Forward the Foundation

By: Isaac Asimov

Narrated by: Larry McKeever

Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Here, from a grand master of science fiction, is the long-awaited final novel of the greatest science-fiction series ever told. Completed just before his death, Forward the Foundation is the crowning achievement of a great writer’s life, a stirring testament to the creative genius of Isaac Asimov.

As Hari Seldon struggles to perfect his revolutionary theory of psychohistory and ensure a place for humanity among the stars, the great Galactic Empire totters on the brink of apocalyptic collapse. Caught in the maelstrom are Seldon and all he holds dear, pawns in the struggle for dominance. Whoever can control Seldon will control psychohistory - and with it the future of the galaxy.

Among those seeking to turn psychohistory into the greatest weapon known to man are a populist political demagogue, the weak-willed Emperor Cleon I, and a ruthless militaristic general. In his last act of service to humankind, Hari Seldon must somehow save his life’s work from their grasp as he searches for its true heirs - a search that begins with his own granddaughter and the dream of a new Foundation.

Listen to all of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, including (in chronological order):

Prelude to FoundationForward the FoundationFoundationFoundation and Empire Second FoundationFoundation's EdgeFoundation and Earth

©1993 Nightfall, Inc (P)2011 Random House Audio

I love Asimov

Even though I don't consider Asimov a great writer he remains among my most favorite storytellers. You can tell that Asimov is a frustrated mystery novelist. because every one of his stories I have ever read has a mystery novel or several mystery novels coiled inside it. But this is a very bad performance of Asimov's book. The narrator is wooden. I have heard robot automaton voices with more warmth in human inflection.

Great story but the reading is horrible

Great story, but the reading is really bad. Sometimes it sounds like it’s being read by AI or someone who doesn’t know how the pace of conversations is supposed to sound.

OK Asimov

To start, like others I found the narration unbearable. Two sentences in I was thinking can I make it through this book? The slow cadence and halting style made it hard to believe a publisher would allow such a narration. Finally I sped it up to 1.3 speed to make it tolerable enough to get through.

The story it self was OK and enjoyable enough to listen to. I did find Asimov's insights into political systems and inherent pitfalls rather prophetic comparing it to todays political power structure. My one complaint was it had a little to much filler in it. Probably could have left out two or three detours the book took, that did not add substantially to the story.

After reading Prelude and Forward, I plan on working through the rest of the books. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Great Story! Poor Voice...

The narrator sounds like a computer reading the text on the screen.

I don't know why, but this narrator doesn't seem to feel the story.

This Is Actually Good

The story is excellent, as with most of Asimov's writing.
The narrator for this title is fairly universally criticized by the majority of reviews, but given no other choice I purchased and listened to McKeever's rendering.

Initially I had some trouble with the depth of his voice and the speed of his words. Having consulted readers' reviews I saw that one reader had recommended turning up the playback speed to 1.3x speed. I found this to be too fast, but I settled at 1.15x and found that McKeever's performance was more than adequate. As I got used to his intonations (at 1.15x speed) I became quite comfortable with his reading.

This book is definitely worth a listen.

Robotic Delivery is Ruining This Book

Worst reading I have heard in 6 years on Audible! I looked to buy the same book again from another narrator, but alas, none available, Narrator goes from expressive to robotic for the same character. If the main character, Selden, is not the top speaker for a passage, he is read with decent expression. If the chapter has Selden as the main speaker, he is delivered in a very robotic manner that distracts from the story so much that I cant concentrate on the story!

Unfortunate reader

The reading is not done in a conversational manner at all so it's difficult to imagine the characters talking. Also the character name pronunciations are different from other books. I'm not sure which ones are "correct" but it makes a transition from one book in the series to the next a bit more difficult for the listener.

Terrible narration

Narration is terribly bland. He can't even pronounce the names of the characters correctly. Totally ruined it for me.

Good read

Harry Sheldon is drawn into politics . After his political life he continues working on his theory of Psychohistory . He slowly looses everyone close to him .

Excellent

Long but a good story. Ruins the TV show serie, narrstor has a pleasant voice.