Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov

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This is our Classic SciFi Novel discussion of....


Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov
(1994)

[David]

I read this novel when it was first published in 1988 having read the original Foundation trilogy in the early 70's when I first started reading the genre.
It's good to return for a re-read after so many years. I'm finding it an easy read and I think will progress to read the whole Foundation sequence of novels.

[Deeptanshu]

The foundation series was my introduction to sci fi as a young child and as such will always hold a special place in my heart. i loved this book then and have read innumerable times since.

[Phil]

I started reading the Foundation series about 20 years ago. I got really into it and read nearly all of the Robot/Empire/Foundation sequence of books. I was saving the this one and Forward the Foundation for last when I read Foundation and Earth. I was so disgruntled after that one that I put the Foundation prequels on the back burner.

I'm into the swing of this one, though. When Asimov works well, I enjoy following his chains of ideas to see where they will go. I'm enjoying many of the ideas here.

I'm about 70% through the book. I read in a review that not all the characters are who they seem to be, so I'm entertaining myself by guessing who is working under cover.

I'm also waiting to see how tightly Asimov ties this in to the Robot novels. One of my complaints about Foundation and Earth and Robots and Empire is that he was trying so hard to tie other books together that he forgot to tell a worthwhile story in the process.

[Phil]

So, here's the cover of the first Foundation book I read:


Does anyone else feel a bit weird reading about Hari Seldon as a young man instead of an aged hologram? Or, as Asimov puts it: "To anyone in later times who knew of Hari Seldon only as a legendary demigod, it would seem almost sacrilegious for him not to have white hair, not to have an old lined face, a quiet smile radiating wisdom, not to be seated in a wheelchair." (p. 6)

[Catherine]

This is the first of this series that I've read. I know, that sounds almost heretical in this group, but I've stuck with mainly fantasy over sf until now. Started this today on audio and am really getting into it. Had to do some "driveway listening" as i wanted to find out what happened next. I am only in the beginning, but i think this is one book i'm really going to enjoy.

[Brendan]

This was sadly not one of my favourite Asimov books. I actually enjoyed Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth but this one not so much. This almost felt like a "fix-it" novel to address people that criticized psychohistory as basically being magic, perhaps?

[Phil]

Catherine wrote: "Had to do some "driveway listening""

Ha ha, I've been there. When I'm in the car, I'm usually with my wife and two small kids, so we have to be pretty into it to do "driveway listening."

[Phil]

Brendan wrote: "This was sadly not one of my favourite Asimov books. I actually enjoyed Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth but this one not so much. This almost felt like a "fix-it" novel to address people..."

I'm at about 80%, and i can't wait to finish so that I can properly compare this to other Foundation books. I have to say, though, I was already really frustrated by this point of F&E.

What did you dislike about Prelude to Foundation? I admit it has its flaws, but it's still a solid Asimov book so far.

[Sarah]

The breadth of space and time is very impressive in the Foundation series. There is a very real sense of following a history. Forward and Prelude are different in that they follow the career of Hari Seldon. Of the two, I much prefer Prelude. In fact, I believe that Prelude could be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel.

[Phil]

Sarah wrote: "The breadth of space and time is very impressive in the Foundation series."

The scope was my favorite thing about Prelude. I liked all the different mini-cultures on Trantor that shared living conditions and certain lifestyle elements but went in completely different directions sociologically. It's a pet peeve of mine when SF writers have one culture or ethnicity for an entire planet. Humans have a lot more diversity in a single continent than most writers give to entire alien planets.

How did you feel about the characters? I found some of them a bit hard to take.

[Kevin]

I think the Foundation and Robot novels should be read in publication order not chronological order because the ending of the Prelude ties both Foundation and Robot novels because of what happened in the last two Robot novels.

I kind of wish I read the two previous Robot novels first so that the ending would not have been as twisted, and might have seen and understood the ending much better.

[Phil]

Kevin wrote: "I think the Foundation and Robot novels should be read in publication order not chronological order because the ending of the Prelude ties both Foundation and Robot novels because of what happened ..."

Kevin, I agree on going by publication order. Even though this book stands fine on its own, I think readers would enjoy it more after the other ones.

First of all, I love nearly everything Asimov did in the 50s and hate most of what he did in the 80s, so publication order would front-load the good books in your reading experience.

Second, there is some foreshadowing about later Foundation novels in the last chapters of Prelude that would make more sense if you've already read them. Maybe newer readers don't mind some mysterious foreshadowing at the end of a book; I can't say.

[Kevin]

My point was weather or not this would be enjoyable, it was the fact that this book along with the previous 2 all had pretty big plot twists at the end. That makes it not fun when you are reading the earlier books, aseptically the Robot novels.

[Catherine]

This is the first time I've read any of the Foundation/Robot books and I'm enjoying Prelude. I've got it on audio and was curious about something. The language is fairly formal, almost stilted, and the vocabulary is formal as well. Is this the way Asimov wrote all his novels or is it because he wanted these characters to sound more formal? The dialogue is especially stilted at times; I know very few people who would speak the way his characters do.

[Sarah]

Phil wrote: "How did you feel about the characters? I found some of them a bit hard to take."

Phil, It has been awhile since I read the books. I made the mistake of reading Forward before Prelude, so some of it was not a surprise. I agree about the different cultures.

[Phil]

Catherine wrote: "This is the first time I've read any of the Foundation/Robot books and I'm enjoying Prelude. I've got it on audio and was curious about something. The language is fairly formal, almost stilted, and..."

Hee hee hee

Do you mean when a thug calls Hari Seldon a "motherlackey," or do you mean when Seldon greets a woman by saying, "I seem to have been staring, but I'm only trying to evaluate you." (p. 72)

Asimov is well-known for the formality of his dialogue, and for the awkwardness of his romantic scenes. Personally, I kind of enjoy the familiar sense of an awkward Asimov moment the same way I enjoy my dad's getting his proper nouns mixed up. It's just part of something I like and I roll with it. Other people find them annoying, though.

[Brendan]

Prelude is from late in Asimov's career, earlier Foundation books have less realistic dialogue.

[Catherine]

Thanks for you input. I figured Asimov is simply more formal in his dialogue. I may not notice it that much if reading it, but listening to it on audio really emphasize how formal his dialogue is! It's not getting in the way of my enjoying the story; it just becomes one of the quirks of the book.

[Adrian]

Re-reading this great book, was like sitting in a favourite comfortable armchair, it was just so wonderful to be be back in the Seldon universe.
I first read the Foundation trilogy many moons ago, and have enjoyed every read since, especially as new books were added, and the Robot novels gradually merged through the Empire novels to the Foundation.
I have seen some thoughts that you should NOT read the books in chronological order but in published order, personally I think that once you know the novels so well then it's best to read chronologically as it makes more sense and nothing is spoiled as you know the stories anyway. And what great stories, far ranging and so imaginative, the very best of soap opera and science fiction.
The best series of books in my view, or maybe on a tie with Tolkein's Hobbit and LOTR, depending on my mood.
Unfortunately it now means that I'm stuck in the Foundation universe and have already started Forward the Foundation

[Phil]

I'm stuck in the Foundation universe and have already started Forward the Foundation"

How does that one stack up against Prelude?

[Adrian]

Phil wrote " Adrian wrote "I'm stuck in the Foundation universe and have already started Forward the Foundation"

How does that one stack up against Prelude? "

Well if my memory serves me right, it's not quite as good as Prelude, but is a good stepping stone to the main course of the original trilogy, so still enjoyable.

[Phil]

OK, I have a specific question that comes from the "Wye" section, about 3/4 of the way through the book.

(view spoiler)[ An officer confronts Hari, Dors, and Raych. He aims a weapon at Raych. Dors prepares to stab him. It's a tense moment. Suddenly, Hari jumps in the middle and resolves the violent situation by arguing semantics. Did you, as a reader, revel Asimov's elevation of logic over violence, or did you feel robbed of an action scene? (hide spoiler)]

[Catherine]

Alright, my audio version has to be returned in a day or two so i borrowed the print from my father. I would really like to more in this series but I'm getting confused about the sequencing. Any suggestions about what to read next? What part of this large multi-series should I work on?

[Sarah]

Catherine wrote: "Alright, my audio version has to be returned in a day or two so i borrowed the print from my father. I would really like to more in this series but I'm getting confused about the sequencing. Any su..."

I would read Foundation next. Forward tells more about Hari Seldon's life, but in my opinion it is weaker than Prelude. It doesn't tell you anything that you need to know before reading Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation.

While all the action in Prelude takes place over a few months, Forward covers the rest of Seldon's life. So it is more of an overview and just didn't pull me in as much as Prelude.

[Sarah]

For some reason I keep calling Forward, Introduction.

[Brendan]

I agree with what Sarah says, and also Forward spoils some elements from earlier (publishing order) books, so I'd do the original trilogy (Foundation, Foundation & Empire, 2nd Foundation) before going back to Forward. Publishing order is the way to go here!

[Catherine]

Thanks for the help! I appreciate your suggestions. As it is, I can borrow these books from family, so it won't cost me anything to keep going!

[Adrian]

@ Phil from 3 days ago - I wholeheartedly agree with your second interpretation of events.

@ Catherine - I commented on what I'm reading next 4 days ago, and that is Forward the Foundation but I also said that was because I have read all the Empire/Robot/Foundation novels many times before so it doesn't spoil anything for me and I prefer to read them all in the order they are set, not written. That said if you are new to the Seldon universe then there is no right or wrong answer as "Forward" is probably the weakest. Just enjoy them all, I hope, as much as I always do.

[Phil]

Follow-up question for people who finished the book: How many of the surprises did you see coming? Which identities did you guess? Here's my scorecard:

(view spoiler)[
Hummin=Demerzel. Saw it coming. There's no way a journalist would be that omnipotent. Also the absence of Demerzel anytime Hummin showed up had a very Clark Kent/Superman vibe.

Dors is a robot. Called this one, too. I would have been upset if she turned out to be human, because I totally didn't buy her as a human character.

Hummin=Daneel Olivaw. I considered this one, but decided against it because I thought two robots in one book would be silly. (Why did I think that? Not sure.)

Trantor is a microcosm of the universe and the basis for psychohistory. Didn't see it coming. I predicted that a robot would contain enough objective memory to use as a sample size. You win this one, Asimov.

So I got 2 out of 4, or 2 1/2 out of four because I at least considered Daneel/Hummin. (hide spoiler)]