò, è una delle più grandi opere dell'intera letteratura mondiale del Novecento, capace di trascendere dal genere con autorevolezza e maestria. Andrebbe imposta come lettura obbligatoria nei corsi di storia delle nostre Università.
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05/10/2019 (*****)
E così, alla veneranda età di 35 anni suonati, con un ritardo non giustificabile (né raccomandabile) mi finisce tra le mani questo libro, in cui Mondadori rimette insieme in volume unico i tre romanzi che compongono il cosiddetto Ciclo delle Fondazioni (con qualche sciatteria di editing di troppo, specie nell'ultima delle tre parti. Ma pazienza).
Ne avevo sentito parlare, di questo Ciclo, ma vagamente. Nè sapevo bene di cosa trattasse, se non che il racconto era ambientato nel futuro dell'umanità, nello spazio. Infine, di Asimov ho letto poco (qualche racconto in varie raccolte, e un ottimo romanzo: La fine dell'eternità).
Quindi non ero preparato a una tale magnificienza.
Lungi dall'essere una saga fantascientifica come la possiamo concepire noi contemporanei, sulla scia della nutritissima filmografia di genere, ci si trova di fronte a un qualcosa che trascende completamente il genere e gli stereotipi connessi. Non c'è azione, innanzitutto: battaglie e avventure rocambolesche avvengono tutte fuori scena. La narrazione è nettamente impostata verso tematiche quali la storia, la politica, la sociologia, in una spettacolare e raffinata partita a scacchi che si risolve in continui colpi di scena (va detto, assolutamente inaspettati) e capovolgimenti di situazioni. Non c'è un eroe, né un personaggio che assuma più importanza di altri. Eppure siamo di fronte, in maniera veramente inequivocabile, a un capolavoro letterario.
Già solo l'idea di base da cui parte Asimov è geniale.
L'Impero Galattico, che governa su tutto l'universo da 12.000 anni, è all'apice del potere; uno scienziato, Hari Seldon, attraverso la cosiddetta psicostoria, una nuova disciplina matematica che attraverso sofisticati calcoli probabilistici applicati alle grandi masse riesce a prevedere l'andamento futuro dello sviluppo politico e sociale dell'universo, arriva a intuire come l'Impero sia prossimo a un esiziale quanto imprevedibile collasso, rapido nella periferia e più lento, ma inarrestabile, al centro. La prognosi è di 300 anni al collasso, seguiti da 30.000 anni di caos.
Per abbreviare tale periodo e preservare intatte le conoscenze scientifiche raggiunte dal genere umano, che altrimenti andrebbero perdute nella lunga barbarie, Seldon riesce a ottenere dall'imperatore di trasferire 500 fra i migliori scienziati dell'Impero in uno sperdutissimo avamposto della più sperduta periferia, il pianeta Terminus (nomen omen). Lo scopo, fittizio, è quello di creare una immensa enciclopedia contenente tutto il sapere umano; lo scopo reale è invece quello di creare il nucleo di un nuovo stato capace di riunire tutta la galassia, conservandone la tecnologia e riducendo il periodo di buio a soli 1.000 anni (è questo il Piano Seldon).
Isolato, il nuovo mondo (la Fondazione) dovrà emergere dalle tenebre dell'infinita periferia e ricostruire il Secondo Impero: Seldon d'altra parte ha già previsto tutto, con infallibile precisione psicostorica, e gli eventi del primo libro (Prima Fondazione) sembrano confermare in pieno tutto questo: dotata di energia atomica, la Fondazione si espande conquistando i mondi vicini, sprofondati nella barbarie e nel sottosviluppo, ritornati addirittura all'energia chimica (cioè ai nostri motori a benzina), alternando la carota e il bastone con straordinaria sagacia, sotto il governo di capi intelligenti, volitivi e pieni di iniziativa.
La sensazione diffusa che la Fondazione non possa essere sconfitta e sia destinata certamente all'edificazione del Secondo Impero, come il Piano Seldon ormai a tutti noto aveva predetto, si manifesta in tutta la sua ineluttabilità nella prima parte del secondo libro (Fondazione e Impero), dove si mostra come nemmeno la volontà individuale del miglior generale di un Impero ormai in piena decadenza - ma ancora infinitamente più potente della Fondazione - sia sufficiente a vincere le leggi psicostoriche e i relativi calcoli, che non si curano minimamente dei singoli individui ma solo delle grandi masse nel loro complesso, con un metodo analitico che prosegue per stime fondandosi su principi di approssimazioni del contorno, esattamente come la moderna teoria del gas si occupa per approssimazioni del comportamento delle miliardi di miliardi di molecole che compongono un fluido, con semplificazioni accettabili che permettono di non prendere in considerazione il comportamento della singola molecola.
E' a questo punto che Asimov precede le critiche che certi lettori, fra cui il qui medesimo, avrebbe potuto muovergli sul fatto che la Storia è sì fatta da grandi correnti ineluttabili, ma anche da insignificanti fatterelli, episodi o casualità (la morte improvvisa di un dato personaggio, un certo evento naturale, ecc) che incidono in maniera decisiva sui grandi fatti: l'episodio del generale Bel Riose (che richiama forse, anche nel nome, la storia di Belisario?) spiega tuttavia come la molecola impazzita, la singola individualità - per quanto grande - non sia in grado di invertire la marcia inarrestabile della corrente su cui si fonda il Piano Seldon. Materialismo storico un pò troppo estremo, poco adattabile al mondo (e alla Storia) reale, ma che nell'economia della Trilogia ci sta tutto, per come questa è costruita.
La Fondazione vince la sfida col generale e con l'Impero senza far nulla, e la sua leggenda di invincibilità si espande in tutto l'universo.
Finché succede un fatto che nemmeno il Piano Seldon aveva potuto prevedere: la nascita di una personalità eccezionale, dotata di intelligenza e poteri psichici talmente grandi da poter conquistare interi pianeti senza colpo ferire. La comparsa del Mulo - così si chiama l'uomo, un mutante - sembra distruggere fin dalle basi il grande Piano: il potere psichico di cui è dotato, ossia la capacità di modificare le emozioni altrui a proprio piacimento, mina la principale condizione al contorno della psicostoria, che prevede l'evoluzione futura partendo proprio dall'inviolabile assunto che la psicologia delle grandi masse non possa essere artificialmente modificata, ma si sviluppi naturalmente secondo quella che è la situazione e il momento storico-culturale dell'ambiente nel quale essa vive.
Succede infatti l'impossibile: la Fondazione viene sconfitta, conquistata con una facilità assoluta: niente sembra potersi opporre al Mulo. Niente, tranne il fatto che il Mulo stesso rimane, in ogni caso, un essere umano - fallibile - e tranne l'esistenza di una Seconda Fondazione (da cui il titolo al terzo romanzo) che Seldon aveva (o, almeno, così si diceva) fondato da qualche parte all'altra estremità della galassia per scopi non chiariti.
Poi non proseguo sennò il lettore avvisato mi tirerebbe il collo.
Tuttavia, il sunto era necessario, sia per far capire la complessità della trama sia per mostrare come tutto il Ciclo sia davvero una partita a scacchi fra le parti in causa, a cui il lettore assiste immaginandosi il prossimo colpo di scena che Asimov sta inevitabilmente preparando.
L'ispirazione al mondo ci cui parla il Ciclo, cosa chiarissima fin da subito (almeno a me, che non ne sapevo assolutamente nulla ma che di storia un poco me ne intendo), è l'Impero Romano nei suoi ultimi anni e nella sua prosecuzione greco-bizantina: sia le cause del collasso, che lo sviluppo della trama (che richiama in maniera evidente grossissime fette dalla storia europea - e italiana, in particolare, basti pensare all'epopea dei mercanti spaziali - anche se temporalmente rimescolate) rimandano immediatamente a quella storia, a quei secoli (bui fino a un certo punto) e all'ineluttabilità delle cose e dei tempi.
Con una differenza: che Roma non aveva Seldon, mentre Trantor (che è il pianeta centro e capitale dell'Impero, l'epigono di Roma nel Ciclo) sì.
Ciò detto (e scusate la prolissità), il romanzo vola, senza mai un momento di stanca, in un miracolo di raffinatezza, suspence e qualità. Il più grande ciclo narrativo della storia della fantascienza? Non saprei, ma è veramente difficile fare meglio, sia per costruzione del mondo di ambientazione che per approfondimento (storico, sociale, politico) senza cadere nel dejà vù e nella banalità, anche perché trattasi di romanzo corale, privo di personaggi principali (o almeno, privo di personaggi principali il cui ruolo dura più di qualche capitolo, anche se i rimandi sono continui - soprattuto nel caso dei personaggi il cui ruolo risulta fondamentale ai fini della trama: Hari Seldon e il Mulo su tutti).
Non una pecca, non un difetto, nemmeno per certe complessità fanta-scientifiche di complessa divulgazione. Alla fine si rimane a bocca aperta di fronte a tanta magnificienza, rapiti.
Purtroppo anche questo libro finisce: ci sono dei sequel e dei prequel, ma mi par di capire che la critica (e i lettori) siano discordanti sulla loro qualità. Per ora passo, consigliando vivamente a tutti quanti, indipendentemente dalle inclinazioni personali verso la fantascienza, la lettura il prima possibile di questo capolavoro assoluto.
July 25, 2012
I read some short stories by Asimov in High-School and although he never measured up to the likes Rohald Dahl or Kurt Vonnegut I seem to remember actually enjoying some of them, but there's no way I can pretend that this novel was anything other than awful. This is bad science fiction in every sense of the word, overly descriptive of irrelevant details, filled soulless characters all with the same emotionless analytical voice, events that seem to have no purpose and all take place in a world that's extremely difficult to contextualise and even harder to care about and written with no style or eye for pacing. I read at least half of the book and I honestly can't tell you what was happening, who any of the characters were or what was at stake. This is one of those books that is so uninteresting it's actually infuriating. Great science fiction uses the conceits of the genre to deal with big philosophical and questions and confront socio-political constructs, but it makes the reader care about these issues by putting a relatable character with basic human dilemmas at the centre. This is where Foundation fails, it's all ideas and no humanity. I'd love to disseminate it more, but honestly, who cares? Who the fuck even cares? Do not recommend.
February 24, 2020
An excellent trilogy, with a lot of surprising twist and turn. I swear the final twist took me so much by surprise, that I actually laughed out loud.
April 22, 2009
Foundation (1951): Gigantic brain-warping grand science-fiction, this is as big as it gets, so big it's difficult to fully comprehend. From the first page of Chapter 1, "The Psychohistorians", which begins with a quote from the "Encyclopedia Galactica", beginning in the 11,998th year of the Galactic Era, you know that Isaac Asimov is going to be writing on the largest possible scale. Let's take a look at what type of a man would dare write on such a staggeringly gigantic scale:
This is the most confidant looking man in horn-rimmed glasses and a bow-tie that you will ever see. That confidence and determination in his eyes is borne from the knowledge that he is going to blow your world into another freaking universe. He is concocting a story which will encompass 25 Million inhabited worlds and will involve time-lines which play out over tens of thousands of years, involving sciences which will stretch your powers of comprehension. With 'Foundation', Asimov sets his sights as high and as far as it is possible to conceive, resulting in a marvelous, and indeed humbling, intellectual edifice of awesome proportions. I was very satisfactorily and indubitably rocked by it's mind-warping majesty. It makes perfect sense that the Hugo Award for 'Best All Time Series' was created in 1966 specifically to honor this achievement in science fiction.
This first book in the series begins with establishing both a new science, psychohistory - a type of mathematical sociology. The first book is a whirlwind of ideas and descriptions of a gigantic and futuristic human empire of the distant future.
Foundation And Empire (1952): Perhaps not so great as 'Foundation', this book is written in two main parts, the first of which was gigantic, epic science-fiction that I was hoping for. The second part, 'The Mule', I frankly did not like. I did not care to be reading about the Mule or Magnifico the Clown, I wanted hard Foundation stuff, big science, psychohistory and scientists performing stunning upsets. I was unsure how all this played into psychohistory or how these characters fit into Hari Seldon's timeline of the future. Maybe I didn't like it because it derailed Seldon's psychohistory and thousand year plan. However, these concerns were assuaged in 'Second Foundation'.
Second Foundation (1953): Split into two parts, the first part deals with the Mule and his easy conquest and the disruption of the Seldon plan. I did not particularly care for this and was anxious for it to be over. The second part finally does away with the Mule and it's back to Foundation scientists and Second Foundation psychohistorians, which I absolutely loved. Asimov basically tells a plausible story with some weird bits, and then in the last chapter, a character comes along and you have to totally reinterpret what has happened, and why the weird bits were absolutely important even though the reader overlooked them and was focused on other events in the story. Asimov does this again and again and it's always marvelous. He did it in the first book, a bit in the second, and here in 'Second Foundation'.
As a trilogy, I had some concerns which may or may not have been cleared up but that I perhaps didn't notice - maybe I just wasn't smart enough to notice them being cleared up in the subtle and elegant fashion which Asimov moves the plot along by slipping in facts which become relevant later.
1) With interplanetary travel, the people on any given planet will age normally, but people traveling between worlds will not age as fast, because space travel is time travel. If you travel from planet A to planet B, then back again, you may have taken 5 years to travel, but once you get back to planet A, it should be hundreds of years from when you left (depending on how fast you were traveling). Asimov must have known this, but it seems to not have been incorporated into the story. A possible workaround is that that they make 'jumps' in space, so traveling from planet A to planet B requires no great disparity in the elapsing of time on either the planets, or to the travelers - However, this is never explicitly stated. Perhaps this is obvious to other SF readers?
2) There seemed to be no great emphasis on the advancement of human biology or culture. One girl character is 5'4" and Hari Seldon dies when he is about 73 years old. That's not very futuristic, is it? I would expect the human race of thousands of years hence to be vastly taller, to live longer, and to to have very high IQs. There were other anachronistic elements, like Darrell having a maid (?), and a soldier saying "Ain't". Keep in mind that these events take place at least 12,000 years after the establishment of a galactic empire, where the original home world of humans is no longer even known because it is lost in the mists of prehistory. But people still say "Ain't" and sit around smoking cigars and reading newspapers? And there are farmers? Is this the future, as conceived of circa 1950?
3) I am likewise incredulous that Asimov has constructed a fictional galaxy of over 24 million inhabited worlds in which there is no mention of any alien life, sentient or otherwise. Given the vastness and age of space, and the uniformity of physical laws and elements, many astronomers will opine that the universe is quite literally teeming with life. It seems implausible that human life is the only one across millions of inhabited worlds.
Despite these issues, Asimov has constructed a grant universe and plot which takes place over 500 years, a trilogy which is not only grand but very detailed, his story is filled with intricacies and shows a dedicated attention to detail and story construction. An absolute monument of Science Fiction.
This is the most confidant looking man in horn-rimmed glasses and a bow-tie that you will ever see. That confidence and determination in his eyes is borne from the knowledge that he is going to blow your world into another freaking universe. He is concocting a story which will encompass 25 Million inhabited worlds and will involve time-lines which play out over tens of thousands of years, involving sciences which will stretch your powers of comprehension. With 'Foundation', Asimov sets his sights as high and as far as it is possible to conceive, resulting in a marvelous, and indeed humbling, intellectual edifice of awesome proportions. I was very satisfactorily and indubitably rocked by it's mind-warping majesty. It makes perfect sense that the Hugo Award for 'Best All Time Series' was created in 1966 specifically to honor this achievement in science fiction.
This first book in the series begins with establishing both a new science, psychohistory - a type of mathematical sociology. The first book is a whirlwind of ideas and descriptions of a gigantic and futuristic human empire of the distant future.
Foundation And Empire (1952): Perhaps not so great as 'Foundation', this book is written in two main parts, the first of which was gigantic, epic science-fiction that I was hoping for. The second part, 'The Mule', I frankly did not like. I did not care to be reading about the Mule or Magnifico the Clown, I wanted hard Foundation stuff, big science, psychohistory and scientists performing stunning upsets. I was unsure how all this played into psychohistory or how these characters fit into Hari Seldon's timeline of the future. Maybe I didn't like it because it derailed Seldon's psychohistory and thousand year plan. However, these concerns were assuaged in 'Second Foundation'.
Second Foundation (1953): Split into two parts, the first part deals with the Mule and his easy conquest and the disruption of the Seldon plan. I did not particularly care for this and was anxious for it to be over. The second part finally does away with the Mule and it's back to Foundation scientists and Second Foundation psychohistorians, which I absolutely loved. Asimov basically tells a plausible story with some weird bits, and then in the last chapter, a character comes along and you have to totally reinterpret what has happened, and why the weird bits were absolutely important even though the reader overlooked them and was focused on other events in the story. Asimov does this again and again and it's always marvelous. He did it in the first book, a bit in the second, and here in 'Second Foundation'.
As a trilogy, I had some concerns which may or may not have been cleared up but that I perhaps didn't notice - maybe I just wasn't smart enough to notice them being cleared up in the subtle and elegant fashion which Asimov moves the plot along by slipping in facts which become relevant later.
1) With interplanetary travel, the people on any given planet will age normally, but people traveling between worlds will not age as fast, because space travel is time travel. If you travel from planet A to planet B, then back again, you may have taken 5 years to travel, but once you get back to planet A, it should be hundreds of years from when you left (depending on how fast you were traveling). Asimov must have known this, but it seems to not have been incorporated into the story. A possible workaround is that that they make 'jumps' in space, so traveling from planet A to planet B requires no great disparity in the elapsing of time on either the planets, or to the travelers - However, this is never explicitly stated. Perhaps this is obvious to other SF readers?
2) There seemed to be no great emphasis on the advancement of human biology or culture. One girl character is 5'4" and Hari Seldon dies when he is about 73 years old. That's not very futuristic, is it? I would expect the human race of thousands of years hence to be vastly taller, to live longer, and to to have very high IQs. There were other anachronistic elements, like Darrell having a maid (?), and a soldier saying "Ain't". Keep in mind that these events take place at least 12,000 years after the establishment of a galactic empire, where the original home world of humans is no longer even known because it is lost in the mists of prehistory. But people still say "Ain't" and sit around smoking cigars and reading newspapers? And there are farmers? Is this the future, as conceived of circa 1950?
3) I am likewise incredulous that Asimov has constructed a fictional galaxy of over 24 million inhabited worlds in which there is no mention of any alien life, sentient or otherwise. Given the vastness and age of space, and the uniformity of physical laws and elements, many astronomers will opine that the universe is quite literally teeming with life. It seems implausible that human life is the only one across millions of inhabited worlds.
Despite these issues, Asimov has constructed a grant universe and plot which takes place over 500 years, a trilogy which is not only grand but very detailed, his story is filled with intricacies and shows a dedicated attention to detail and story construction. An absolute monument of Science Fiction.
October 19, 2015
Wow, WHAT AN END to the trilogy!! :)
After going through the 'pains' of the three books, because I am not used to reading Space Operas like this, the third book ended on an extremely satisfying note.
All the three books contained some dull sections for me, not to mention several times when I was coming across what I would call Asimov's bad writing style. However, I will say that the chronicling of the events taking place within the confines of the trilogy have been in itself brilliantly structured and placed. It was the mystery of the Second Foundation that made me kept going, and the twists! (It is surprising however, that Asimov has avoided the inclusion of any extra-terrestrial life-forms in the books, which to me makes me think: that either they were irrelevant and thus intentionally not included, or perhaps they have been kept away from the brinks of the Galaxy in the Foundation Universe only to may be include them in the later books of the series.) :P
The ways and levels to which the Second Foundation's agents have to go through, to manipulate people, events, and happenings, to be happening as a pre-determined event, reflected to me at least three things: 1) that sometimes one has to give away some good, for a far greater 'good' of events to happen, 2) all that comes-to-be (becomes, happens) is (probably) a result of some pre-determined plan, which reminds me of the Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. 3) It also made me question Intuition, if it ever is made as a mind-controlling method? Or are we controlled already … by something which we have always liked to refer to as Divine (as defined by language and meaning) or perhaps by some Extra-terrestrial life-form??!
The third book deals the story in a way which can be very confusing to an un-focusing reader, and eventually may not understand its intricacy of the plot.
Overall, if I contemplate on the three books individually, none of them have really 'amazed' me by their contents and storyline, but the whole, I can now certainly say, was spell-binding enough!
After going through the 'pains' of the three books, because I am not used to reading Space Operas like this, the third book ended on an extremely satisfying note.
All the three books contained some dull sections for me, not to mention several times when I was coming across what I would call Asimov's bad writing style. However, I will say that the chronicling of the events taking place within the confines of the trilogy have been in itself brilliantly structured and placed. It was the mystery of the Second Foundation that made me kept going, and the twists! (It is surprising however, that Asimov has avoided the inclusion of any extra-terrestrial life-forms in the books, which to me makes me think: that either they were irrelevant and thus intentionally not included, or perhaps they have been kept away from the brinks of the Galaxy in the Foundation Universe only to may be include them in the later books of the series.) :P
The ways and levels to which the Second Foundation's agents have to go through, to manipulate people, events, and happenings, to be happening as a pre-determined event, reflected to me at least three things: 1) that sometimes one has to give away some good, for a far greater 'good' of events to happen, 2) all that comes-to-be (becomes, happens) is (probably) a result of some pre-determined plan, which reminds me of the Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. 3) It also made me question Intuition, if it ever is made as a mind-controlling method? Or are we controlled already … by something which we have always liked to refer to as Divine (as defined by language and meaning) or perhaps by some Extra-terrestrial life-form??!
The third book deals the story in a way which can be very confusing to an un-focusing reader, and eventually may not understand its intricacy of the plot.
Overall, if I contemplate on the three books individually, none of them have really 'amazed' me by their contents and storyline, but the whole, I can now certainly say, was spell-binding enough!
August 25, 2023
There are well over twenty-six-thousand comments concerning the original Foundation Trilogy already posted here, which is terrifically cool, and the young lady over there on page seventy-three and the gentleman who made puissant observations about Second Foundation didn't leave me much to say. It won a Hugo in 1966 as the best sf series of all time. This original trilogy did more to get science fiction accepted as serious adult literature (rather than being sneered at as "Buck Rogers stuff") by serious academics than any other genre-published work in the field. (Bradbury and Heinlein had their best-known stuff in high-profile slicks like Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post in the '50s era.) Even the egotistical Asimov could have never imagined what an impact it would have when he began typing his Edward Gibbon homage during World War II! I've still got my Dad's book-club omnibus edition from 1961, which I read as a single volume, so I'm cataloguing it this way. Great stuff, an enduring classic; the latter add-on/ret-con novels can be skipped, but these three are a must.
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July 31, 2021
Fundação (#MLI2021): primeiro livro finalizado! Amei demaaaais a construção de universo aqui e a estrutura da história. Foi muito divertido conhecer esse mundo através das perspectivas de diferentes figuras importantes históricamente para a Fundação. Todas as plots de intriga política também foram sensacionais e eu to mega curiosa pra ver o que vem aí! - ★★★★☆ | 4 estrelas
Fundação e Império: segundo livro começou suuuper interessante. Adorei que a construção de mundo continuou a ser desenvolvida e que os personagens finalmente tiveram que lidar com uma guerra e umas crises... inesperadas. A única coisa que me incomodou nessa continuação foi a lentidão do enredo em certas partes. Demorou muito para alguns pontos se conectarem. - ★★★☆☆ | 3 estrelas
Segunda Fundação: e chegamos ao terceiro e último livro! Esse foi o que eu menos gostei. Eu estava super empolgada em saber mais sobre a Segunda Fundação, mas o livro se resumiu à busca... pela Segunda Fundação. Achei bem devagar e um tanto enrolado em partes, mas gostei dos últimos capítulos--finalmente recebemos a explicação sobre e onde está a Segunda Fundação. - ★★★☆☆ | 3 estrelas
Média: 3.5
Fundação e Império: segundo livro começou suuuper interessante. Adorei que a construção de mundo continuou a ser desenvolvida e que os personagens finalmente tiveram que lidar com uma guerra e umas crises... inesperadas. A única coisa que me incomodou nessa continuação foi a lentidão do enredo em certas partes. Demorou muito para alguns pontos se conectarem. - ★★★☆☆ | 3 estrelas
Segunda Fundação: e chegamos ao terceiro e último livro! Esse foi o que eu menos gostei. Eu estava super empolgada em saber mais sobre a Segunda Fundação, mas o livro se resumiu à busca... pela Segunda Fundação. Achei bem devagar e um tanto enrolado em partes, mas gostei dos últimos capítulos--finalmente recebemos a explicação sobre e onde está a Segunda Fundação. - ★★★☆☆ | 3 estrelas
Média: 3.5
February 15, 2018
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
Mind games at their finest! In The Foundation Trilogy, comprised of Foundation (Book 1), Foundation and Empire (Book 2), and Second Foundation (Book 3), you’ll quickly find yourself in front of an author whose grasp on science-fiction is beyond belief. Far more idea-driven than character-driven, Isaac Asimov crafts the rise and fall of civilization in an intricate and astonishing prose. Tackling subjects ranging from religion to politics, this story will challenge your comprehension of individuals, but especially of collectives. Spanning over centuries, the Foundation series is nothing like you’ve ever seen before. Foundation propels us in a time period where the Galactic Empire has thrived for over 12000 years. Psychohistorian Hari Seldon however shocks the world by announcing an impending Dark Age where the Empire will fall and dwell in barbarism for almost thirty millennia unless the Empire’s Commission of Public Safety permits him to establish a back-up plan that will guarantee a much more shorter age of barbarism and the promise of rebirth. It is on this premise that resides the adventures to come and thus leaves us with the torturous question: Will Hari Seldon’s plan bear fruit?
In Foundation, Isaac Asimov introduces readers to psychohistory. The idea behind this field of study is that the behavior of masses, in billions, can be predicted thanks to complex mathematical algorithms, while an individual’s behavior remains almost impossible to anticipate. The originality behind this concept is beyond reproach and will drive this universe from the very beginning. It’s in Hari Seldon’s comprehension of masses that the faith of humanity resides on and it’s in Isaac Asimov’s creativity that this series wonders will shine in success. Of all three books, Foundation will undoubtedly go down as my favourite of the trilogy because of not only how magnificent and grandiose the ideas were, but because Isaac Asimov manages to fit what seemed like a gargatuan amount of content into just 250 pages. To put the cherry on top of the cake, the major plot twist in the first book—one that merits praise and definitely secured the first book’s spot as my favourite book of the trilogy—changes the game in unimaginable ways and remains one of the most important moment in the Foundation series.
What I also loved a lot about Foundation is its themes. Isaac Asimov serves us with countless questions to ponder on as events unfold on galactic scales. For instance, the idea of free will is greatly challenged as Hari Seldon’s plan basically strips individuals of their ability to control their destiny on a societal level. It just makes you wonder how people feel when there actions as individuals won’t matter in the bigger picture. I also love how violence is depicted and how the author represents true power. Throughout this series you’ll quickly come to realize that there’s often only one type of behavior that will win the war, while the other will only win battles. The writing style also helps in delivering the prose fluidly without ever feeling jaded or overwhelmed. In fact, I found that the structure, composed of short stories, packed a lot punch and kept the intrigue at a high level. In all honesty, this one series that felt extremely accessible and easy to follow. Everything was straight-forward, even the countless twists to come. While characters come and go, their dialogues remain pertinent and striking whenever they do appear.
Foundation and Empire takes place a couple years later and introduces us to new characters. The story presents us a much more powerful Foundation that easily takes care of the menace that represents the Empire until an unexpected force enters the stage. This individual who goes by the name of The Mule is known by countless to be a mutant with powers that no one has ever seen before. He is also the one factor that Hari Seldon’s plan had never accounted for. Its the inclusion of such a character that threatens to put an end to a future that seemed sealed that brings new life to a story that seemed to know only one end. This second book in the series also presents us with our first female character when you would’ve thought that this whole series would only have had men doing the impossible and changing the world individually. This was definitely interesting since the introduction of a woman also brought into play the one thing that never seem to be in the way of men in this story: emotions. Foundation and Empire also changes its structure by splitting the book into two parts rather than having multiple short stories. The change was sort of unfortunate as the short stories seemed much more poignant, but it definitely didn’t take away the astonishing historical scope of this story.
The third book in the series, Second Foundation focuses on a second Foundation that was hidden away in a secret remote location that no one knows about in order to remain unaffected by the actions and events that the Empire and the Foundation will come face to face with. Similar to the second book, this one is also split in two as the first part neatly ties things up regarding The Mule and the second part weaves us through the hunt for the second Foundation. One of the elements that was regrettable is the level of predictability. In these last two books, I found myself foreseeing the ruses and the twists that were integrated. Even if I saw a couple moves ahead, I still thought that the ideas conveyed were brilliant. In Second Foundation, I also loved the introduction of a second female character—a little girl this time—who glowed with a radiant Sherlock Holmes vibe in whatever she did. If Isaac Asimov ever wrote a book just for her, I’d read it now (please let me know). The finale in this book was also brilliant and kept you at the edge of your seat without you realizing. Just when you think things were done, expect the unexpected.
The Foundation trilogy isn’t an adventure where you’ll find yourself connecting with characters. It’s a universe where you’ll be mesmerized by the ideas and Isaac Asimov’s foray into the human psyche and the evolution of civilization. As you acquaint yourself to key players in a plan to save humanity from falling into barbarism, you’ll find yourself in awe at the countless twists and turns that are thrown into this giant game of chess. Science, religion, economy, history, philosophy and politics will all be explored in their rawest forms and everything will always feel complementary to one another. While the trilogy remains the three most important books of the series and must-reads for any science-fiction fan, Isaac Asimov expands the universe with sequels and prequels, as well as separate short stories for starving devotees. Published in 1951, this trilogy remains a colossal piece of art in this day and age. There is honestly no excuses out there that could justify putting this classic aside.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
____________________________
Mind games at their finest! In The Foundation Trilogy, comprised of Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation, you'll quickly find yourself in front of an author whose grasp on science-fiction is beyond belief. Far more idea-driven than character-driven, Isaac Asimov crafts the rise and fall of civilization in an intricate and astonishing prose. Tackling subjects ranging from religion to politics, this story will challenge your comprehension of individuals, but also of collectives.
P.S. Full review to come soon.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
Mind games at their finest! In The Foundation Trilogy, comprised of Foundation (Book 1), Foundation and Empire (Book 2), and Second Foundation (Book 3), you’ll quickly find yourself in front of an author whose grasp on science-fiction is beyond belief. Far more idea-driven than character-driven, Isaac Asimov crafts the rise and fall of civilization in an intricate and astonishing prose. Tackling subjects ranging from religion to politics, this story will challenge your comprehension of individuals, but especially of collectives. Spanning over centuries, the Foundation series is nothing like you’ve ever seen before. Foundation propels us in a time period where the Galactic Empire has thrived for over 12000 years. Psychohistorian Hari Seldon however shocks the world by announcing an impending Dark Age where the Empire will fall and dwell in barbarism for almost thirty millennia unless the Empire’s Commission of Public Safety permits him to establish a back-up plan that will guarantee a much more shorter age of barbarism and the promise of rebirth. It is on this premise that resides the adventures to come and thus leaves us with the torturous question: Will Hari Seldon’s plan bear fruit?
In Foundation, Isaac Asimov introduces readers to psychohistory. The idea behind this field of study is that the behavior of masses, in billions, can be predicted thanks to complex mathematical algorithms, while an individual’s behavior remains almost impossible to anticipate. The originality behind this concept is beyond reproach and will drive this universe from the very beginning. It’s in Hari Seldon’s comprehension of masses that the faith of humanity resides on and it’s in Isaac Asimov’s creativity that this series wonders will shine in success. Of all three books, Foundation will undoubtedly go down as my favourite of the trilogy because of not only how magnificent and grandiose the ideas were, but because Isaac Asimov manages to fit what seemed like a gargatuan amount of content into just 250 pages. To put the cherry on top of the cake, the major plot twist in the first book—one that merits praise and definitely secured the first book’s spot as my favourite book of the trilogy—changes the game in unimaginable ways and remains one of the most important moment in the Foundation series.
What I also loved a lot about Foundation is its themes. Isaac Asimov serves us with countless questions to ponder on as events unfold on galactic scales. For instance, the idea of free will is greatly challenged as Hari Seldon’s plan basically strips individuals of their ability to control their destiny on a societal level. It just makes you wonder how people feel when there actions as individuals won’t matter in the bigger picture. I also love how violence is depicted and how the author represents true power. Throughout this series you’ll quickly come to realize that there’s often only one type of behavior that will win the war, while the other will only win battles. The writing style also helps in delivering the prose fluidly without ever feeling jaded or overwhelmed. In fact, I found that the structure, composed of short stories, packed a lot punch and kept the intrigue at a high level. In all honesty, this one series that felt extremely accessible and easy to follow. Everything was straight-forward, even the countless twists to come. While characters come and go, their dialogues remain pertinent and striking whenever they do appear.
Foundation and Empire takes place a couple years later and introduces us to new characters. The story presents us a much more powerful Foundation that easily takes care of the menace that represents the Empire until an unexpected force enters the stage. This individual who goes by the name of The Mule is known by countless to be a mutant with powers that no one has ever seen before. He is also the one factor that Hari Seldon’s plan had never accounted for. Its the inclusion of such a character that threatens to put an end to a future that seemed sealed that brings new life to a story that seemed to know only one end. This second book in the series also presents us with our first female character when you would’ve thought that this whole series would only have had men doing the impossible and changing the world individually. This was definitely interesting since the introduction of a woman also brought into play the one thing that never seem to be in the way of men in this story: emotions. Foundation and Empire also changes its structure by splitting the book into two parts rather than having multiple short stories. The change was sort of unfortunate as the short stories seemed much more poignant, but it definitely didn’t take away the astonishing historical scope of this story.
The third book in the series, Second Foundation focuses on a second Foundation that was hidden away in a secret remote location that no one knows about in order to remain unaffected by the actions and events that the Empire and the Foundation will come face to face with. Similar to the second book, this one is also split in two as the first part neatly ties things up regarding The Mule and the second part weaves us through the hunt for the second Foundation. One of the elements that was regrettable is the level of predictability. In these last two books, I found myself foreseeing the ruses and the twists that were integrated. Even if I saw a couple moves ahead, I still thought that the ideas conveyed were brilliant. In Second Foundation, I also loved the introduction of a second female character—a little girl this time—who glowed with a radiant Sherlock Holmes vibe in whatever she did. If Isaac Asimov ever wrote a book just for her, I’d read it now (please let me know). The finale in this book was also brilliant and kept you at the edge of your seat without you realizing. Just when you think things were done, expect the unexpected.
The Foundation trilogy isn’t an adventure where you’ll find yourself connecting with characters. It’s a universe where you’ll be mesmerized by the ideas and Isaac Asimov’s foray into the human psyche and the evolution of civilization. As you acquaint yourself to key players in a plan to save humanity from falling into barbarism, you’ll find yourself in awe at the countless twists and turns that are thrown into this giant game of chess. Science, religion, economy, history, philosophy and politics will all be explored in their rawest forms and everything will always feel complementary to one another. While the trilogy remains the three most important books of the series and must-reads for any science-fiction fan, Isaac Asimov expands the universe with sequels and prequels, as well as separate short stories for starving devotees. Published in 1951, this trilogy remains a colossal piece of art in this day and age. There is honestly no excuses out there that could justify putting this classic aside.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
____________________________
Mind games at their finest! In The Foundation Trilogy, comprised of Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation, you'll quickly find yourself in front of an author whose grasp on science-fiction is beyond belief. Far more idea-driven than character-driven, Isaac Asimov crafts the rise and fall of civilization in an intricate and astonishing prose. Tackling subjects ranging from religion to politics, this story will challenge your comprehension of individuals, but also of collectives.
P.S. Full review to come soon.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
October 27, 2025
Check out my full, spoiler free, video review HERE.
This was my second time through The Foundation Trilogy. Since I remembered a lot of the mysteries and plot twists it was fun to see how Asimov foreshadowed and baited the reader. Reading this can be a bit like reading about a chess match, there are a lot of moving pieces, and the smartest person usually wins in the end. It is really amazing how relevant and popular these stories have remained. I could see re-reading the trilogy a 3rd time at some point.
This was my second time through The Foundation Trilogy. Since I remembered a lot of the mysteries and plot twists it was fun to see how Asimov foreshadowed and baited the reader. Reading this can be a bit like reading about a chess match, there are a lot of moving pieces, and the smartest person usually wins in the end. It is really amazing how relevant and popular these stories have remained. I could see re-reading the trilogy a 3rd time at some point.
December 16, 2024
Soy consciente de que hay gente que lo ama y gente que lo odia, yo me sitúo en el medio. No me ha encantado, pero el concepto de la psicohistoria y la resolución final a modo de “crítica a lo establecido” ha sido muy muy memorable. Hay otros conceptos como el de las crisis o los “estamentos” que definen la política interplanetaria que también me han sorprendido. Pero no tiene una trama que incite a seguir leyendo ni unos personajes que quieras conocer. Sinceramente, hay que saber a lo que se viene al leer este libro. Lo recomiendo si te ha gustado el problema de los tres cuerpos.
October 18, 2021
No me extraña que sea considerada una de las grandes obras de la Ciencia Ficción de la Historia, es una barbaridad.
Ha sido un gran error por mi parte haberlo postergado tantos años, lo reconozco, en mi descargo sólo puedo decir que he disfrutado como un enano de cada página, bueno, el 95% hay que ser realmente honesto y decir que un 5% sí le sobra ;D
Maravilloso que todo sea atómico, miniaturizado y atómico y ... atómico ja ja ja (hay que saber leer poniéndose en el contexto socio-económico-tecnológico-cultural del momento en el que se escribió lo que estás leyendo), y el detalle del rape ya es lo más !!!
En resumen, si no lo has leído y eres de Ci-Fi, ya tardas.
Ha sido un gran error por mi parte haberlo postergado tantos años, lo reconozco, en mi descargo sólo puedo decir que he disfrutado como un enano de cada página, bueno, el 95% hay que ser realmente honesto y decir que un 5% sí le sobra ;D
Maravilloso que todo sea atómico, miniaturizado y atómico y ... atómico ja ja ja (hay que saber leer poniéndose en el contexto socio-económico-tecnológico-cultural del momento en el que se escribió lo que estás leyendo), y el detalle del rape ya es lo más !!!
En resumen, si no lo has leído y eres de Ci-Fi, ya tardas.
March 12, 2013
The Foundation Trilogy is widely considered one of the most influential science fiction series ever written - it even won a Hugo award for the best all-time series back in the 60's.
And I get it. I can see why it's so influential, mostly because I've read and seen the books and movies and television shows that have been influenced by it (I'm mostly talking about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Futurama, but there are countless others). Isaac Asimov has so many fantastic, interesting ideas - he's tracing the fall and rise of a civilization, using past history to guide him. In the span of three novels we've seen this history play out over 400 years, and seen how people originally seen as minor players were revered down in history later on.
It's just that it's so dry. Seriously. I realize that the ideas are more important than the writing, but this is a book. I need more than interesting ideas to keep me motivated to read.
The books do get better, however, I will admit that. But Foundation, the first book in the series, is hard to get over. I took a four month hiatus in between that and the second book because I couldn't get over how dry it was. Seriously, Foundation consists of people sitting around talking about ideas. All the action happens off the stage, and we're left to hear people discuss ideas. I get that Asimov is telling a broad history, and that history is more influenced by backroom politicking than different battles, but I wish he had given us something. And since the novel takes place over quite a long period, I never really felt like I had the time to devote much attention or interest in any particular character.
Asimov definitely picks up the pace in Foundation and Empire. While the first half is reminiscent of Foundation, he at least seems aware of this fact, and has one of his characters comment on the absurd amount of talking everybody does. But it's the second half, about the Mule, where things really get interesting. This is the story that deviates from intended purpose of the series, where one man with abnormal capabilities disrupts the plan and a small band of people have to join together to defeat him. There was still quite a bit of talking, but it was spliced in between action and characters having to make important decisions in order to save the whole galaxy while on the run from a great evil. Bayta Darrell and The Mule are interesting, flawed characters who grow and change. Bayta especially is one of the most clever people in the series, and I wish that she had appeared in more than just this book - she's clever enough to match wits with any science fiction hero, and she's able to use her inherent goodness against the most manipulative of foes.
Second Foundation was my favorite book of the series. Asimov still reverted to talking, but there was far less of it. Besides, this book also introduces us to the first truly funny character in the series: Arkady Darrell, who is mostly funny by the virtue of her being 14 and who gains all of her knowledge from books and television stories about spies and other romance stories. This is not a new character archetype - Don Quixote is the most famous, but there are many others. And it's a lot of fun to see Arkady go from a naive 14-year old girl, obsessed with living out the roles in her books and movies like any true hero to a 14-year old girl who understands that the world is an incredibly dangerous place and that her actions can cause great harm to a lot of the people she holds near and dear. It's the most true journey of any character presented in this series (so far), and it's incredibly rewarding. I'd go back and read about Arkady any day, though I'd probably skip the last chapter.
I get what Asimov was trying to do with the Foundation series. And there are times, when he moves away from the archetypical science fiction hero who is right and doesn't really have any sort of interesting journey to characters who learn and grow and change, that he really succeeds. And while the last half of Foundation and Empire and almost all of Second Foundation are worth it, I just can't get over the first book and a half.
I'm glad I read it, because now I get so many of the references that I see in other science fiction series, but I don't know that I'd ever reread it; I certainly wouldn't reread all of it. But when I inevitably reread The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and its sequels, at least I'll have a better understanding of the jokes.
And I get it. I can see why it's so influential, mostly because I've read and seen the books and movies and television shows that have been influenced by it (I'm mostly talking about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Futurama, but there are countless others). Isaac Asimov has so many fantastic, interesting ideas - he's tracing the fall and rise of a civilization, using past history to guide him. In the span of three novels we've seen this history play out over 400 years, and seen how people originally seen as minor players were revered down in history later on.
It's just that it's so dry. Seriously. I realize that the ideas are more important than the writing, but this is a book. I need more than interesting ideas to keep me motivated to read.
The books do get better, however, I will admit that. But Foundation, the first book in the series, is hard to get over. I took a four month hiatus in between that and the second book because I couldn't get over how dry it was. Seriously, Foundation consists of people sitting around talking about ideas. All the action happens off the stage, and we're left to hear people discuss ideas. I get that Asimov is telling a broad history, and that history is more influenced by backroom politicking than different battles, but I wish he had given us something. And since the novel takes place over quite a long period, I never really felt like I had the time to devote much attention or interest in any particular character.
Asimov definitely picks up the pace in Foundation and Empire. While the first half is reminiscent of Foundation, he at least seems aware of this fact, and has one of his characters comment on the absurd amount of talking everybody does. But it's the second half, about the Mule, where things really get interesting. This is the story that deviates from intended purpose of the series, where one man with abnormal capabilities disrupts the plan and a small band of people have to join together to defeat him. There was still quite a bit of talking, but it was spliced in between action and characters having to make important decisions in order to save the whole galaxy while on the run from a great evil. Bayta Darrell and The Mule are interesting, flawed characters who grow and change. Bayta especially is one of the most clever people in the series, and I wish that she had appeared in more than just this book - she's clever enough to match wits with any science fiction hero, and she's able to use her inherent goodness against the most manipulative of foes.
Second Foundation was my favorite book of the series. Asimov still reverted to talking, but there was far less of it. Besides, this book also introduces us to the first truly funny character in the series: Arkady Darrell, who is mostly funny by the virtue of her being 14 and who gains all of her knowledge from books and television stories about spies and other romance stories. This is not a new character archetype - Don Quixote is the most famous, but there are many others. And it's a lot of fun to see Arkady go from a naive 14-year old girl, obsessed with living out the roles in her books and movies like any true hero to a 14-year old girl who understands that the world is an incredibly dangerous place and that her actions can cause great harm to a lot of the people she holds near and dear. It's the most true journey of any character presented in this series (so far), and it's incredibly rewarding. I'd go back and read about Arkady any day, though I'd probably skip the last chapter.
I get what Asimov was trying to do with the Foundation series. And there are times, when he moves away from the archetypical science fiction hero who is right and doesn't really have any sort of interesting journey to characters who learn and grow and change, that he really succeeds. And while the last half of Foundation and Empire and almost all of Second Foundation are worth it, I just can't get over the first book and a half.
I'm glad I read it, because now I get so many of the references that I see in other science fiction series, but I don't know that I'd ever reread it; I certainly wouldn't reread all of it. But when I inevitably reread The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and its sequels, at least I'll have a better understanding of the jokes.
December 8, 2020
Fue un viaje largo, muy largo, con altibajos, pero interesante.
Me hubiera gustado hacer una buena reseña de una historia tan importante y que significó tanto, pero no quedó nada bien.
La trilogía de la Fundación, que abarca Fundación (1951), Fundación e Imperio (1952) y Segunda Fundación (1953) constituye el primer acercamiento que tuvieron los lectores a la serie general (y bastante larga, por lo que pude ver) de la Fundación. Es una serie de historias conectadas que persigue un objetivo bastante ambicioso: contar a través de los años el devenir de la(s) Fundación(es) creada(s) por Hari Seldon para reducir el período de barbarie del Imperio Galáctico que él ha deducido, a partir de la psicohistoria, y que intenta revertir -en parte-. Es difícil decir a grandes rasgos decir de qué trata esta trilogía sin aportar mucho más que la contratapa del libro o el resumen de wikipedia. Es una historia que, como dije, abarca muchos años, bastantes personajes y distintos conflictos. La premisa general es la del devenir general de la galaxia, las subidas y bajadas tanto del Imperio como de la Fundación y el misterio alrededor de la Segunda. Después, hay pequeños grandes conflictos, que se van solucionando en unas pocas páginas y que terminan aportando granitos de arena al gran conflicto que se termina avisando hacia la tercer parte de la trilogía: la búsqueda de la Segunda Fundación. Después, como sabrán quienes la leyeron o la leerán, es mucho más. Pero es tanto que es difícil de resumir.
Pero más allá del aspecto de la reseña sobre de qué va, tengo otras cosas que decir, si es que hay alguien leyendo esto:
Tengo mis sentimientos encontrados con respecto a algunos aspectos de esta historia. Es ágil, es verdad, y cada pequeña historia dura poco. Incluso dentro de cada entrega de la trilogía hay más de una historia, separada por años y personajes. Es quizá un aspecto que a algunos les hará la historia más rápida y llevadera, pero a mí me hizo sentir lo contrario. Empecé Fundación hace como dos años ya, y me llevé el libro que tiene las 3 partes a la playa esperando leerla casi entera de una o al menos con pocas pausas. Pero que cada pequeña historia se terminara justo cuando más empezaba a engancharme me ponía mal y me hacía dejar la historia aunque me estuviera gustando. Fue por eso que la dejé y retomé recién este año, dispuesta a terminar la historia. Y, aunque pude engancharme aún más esta vez y supe disfrutar mejor la historia, sí que volví a sentir lo mismo con estas pequeñas historias que terminaban cuando en realidad sentían que estaban empezando. También es verdad que la segunda y tercera parte son distintas a la primera, y las historias separadas por años están un poco más conectadas y continuadas que los capítulos largos con subtramas de Fundación. Además, el misterio alrededor de la Segunda Fundación me hizo querer leer cada vez más y a sentir que había algo increíble que iba a saber al final. Pero también ahí me decepcioné un poco, porque todo alrededor de ella termina resultando agobiante, con todos los personajes diciendo que saben dónde está y en qué planeta se encuentra y después siendo corregidos por otros, en intervalos de pocas páginas.
Anyway. Lo que quiero decir es que me gustó mucho esta trilogía, sobre todo la idea y los planteos sobre la ciencia que hace y cómo en el futuro de Asimov esta se transforma en la nueva religión en la que cree ciegamente la gente. Me parece interesante, sobre todo cómo lo trata, con la psicohistoria y los científicos de la Fundación que siguen todo de acuerdo a planes matemáticos mientras al mismo tiempo ocurren cosas imprevistas que escapan a cálculos generales y estadísticos. Desde ese lado, me parece un gran libro y entiendo por qué es importante en la historia de la ciencia ficción en particular y de la literatura en general. Pero también estoy llena de peros, como los que arriba dije: no terminó de convencerme a veces, ni de engancharme ni de satisfacerme.
Es una muy buena historia, que a mí no terminó de fascinarme como esperaba cuando me lo compré y lo empecé a leer, pero que puedo leer en términos de su importancia y que estoy contenta de haber leído. Además me dejó con ganas de más, aunque no esté segura de la calidad de sus secuelas y precuelas.
Me hubiera gustado hacer una buena reseña de una historia tan importante y que significó tanto, pero no quedó nada bien.
La trilogía de la Fundación, que abarca Fundación (1951), Fundación e Imperio (1952) y Segunda Fundación (1953) constituye el primer acercamiento que tuvieron los lectores a la serie general (y bastante larga, por lo que pude ver) de la Fundación. Es una serie de historias conectadas que persigue un objetivo bastante ambicioso: contar a través de los años el devenir de la(s) Fundación(es) creada(s) por Hari Seldon para reducir el período de barbarie del Imperio Galáctico que él ha deducido, a partir de la psicohistoria, y que intenta revertir -en parte-. Es difícil decir a grandes rasgos decir de qué trata esta trilogía sin aportar mucho más que la contratapa del libro o el resumen de wikipedia. Es una historia que, como dije, abarca muchos años, bastantes personajes y distintos conflictos. La premisa general es la del devenir general de la galaxia, las subidas y bajadas tanto del Imperio como de la Fundación y el misterio alrededor de la Segunda. Después, hay pequeños grandes conflictos, que se van solucionando en unas pocas páginas y que terminan aportando granitos de arena al gran conflicto que se termina avisando hacia la tercer parte de la trilogía: la búsqueda de la Segunda Fundación. Después, como sabrán quienes la leyeron o la leerán, es mucho más. Pero es tanto que es difícil de resumir.
Pero más allá del aspecto de la reseña sobre de qué va, tengo otras cosas que decir, si es que hay alguien leyendo esto:
Tengo mis sentimientos encontrados con respecto a algunos aspectos de esta historia. Es ágil, es verdad, y cada pequeña historia dura poco. Incluso dentro de cada entrega de la trilogía hay más de una historia, separada por años y personajes. Es quizá un aspecto que a algunos les hará la historia más rápida y llevadera, pero a mí me hizo sentir lo contrario. Empecé Fundación hace como dos años ya, y me llevé el libro que tiene las 3 partes a la playa esperando leerla casi entera de una o al menos con pocas pausas. Pero que cada pequeña historia se terminara justo cuando más empezaba a engancharme me ponía mal y me hacía dejar la historia aunque me estuviera gustando. Fue por eso que la dejé y retomé recién este año, dispuesta a terminar la historia. Y, aunque pude engancharme aún más esta vez y supe disfrutar mejor la historia, sí que volví a sentir lo mismo con estas pequeñas historias que terminaban cuando en realidad sentían que estaban empezando. También es verdad que la segunda y tercera parte son distintas a la primera, y las historias separadas por años están un poco más conectadas y continuadas que los capítulos largos con subtramas de Fundación. Además, el misterio alrededor de la Segunda Fundación me hizo querer leer cada vez más y a sentir que había algo increíble que iba a saber al final. Pero también ahí me decepcioné un poco, porque todo alrededor de ella termina resultando agobiante, con todos los personajes diciendo que saben dónde está y en qué planeta se encuentra y después siendo corregidos por otros, en intervalos de pocas páginas.
Anyway. Lo que quiero decir es que me gustó mucho esta trilogía, sobre todo la idea y los planteos sobre la ciencia que hace y cómo en el futuro de Asimov esta se transforma en la nueva religión en la que cree ciegamente la gente. Me parece interesante, sobre todo cómo lo trata, con la psicohistoria y los científicos de la Fundación que siguen todo de acuerdo a planes matemáticos mientras al mismo tiempo ocurren cosas imprevistas que escapan a cálculos generales y estadísticos. Desde ese lado, me parece un gran libro y entiendo por qué es importante en la historia de la ciencia ficción en particular y de la literatura en general. Pero también estoy llena de peros, como los que arriba dije: no terminó de convencerme a veces, ni de engancharme ni de satisfacerme.
Es una muy buena historia, que a mí no terminó de fascinarme como esperaba cuando me lo compré y lo empecé a leer, pero que puedo leer en términos de su importancia y que estoy contenta de haber leído. Además me dejó con ganas de más, aunque no esté segura de la calidad de sus secuelas y precuelas.
August 16, 2019
Qué barbaridad. Sin duda el mejor libro que he leído este año de largo. Epicidad, intriga, emoción, giros de guión super inteligentes y brillantísimos, una gran cantidad de personajes que son brutalísimos, como por ejemplo El mulo, que se ha convertido en uno de mis villanos top de todos los tiempos, vamos que las casi 800 páginas de esta edición me han devorado en poco más de tres días, sí os gusta el género tenéis que leerlo sí o sí, porque este es para mí el libro de ciencia ficción por excelencia.
A parte de todo esto, tengo que decir que no se cómo se las va a apañar apple para hacer una adaptación digna de esta saga, yo lo veo algo casi inadaptable debido a los grandes saltos temporales y cambios de personajes que hay entre cada uno de sus arcos argumentales, que son unos cuantos, solo pido que se arriesguen, se dejen la pasta e intenten hacer algo lo más fiel posible, porque una adaptación bien hecha de esto debería convertirse en un fenómeno social tipo Juego de tronos.
A parte de todo esto, tengo que decir que no se cómo se las va a apañar apple para hacer una adaptación digna de esta saga, yo lo veo algo casi inadaptable debido a los grandes saltos temporales y cambios de personajes que hay entre cada uno de sus arcos argumentales, que son unos cuantos, solo pido que se arriesguen, se dejen la pasta e intenten hacer algo lo más fiel posible, porque una adaptación bien hecha de esto debería convertirse en un fenómeno social tipo Juego de tronos.
December 6, 2020
1º que leo de Asimov.
PRIMERA PARTE, FUNDACION: Esta bien, es entretenido aunque quizas me esperaba otro tipo de libro, siempre desde mi mas profunda ignorancia en este genero, del que no soy un experto.
SEGUNDA PARTE, FUNDACION E IMPERIO: La parte que mas me ha gustado ha sido la del "Mulo" , el 1º me parecio muy introductorio.
TERCERA PARTE, SEGUNDA FUNDACION: Ni fu fi fa aunque el final esta bien. De todas formas seguiré con el resto de los libros de la serie la fundación.
PRIMERA PARTE, FUNDACION: Esta bien, es entretenido aunque quizas me esperaba otro tipo de libro, siempre desde mi mas profunda ignorancia en este genero, del que no soy un experto.
SEGUNDA PARTE, FUNDACION E IMPERIO: La parte que mas me ha gustado ha sido la del "Mulo" , el 1º me parecio muy introductorio.
TERCERA PARTE, SEGUNDA FUNDACION: Ni fu fi fa aunque el final esta bien. De todas formas seguiré con el resto de los libros de la serie la fundación.
June 29, 2023
Un libro fantastico, un Asimov in gran spolvero capace di sviluppare il quadro grandioso di una civiltà futura e dei suoi problemi di sopravvivenza.
February 12, 2024
The book here is an omnibus edition of three Isaac Asimov novels – Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), and Second Foundation (1953). Those novels were, in turn, fix-ups of short stories and novellas published in Astounding from 1942 through 1950. Decades later, in the 1980s, Asimov published a few sequels and prequels. But this is the original trilogy. The story, while showing its age 80 years later, remains head and shoulders above the typical science fiction fare of the 1940s. Asimov created an incredibly complicated layering of cause-and-effect in his future history, and unveils various interpretations gradually throughout. The main character here is not a person, but the 1,000 year plan.
third read – 12 February 2024 - ****. I re-read the trilogy in the form of a single omnibus book, because it was covered in Lecture 3 “Science Fiction Treatments of History” of How Great Science Fiction Works.
second read - 4 October 1982 - ***. I re-read the trilogy in the form of a single omnibus book, that was a part of my sign-up package with the science fiction book club. It was ok, but I didn’t think it deserved all the fame.
first read – 3 May 1969 - ***. I first read the trilogy in the form of three separate books
Foundation https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Foundation and Empire https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Second Foundation https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Foundation (1951). Volume 1 of the Foundation Trilogy is composed of five related short works: The Psychohistorians (1951), The Encyclopedists, originally “Foundation” (1942), The Mayors, originally “Bridle and Saddle” (1942), The Traders, originally “The Wedge” (1944), and The Merchant Princes, originally “The Big and the Little” (1944). The future history is continuous, but new characters appear in each story, as their settings skip forward generations in some cases. I think the initial popularity of the project was due to the sweeping scope of the future history and was fed by serialized publication in Astounding Magazine. This fame has persisted, even though the stories have aged in many ways since Asimov wrote them starting over 80 years ago. The social milieu is representative of the 1940s, as evidenced by the near total lack of female characters, the militaristic relationship of interchangeable men to one other, and how everyone smokes. Governance is authoritarian; even in the relatively free Foundation world of Terminus, elections are considered something that can happen if circumstances don’t require seizing power directly. Atomic power is the essential difference between advanced civilizations and backwards ones. Various episodes hinge on wily characters who leverage knowledge and access to resources for atomic power.
Asimov’s intention was to pattern his future history after real historical events as described in Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Vols. 1-4. He follows the model of history wherein social trends are predictable drivers, rather than the decisions of individuals. In the initial story, “psychohistorian” Hari Seldon has calculated the inevitable collapse of the humans-only Galactic Empire and events over the following 30,000 years until a new empire is established. He plots a scheme to reduce the dark ages to only 1,000 years through his own interventions. He starts with triggering a forced move of all the scientists from the capital world of Trantor to a frontier world on the edge of the galaxy, under the pretext of the creation of an encyclopedia of all knowledge. And he continues to steer events after his death by delivering microfilmed messages to the Foundation, targeted to critical future historical pivot points.
It has often been observed that after the fall of the Roman Empire, the churches in Europe (as well as the Muslim Middle East) became preservers of scientific knowledge from the classical era, only to be rediscovered during the Enlightenment. Asimov himself was a renowned atheist. Hari Seldon’s main strategy for the preservation and leveraging of knowledge of atomic power, is the deliberate creation of a religion around it. Nuclear technicians are trained in seminary, to become priests and missionaries. But everyone in the leadership of the Foundation knows it is a pretense for control of people and enemy regimes. The bringing back of religious influence into the Foundation itself would be a treasonous act. Superstitious vulnerability is paired with a degeneration of the principles of science into rote memorization. This IS what the decline of the Galactic Empire is all about. Rating 4/5.
Foundation and Empire (1952). Volume 2 of the Foundation Trilogy is composed of two works that follow on from the end of the first Foundation book: The General, originally “Dead Hand” (1945) and The Mule (1945). The General is a novelette that shows the evolution of The Foundation into a fully imperial power itself, surrounded by a large peripheral community of independent traders, that rivals the Galactic Empire. The Mule is a larger novella, making up most of this book, that serves to introduce the eponymous major character of the second half of the trilogy.
Hari Seldon’s theory that history is controlled by sociological forces beyond the influence of individuals, has become accepted credo of The Foundation. It’s regal mayors and its citizens are complacent in their deterministic beliefs regarding the ultimate dominance of the Foundation. However, Seldon’s future history appears to totally break down in the face of a militaristic product of a human mutation, known as The Mule. The Mule is taking over world after world, and The Foundation really runs off the rails when Seldon’s latest microfilmed crisis message, addresses an incorrect crisis. The handful of surviving non-Mule Foundationists and Independent Traders flee.
Among those survivors are an underground pro-democratic Foundationist Bayta, and her young newlywed husband Toran, son of an independent trader family. The perspective is largely Bayta’s, and Asimov has created a female character of more depth than typical of the time, or even of Asimov himself. Also, among them is Magnifico the clown, who has escaped from The Mule’s retinue. He has formed a strong emotional attachment to them, Bayta in particular, and his nature and his motivations remain opaque until nearly the end of Volume 2.
In the end, Seldon has been wiser than anyone in The Foundation realized, having set up a Second Foundation somewhere “at the opposite end of the Galaxy,” to deal somehow with unforeseeable circumstances like The Mule. How? We don’t know yet. In the end, there is a re-interpretation of prior events, which is a practice Asimov pursued in later years, in his various sequels and prequels to the original trilogy. Foundation and Empire would not stand alone well as a novel, but is a bridge within the larger Foundation Trilogy. Rating 3/5.
Second Foundation (1953). Volume 3 of the Foundation Trilogy is composed of two related short works: Search by the Mule, originally “Now You See It…” (1948) and Search by the Foundation, originally “And Now You Don’t…” (1949).
In the greater story arc of the trilogy, Asimov must complete the story of The Mule. He has served his narrative purpose, which was to disrupt the pre-planned history of Hari Seldon’s plan. Only the Second Foundation, based on the psychological sciences rather than the physical, is capable of opposing an unanticipated dictator with mind control. Indeed, that is the apparent purpose of the Second Foundation. In a split-second battle of deceptions and minds, the fate of The Mule is decided.
But the effects of The Mule’s disruptions continue for generations. The population of The Foundation now has a widespread but unproven rumor about a Second Foundation, and that influences the course of history. The story follows the adult scientist son of Bayta and Toran and his 14-year-old brilliant but immature daughter Arkady, who are part of a cell of truth-seeking conspiracy theorists who are loyal to The Foundation. Asimov moves his characters around like chess pieces as needed for various versions of the big picture, stretching the reader’s credulity of their behavior. But with interfering mind influence by the Second Foundation always a possibility, who is to say what is credible? The story ends with a sequence of parlor-room-style revelations of several interpretations of all that has come before. The ending is satisfying in logic, although somewhat impersonal. Rating 4/5.
third read – 12 February 2024 - ****. I re-read the trilogy in the form of a single omnibus book, because it was covered in Lecture 3 “Science Fiction Treatments of History” of How Great Science Fiction Works.
second read - 4 October 1982 - ***. I re-read the trilogy in the form of a single omnibus book, that was a part of my sign-up package with the science fiction book club. It was ok, but I didn’t think it deserved all the fame.
first read – 3 May 1969 - ***. I first read the trilogy in the form of three separate books
Foundation https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Foundation and Empire https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Second Foundation https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Foundation (1951). Volume 1 of the Foundation Trilogy is composed of five related short works: The Psychohistorians (1951), The Encyclopedists, originally “Foundation” (1942), The Mayors, originally “Bridle and Saddle” (1942), The Traders, originally “The Wedge” (1944), and The Merchant Princes, originally “The Big and the Little” (1944). The future history is continuous, but new characters appear in each story, as their settings skip forward generations in some cases. I think the initial popularity of the project was due to the sweeping scope of the future history and was fed by serialized publication in Astounding Magazine. This fame has persisted, even though the stories have aged in many ways since Asimov wrote them starting over 80 years ago. The social milieu is representative of the 1940s, as evidenced by the near total lack of female characters, the militaristic relationship of interchangeable men to one other, and how everyone smokes. Governance is authoritarian; even in the relatively free Foundation world of Terminus, elections are considered something that can happen if circumstances don’t require seizing power directly. Atomic power is the essential difference between advanced civilizations and backwards ones. Various episodes hinge on wily characters who leverage knowledge and access to resources for atomic power.
Asimov’s intention was to pattern his future history after real historical events as described in Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Vols. 1-4. He follows the model of history wherein social trends are predictable drivers, rather than the decisions of individuals. In the initial story, “psychohistorian” Hari Seldon has calculated the inevitable collapse of the humans-only Galactic Empire and events over the following 30,000 years until a new empire is established. He plots a scheme to reduce the dark ages to only 1,000 years through his own interventions. He starts with triggering a forced move of all the scientists from the capital world of Trantor to a frontier world on the edge of the galaxy, under the pretext of the creation of an encyclopedia of all knowledge. And he continues to steer events after his death by delivering microfilmed messages to the Foundation, targeted to critical future historical pivot points.
It has often been observed that after the fall of the Roman Empire, the churches in Europe (as well as the Muslim Middle East) became preservers of scientific knowledge from the classical era, only to be rediscovered during the Enlightenment. Asimov himself was a renowned atheist. Hari Seldon’s main strategy for the preservation and leveraging of knowledge of atomic power, is the deliberate creation of a religion around it. Nuclear technicians are trained in seminary, to become priests and missionaries. But everyone in the leadership of the Foundation knows it is a pretense for control of people and enemy regimes. The bringing back of religious influence into the Foundation itself would be a treasonous act. Superstitious vulnerability is paired with a degeneration of the principles of science into rote memorization. This IS what the decline of the Galactic Empire is all about. Rating 4/5.
Foundation and Empire (1952). Volume 2 of the Foundation Trilogy is composed of two works that follow on from the end of the first Foundation book: The General, originally “Dead Hand” (1945) and The Mule (1945). The General is a novelette that shows the evolution of The Foundation into a fully imperial power itself, surrounded by a large peripheral community of independent traders, that rivals the Galactic Empire. The Mule is a larger novella, making up most of this book, that serves to introduce the eponymous major character of the second half of the trilogy.
Hari Seldon’s theory that history is controlled by sociological forces beyond the influence of individuals, has become accepted credo of The Foundation. It’s regal mayors and its citizens are complacent in their deterministic beliefs regarding the ultimate dominance of the Foundation. However, Seldon’s future history appears to totally break down in the face of a militaristic product of a human mutation, known as The Mule. The Mule is taking over world after world, and The Foundation really runs off the rails when Seldon’s latest microfilmed crisis message, addresses an incorrect crisis. The handful of surviving non-Mule Foundationists and Independent Traders flee.
Among those survivors are an underground pro-democratic Foundationist Bayta, and her young newlywed husband Toran, son of an independent trader family. The perspective is largely Bayta’s, and Asimov has created a female character of more depth than typical of the time, or even of Asimov himself. Also, among them is Magnifico the clown, who has escaped from The Mule’s retinue. He has formed a strong emotional attachment to them, Bayta in particular, and his nature and his motivations remain opaque until nearly the end of Volume 2.
In the end, Seldon has been wiser than anyone in The Foundation realized, having set up a Second Foundation somewhere “at the opposite end of the Galaxy,” to deal somehow with unforeseeable circumstances like The Mule. How? We don’t know yet. In the end, there is a re-interpretation of prior events, which is a practice Asimov pursued in later years, in his various sequels and prequels to the original trilogy. Foundation and Empire would not stand alone well as a novel, but is a bridge within the larger Foundation Trilogy. Rating 3/5.
Second Foundation (1953). Volume 3 of the Foundation Trilogy is composed of two related short works: Search by the Mule, originally “Now You See It…” (1948) and Search by the Foundation, originally “And Now You Don’t…” (1949).
In the greater story arc of the trilogy, Asimov must complete the story of The Mule. He has served his narrative purpose, which was to disrupt the pre-planned history of Hari Seldon’s plan. Only the Second Foundation, based on the psychological sciences rather than the physical, is capable of opposing an unanticipated dictator with mind control. Indeed, that is the apparent purpose of the Second Foundation. In a split-second battle of deceptions and minds, the fate of The Mule is decided.
But the effects of The Mule’s disruptions continue for generations. The population of The Foundation now has a widespread but unproven rumor about a Second Foundation, and that influences the course of history. The story follows the adult scientist son of Bayta and Toran and his 14-year-old brilliant but immature daughter Arkady, who are part of a cell of truth-seeking conspiracy theorists who are loyal to The Foundation. Asimov moves his characters around like chess pieces as needed for various versions of the big picture, stretching the reader’s credulity of their behavior. But with interfering mind influence by the Second Foundation always a possibility, who is to say what is credible? The story ends with a sequence of parlor-room-style revelations of several interpretations of all that has come before. The ending is satisfying in logic, although somewhat impersonal. Rating 4/5.
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