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Lädt ... The Foundation Novels [seven-book bundle] (2014)von Isaac Asimov
Lädt ...
Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. Premetto che non amo i prequel. E i sequel. Tutte le volte avverto un fastidioso cambio di marcia rispetto alla narrazione originale, una scrittura per così dire "annacquata", che si dilunga in descrizioni e ripetizioni inutili. Detto questo, non ho resistito alla tentazione di avere tutto il ciclo della Fondazione in un unico libro, anche se purtroppo ho trovato diversi refusi e parti tradotte male (probabilmente il lavoro di correttore di bozze non esiste più). Quindi 3 stelle a questa edizione e 4 stelle al ciclo della Fondazione, che per me rimarrà sempre quello composto dai racconti originali scritti da Asimov negli anni '50. Zeige 3 von 3 keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Gehört zur ReiheDie Foundation-Romane (Omnibus 1-7) BeinhaltetDie Stiftung [Erzählung] von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) The Psychohistorians [short story] von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) The Mayors from Foundation von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) The Wedge [short story] von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) The Big And The Little von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) Dead Hand von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) The Mule [short story] von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) Now You See it [short story] von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) And Now You Don't [short story] von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) Az Alapítvány pereme 1 von Isaac Asimov (indirekt) Az Alapítvány pereme 2 von Isaac Asimov (indirekt)
The story of our future begins with the Foundation. Named the best series of all time by the Hugo Awards, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov unquestionably comprise one of the great masterworks of science fiction, unsurpassed for its unique blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building. Now, all seven volumes are together for the first time in this essential eBook bundle: FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION AND EMPIRESECOND FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION'S EDGEFOUNDATION AND EARTHPRELUDE TO FOUNDATIONFORWARD THE FOUNDATION For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. Only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humanity, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire--both scientists and scholars--and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls this sanctuary the Foundation. But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. And mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and live as slaves--or take a stand for freedom and risk total destruction. Praise for Isaac Asimov and his Foundation series "A true polymath, a superb rationalist, an exciting and accessible writer in both fiction and nonfiction, Isaac Asimov was simply a master of all he surveyed."--Greg Bear "Asimov served wondrous meals-of-the-mind to a civilization that was starved for clear thinking about the future. To this day, his visions spice our ongoing dinner-table conversation about human destiny."--David Brin "Isaac was still in his teens when I met him, a fan of mine before I was a fan of his. Writing for John W. Campbell back in the famous 'golden age of science fiction, ' he became one of the founders of our field. With the Robot stories and the Foundation stories, he helped to shape science fiction as we know it."--Jack Williamson "I grew up on the ABC's of science fiction--Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke. There's a reason Asimov's name comes first, and not just because of the alphabet "--Janis Ian "With his fertile imagination, his wit, and his prolific output, Isaac Asimov truly laid the foundation for all future generations of science fiction writers."--Kevin J. Anderson "If anything can be said to have been the launch pad for space-age science fiction, it has to be the Foundation trilogy. It's a classic. And it's unforgettable."--Jack McDevitt "The Foundation series is one of the masterpieces of science fiction. If you've never read these novels, then you're in for a treat, and even if you've already read them, then you owe it to yourself to reread them, because they're still great."--Allen Steele "Quite simply, Asimov got me started."--Liz Williams Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Klassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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>> lack of continuing characters
>> recurring character types that basically felt like the same character over and over
>> skepticism with the details of the overall concept.
In the far future, one unified intergalactic human Empire extends across basically all of known space. Hari Seldon, an expert in the fascinating and plausible but ultimately (in my opinion) implausibly minutely accurate field of psychohistory. In the grand scheme of things, he predicts that the Empire, whose innovation has stagnated, is about to fall, forget everything it knows about technology, and will be in chaos for the next ten thousand plus years; with a few nudges in the right direction and a team of encyclopedists on a remote outer planet to record extant human knowledge, he's confident he can get that down to just about a thousand years. In the small scheme of things, he can predict and manipulate the political machinations on the Empire's capital planet to kick off his long-term rescue mission.
So far, so good on the concept. I loved the world building in the first section, in which a statistician travels to the Empire's capital to join Seldon's team, takes a little time to explore the futuristic city-enveloped planet, and finds himself an unwitting pawn in Seldon's machinations. I didn't even mind that we quickly jump 50 years into the future to see how Seldon's planet of encyclopedists are getting along and to meet Salvor Hardin, who's going to bring practical local politics to the attention of the scholarly and impractical encyclopedists.
My interests started flagging, however, when details of life on Terminus are so scant. Foundation is a novel of ideas, and while those ideas are certainly fascinating, I wanted to know more about life on the edge of the galaxies. I also just never bought into the concept that the Empire could collapse, totally forget how to maintain its nuclear power facilities, and build replacement coal factories all in the space of 50 to 100 years...
...because Asimov's book is also one of scale, for all it is slim. After our establishing shots on the comparatively well-developed capital planet of the Empire, we jump ahead first 50, then 70 (80?), then about 100/150 (it's unspecified) years from that point. At 50 and 70 years we see Hardin dealing with a pair of "Seldon crises", specific moments in time that Seldon predicted down to the day when Terminus faces the possibility of complete annihilation or a single path of survival. Each time, a witty and canny man faces off against the enemy
I do admire Asimov's economy in world building the four nearest planets to Terminus, which ultimately felt more established, culturally, than Terminus itself.
Asimov has plenty to say about psychology, history, and politics that do feel very relevant today and, therefore, suggest that there might really be something to this idea of psychohistory. It's basically an elaborate theory, backed up by statistics (that Asimov wisely does not delve into), of the adage that history repeats itself. For the sake of the story, I'm willing to go along with the fantasy that Seldon is capable of using psychohistory to predict the future down to the day--though this is going to get more and more incredible as time goes on.
So, positives: interesting concept of psychohistory, efficient world building of some planets and cultures, optimistic good guys who don't die (a nice break from the bleak futures popular in newer books), witty and clever main characters, engaging conversations between characters.
Negatives: comparatively weak world building of our central encyclopedia-compiling Foundation's planet and culture, main characters who feel like one character repeated, and
In conclusion, there is much that impressed me about Asimov’s Foundation: ideas, dialogue, efficiency. But I’m a person of character, a diversity of personalities, and sprawling, complex worldbuilding, and this book just didn’t deliver on those counts. Still, totally worth reading for the fascinating conversations I’ve had with my husband about the idea of psychohistory.
Quote Roundup
Most of these spoke to me of the present political moment. I’ve included spoiler tags on later quotes, but they really only give hints about the plot.
p. 36) "The fall of Empire, gentlemen...is dictated by a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity..."
p. 40) "None of the quadrillions living now among all the stars in the Galaxy will be living a century from now. Why, then, should we concern ourselves with events of three centuries distance?"
"I shall not be alive half a decade hence," said Seldon," and yet it is of overpowering concern to me. Call it idealism. Call it an identification of myself with that mystical generalization to which we refer by the term, 'humanity.'"
p. 71) "I wanted to be a psychological engineer, but we lacked the facilities, so I did the next best thing--I went into politics. It's practically the same thing."
p. 84) "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. But I certainly don't intend to lay down the welcome mat and brush off the best furniture for their use."
p. 87-88)
p. 157-163)
p. 184)
p. 230)
I love how the Foundation allows all of this to be optional. I guess it’s because they’re intellectuals without nuclear weapons, because I just remember all the times in our history when religion has been forced on decimated populations. And remember that in Asimov’s fictional case, this “religion” has been constructed to reintroduce technology while also holding it hostage, giving just enough information on how to use it that local populations can buy and become dependent on it without learning for themselves how to make or maintain this technology—which, again, to me, seems to entirely miss the Foundation’s supposed goal of keeping knowledge alive. But then there’s this response:
“I’m a Master Trader. Money is my religion.”
So I guess Asimov is arriving at something like our current world. Wonder if that’s how it seemed to him in 1951, because in comparison to these days, that’s kind of hilarious.
p. 268)
Asimov isn’t very subtle with his ideas. Not sure how much I mind, though, as he does seem to do a good job of sprinkling them naturally into conversations that don’t feel stilted. That’s a pretty impressive balancing act.
p. 293)
I want to close with a comment on the length of this book, which I enjoyed: at about 300 pages, it was ideal for dipping my toes in without committing to a giant series. I admit, I’m hesitant with giant books and series these days—why commit to something so massive when there are so many books to read? And looking at books like Paolini’s To Sleep In a Sea of Stars and Stephenson’s Fall, I can’t help but wonder if, were this book published today, the entire series would be crammed into one massive volume. There isn’t much of an end—just the wrap-up to the latest Seldon Crisis, which at least doesn’t leave us on a cliffhanger (thank you!). I work in publishing, but I wish I knew more about the economics of one giant book vs. a more serialized work. The latter seems like a better idea to me, as it readers like myself might be more likely to give a shorter book a try, and then some of them would get hooked on the next few books in the series, and multiple smaller prices would ultimately add up to more than the cost of one giant book. In contrast, it seems like a doorstopper could put off potential readers and even be a form of gatekeeping, as some readers can’t afford to put down the higher cost for one big fat volume than they might for multiple slimmer volumes spread out over time. But what do I know? I’m in metadata/digital marketing, not finance. *shrugs* ( )