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nerdkitten's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and War
bergha1998's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this book from the first few chapters. There is something about the writing and how the story unfolded that was just perfect for my brain. I loved the characters and their experiences. The unfolding of it all at the end was wonderful. Just an absolutely incredible read.
Sci-Fi, Good & Evil, Philosophical Discussions
“But it seemed so likely to him that on every world the earliest histories were medleys of self-serving heroisms and minidramas that were meant as morality plays and were not to be taken literally.”
“If we are always to draw back from change with the thought that the change may be for the worse, then there is no hope at all of ever escaping injustice.”
Sci-Fi, Good & Evil, Philosophical Discussions
“But it seemed so likely to him that on every world the earliest histories were medleys of self-serving heroisms and minidramas that were meant as morality plays and were not to be taken literally.”
“If we are always to draw back from change with the thought that the change may be for the worse, then there is no hope at all of ever escaping injustice.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, and Murder
laurao's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I enjoyed this book even more the second time through.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism
vcriveros's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I grew up loving science fiction but I never clicked with Asimov's works. A friend recommended me this book and so I decided to give it a try, and holy shit, I loved it. Granted, the writing is not stylistically the best, but on the bright side, it's straight forward enough that for someone as me, for whom English is not their first language, it was easy enough to follow, working in my favour to help me focus on the plot.
I found Hari Seldon unlikable at first, to the point I had a couple of false starts before managing to get past the first fifty pages. Seldon is not only a bit naive but also plain and stubborn, with too much of a hero's complex that's frankly hilarious at times. This plainness ends up working well in the book, allowing more space for the plot and the intricacies of Trantor's politics, instead of focusing too much in the character development. You end up begrudgingly follow Sheldon's journey, and slowly growing fond of him. I loved the other characters, but they are all a bit unidimensional, which makes sense in the book and Asimov's style.
Halfway through the book I found myself really enjoying it, but it was the ending what stole my heart and makes me give it five stars. I haven't read the foundation main series to know all the implications of the ending, but within the book, it works really well. The plot twists are well forshadowed, so you can put some of the pieces together, but the whole picture still surprised me.
The book holds well enough to the passage of time, with some female characters that play important roles, and some reflections about sexism and the patriarchy, and classism and exclusion that are nuanced enough.
All in all, a fun read, with enough depth to pack some punch when it comes to the questions about humanity, development and power, and characters that work well enough in the context of the book.
I found Hari Seldon unlikable at first, to the point I had a couple of false starts before managing to get past the first fifty pages. Seldon is not only a bit naive but also plain and stubborn, with too much of a hero's complex that's frankly hilarious at times. This plainness ends up working well in the book, allowing more space for the plot and the intricacies of Trantor's politics, instead of focusing too much in the character development. You end up begrudgingly follow Sheldon's journey, and slowly growing fond of him. I loved the other characters, but they are all a bit unidimensional, which makes sense in the book and Asimov's style.
Halfway through the book I found myself really enjoying it, but it was the ending what stole my heart and makes me give it five stars. I haven't read the foundation main series to know all the implications of the ending, but within the book, it works really well. The plot twists are well forshadowed, so you can put some of the pieces together, but the whole picture still surprised me.
The book holds well enough to the passage of time, with some female characters that play important roles, and some reflections about sexism and the patriarchy, and classism and exclusion that are nuanced enough.
All in all, a fun read, with enough depth to pack some punch when it comes to the questions about humanity, development and power, and characters that work well enough in the context of the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Violence
tachyondecay's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
There must be some law about how, the longer an author is allowed to play in their sandbox, the worse their stories get. At some point, every author who has a long-spanning saga feels encouraged to go back and fill in gaps in the chronology, creating that wonderful dichotomy of possible reading experiences: publication order and chronological order. L.E. Modesitt’s Recluce saga is one of the most notable modern examples. Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series is a classic. Prelude to Foundation is one of the last Foundation stories Asimov wrote, yet it is chronologically the earliest. It is in many ways a great folly yet it also shows Asimov’s abiding love for a genre that he nurtured and helped kickstart into a thriving industry. I am starting to think Asimov himself is very much like this book: he should not be overlooked, but when you do look at him, he isn’t all that great.
Hari Seldon arrives on Trantor to give a talk at a conference. He speaks of a glimmer of an idea—psychohistory—and this is enough to get the attention of Galactic Emperor Cleon I. After a disappointing audience with the emperor, Hari thinks he is on his way home to Helicon. Instead, he is swept up by a journalist who is obviously so much more into a whirlwind adventure, touring various sectors of Trantor while under the protection of a love/lust interest, Dors. As Hari and Dors flee from sector to sector, experiencing each one’s diverse culture and customs, Hari considers whether predicting the future of humanity is indeed mathematically practical. The answer seems to lie in a common theme that arises throughout these novels: the forgotten origin of humanity, and the truth behind Earth and robots.
Frankly, as a novel, this book makes sense in many respects. Yet in some ways I miss the early Foundation novels that were compilations of shorter novellas. Working at that length, Asimov had reason to keep his plots crisp. Prelude to Foundation feels too long for all it accomplishes, too prone to filler. It is the indulgence of an author so established in his career that he gets a pass when it comes to editing.
In previous reviews of this series, I have tackled Asimov’s writing style as well as his relentless and gross male gaze. The latter is still present here, although I am pleased to report someone told him to tone it down. Sexism lurks beneath subtly undermined attempts to portray societies here as equal. Hari and Dors’ story is obviously one of those romances where the characters start at odds yet, as they overcome bigger struggles, they grow to love one another. Hari is just as much of a dog as the other Asimov protagonists; he just doesn’t have as much opportunity to put this into practice given the predicaments of plot.
In terms of big concepts, Prelude to Foundation is probably, at this point in the publication order of the series, Asimov’s most honest attempt to explain the nature of psychohistory. Up until now, he has handwaved it as incredibly complex mathematical formulas that only really really really smart people can know how to do. This book humanizes Hari in a way that the previous books couldn’t, and we come to see how fraught the early days of psychohistory were. And thus comes Asimov’s big idea, exemplified by the role of Chetter Hummin, this idea that it could be possible to guide humanity to a better future. Writing this in the late 1980s, having lived so long a life already and experienced so much of the tumultuous twentieth century, with its technological upheavals, I can bet that Asimov more than ever wished psychohistory could be science fact rather than science fiction. And the power hungry nature of those who would abduct Hari to use him for their own ends underscores this belief. For Asimov, psychohistory is the ultimate triumph of human ingenuity over human atavism: if we can predict and guide humanity in a way that overrides the follies of flawed individuals, we will be better. We will evolve.
I am close to the end of my re-read of the series. I intend to stop with Forward the Foundation; I don’t plan at this time to read any of the estate-authorized works, nor do I feel compelled to dive into the rest of Asimov’s oeuvre. I’m glad I embarked on this project, but my opinion of Asimov remains decidedly mixed. On one hand, he is so overrated. On the other, as noted above, his works contain a true genius of hopefulness about humanity, a commitment to writing science-fiction stories that show us ways forward beyond our own single world.
In my last review of this series, I will discuss how I feel about Asimov’s place overall in the canon of science fiction. For now, know this: Prelude to Foundation is a valuable insight into the final era of one of the most prolific science-fiction writers of the twentieth century. Given that, it would be, if it came from any other writer, a profound disappointment of a novel.
Originally posted at Kara.Reviews.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexism
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