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A review by thetome
Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov
3.0
I really enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure I'd call it good.
Compared to previous Asimov it's very shallow, and clearly more interested in showing off Asimov's world building and tying together Foundation with the Robot books than actually giving the reader some insight into how psychohistory was formed.
This is a shame because there are a number of times where our young Hari Seldon is placed into situations where you could easily see him starting to figure out pieces of the puzzle. Instead he is constantly bumbling into the most easily avoidable trouble, usually by being culturally insensitive or impatient, all while convinced that psychohistory is impossible. When he does finally decide it's possible it's right at the end of the book and very loosely tied to what he calls the "hand on thigh story" which is a red herring because nothing in the story is relevant to his eventual eureka moment.
All in all this cheapens the Foundation series quite a bit, but I will admit I also really enjoyed reading it. It isn't deep or insightful like the original trilogy, but it's fun and fast like a thriller you found at the airport.
Fun to read if you've already read all the rest of the books in both the Robot and Foundation series. Otherwise it's not worth bothering.
Compared to previous Asimov it's very shallow, and clearly more interested in showing off Asimov's world building and tying together Foundation with the Robot books than actually giving the reader some insight into how psychohistory was formed.
This is a shame because there are a number of times where our young Hari Seldon is placed into situations where you could easily see him starting to figure out pieces of the puzzle. Instead he is constantly bumbling into the most easily avoidable trouble, usually by being culturally insensitive or impatient, all while convinced that psychohistory is impossible. When he does finally decide it's possible it's right at the end of the book and very loosely tied to what he calls the "hand on thigh story" which is a red herring because nothing in the story is relevant to his eventual eureka moment.
All in all this cheapens the Foundation series quite a bit, but I will admit I also really enjoyed reading it. It isn't deep or insightful like the original trilogy, but it's fun and fast like a thriller you found at the airport.
Fun to read if you've already read all the rest of the books in both the Robot and Foundation series. Otherwise it's not worth bothering.