Foundation (Apple Series Tie-in Edition)

By: Isaac Asimov

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

The first novel in Isaac Asimov’s classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series

The epic saga that inspired the Apple TV+ series Foundation, now streaming. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

For 12,000 years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future - to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, 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 his sanctuary the Foundation.

The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are among the most influential in the history of science fiction, celebrated for their unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. In Foundation, Asimov has written a timely and timeless novel of the best - and worst - that lies in humanity, and the power of even a few courageous souls to shine a light in a universe of darkness.

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

©1982 Isaac Asimov (P)2010 Random House

Great book and narration

I'm almost finished with the book and I have found no problems with the narration or editing. I can see what other people mean about it being a bit difficult to keep track of all the characters and figure out who is talking, but keep in mind (for those like myself who are new to the Foundation series) that the book moves from epoch to epoch, with each story having a manageable number of characters. I also agree that the narrator (Scott Brick) doesn't do the best job I've heard him do of distinguishing between characters, but it's really not bad.

On the content side, I'm a fan of many Star Wars books and a few others by authors like Kevin J Anderson and Timothy Zahn but had never read much of Asimov. I'm already hooked and looking forward to the rest of the books in this immense series.

Classic Tales of Political Intrigue...in Space

While not full of action starship fights or planetary explosions, this collection of stories first published in Astounding Magazine from 1942 to 1950 [plus "The Psychohistorians," written to introduce the book itself] is full of intrigue chronicling the decline of a Galactic Universe, somewhat inspired by and resembling the fall of our own Roman Empire.

I had previously listened to another narrator, and had some trouble staying awake for any long period, so Scott Brick's more inspired narration was a breath of fresh air [unfortunately, a later book in the series does not have so good a reader as Brick].

Big history sci-fi series

What made the experience of listening to Foundation the most enjoyable?

The idea of having a story where no individual character survives from beginning to end, but instead we follow generations as they pave their way and deal with what the previous generations did. I'm surprised I didn't get to this series before.

Any additional comments?

Don't get attached to characters any more than you would reading a history book. They come and go suddenly, and some are barely mentioned after they pass away.

Interesting Concept

interesting concept, but essentially the same story told three different times... became predictable by the end.

Asimov would be proud!

I read the foundation series in college in the early 1980s. I remembered the basic big picture issues (mostly from the later books in the series in hindsight), but time had made me forget the details. Scott Brick's reading was excellent, and the long lost story of my book reading past came alive. I like to take long walks listening to books/other non-music enjoyments, and I found myself taking longer walks just to hear how the current story/characters would resolve their crisis.

Foundation is a must read classic for Sci-Fi fans!

Great classic sci-fi book. Got this to listen to on a cross-country road trip with my 16 yr old son. He just loved it. And although dated in its descriptions of technology - it still manages to be a timeless sci-fi work. He could not wait to hear the second book, which we bought and listened to on the same trip. Yes, he was that into it! So yes this is a good book and worth your time. And heck, then you will have read a sci-fi classic to boot! Worth the credit for sure!

Not my cup of tea

A bit too much political for my taste. Also what I didnt like is the fact that it cinsists of three stories with different characters. Things progress too quickly. Next chapter is 80 years ahead and I didn't get that first.

Fantastic Story

The story really was fantastic. I'll be the first to admit that it started slowly and I was wondering what I had gotten myself into at the beginning but once it picked up it was a truly fun ride with plenty of clever twists. Absolutely worth reading and the narration by Scott Brick was very well done.

Classic, yet feels somehow timely

You can't go wrong with Asimov, if you're into sci-fi at all. Even though this was written in the 1940s, the themes are timeless. The gist of it is that the progenitor of a field of science known as psychohistory, which takes information and makes a statistical extrapolation of the likelihood of certain futures, has predicted the massive and devastating fall of the ruling empire, where knowledge will be forgotten and all will slip into barbarism that will set back the progress of humans for 30,000 years. In order to lessen the blow to just a millenium, this man arranges to have all knowledge consolidated into a great encyclopedia.

This book, however, is not about the writing of a book. It is about dealing with the necessary crises that befall the empire, as predicted by the psychohistorian. The way it plays out makes chilling parallels to more timely conflicts. One also starts to wonder about a chicken-and-egg scenario here, too -- does the action taken to forestall the downfall contribute to the downfall? Is it all part of a ploy to consolidate rule to a certain class? And is that necessarily wrong?

Perhaps I'm projecting a little too much of my own analysis on the book. It has been around a very long time, after all, and there are certainly more brilliant ways to interpret this. But I believe this book will make you think. And it's definitely one of those books that every sci-fi fan "should" read.

The narrator, while normally someone I enjoy, wasn't necessarily wrong for this book, but I felt like he could have done more to distinguish character voices. Then again, given that this book deals with so many characters in different time periods, that may have been a very tall order.

Time listening to this book was well-spent, for me. Don't go into it looking for resolutions and happy endings (there's more to this series, anyway).

This classic still holds up

I've read a few other Asimov stories but never this one, or this series. The intricate social and political details and intrigue to get you to the end were engaging and kept you wanting to hear more. The narrator was brilliant in playing all the characters, especially considering all the dialog written back and forth in this story. it was easy to keep track of who was talking at any given time, even if he was subtle in how different characterizations. I know there are more books to this series so I can forgive the abrupt and somewhat stilted "ending" due to the story continuing later. but as a one off read the very end is a bit odd and lacking in satisfaction IMO. I caught myself thinking, "that's it?" But then I suppose I'll just have to listen to the other books now to see where this epic journey takes me. :)