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2209 ratings, 3.82 average rating, 77 reviews
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published
January 30th 2004
(first published 1988)
binding
Paperback, 464 pages
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isbn
8497931270
(isbn13: 9788497931274)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2704)
Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in August, 2007
My first Asimov book, it was both wonderful and disappointing. I loved the hugeness of the imagination at work here. The bizarre and diverse societies of Trantor with their rituals, structures, foods, ways of living, and just the physical structure of the world itself, with multiple layers and a surface covered with sand and the occasional forest, made for fun reading. As for the disappointments, although it is probably a cliché at this point, I could not stand the squareness of the dialogue...more
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Unless you're just a die-hard Foundation fan and have to read them all, "Prelude to Foundation" can safely be skipped. In particular, I'm not sure that I would recommend reading it prior to the other Foundation novels despite the fact that it's a prequel.
It's not spoiling anything to briefly explain why this is. In "Foundation," which is really more a shorts collection than a novel despite the fact that the stories do flow very well together, Hari Seldon is already an o...more
It's not spoiling anything to briefly explain why this is. In "Foundation," which is really more a shorts collection than a novel despite the fact that the stories do flow very well together, Hari Seldon is already an o...more
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There are only 3 foundation novels. Prelude is really unecessary. And the other fifty-gagillion after the secound foundation are even more so.
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
Everyone
Robots can fall in love!
Joking aside, this was my first Foundations book and I thought it was very provoking.
Joking aside, this was my first Foundations book and I thought it was very provoking.
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Read in November, 2008
In the year 12,020, Hari Seldon is a mathematican who can predict the future by his psychohistory. Meanwhile, Emperor Cleon I and his chief of staff, Eto Demerzel, want Seldon to bring in his achievement. Seldon is not sure that Sire will use the prediction for good purposes. Because of lack of knowledge about mathematics, Sire is not easy to understand what Seldon explains. Hari Seldon asks himself one question that" if the Emperor took it into his head that he had been made to play the ...more
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Read in February, 2007
A good idea, but Asimov gets stuck in a rut and his world can't develop too much.
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Read in June, 2008
Prelude is hard to describe if you haven't read the basic Foundation trilogy, at least. But, it's all about Hari Seldon. This is fascinating in and of itself, because Seldon is a VERY prominent figure in the Foundation books, even though he's not actually in it (except, I think, the first chapter of the first book he gets a few lines. Then it jumps ahead in time very fast). Seldon is almost a legendary figure, held in reverence for inventing psychohistory (a method of using mathematic...more
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This is the first of two prequels to the Foundation trilogy. The second is Forward the foundation. It follows the path of Hari Seldon from when he has delivered his paper on psychohistory at Trantor through the period known as the Flight. At first, Hari believes his discovery to be purely academic, and that, like many things of a heavily computational nature, too difficult to put into practice. The Flight placesHari in several disparate cultural and political situations on Trantor, resulting in ...more
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It was nice to see Asimov finally start varying his characters a little more. Not only was the hero actually a flawed character this time, but the hero was of course the (later) near deified Seldon. I was very pleasantly surprised to see he wasn't cast into the same mold of so many of his other heroes later in the series (quiet, introspective man with an uncanny sense for social subtleties and a near infallible sense of intuition). It still felt a little clumsy though, Seldon was still treate...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2008
My first Asimov novel & a very compelling story line. Basically, since I saw a free copy on the paperback swap shelf at the library, I decided to jump into the mega-praised Foundation series with "Prelude," despite it not being part of the ultra-praised trilogy, as a prequel (therefore, potentially spoiling the impact of the plot presented in the actual series). But I was not a bit disappointed with this book, despite the hype. If the trilogy is even better (I'm trying not to get m...more
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Read in May, 2008
Hari Seldon begins devoping his "psychohistory" theory in this prelude to the famous "Foundation" trilogy (which as grown to many more than 3 books).
Seldon ends up being pursued by a number of forces who would like to exploit his theory for their own benefit, taking our main character through a variety of societies. Asimov again works his magic with creating intriguing environments for his characters to play in.
Asimov had a number of logical twists at the end of the ...more
Seldon ends up being pursued by a number of forces who would like to exploit his theory for their own benefit, taking our main character through a variety of societies. Asimov again works his magic with creating intriguing environments for his characters to play in.
Asimov had a number of logical twists at the end of the ...more
Read in January, 2008
Isaac Asimov. The man has published 390 books in his lifetime. You might be thinking with so many books how can any of them be any good? Well having only ready a handful myself I can't speak for most of them. However "Prelude to Foundation" is a fine read. Not cutting edge in the scifi genre but a solid novel. The Foundation Series is really one of the classics of SciFi, with the first three novels in the series being written many many years before. This one does well adding to ...more
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
People who already have background in the Foundation series.
I was a bit disappointed in Prelude to Foundation. I originally read the Foundation series first, and then read Prelude later as it was published later. I then re-read the series in chronological order, starting with Prelude and going forward. I would not recommend this latter method. Prelude moves very slowly and not much happens. It serves better as background information for the Foundation enthusiast who has already read the rest of the series. For people being introduced to Asimov, I'd...more
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Read in January, 2008
Very interesting perspective on human psychology and the ability to use human nature as a way to predict future events on a global scale. It takes the idea of how trends, mostly large scale, continue to reappear and uses the evolution, or in some cases deevolution, of human civilization to show how not all advancements progress society forward.
Good introduction to the series, but the style does differ greatly from the earlier portions of the series due to Asimov writing this book so much la...more
Good introduction to the series, but the style does differ greatly from the earlier portions of the series due to Asimov writing this book so much la...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Asimov/sci-fi fans
So I finally made it: I have read one of the quintessential books of the science-fiction genre. I've finished the first of seven books in the Foundation series. While it wasn't as magnificently Earth-shattering as I had hoped, it was still a darn good read. Impressively satisfying ending, but with an unusually slow-paced latter half, this book showed Asimov's typical emphasis on logic and conversation (preferred to emotions/romance and action). It's amazing how clearly defined his character...more
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Read in October, 2008
It took me about two and a half months to read this book. It's the first Asimov book I've read, and I kept thinking to myself 'how can he be so popular when his writing is so boring and dialogue so ridiculous.' I have never read or heard the words 'actually' and 'frankly' so much in my life. I did finally finish it. The story was ok. I asked my brother who has read a lot of Asimov if this book was typical of his writing and he assured me it wasn't. I will actually try another... but if it's even...more
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Read in April, 2008
This book is really more for people who are fans of Asimov's Foundation, Robot, or Emprire series. But I think it works tolerably in own right. I will also say that it grew on me as I read it, and I rated it much higher at the end than I would have had a stopped reading before I got there. I think Asimov really excels at the short story, and I think that that style and punch sometimes shows through into his longer works. There are a few slight things that would make me hesitate to recommend ...more
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Although this was written after the Foundation Series, I think that it is greater than all the other books. If you are familiar with Asimov, you will know many of his writings on robots and future societies. This book creates an amazing world where robots are indistinguishable from humans, where the capability to predict the future is discovered and sets the stage for the Foundation series where this prediction becomes a religion and a power of its own. If you like Sci-Fi and if you like Asim...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
scifi lovers
This prequel to Asimov's Foundation Series is pretty fun, but is not like the rest of the series. It explores a non-apocalypic super-populated earth, by following the adventures of a mathematician whose theories eventually save humanity. The rest of the series works with large themes by moving too quickly through time and touching on too many characters - but for those who like more technical scifi, you might like it. I didn't, so much. Couldn't get through the first book in the series - a r...more
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