Foundation's Edge

There was a reason why Asimov's original FOUNDATION TRILOGY was voted the best science fiction trilogy of all time by the Association of SF Writers. It covered a vast sweep of post-Galactic rise and fall that brought to mind Gibbons' RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. Asimov's plots are straightforward, but often convoluted and requires a reader's careful attention to hints that suggest a surprise ending. In his original series, the action is set perhaps 50,000 years from now in an empire ruled by Trantor, covering hundreds of millions of worlds. The empire is falling, and only Hari Seldon sees it. He sets up one foundation in the full glare of light and a secret second foundation buried under the ruins of a devastated Trantor.Fully thirty years after Asimov wrote this trilogy, he returned to the same theme, but this time he tries to connect other themes from his past: the destruction of earth from his robot series and his fascination with a long-lived sect of humans who exist only to plot the end of their more short-lived brethren. FOUNDATION'S EDGE tells the stories of two protagonists: Golan Trvize, an upsetter of his superior's political plans, who travels through space to locate the hidden Second Foundation; and Stor Gendibal, a member of the secret Second Foundation, who is on a similar trek to locate Earth. Soon enough, their respective journeys co-incide, but not on Earth. Both wind up on Gaia, a planet that was probably settled long ago from Earth. The complicated plot leaves many loose ends for sequels as both Golan Trevize and Stor Gendibal realize that someone unconnected to either foundation had previously removed all references to Earth from all historical sources and libraries. To appreciate how this novel fits in to Asimov's Foundation universe, it is useful to have first read other works in the canon. I recommend his robot series and Pebble in the Sky. Still, FOUNDATION'S EDGE can be enjoyed on its own basis.

Este libro es la chispa de la cual surguio una de las mas grandes historias de CF. Esta historia describe a la humanidad desde dentro una actualidad ficticia hasta un futuro muy lejano. Este libro se situa en ese futuro y tiene todos los elemantos para que se puedan escribir otros libros en torno a el. La idea de una ciancia historica, del los viajes por el hiperespacio y de sociedades en planteas enteros bajo techo es maravillosa. Aunque Asimov no tiene una prosa muy elaborada, no toma pretenciones y solo cuenta una buena historia.

El inicio de una trilogia sensacional, nada en la obra de Asimov se compara a Fundacion, y sus secuelas. El propio Isaac, ha declarado que su carrera se divide en un antes y un despues de esta obra. Inspirado en el ascenso y posterior caida del imperio romano, Asimov imagina una sociedad humana dentro de unos 20.000 años, en la que la decadencia y la corrupcion empiezan a destruir al grandioso Imperio Galactico. Un libro para recomendar, con personajes grandiosos entre los que se destaca el genio de la Psicohistoria, Hari Seldon.

This is as good as any of the original three books of the Foundation Trilogy, and is in my opinion a work of Creative Genius. Some readers have commented on the seeming non-religious philosophy of the book, but although the philosophy is somewhat strange (not to give away the ending), I think that it is compatible with either a religious or non-religious viewpoint, and furthermore Asimov intended further books to follow to develop his themes further. Others have indicated that his characters are psychologically or emotionally lifeless, but the main characters Trevize and Gendibal and Sura Novi and Mayor Branno and Pelorat are as alive as most of Shakespeare's characters without the unnecessary violence. In this book, Asimov reveals himself to be a master of surprise, characterization, conflict and its resolutions, and an openness to ethical and even environmental questions. Most of all, perhaps, he is the ultimate opponent of bureaucracies in this book, whether academic, political, or any others. His conclusion is a bit confusing on this matter, but I do not think it was intentional but rather was dictated largely by the element of surprise and telling a good and entertaining story.

If you read the Foundation Trilogy and anxious about what happened next, get this book as well as Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation, and Foundation and Earth. Also read the robot series connected to Foundation :The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn, Robots and Empire.