Foundation's Fear (Foundation Trilogy) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Gregory Benford (Author) "R. Daneel Olivaw did not look like Eto Demerzel..." (more)
Key Phrases: pencil ship, pan mind, wild worm, First Minister, High Council, Monsieur Boker (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
This is the first installment of The Second Foundation Trilogy, based on Isaac Asimov's famous Foundation series. Acclaimed hard science fiction writers Gregory Benford, David Brin, and Greg Bear will each produce a work for the trilogy. Benford kicks off exploring the beginnings of the Foundation itself and its creator, Hari Seldon. Seldon is working on a project to ease the inevitable collapse of the universe-spanning Empire and the Dark Ages that will ensue. But the current emperor has other plans, like appointing Seldon first minister and thus thrusting him into a world of political intrigues and assassination attempts that ultimately will bring him up against future history's greatest threat. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Hari Seldon, now a candidate for first minister, finds himself embroiled in a psychohistorical conundrum?he must deal with the re-created personalities of Joan of Arc and Voltaire, who surface as computer simulations. Gifted storyteller Benford (Far Futures, LJ 12/95) makes the characters come alive. Isaac Asimov's estate authorized this extension of Asimov's "Foundation" series; expect additional volumes from Greg Bear and David Brin. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Eos (February 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061056383
• ISBN-13: 978-0061056383
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #215,463 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Second Foundation Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars More aptly titled - Foundation and Brute Force!, January 6, 2000

By A Customer

As a loyal reader of the 'Foundation', 'Empire' and 'Robot' series and of Asimov himself - it was pure joy to find the series being continued by well-respected authors after Asimov's death. That joy has now turned into dread as I close the covers of 'Foundation's Fear'.... Bear better be better or else Brin won't get a look in. ;-)

In honour of the clear and conciseness of the Good Doctor....

1. This is NOT a Foundation book. Those who are going into it with that expectation please ditch it now - or else you'd end up like me and hate the book. This is a Benford book set in a 'Benford-altered' Foundation universe.

2. Having never read Benford before this, I hope this is not his normal style. Perhaps the author noticed the mess himself, as hinted by the comment in the Afterward: "Those who think it is easy to write clearly ... should try it"). Hallmark of a badly written novel - when you find yourself grappling to UNDERSTAND what the author is trying to say through that ornate prose and end up not even caring whether you do or not. Nobody writes as clearly as does Asimov, but surely they can find someone who does better than this!

3. The neologisms ... UGH! Perhaps it's just me, but lots of techno-babble does not equal hard SF. Intergrating technical information seamlessly into the narrative is a skill that Benford doesn't seem to appreciate. And calling a spade a spade does not detract from the science. Words such as 'mathist', 'stim', 'sim', 'pan'; 'meritocrats', 'tiktoks', 'memes' etc etc etc do not add to the narrative. It took me 8 pages to figure out what a 'pan' is - call me dumb if you will but I don't believe this kind of thing doesn't detract from the story.

4. Professor of Physics or not - Mr. Benford, you're now in someone else's universe, please show some respect. Wormholes are en vogue today - who knows what will be in 10 years time. Throwing them into a galaxy that did very well without them for 16 books for the sake of 'up-dating' is arrogant and will, I suspect, date 'Foundation's Fear' more than otherwise. Perhaps I could've accepted them had they been central to the plot - alas, they were not.

5. Hari Seldon as James Bond doesn't work. If I wanted to read action-adventure, I would. I can just imagine Roger Moore jumping out of that elevator shaft, dusting off his jacket and saying to the on-lookers: "Just dropping in." That is NOT Hari Seldon. Speaking of which... what's happened to Seldon anyway? He is confused, impatient, apathetic, cold and hard. In 'Forward the Foundation' Asimov clearly explains that Seldon is his alter ego. I can see the Good Doctor turning in his grave.

6. And speaking of turning in his grave - the VIOLENCE oh the violence of the book. Asimov is one of the last frontiers of bloodless fiction. He abhorred murder and used it when he must (such as a murder mystery) and 99% off the stage. Since when is brute force valued more than intellect in an Asimov book? In 'Foundation's Fear' - Seldon not only quite happily bats someone to death but also plans mass murder and gloriously baths in it's aftermath. With the assistance of ....

7. ... Daneel. I fell in love with him during my teenage years and is probably among the minority that let out whoops of joy when Asimov dragged him kicking into the 'Foundation' series. ;-) The Daneel in this novel is a changed robot - he is no longer grave and gentle (stern and aloof were the two most common adjectives used). And he seems to have lost the Laws of Robotics somewhere along the way. The mass murder of Lamurk's agents - not a flicker of indecision; the mind swipe of Lamurk - not a flicker of regret ... on the other hand the robots (his brethern) are obviously more important to him. As a previous reviewer commented, to me Daneel is the most threatening figure in the novel.

8. Does Benford have a problem selling his novelettes? 150 pages of Joan of Arc and Voltaire and 50 pages of 'pans' - that's 1/3 of the whole novel! Why did Asimov's estate even allow these?

9. Benford points out the inconsistencies of the whole saga in his Afterward. If only he didn't create more - I sometimes wonder whether he read the original series. I'm not a nitpicker and I'm not talking about trivia like dates and population - characters changed personalities (Seldon, Dors, Daneel, Amaryl); characters disappeared (Raych); backgraound of the galaxy changed (aliens, tiktoks, wormholes); and events clearly documented in previous volumes ignored (Seldon never saw Daneel again after his turn as Demerzel; Dors' role was never well publicised; the public understanding of Earth! ).

10. Throwing in a comment about the 'ugliness of "sociohistory"' and the cute chapter titles do not save the book. Especially when the novel lectures you like you're an idiot. We're not and we get the point without being told to us point blank again and again and again...

Sorry to be so long-winded. But this is an extremely frustrated fan writing! ;-)

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Help For Insomniacs, November 2, 2000

By	AntiochAndy "antiochandy" (Antioch, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Normally, I do a lot of my reading on the train (BART for those of you familiar with San Francisco), getting to and from work. An engrossing book keeps me awake and I read it relatively quickly. "Foundation's Fear", especially the first half of it, set a recond for putting me to sleep. There were days in when I only managed to read a couple of pages. A paragraph or two and I'd be out, even before the train started moving. As others here have pointed out, there is a lot of boring dialogue and description and much of it focuses around the Voltaire and Joan of Arc artificial entities. Hundreds of pages of philosophical noodling and descriptions of imaginary scenes conjured up in cyberspace become numbing.

Then there's psycohistory! Asimov used it as a vehicle to further his plot, he didn't try to flesh it out in detail. Benford does, and it just doesn't work on that level. If elaborate statistical analysis worked that well think what it could do to major sports. He also indulges in long-winded detailing of psychohistory's graphical output. This also goes on and on. And there's the imperial government, which is autocratic, but also seems to be subject to democratic constraints at the same time.

Benford discusses in the "Afterward" all the considerations involved in extending Asimov's Foundadtion series, and there were many. To his credit, he didn't try to imitate Asimov's style and he introduced technologies not used in the original books. And some parts of the book are faster-paced and more entertaining. I thought the section on "Panucopia" was the best, but there were other good scenes.

This book has it good points and its bad ones. It's two hundred pages too long and there are inconsistencies that are already well-documented by others. On the whole it isn't very satisfying. Those wanting to do the full sequence should be prepared to plod through, others probably should bypass this one altogether.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Foundation's Drear, October 26, 1999

By	Will Martyn (Arlington, VA, USA) - See all my reviews

I disagree with those who criticize Benford for neither writing like Asimov nor adopting the now outmoded science underlying the great Foundation trilogy. Asimov himself developed a more polished style in later works, and, as a scientist, would doubtlessly approve the use of the most accurate technology. Such criticisms miss a more damning point -- that "Foundation's Fear" is a bad book by any standard. The book is bloated with pointless dialogue and description. The hamhanded plot telegraphs the "twists" so far in advance that their final arrival is cause for relief rather than surprise. The secondary characters are so paper thin that it's impossible to understand their motivations or to develop any sympathy for them. Benford does manage better with his main character. His exposition of Hari Seldon's character and of the development of psychohistory provide believable coverage for holes in Asimov's account. But Benford sacrifices some of the character's credibility by having Seldon engage in James Bondian heroics while avoiding a series of implausible assassination attempts. But worst of all are the scenes with the Voltaire and Joan of Arc artificial entities. Their actions and reactions to events around them are unrealistic, the development of their "characters" doesn't make sense, and and their philosophizing about artificial entities mostly rehashes points that have been made better by more skillful writers.

I borrowed this book from the library, and am glad that I didn't waste $6.00 on it. I advise everyone else to either do the same or skip straight to the vastly superior Greg Bear book, which can be read independent of "Foundation's Fear." If you insist on owning the book, wait to find it for 50 cents at flea markets, where it should be appearing in abundance soon.