E-book
Foundation / Isaac Asimov.
For twelve thousand years, the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future -- to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire -- both scientists and scholars -- and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation. But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. Mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and be overrun -- or fight them and be destroyed.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780553900347
- ISBN: 055390034X
- Physical Description: 1 online resource (244 pages).
- Edition: Bantam hardcover ed.
- Publisher: New York : Bantam Books, 2004, ©1951.
Content descriptions
- General Note:
- First title in series to be published. Third title in series chronologically.
- Source of Description Note:
- Print version record.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Seldon, Hari (Fictitious character) > Fiction.
Seldon, Hari (Fictitious character)
Life on other planets > Fiction.
Space warfare > Fiction.
Psychohistory > Fiction.
Science Fiction.
FICTION > General.
Life on other planets.
Psychohistory.
Space warfare. - Genre:
- Science fiction.
Fiction.
Science fiction.
Science fiction.
Electronic books.
Search for related items by series
Other Formats and Editions
Electronic resources
- LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews
Asimov began the seminal future history series dubbed "Foundation" in the late 1940s with Foundation, Foundation Empire, and Second Foundation (books three, four, and five, respectively) and came back to it in the 1980s (Foundation Edge, etc.), posthumously polishing it off with Forward in 1993. Though written last, Forward is placed second in the seven-book* series and centers on Hari Seldon (many think this character mirrors Asimov himself) who created psychohistory, "a mathematical way of analyzing human society that ends by predicting the future." After ruining a villainous, anti-Imperial plot on planet Trantor, the charismatic and, as they say in Boston, "wikked smaht" Seldon becomes First Minister to Emperor Cleon I. While Seldon escapes an assassination attempt, Cleon doesn't, which puts Seldon out of a job. Subsequently, Seldon continues working with psychohistory; his physical aging and the loss of his loved ones mirror the regression of universal civilization and foreshadows the fall of the Galactic Empire that Asimov chronicled in book one. Dialog frequently carries the plot and action, and characters sometimes seem a little stiff since the books are so concerned with societal change. An especially lucid writer, Asimov is classed in nine of the ten DDC ranges (he missed the 100s). He's called The Grand Master for a reason. Dude factor: Best. Sideburns. Ever. (See LJ's original review.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.