Prelude to Foundation is chronologically the first novel in Asimov's Foundation series. Hari Seldon has just introduced his theory of psychohistory to the public on Trantor and is now sought after for his potential to one day mathematically predict the future. In this book we learn much about the Imperial home planet of Trantor and the time period of the beginning of the Empire's decline. I haven't yet read the rest of the Foundation series but I'm looking forward to it, the more so after this enjoyable start.

Since Prelude was written many years after the original Foundation trilogy, Asimov chose to tie in a few plot elements from the four-book Robot series and the old Empire trilogy. In fact, a major character from the Robot series also shows up here in a marvelous twist at the end of the book! Having recently read both the Robot and Empire series, I feel that Asimov did a wonderful job considering that something like 20,000 years have passed since the time setting of the Robot series. I highly recommend reading the Robot novels before you start Prelude.

Prelude describes "The Flight" period of Seldon's life during which he was hiding from the Emperor Cleon I to prevent psychohistory from falling into the wrong hands (or so he thinks). This book is quite difficult to put down and the 400+ pages flew by for me in less than two weeks, which is unusual given how much time I usually devote to sci-fi. The ending has a couple great surprises in store for you, just make sure you don't peek!

In 1988, Asimov published a prequel to his famous Foundation series. He also uses this book to continue to tie in other novels that he had already written, most notably all of the robot stories, particularly involving R. Daneel Olivaw and Lije Baley, as well as "Pebble in the Sky" (1950) (in fact, in such a larger scheme, "Prelude to Foundation" follows "Pebble in the Sky" and precedes "Forward the Foundation" (1993)). In this novel, he finally uses Hari Seldon as a main character. A young assistant professor of mathematics, Hari Seldon, travels to the planet Trantor (the governing planet of the galactic empire) to present a paper at a convention on a new field he has begun referred to as psychohistory. In his paper, Seldon suggests that it might be theoretically possible to develop mathematical equations and techniques of analyses to predict, with strong statistical analysis, future events of human history on a broad scale (in which the discipline only is applicable to extremely large numbers of people). Asimov provides some hints that this field might use chaos theory as well, although he never uses that term. Seldon also believes that, while theoretically possible, it isn't practical. There are those, however, who believe that the galactic empire is collapsing and hope to use a developed psychohistory theory to help direct human society. Seldon finds himself running from the Emperor's agents and hiding in various different enclaves throughout the planet Trantor, and thus learning more and more about Trantor (those reviewers who criticize this trek are obviously missing its importance in the greater scheme of the series). He is attempting to find a smaller model of galactic populations that would allow him the ability to develop his theory. There are legends that tens of thousands of years ago, man had lived on only one planet: Earth. He is hoping to find some historical evidence for Earth and, in so doing, he discovers some surprising facts and events. I am probably unusual in that I enjoyed this book the most in the series. Perhaps its because I also live in an academic environment and see many similarities to Hari's problems. Asimov was obviously drawing on his own experiences.

This is the first Foundation-novel I read. After finishing it, I immediately went to the bookstore to buy 10 other Asimovs, which should say enough.. . . The galaxy sketched by Asimov is so colorfull and realistic, one is driven to read the entire book at once. Each department of Trantor has its own characteristics, just like each culture on our tiny 'Aurora'. The problems created by these differences are parallel to 'ours' as well. As I recognised the Big Galactic Problems Asimov adresses in this book in our modern society, I was curious to see the development of the special solution Hari Seldon tried to find for them. You can recognise the scientist in Asimov, when Hari Seldon is asking himself questions about the development of his psychohistory. I was very curious about the answers lined out in the following novels. Furthermore, I was fascinated with the idea of our Earth transformed into a mere legend, and the unexplainable 'Easterns' and 'Westerns' spread into the vast galaxy. Last but not least, the plot was very surprising. Asimov tricked me into some wrong ideas the entire novel. I am reading 'Foundation and Empire' now, and I'm still totally obsessed with it, so I recommend this series to everyone who likes SF-novels as well as social sciences.

Caves of Steel is one of Asimov's best books (well, truthfully the same can be said of every Asimov book I've read). As Asimov does so well, the book is written on multiple levels and they are all interesting and engaging.

At first glance, we have Elijah Bailey, the earther, a New Yorker of the future who lives in the vast underground city. Bailey is a cop put on the case of a murdered Spacer (those humans who have settled other planets). Bailey is teamed with another investigator R. Daneel Olivaw who we find out later, is a robot.

More than just your basic whodunit, this book deals with larger issues of the differences between people that keep them in fear and mistrust of each other. The Spacers who have embraced the outside world, who have embraced technology and robotics live in fear of the humans who stayed on earth. Those humans who live in extremely close contact with each other in teeming underground cities as they've all developed a fear of the open sky. The earthers loathe the Spacers for their superiority complex and the Spacers fear contamination from the earthers.

Bailey must overcome these inbred fears and bigotries when he must travel off planet with his partner, a robot, to deal with and solve a murder of a Spacer. Olivaw (who is a recurring character in many Asimov books) sort of becomes Bailey's moral compass and our guide through the physical and emotional journey Bailey takes.

The book is a quick read and it's good old sci fi at its best. I recommend also reading "The Naked Sun" and "The Robots of Dawn" which also feature Bailey and Olivaw.

This is one of Asimov's best science fiction novels. The description of New York, in a future where Earth's cities are built underground (for fear of attack from other planets colonised by humans), is totally convincing. The people of Earth are agorophobic and live in standardised, basic conditions due to overpopulation and scarcity of resources. Asimov's description is fascinating. The novel also deals with robots in detail, according to Asimov's famous Three Laws which govern their behaviour. Asimov writes some very interesting speculation on robot psychology and attitude towards humans, and their attitude towards the robots. This novel really shows Asimov's talent for writng intelligent science fiction and plausible future history. It is mainly a mystery story, and althogh I haven't read many detective novels, I thoght it was well written and the ending was surprising. Before reading this novel, I would recommend reading Asimov's short stories dealing with robots. These deal with the early development of robots, and make what happens in this book clearer. 'The Caves of Steel' is followed by more Robot novels, and then the Galactic Empire and Foundation novels. You should read the whole series, but make sure you read them in order. Like all of Asimov's novels, this book has a clever plot and is very thought provoking. A must if you're a serious science fiction fan.

Asimov, one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time, shows a world of the future filled with political and technological conflicts between earthlings and the Spacers - people from outside planets.

This book works in two ways. It gives an excellent picture of the future, while also presenting a great murder mystery. From pedestrian highways, planet colonies, robot-human conflict, to over-population, the future is presented in a way that relates to modern society and modern problems. This gives the reader a greater understanding of the setting compared to most other books.

The mystery itself is also very intriguing. Who killed the Spacer? Would the human looking robot be accepted by his partner? What were the political ramifications of this murder? All these problems become apparent throughout this book, and makes the book even more interesting as you read along.

I highly recommend this book, as it is one Asimov's finest.

This final installment of Asimov's classic Foundation trilogy contains all of the excitement and subterfuge of a well-played game of chess. Actually, in this book, you get two games for the price of one, since the book consists of two novellas detailing the search for the ellusive Second Foundation.

If you've read the first two books in the series, you know that there was a man named Seldon who had a plan to save our future society from a long cold winter of discontent. Then came along an unpredicted rogue element, the mysterious Mule, the perfect monkey wrench to foul up Seldon's works.

In the first novella of this book, the Mule uses his emotion-controlling abilities to search for the Second Foundation. This section is very tightly plotted and there are enough well placed zigs and zags along the way to keep you addictively turning the pages.

The second novella deals with the search by the First Foundation for its shadowy twin. Here Asimov introduces Arkadia Darell, a precocious 14-year old girl who has the ability to out-wit most of the adults around her. I only wish Asimov had spent more of the story with her, because I thought she was probably the most interesting character in the book, along with the Mule. The tightness of plotting in this second novella is probably twice that of the first. The suspense and tension just builds and builds until you don't think you can take it much more. If you're a slow reader, like I am, you'll find that the need to find out what happens will make you into a fast one.

I don't think "Second Foundation" is a perfect book, so I hesitate to give it five stars, but it definitely is a very good, very entertaining book. Having read the entire original trilogy now, I'd say most of the same strengths and weaknesses apply to all three books. Asimov is clearly a master of "the great idea". I love the whole concept of Psychohistory and the Seldon plan and the Seldon crises. He's an excellent story-teller in terms of knowing how to turn the tuning pegs of his plot until the strings are so tight that they sing every time a light breeze blows through.

I'd say Asimov's one weakness is in the writing of his characters. It's sort of ironic that in this trilogy all about the psychology of human motivation there would be relatively little psychological subtext to the characters. We never get to know many of the characters much more than from skin-level. I felt I never really identified with any of the characters in a truly human way.

I don't mean to be overly critical of this one aspect of the trilogy. I still think they're very very good books and in fact feel that Asimov's purpose was to draw attention away from the individual characters. As Seldon himself repeatedly says, there's no accounting for indiviudal behavior. I think Asimov knew that his strengths were in analyzing and commenting on humanity as a whole. He's brilliant at that, and his ideas and concepts are terrific. He paints on a wide enough canvas here that the dance of ideas he presents can be appreciated in much the same way that the fine dance of human emotion might be appreciated in the works of other great authors.

This trilogy is a must-read for any lover of science fiction, psychology, or great ideas. It's also good reading for any chess players out there.

Asimov's classic original trilogy comes to a close in this ambitious finale. Here Asimov has really gone over the top with political and intellectual intrigue, which propels the two main plot elements. As with the two previous Foundation novels, there are actually two shorter stories here that take place decades apart. In this installment Hari Seldon's plan gets back on track after being disrupted by the mutant known as the Mule, with the mythical Second Foundation starting to peek out from behind the scenes. Who works for whom, who's a traitor or not, and whether or not the Second Foundation even really exists are all intricately played out by a series of intelligent and conspiratorial characters in relentlessly tangled webs of intrigue. In fact, this book has the most well-defined characters yet to appear in the Foundation series, especially the young Arcadia. The original Foundation saga is wrapped up nicely here as the original trilogy comes to a close. Of course, Asimov's creation is so expansive that there was plenty of room for more speculation and development of the story, leading to the prequels and sequels that Asimov continued to crank out for this classic series.

The last book in this trilogy sees the serch for that elusive Second Foundation Hari Seldon set up before his death.

The rouge superbrained leader The Mule sets off on a journey to find it as well as a cunning and cleaver 14 year old girl Arkadia Darell. A battle of minds takes place and eventually humanity wins out. The victory comes as quite a shock for those who will read it and Hari Seldon's unpredicted crisis is over and the Second Foundation is saved right where he left it, in the Universty campus on the now rusted and tatty world of Trantor.

Having recently purchased a Stratocaster with Marshall amp after years of not playing, I needed a refresher on my chosen instrument. What a wealth of information I found in this fabulously illustrated and organized book.

Once I picked this book up I couldn't put it down. It covers about everything you wanted to know that is related to guitar playing. The author gives you a concise bio of 20 different legendary guitar players, a complete background of guitar manufacturing and specs, guitar playing, maintenance and repair, soundstage and recording. You can jump around to whatever chapter interests you and read it in any order you desire. Every single page is filled with information and no paper is wasted in this book.

I challenge anyone to show me a guitar book that does a better job. I've looked at a lot of them and this one is in a class by itself.

When I first started playing the guitar 2 decades ago, a friend had a copy of an earlier edition of this guide and he gave me the book to use while I was getting started. Using the book, and I mean really reading the book thru thoroughly, I learned a whole lot about the instrument itself and the music that could be produced from the guitar and that really helped my performance as I developed on the instrument.

The book begins with guitar innovators, those guitar players who have had a serious impact on the way the instrument is played, etc. This section was actually fun to read and was quite informative about several guitar players who had influenced my own playing.

The following two sections of the book cover acoustic and electric guitars. These sections detail how each instrument (acoustic and electric) are put together, how to set the action, the various types of each style of guitar, how pick-ups are put together, etc. This is a helpful and technical section which instructs the reader on the ins and outs of the make-up of his instrument.

From here, the book moves into actually playing the instrument. It begins with the beginner, teaching good practicing habits, what to practice, improving fingering, chord progressions, reading tablature, tuning, action, right and left-handed techniques, etc. Then this section moves into chords (with photos), three-chord theory, flatpicking and strumming and other various fingerstyles, barre chords, and even how to transpose songs. Inside this section there is also a sub-section on rhythm guitar, setting tempo, time signatures, using chord charts, time values, etc. Essentially everything you would need to know to be a well rounded guitar player is included (including slide guitar).

The final section deals with the maintenance of the guitar. This section teaches the reader/player all the things that are needed to know about the most difficult maintenance aspects such as how to customize an instrument, to the easiest such as changing your strings. For the electric guitarist, there is a guide to guitar electronics which includes pictures and lists of all the tools you will need, instructions on reading wiring diagrams, actual charts and photos of how an electric guitar is wired, pick-up circuits, etc.

Finally, at the back of the book is a fairly extensive chord dictionary with pictures of how each chord is fingered. This dictionary is very helpful to the player when trying to find the same chord but to know where it is elsewhere on the fret board. Overall, what can I say but that no guitar player, regardless of your experience should be without this definitive guidebook.

This comprehensive book covers EVERYTHING you'd want to know--from famous guitarists to chord theory to amplifier electronics. A complete reference and fun reading as well. From beginner to accomplished, it has something for everyone.

Check out all the descriptions of milestone guitarists and guitar models. The step-by-step tutorial on learning the basics--or simply refer to the book when trying to work out that hard-to-remeber chord fingering. Although this book takes an "encyclopaedia" approach to cataloging everything you'd want to know, the reading is never dry.

With this book, you'll be able to discuss subjects such as your guitar's "action", the first solid-body electric, and alternate tunings like a real pro...

NT

If you are going to read "The Federalist Papers," you must also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers" in order to get the complete picture. Both books cross-reference each other and both are instrumental in understanding how our government was designed and how it was intended to work. In addition to the Papers, this edition also contains the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and an excellent introduction by Charles Kesler.

In a time when each colony had its own "constitution," the Federalists believed in creating one strong centralized government (with one Constitution) that could effectively represent the people. The authors and supporters of the Constitution knew that they could not afford to lose the vote in the state ratifying conventions. In an effort to win over his home state (New York), Alexander Hamilton, with the assistance of James Madison and John Jay, began a collection of 85 essays and published them under the pseudonym of "Publius" (named after one of the founders and heroes of the Roman republic, Publius Valerius Publicola). The Papers, published in 1787 and 1788, analyze and defend the proposed Constitution of the United States.

The Federalists succeeded in winning the colonists' support. But, even though the anti-federalists lost, their ideas were also brilliant and made an important contribution to the history of our government, which is why you should also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers."

This book is a must-read for all Americans. After reading this book, you will have a renewed appreciation and admiration for the wisdom and vision of our founding fathers.

If you are going to read "The Federalist Papers," you must also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers" in order to get the complete picture. Both books cross-reference each other, and both are instrumental in understanding how our government was designed and how it was intended to work. In addition to the Papers, this edition also contains the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and an excellent introduction by Charles Kesler.

In a time when each colony had its own "constitution," the Federalists believed in creating one strong centralized government (with one Constitution) that could effectively represent the people. The authors and supporters of the Constitution knew that they could not afford to lose the vote in the state ratifying conventions. In an effort to win over his home state (New York), Alexander Hamilton, with the assistance of James Madison and John Jay, began a collection of 85 essays and published them under the pseudonym of "Publius" (named after one of the founders and heroes of the Roman republic, Publius Valerius Publicola). The Papers, published in 1787 and 1788, analyze and defend the proposed Constitution of the United States.

Obviously, the Federalists succeeded in winning the colonists' support. But even though the anti-federalists lost, their ideas were also brilliant and made an important contribution to the history of our government, which is why you should also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers."

This book is a must-read for all Americans. After reading this book, you will have a renewed appreciation and admiration for the wisdom and vision of our founding fathers.

I found this book to be one of the best books I ever read. Instead of giving a lay understanding of some of the arguments, I would like to note what I found exceptional about this book: the footnotes. The footnotes of this book gave detailed accounts of historical references made that shed much light on where the arguments were coming from. There is so much to be had from this book that I know I will read it at least five more times. Should be required reading by all Americans.

A number of writers have written about the experience of being a starving artist. Off the top of my head, I can think of William Saroyan, George Orwell and Jack London. Back when I was a starving artist, I read them all. It was research. I had to know how to live, and what not to do. It was serious business.

I came upon Hunger by Hamsun in the stacks of the library where I went to art school. I loved the book because I was living it. I was so used to being hungry that I lived in a continual state of dizziness and visions. People were always asking me if I was anorexic but the truth was the work I found just didn't pay me enough to pay for rent, transportation, and food. The rent and transportation were constants, so I skimped on the food.

What struck me when I was reading all these writers -- Hamsun included -- is that these poverty-stricken writers were all eating steak. When they ate, they ate steak. So for them, either they could eat steak, or they couldn't eat at all.

And most of them only ate in restaurants. Hamsun's character only ate in restaurants. Unbelievable, his hair is falling out because he is starving, and his idea of a meal is eating steak in a restaurant.

What the hell kind of survival skill is this?

Hunger taught me to become a vegetarian and to learn to cook. I could live off a $.79 bag of lentils for two weeks. I lived off a Halloween pumpkin for another two weeks. When I was flush, dinner was a yam. I ate the parts of vegetables other people throw out. When you're hungry, you learn to be inventive. You learn to make do. You learn humility and patience and resourcefulness. You learn to put up with things that you would consider a real drag or beneath you when you were well-fed.

This is not something you see in the books. These guys are dying because they don't learn from their poverty. They're inflexible; they're dying because they can only feed themselves with their art, they can't take day jobs, they can't invent a way to make art and still eat.

Hamsun's book is a morality tale about inflexibility. I don't think he means it as that, but it's what I learned from it. Hamsun's Hunger changed my life. It taught me, you have to learn to invent, or you'll die. And learning to invent is what being an artist is all about.

Here we find the birth of the anti-hero -- Hamsun's protaganist of "Hunger" -- a brilliant and scarcely recognized book. But make no mistake, he is not the anti-hero proudly glorifying his underdog status in the world as we've seen repeatedly throughout the last two centuries. He is not a martyr for the misunderstood eccentric artists of the world. He does not suffer over the far reaching philosophical questions of existence itself. He simply exists in a world that we can relate to. I would contend that men like this really exist; men like Raskolnikov do not. While Dostoevsky feeds on the desire of his reader to project an answer, Hamsun merely mirrors his own experience with honesty and innocence. I am not debating the merit of Dost. at all (he is the superior writer), but expanding upon the hidden attachement we have to characters like these. It's just not an issue for the "Hunger's" protaganist. Here is a man with gifted intelligence for reasoning and the ability to fully comprehend the life he *must* live, but is too shy and bashful to dramatize and romanticize it. He is completely human, living in a world entirely of himself. It is clear that he could make friends and earn a good wage if he chose to. But he does not, not out of the vile contempt for man's vices, but on his own acceptance that this is the man he is. Guilt is the essential problem, not hunger. At over a century old, the novel is a refreshing pleasure to read. The prose is quick without being terse. It is essential reading for anyone interested in a segway into the modernist and avant-garde movement. Not for what Hamsun represents, but for what he doesn't.

exciting, youthful, rebellious - these are the adjectives swimming around in my head when i think of Hunger. If you're a disaffected teenager, read this as a tonic - there is hope, others have been more disaffected before. If you're a disaffected parent, read this as a tonic too - there is hope, others have been more disaffected than your wayward kid.

Underneath the irresistible depression cycle of the hero here is a seriously unnerving compulsion to self-harm and mental instability. It is a novel that demonstrates an incredible ability on the part of the author to invent an original literary device - the loner monologue in this case - and carry it through with utter confidence. Hunger is a very selfish book. It obsesses about its narrator. It is no great piece of literature-as-therapy. It offers no answers to big life questions for the hungry reader, in fact, it is more likely to make you ask questions: about the mind, the "system", capitalism, social boundaries and taboos and, lastly, creativity. This is a debut to be reckoned with.

This was written much later than the original two robot novels, the three Empire novels, and the Foundation trilogy. It and the following book, ROBOTS AND EMPIRE, link the first two robot books with the Empire series and leads up to Foundation.

There are a couple of points easy to miss here. First, psychohistory is first suggested by Dr. Fastolfe, and then advanced by the two robots. Secondly, while there is a mystery involved here, the emphasis is on the future of space exploration and who is going to be in it. The original pioneers into space have become spoiled by their reliance on their robots and no longer have the spirit of adventure necessary to continue further exploration, and yet they are fearful of the idea of generally despised Earth people colonizing planets.

So much indeed is at stake here. For full enjoyment, I suggest reading first the Susan Calvin stories and also "The Bicentennial Man" which are in Asimov's THE COMPLETE ROBOT, and then THE CAVES OF STEEL and THE NAKED SUN, the first two Elijah Bailey & R. Daneel Olivaw novels. And be prepared for this book to be more centered on mankind's future venturing into space than in the mystery element.

Just when you thought the first two books "Caves of Steel" and "The Naked Sun" were as good as Asimov gets, here comes "The Robots of Dawn" and knocks them both down in one blow.

In this novel, a middle aged Detective Elijah Baley sets out on his most defying investigation ever. His journey takes him to the capital of the Spacer Worlds; the planet Aurora, where he is reunited with his old partner R. Daneel Olivaw.

The story has everything that I missed in the first two books, including some romance with the sexy Gladia Delmarre (which Lije was always too cautious about in "The Naked Sun").

Asimov hooks you on the "whodunnit" trail right from the start, and gives you a knock on the head right at the end. Truly spectacular, a work of a genuis.

In this book, Asimov makes Aurora feel like your own world, describing every bit of detail with superb depictions and without a single sense of tediousness. For the first time, the relationship of robots with humans when it comes to sexual intercourse is explored, and how the three laws of robotics handle it.

An absolute MUST read for all those who adored the first two books of the robot series. Isaac Asimov, I personaly salute you.

Although, in this year 2002, I have just recently finished reading The Robots of Dawn directly after its prequel, The Naked Sun, and thus did not have to endure the 25-year wait between the novels as many who read that book when it came out did, I can assume that they, as I, considered it worth the wait. This is a very good novel, indeed. When Asimov first began writing his robot stories in the 40's, the concept itself was relatively new and bold - and, to many, unthinkable. Of course, when this book finally came out, in 1983, robots were no longer a novelty - and the dictations of their behavior had, by then, moved beyond Asimov's original fundamental Three Laws of Robotics. Still, the conflicts in this book, as in virtually all of Asimov's other robot stories, hinge crucially on those Three Laws, and the complications inherent therein. It is amazing that, as much as Asimov had already written on the subject up to that point, he could still come up with new and novel twists relating to them - but he does, indeed, and does so very well here. Although the actual unraveling of the mystery itself, as in The Naked Sun, never quite reaches the peak of intensity and excitement as did the plot of The Caves of Steel (the first novel in this series), this is, nevertheless, a far more ambitious work than the previous two books - not only in length, but also in scope. With this book, Asimov also begins to tie in the Robot series with the Empire and Foundation serieses (as he does in the sequel, Robots and Empire) to create one grand, monumental fictional universe. This is a testament to the skill and unique visionary perspective of one of the greatest fiction - not just science fiction writers - of the 20th century. Anyone who loved The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun will undoubtedly love this further amazing edition to the series.

Unlike the first Foundation book, which was a series of several related but not inter-connected stories, Foundation and Empire contains two longer stories - including one novella. This allows Asimov to flesh out the stories more - add more detail, plot intricacies, and just generally make them more well-written. The first story, The Big and The Little, is not one of the stronger stories as as the Foundation series goes. However, the second story, The Mule, is the masterpiece of the Foundation series. It tells of a muntant, The Mule, who falls outside the scope of Hari Seldon's psychohistory, as one supremely powerful individual. The story is told in almost a detective story fashion (trying to uncover the identity of The Mule), in a similar style to the first two Robot novels. It's quite as suspenseful and involving as Asimov at his best, and it's one of his utmost classics. There's quite a lot of plot tangling and twists, and the ending is a shocker. It's a great twist, and it's not quite a cliffhanger, but it will make you want to definitely read the next book (which is a great one as well.) The whole series comes highly reccommended.

The classic Foundation trilogy continues on pace in this second installment. The first half of this book is rather flat with uninspiring political wrangles and a story of the Empire's last general who is defeated by the Foundation and is never mentioned again. This episode has little effect on the overall flow of the story and is a curious piece of filler in this otherwise strong trilogy. However, the second half of this book, taking place many decades later, more than makes up for it. Here we learn that Hari Seldon's once flawless predictions on the course of humanity throughout the galaxy are starting to break down, because of the passage of huge amounts of time and the introduction of an unforeseen variable. This variable is a mutant known as The Mule, who has strange mental powers that are outside the realm of Seldon's psychohistory and throw his ancient predictions out of whack. Soon both the Foundation and the Empire are in ruins, and barbarism reigns throughout the galaxy. Only the mysterious Second Foundation, which has not been heard from since Seldon's day, can possibly help. Whether or not the Second Foundation can save the galaxy from the dark ages, and whether this is all really a part of Seldon's plan after all, are questions that arise in this book but are not answered. Thus we have an excellent intellectual cliffhanger that gives a great reason to continue to the third installment of the trilogy.

There are two strange occurrences in this book that speak volumes on the time period in which Asimov wrote it, that being the 1940's. First, there is a prominent female character in this book, which was nearly unheard of in the sci-fi of that area. Furthermore, Asimov writes as if this is an amazing occurrence, and other characters are shocked and uncomfortable with this woman's status as an "equal" among the male characters around her. This sure seems strange today. Was Asimov slyly commenting on the state of women's rights back in mid-century, or did he think he was making a grand statement about the future? Either way, the sentiment is oddly outdated and even more oddly takes place in the distant future of humanity, where I would hope things would have progressed. Finally, in the second-to-last line of the book, Asimov inserts a rather sick dirty joke through the use of a sly double entendre (the key word is "mule").. Back in 1952 Asimov probably thought he was making a goofy in-joke to his learned friends that would not be caught by the general public. If that's the case, the joke in question seems extremely silly and predictable today, and brings the book to a close that is rather difficult to take seriously.

In my humble opinion, this is the best Foundation book and the best overall novel that Asimov ever wrote. It's a work of genius! There are two sections of the book. The first is a seemingly typical war story of the conflict between the Galactic Empire, led by a strong emporer and a firebrand general, and the dumb-luck, mediocre leadership of the Foundation. It illustrates how, under the Seldon plan, it is virtually impossible to defeat the Foundation. The second part is just phenomenal. Word spreads of a mighty mutant, the Mule, who is conquering the galaxy with unprecedented mental powers. The Foundation is astonished when they don't beat him;the Mule is the .001% that the Seldon plan left room for and dismissed. The Foundation falls, and only a small group of hopefulls dare to go to the library of Trantor to find the Second Foundation and defeat the Mule. This book has it all;plot twists, philosophy, and colorful, memorable characters. I highly recommend it.

I would like to start by saying that I am a big Asimov fan, and that this is the only novel I have ever read of his which would earn anything under four stars. "Forward the Foundation" takes place about 10 years after "Prelude to Foundation" (which was one of my favorites by the way,) and continues to feature Hari Seldon as he develops his psychohistory. While all the other Robot and Foundation novels offered some unforseen twist or new emphasis, this book did nothing of the kind. The first two stories were fun and interesting and promised to make this at least a four star book, but it was all downhill from there. I grew so board with the reiterated speculations about "lemonade death," that it took me a week to read that one section. Although the epilouge provided a somewhat satisfying (if somewhat predictable) ending, for the most part the entire second half of this book is extremely boring. Another unsatisfying aspect of this book, is that Asimov never even answers all the questions raised at the beginning when the emperor is killed. He asks how could psychohistory ever acount for such random events as that? and then never answers at the end. although you should definitly read this book if you've read the others in the series, you may be disappointed, as I was.

Asimov, in his final book of the classic foundation trilogy, never fails to provide though-provoking reading. In this novel, wea learn of the late life in the infamous Hari Seldon and the people he knew best. The book details his most intimiate times with his closest friends and damily members. Forward Foundation is written in a different style than the other books: it covers many more years, from Seldon's fourties to his death. Forward foundation is the kind of novel that makes one think about all the thing important to him or herself. We learn about the Second Foundation, the reasoning behind it and how it was founded. Faces from previous novels appear in this one as well. The robots from Foundation and Earth and Robots and empire are present. All in all, a wonderful read and the crowning achievment of Asimov's work.

This novel begins eight years after Prelude to Foundation, and it is chronologically the second novel in the seven that Asimov wrote. I think this just might be the best novel Asimov wrote, and it happened to be completed just before his death.

The novel consists of four parts, each separated by about ten years. This is really about Seldon, and the path his life takes. In the first part, many things are simliar to Prelude, the Empire is falling to pieces, an old friend from the Robot series is the person functionally running the empire, and psychohistory is still just a fledgling science. He and his wife, who is his protector (appointed by Daneel Olivaw), have adopted the young boy they encountered in Prelude. The events of this first part see the departure of Daneel, with Seldon being unexpectedly elevated to fill his position.

Part two deals with Seldon's life as a political functionary, running the dying empire while trying to hammer out psychohistory so that he can save humanity. Again, a major character exits the scene, but not quite as one might expect. This results in Seldon exiting politics and focusing solely on his work in part three. Governmental authority has been assumed by the military, and psychohistory is finally able to make some predictions. Hari loses an old friend and his family uncovers a plot to kill someone, they think Hari is the target. While the plot twists a bit in this part are VERY well done, the end is really tragic. This time Hari lost the most important person in the galaxy to him.

In part four, Hari is essentially all alone, with only his granddaughter remaining of all the friends and family he once had. His son and daughter-in-law each meet unfortunate fates, while the capital planet Trantor is now feeling the decay that the empire as a whole has felt for some time. Hari is forced to make some decisions that enable the second foundation to be created, though it also costs him someone dear.

The ending is as one might expect, the death of the great one, as readers of the series would know. He manages to wrap things up in time, at least enough to set things on the track that psychohistory saw fit, and that the second foundation can steer.

I really think this was a story of Asimov himself in many ways. It deals with a brilliant man, recognized as such during his own lifetime, who deals with the loss of his friends and family as he outlives them all. But still he works. And he dies while working. Asimov himself said that he identified with Seldon more than any of his other characters, and after chronicling the life and death of Seldon, Asimov himself died. He is already sorely missed.

The word "robot" comes from Karel Capek's play "R.U.R.," where it refers to automatic laborers of organic origin (i.e., androids). However, the notion of "robot" that exists in the popular consciousness today is due in large part to the writings of Isaac Asimov. Before the short stories that were eventually collected as in this "I, Robot" volume robot stories in Science Fiction pulp magazines in the Frankenstein mode or as ways of delineating the differences between humans and machines. But Asimov reset the genre with his Three Laws of Robotics. The stories that followed explored the logical and narrative possibilities inherent in the apparent contradiction of those laws. The ethical question of whether robots are "human" is not central to these stories; they are clearly machines, but they are so inherently ethical that it is hard not to see some sort of superiority to their existence. After all, their prime directive of preserving of human life and limb in ingrained in their positronic brains; most human beings do not have that stricture any where near being firmly entrenched in their cognitive structures.

The "I, Robot" stories are arranged in a "chronological" order that traces the development of these robots from their primitive origins to their evolutionary destiny, where human beings may well end up being rendered obsolete. Asimov explores the possibilities of his three laws to present us robots that have gone insane, robots that can read minds, and robots that save humanity by taking over to run the world. If you are reading these stories for the second time, which is a fair possibility given that they are Science Fiction classics, then you should pay attention to the subtle differences between the Donovan & Powell stories with those featuring Susan Calvin; it basically comes down to whether Asimov wants to explain things in term of a dialogue or a lecture. Once you have read "I, Robot" be sure to check out the brilliant unproduced screenplay Harlan Ellison wrote from these stories as well as the Asimov robot novels, "The Caves of Steel," "The Naked Sun," and "Robots of Dawn."

When I first read I, Robot, a friend looked at the back of the book and read Asimov's three laws of Robotics. He then said, "So the book's about robots who break the laws." He couldn't have been move wrong. Asimov dosen't follow that easy route. Instead his book is about robots that obey too well. I, Robot is an interesting look into the 'mind' of a computer, and the problems presented in getting a computer to do what you want, safely.

And like most of Asimov, these short stories are presented a combination of mystery and science-fiction. Each story has the reader looking for a solution, and presents a logical and well thought out answer. I, Robot is Asimov map of the future of robotics, and the stumbling stones that will be encountered.

Isaac Asimov was an absolutely brillaint man. And that shows in this amazing compilation of short stories dealing with his most famous creation-the Robot. Not many know that Asimov was actually the first to coin the term "robot" which is now used in common language. I, Robot introduces us to a saga of epic preportions (which spans an AMAZING 14 books!). In the future, the robot has been created. However, these robots must live by three laws.

1. A Robot may not harm a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey a human beings orders, if the order does not conflict with the first law.

3. A robot must protect its own exhistence unless it conflicts with the first two laws.

All robots must follow these laws. Or do they? In this particular compilation, you will read about a robot that does its best to return to its owner, robots that dance on mars, a robot that can read minds, a politician that is accused of being a robot himself, and many more fantastic tales. By this book and it will give you non-stop reading pleasure. And be sure to by the next book in the saga, The Caves of Steel. Which I have reviewed on its page.

This book gets my highest praise available: It is put into the class of Star Wars, Star Trek, 2001, and Ender's Game.