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lukerik's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Just awful. There’s a recurrent motif throughout the book of the face of power and the actual power: Cleon and Demerzel, Baddie 1 and Baddie 2, Seldon and psychohistory. I’m going to assume this is a deliberate artistic choice, but if so it’s the only one on offer.
The novel’s a fixup so it’s episodic. There’s no plot, though there is the over-riding story of Seldon’s life. Unfortunately none of the episodes contain any interesting incident or have any bearing on the story and Seldon is not enough to sustain interest over such a long book because he’s hardly characterised in any way. There are fundamental inconsistencies between the episodes. For example, does Seldon or does Seldon not know that his wife is a robot. Some of this I think we can blame on the publishers. I imagine that if Asimov had lived he would smoothed some of these things out. If the book were presented as linked short stories I’d be more forgiving but they probably thought a novel would sell better. The UK publishers even marketed the first edition as a sequel to Foundation and Earth, no doubt thinking a conclusion to the series would sell better than another prequel. Despite this there are signs that all was not well with Asimov himself. There are plots against the government in two different sections and neither has any bearing on the foundation of psychohistory. There are also strange repetitions of information and dialogue within sections.
Some incomprehensible decision making from Asimov and the characters follow right along with him. It’s like a series of bizarre decisions, none of which any person would do, none of which would work in real life, each as ridiculous as the last, but with a cumulative effect as the novel progresses.
Half baked codswallop.
The novel’s a fixup so it’s episodic. There’s no plot, though there is the over-riding story of Seldon’s life. Unfortunately none of the episodes contain any interesting incident or have any bearing on the story and Seldon is not enough to sustain interest over such a long book because he’s hardly characterised in any way. There are fundamental inconsistencies between the episodes. For example, does Seldon or does Seldon not know that his wife is a robot. Some of this I think we can blame on the publishers. I imagine that if Asimov had lived he would smoothed some of these things out. If the book were presented as linked short stories I’d be more forgiving but they probably thought a novel would sell better. The UK publishers even marketed the first edition as a sequel to Foundation and Earth, no doubt thinking a conclusion to the series would sell better than another prequel. Despite this there are signs that all was not well with Asimov himself. There are plots against the government in two different sections and neither has any bearing on the foundation of psychohistory. There are also strange repetitions of information and dialogue within sections.
Some incomprehensible decision making from Asimov and the characters follow right along with him. It’s like a series of bizarre decisions, none of which any person would do, none of which would work in real life, each as ridiculous as the last, but with a cumulative effect as the novel progresses.
Half baked codswallop.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
vcriveros's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A good sequel that fills a lot of gaps. It shows the costs of Sheldon's work, and the difficult times as well as advances. Plenty of sad moments and good plot twists. The final part of the book is a bit slower than the previous ones and can drag a bit, but for people that are reading the prequels after the main books it probably makes sense as a build up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Police brutality and Stalking
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