About this title: The epic story of the Foundation is one of the great classics of science fiction by the Grand Master of the genre. Isaac Asimov's legendary saga, winner of the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Novel Series, has enthralled generations of readers - and continues to amaze. All records of Earth have been removed systematically from the libraries of ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780385233125ISBN:0385233124
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 356 p. Foundation Novels (Hardcover). Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Del Rey PB, 1989, 16th printing. Good reading copy, solid binding, light wear corners and edges, slight page toning, no markings. read more
Description: Good. Del Rey PB, 1987. Good reading copy, clean, tight binding, no markings, small corner tear on the first three pages of the book that does not affect the text, minimal wear other wise. read more
Description: Fair. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very Good. 0553587579 Earlier smaller paperback same content exactly-original text has never changed, Standard Used Condition, some cover wear, different cover, No writing or Highlighting, some minor spine creases, minor age tan-well bound and solid, sold for content. read more
"How crazy and different everything can be! When I opened the book I couldn't put it down anymore. It went with me everywhere for 2 days until i finally also read the last page. Science Fiction is usually not my type of genre, but Asimov is different. He explains social developement, his books are not technology describing unfinished and badly written "wannabes". The Foundation series mostly deals with minds, thoughts, social patterns and society, everything how he imagined it would be some 20.000 years in the future. The way he describes manipulation scares me, and the fact that we may not be masters of our minds sometime in the future is frightening. Psychohistory decoding every action and pattern of humanity, are we really that predictable?"
"This closing book in the Foundation series was a disappointing end for an otherwise decent series. This book felt like a rehash of the previous four books, with lots of boring dialog, little action, and none of the clever intrigue from the earlier stories. Trevize had potential to be an exciting (if barely likeable) character in the fourth book but this book only manages to solidify him as a cantankerous jerk. It ends with an interesting idea, but many of the fun questions posed along the quest and throughout the books are left completely unanswered (which can be fine if you're given hints or ideas to form your own opinion but in this case you're just left blank)."
"I really wanted to give this book like a four, but upon further reflection I just can't. Foundation and Earth is the conclusion of Asimov's masterpiece Foundation Series (I haven't read the two prequels yet) and it takes the series in a completely new direction. Which is wonderful, and also problematic. The Seldon Plan and the Galactic Empire on which the series were founded become side notes, mentioned in parenthesis and trivial in the wake of Golan Trevize's solving the ultimate human mystery in the story line: Where is Earth and why can't people find it any more. I have to admit, I loved the mystery and I loved the futuristic archeology, mythbusting and history work that went into the characters finding the planet and unraveling its mysteries. But the writing was just not A+ typical Asimov.
Golan Trevize becomes increasingly annoying. He is arrogant, pedantic, self-absorbed and just plain mean spirited. Hardly four pages go by when he doesn't have a philosophical argument with Bliss about whether or not its better for humanity to remain isolated individuals or to join together in a superorganism that spans the galaxy, giving up their individuality and humanity to become something far bigger and better. It's repetitive, esoteric and slows down the pace of the story for no good purpose. Once the argument is outlined, at the end of the last novel in the series no less, he then proceeds to beat the dead horse into a bloody pulp until I found myself, quite frankly, skipping pages. It got really old. Asimov also uses Trevize to give mini-astronomy lessons, which altogether weren't that bad and interesting. But he makes Trevize talk in this Sherlock Holmes sort of way where he's always giving the deductive and inductive evidence for every decision he makes - again annoying. "I decided we should go to Planet X because A) I'm hungry, B) the Stars align every so precisely in that direction, C) the women on the planet might be hot, D) the computer in it's complex model has illustrated a design flaw in the universe that intrigues me because: D1) the laws of physics forbid such anomalies, D2) blah, blah, blah, blah. You get the picture.
This novel was a plot success and a failure in the execution. I think that's my main problem with a lot of the "bad" books I read. People have good ideas and then muck it all up. I think by this point Asimov was really doing fan-service and really had no idea where the heck he was going with it. In fact, his wife comments in the afterword that he never wrote a sequel because he didn't know how to finish it, so he wrote the prequels instead. I can understand this. The plot shift at the end is dramatic and way out of left field. It's intriguing and quite genius and has enormous potential. It's a shame it couldn't be developed further. But this particular installment is in it's character development and dialogue is atrocious. Wikipedia it to clear up the mystery and move on with life."
"Another enjoyable read from the Foundation series. The book describes the adventures of a trio of characters we met in the previous book. Their journey in search of Earth takes them to several worlds, many unlike any they've seen before. Their visits brings about healthy discussion on the nature of humanity and the best future for the Galaxy. The book ties up many loose ends and delves into the history and motivations that brought about the state of the Galaxy and the events that triggered the first book. I look forward to reading the prequels."
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