Foundation's Fear (Second Foundation Trilogy)

Sometimes you wonder if book reviewers have actually understood the work they criticise. Benford goes where Allen, Irvine, Tiedemann and perhaps even Asimov feared to tread. If Robots, Empire and Foundation are about Time, Tech and Human attitudes persisting over millenia then Benford explores this without fear (pun intended). Asimov was a God of science fiction, but he avoided too much detail and explanation, Benford attempts it passably which is to his credit. Why Jean D'Arc and Voltaire-philosophy reason v unreason and ignorance, maybe!

Having read all the foundation books by asimov, most of his short stories all the robot books and so on, including the McBride Allen trilogy, I wondered how well this would fit in - especially given McBride Allen did a good job of it. In practice the story was good, and inventive, but kept getting one or two details of the Asimov universe just plain wrong - the idea of wormholes rather than hyperspace jumps was extremely irritating, after all they are *completely* engrained in the asmiov lore. (Though beford discusses this at the end in his acknowledgements bit) Overall though, it hangs together well, and fits in as a new look at something and reveals more things that fit than this minor irritation. I would've given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the wormholes stuff - even if there's more scientific justification for it!

Its now when you read modern writers that you see the turgid style of the original trilogy, the casual "isms" that authors droppedin to their books. This is a good novel in its own right, pacey and credible

Exellent and arrived on time

OK

This is not only an awful book but is also completely unfaithful to the Asimov legacy. However it is worth battling through this book to get to the final one in series.

I have read this book at least 3 times. OK it gets difficult in parts and the pace is slowed down but it does 'transport' the reader to the Asimov Universe and to an Empire at its peak. I liked the whole trilogy and only wish some would produce more Asimov's Universe novels.

the book is not the best of quality slightly yellow colour , but that does not bother me , all of the pages were there and I have already read it andI have thoroughly enjoyed it .There were three books in the series , I bought the second and third books from a shop in Edinburgh but of course had to read the first book thus reading the books in order

La edición está muy bonita. Lo compre para regalar y llego antes!! Excelente experiencia de compra.

AWESOME

The parts that take off from Asimov's Prelude to Foundation are well written and link up well, though I miss Asimov's clarity of thoughts and ideas. The parts where an attempt is made to link intelligences from EM fields to the theme are just bad attachments, which don't mesh with the theme. Joan of Arc and Voltaire are too disparate, and the attempt fails. They do not form part of the novel. Could have reduced them to 20% or less of present space allotted to them.

I first read what I could of Asimov's Foundation universe when I was a younger adult. Now, twenty-five years later, I have read through everything - old and new - and am now looking at the last half-dozen or so books which are listed as legitimate/authorized in the Wikipedia article. I saw the poor reviews and thought they were a bit harsh and short-sighted, especially after reading the "Foundation's Friends" book which invited wide latitudes of interpretation. Now, I am one of those people who didn't just read, let's say, a core group of stories such as "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy without also reading "The Silmarillion" or "Farmer Giles of Ham" and "The Smith of Wootton Major." With those extra readings, even written by the same author, there came the inevitable nose-wrinkling as I encountered something distinctly "not LOTR"! So, when reading Benford's take on two beloved characters - Hari and Dors, and the introduction of a hugely complex undertaking in the form of creating a story to fill in a large, inviting hole in Seldon's Trantorian days, I was cautiously optimistic. But, like a father who enjoys watching a son become something close but not exactly as one thought he would grow up to be, I was amazed and happy to see that Benford grabbed the baton handed to him and ran the race of adding to the Foundation universe quite well. On a more practical note, I cannot fathom complaining about reading too much about the Foundation universe. Could the book have done with less material? Absolutely not. Could it have been split into two books? Sure. In any case, who wants a good Foundation read to ever really end? Not me! In short, I was very glad the book was unusually long. Being in Benford's Foundation universe with Hari and Dors, involved with, as Voltaire said, "... postings various and capers hilarious" was a splendid departure from earth's various plodding, dull meanderings. I loved this book, and highly recommend it!

a future matrix showing how all this could work in the far away future....fun to follow the mind streams of benford and cross into his flow of understanding and fantasy depiction. the characters that are known through the asimov foundation have developed into a higher dimention ...and the ride and limited defintion of the soul has to be re anlaysed....re-thought...big confrontation for all readers...do robots have a soul...can robots have a soul...according to the legitimate definition given by benford yes..and i must say looking at this new angle i agree....