FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE [Hardcover]

Isaac Asimov (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Avon (1968)
• ASIN: B000LRCWE4
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Foundation trilogy is essential, October 6, 2002

By 

"cloudia" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foundation and Empire (Foundation Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

The trilogy is essential, but since Asimov also capitalized on his own genius by writing what seems to be hundreds of lesser Foundation stories, it can all get very confusing and a bit draining. This is the second book in the original trilogy, so it is from a science fiction point of view essential reading. The trilogy itself comes up with two highly memorable characters, Hari Seldon, the psycho-historian, who uses Mathematics to predict the future and establish a "Foundation" that will limit the dark ages after the fall of the "Empire" to a single millenium (as opposed to ten.) He reappears as a hologram at certain points in the story with more or less accurate takes on what is happening in "History" at that point.

The other very memorable character is the Mule. He represents the variable that makes predicting "History" mathematically a tricky business at least, not to mention impossible. He is a nasty totalitarian character who strangely in Asimov's hands manages to elicit some sympathy. Asimov is playing with the idea of predicting human behavior scientifically (or controlling it scientifically,) but this character is also a humanistic meditation on how masses of people get overwhelmed by evil social forces like fascism and soviet communism. You can see that Asimov lived through the era of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Stalin and that these cult of personality tyrants and the submission of masses of people to their destructive and sadistic wills profoundly affected his view of human nature. Foundation and Empire seems to be an attempt to come to terms with that experience, and so has something to say about the specifics of twentieth century history, as well as about historical philosophy.

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MAGNIFICENT!, March 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Foundation and Empire (Foundation Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

First I should say that this is a great book. It is the second book in the Foundation Trilogy. And if you need some help on the order of the books, here tis : 1)Prelude to Foundation 2)Forward the Foundation 3)Foundation 4)Foundation and Empire 5)Second Foundation 6)Foundation's Edge 7) Foundation and Earth. #s 3,4, and 5 are the original trilogy. I have reviewed all of them. They're all good. This particular book has two parts. In the first part the Foundation is faced with the dying but still strong Galactic Empire, and in the second, more interesting part, they face the rising Mule. A few words bout him, he's not what or who you might think he is. The next sentence might be considered a spoiler, so choose to read it or not. The Mule is actually Bobo( this word only appears once in the book, and might be missed). Well, have fun reading!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great book, October 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Foundation and Empire (Foundation Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I think asimov truly showed his ability in Foundation and Empire. Whether or not Foundation was better is debatable. But to create 2 knockout novels is pure gift. All the people who say it is bad are wrong. they say you should read a classic. It is a classic! A modern classic! the series deserves a place among Dune and other SF greats. The Mule was stroke of genius. The surprise ending was wonderful. whatever they charge you for this it is a deal.