This first entry into the Foundation (2) Trilogy by other authors is a mess. I would not have finished it except that I wanted to read the additional entries in the series. I had read reader reviews before I started this book, so I was prepared for it to have problems.There are three major strands in the story. One is the attempt by the Emperor to nominate Hari as first minister. Cleon knows of Hari's work on psycohistory. This story winds its way through the 578 pages and is a relatively cogent [...]

TLDR: don't bother reading this book. It's bad sci-fi, unnecessarily length, full of a poor story and poor science.I didn't like this book. I tried to like it. I rather enjoy the original Asimov trilogy, but I gave up on finishing Foundation's Fear.Reasons I didn't like the book: 1) Foundation's Fear contains a contrived argument between sims (artificial intelligences) who represent Faith and Reason. Joan of Arc represented Faith, and Voltaire represented Reason.2) Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili [...]

So it took me over a month to get through this disaster of a book, and I ended up skimming some of it just to get through it. If you haven't read the original Foundation books, SPOILER ahead.The entire reason this book exists is to show, in detail, Seldon's ascent from academian to First Minister. There was an almost-interesting sidebar about how another species helped him form his theory of psychohistory. All in all, not a book worth reading.The first part of the book starts out good: it's remi [...]

Benford was given a tough task: trying to flesh out Hari Seldon's conception of psychohistory. Benford's answer is the scientist propaganda of our day: that humanity can be understood more deeply by looking at our simian ancestors. Benford did wrestle somewhat admirably with the idea of the self as a self-organizing, emergent property of the complexity of the brain and with emotions as endemic to all animals. However, Benford is not a very good writer, there were several times when I was simply [...]

How can you write a tribute to one of the greatest works of science fiction by one of the greatest science fiction authors and start out by throwing his physics out the window and replacing them with your own? Don't bother reading this one.

I had not even known about the second Foundation trilogy until last month, when I became an instant fan of the author of the third book in the set — so much so that I purchased that third book after reading complementary comments about it about the Internet, but it occurred to me that it made no sense to read the third book in a trilogy before reading the preceding two, so I sought this one out at the library, despite the fact that I had noticed many of those reviewing comments expressing prai [...]

"is not canon" This book is written in a much different tone than that of Asimov's, and that takes a toll on the feel. By taking the Empire and Robot legacies and projecting onto it, I think Benford creates a distraction from the Asimov universe, not a development or refinement. It leaves me with the same slightly-betrayed feeling as if Turner Classic Movies produced a colorized spinoff called "Casablanca: the Paris years". This book contains complicated mishmashes of ideas and philosophical tre [...]

La saga decae a un punto que no le hubiese deseado jamás ni a mi peor enemigo. Fundación no merecía esto. Y no por Benford, que escribe muy bien, simplemente no es Asimov. Nadie salvo su creador debería tocar una obra. Menos un clásico.

The original series was so much better. I don't know what I don't like about this one: lack of action? or is it the things that the author introduces into this series: like computers, the Mesh, simulations, the theory of psychohistory meh. don't know if I should keep on with the next books in this trilogy.

I've never ready any Greg Benford, so I didn't know what to expect. I found that Greg Benford does not write like Asimov. I also found that that doesn't matter. If you're a fan of Asimov's Foundation series, as I have been since I first read it in high school, you will enjoy this book. It tells the story of how Hari Seldon came to be First Minister of the Empire. There is a lot of interaction between Hari and Dors, which I enjoyed. Bear writes with a playfulness that works well with the story. A [...]

I really failed to get into this book. I understand that Benford wasn't trying to duplicate Asimov's style. It's just that as a work in this series it didn't grab me or add into the arc of the story. The entire aspect of the sims of Voltaire and Joan of Arc was not to my taste. The portrayal of Seldon and Daneel did not live up to the other books in the series even with a large gift of creative room for the author on the part of the reader.Maybe the other "extar books" will be better.

Terrible continuation of the Foundation series. What was the point of this book? I'm still wondering months later. There are so many boring side discussions that have no relevance that I found myself skimming towards the end. The plot never really develops, and although I liked the ending, it left me wondering why Hari didn't just make it happen 400 pages earlier. Thoroughly unenjoyable, even to a big Foundation fan. I hear that the next two (Chaos and Triumph) are good though.

The Seldon sections are pretty decent, but the entire Joan/Voltaire thing is unreadable drivel - my enjoyment of the book increased significantly around 75% in, after I just started skipping all the pieces about them, and I only wish I did this starting with page 1.

Benford leads the trilogy with a smart, philosophic close look at Hari Seldon and the robots that make crucial moves in the Foundation era.

amazingly true to the brand and to the original author. asimover than asimov.

There were so many good ideas in this book, but I couldn't get interested in the plot until I was nearly 3/4 of the way doneen i stayed up all night to finish it.

Vale, puedo perdonar el cambio en las físicas y la tecnología en una interpretación amplia de lo que fue la decadencia del imperio galáctico. Me gusta la idea de un Daneel más manipulador y oscuro. Me gusta la idea del fuego en la pradera y la política de Trantor sea quizás lo más interesante del libro.Pero los simulacros no tienen lugar alguno en esto. De pronto sacan toda esa tontería y me van a decir que los unicos que encuentran son los de ¿Juana de Arco y Voltaire? Es que ni siqui [...]

Cuando Benford se mantiene en la línea de Asimov el libro no está mal, pero creo que la caga al pretender introducir temas propios. Un ejemplo de esto sería el conjunto de capítulos de Voltaire y Juana de Arco, los cuales me parecen muy cansinos y me sacan de la lectura, además de que dan la sensación de pertenecer a una línea argumental metida con calzador. Y ojo, que la idea no es mala, pero no me encaja en esta obra.También esperaba que el autor desarrollara nuevas tramas en vez de re [...]

Just having Foundation in the title can send chills down my spine in anticipation. Unfortunately, Benford seems constrained when writing in Asimov's universe. His strengths are when he moves away from the Trantor created universe. His weaknesses are trying to work with The Empire. Sometimes I enjoy Benford's hard science -- but in a Foundation novel? It just doesn't work, and isn't comfortable to read. Thank goodness the reviews for the next 2 prequels are much stronger -- its the only thing mot [...]

Das Buch inspiriert.Und zieht Dich hinein.Es war noch nicht ganz Gehirnbrand:Ideen, die das eigene Gehirn in heillose Aufregung versetzen und die Synpasen zu eigenen Feuerwerken zwingen. Das führt wiederum zu eigener wunder-barer Phantasie.Danke.Ich freue mich auf den nächsten Ritt im nächsten Buch dieser Triologie.Und Gregory Benford hat durchaus den Geist Asimovs übernommen vorsichtig das bekannt möglich einzubauen, so wie es Asimov tat. Nur weil es in seinem Roman noch keine Wurmlöcher [...]

This a fun book to read if, like me, it's been long enough to forget the original great Foundation series, and the nostalgia that this inspires allows you to wallow in the Asimov universe. Set your expectations lower as this is not Asimov writing, and the meanderings and Deus Ex are part and parcel of escapism fiction.

I enjoyed all of Empire and Robot stories that Asimov wrote over many years. When I found Foundations Fear, I had high hopes but did not like it. For years, my memory of how bad this book caused me to not continue the series. I finally decided to give Foundation and Chaos a chance. I'm glad I did. If you've read the Asimov stories, skip this book and start with Foundation and Chaos.

More philosophical than the original.This addition adds a philosophical bent and raises more questions than it answers. Very thought provoking. Recommended reason for those who enjoyed the original series.

Meh. I love Asimov, Foundation and have enjoyed other Gregory Benford books but this one did nothing for me. I agree with the other negative reviews and won't repeat their words.

A poor representation of Azimov's master work. I slogged through the portions with Voltaire and Joan only to find more slogging was required.

I tried but gave up when out of nowhere a SIM named Joan of Arc enters the narrative. Supposedly Earth may only be a myth, but Joan and Voltaire exist. Nothing like the Foundation Trilogy.

I was reading this to get to Bear and Brin but I had good expectations of Benford too. However all three were only average in the end

Between 3 and 4 stars. It contains a neat, and to my ear, very Asimov story that hits the right notes. I was troubled by the pacing, but that always seems to be a problem in SF novels.

It appears that my forray into the Foundation novels is not at the close I had feared. It continues, just not with Asimov at the helm.And therein lies the problem.My original review of this book was simply going to read, "No. Just no." I decided to give my review readers a bit more.This book takes place in between the time when Hari Seldon marries Dors and creates the Mathist department at Streeling University and when he is installed as First Minister for Emperor Cleon. Notably absent in this t [...]

This is the first in a posthumous trilogy sanctioned – if not instigated – by the Asimov Estate which is actually a prequel to Isaac Asimov’s classic Foundation trilogy, one of the landmark SF works of the mid-twentieth century. It’s good to know that three tried and tested authors (Benford, Greg Bear and David Brin) have taken on what must be a daunting challenge. As good a writer as Asimov was, his best writing was completed in his early life and his later novels, which fed very much o [...]