The Foundation Trilogy (Dramatized)

By: Isaac Asimov, Patrick Tull - adaptation, Mike Stott - adaptation

Narrated by: Geoffrey Beevers, Lee Montague, Julian Glover, Dinsdale Landon, Maurice Denham, Angela Pleasence, Prunella Scales

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

The opening episode begins on Trantor, capital of the Galactic Empire, with the meeting of Seldon and Dornick, their trial, and their exile to Terminus. The action then jumps forward 50 years, to the first Seldon Crisis, where the repercussions of the recent independence of the Four Kingdoms of the Periphery are being felt on Terminus, and are handled by the first Mayor, Salvor Hardin. The scene then moves forward a further 20 years, as Mayor Hardin faces down the domination of the nearby and most powerful Kingdom, Anacreon.

The Merchant Princes
One-hundred-fifty years after the Foundation was established, the now powerful trading nation faces its greatest threat to date, guided by master trader Hober Mallow.

The General
Two hundred years after its creation, the Foundation battles Bel Riose, the last powerful General of the dying Galactic Empire.

The Mule
A further hundred years have passed, and the Foundation is challenged by an unexpected threat named The Mule.

Flight from the Mule
During the war against The Mule, with things going badly for the Foundation, some key figures under the leadership of the Foundation's greatest scientist, Ebling Mis, flee Terminus in search of the Second Foundation, to warn it of the danger from The Mule.

The Mule Finds
The Mule attempts to find and overthrow the Second Foundation.

Star's End
Sixty years later, and a teenage girl is at the center of the Foundation's renewed search for the Second Foundation.

Changes from the written Trilogy: The conflict between The Foundation and Anacreon takes place 70 years into the Foundation era; in the novels it occurs at 80 F.E. A small segment in Foundation titled "Traders" has been removed entirely. General editing for time has been done throughout. A large, rather comedic section on farming on Rossem has been added to "The Mule Finds".

Please note: This is an historical broadcast recording, produced by the BBC in 1973. The audio quality represents the technology of the time when it was produced.

©2011 ABN (P)2011 ABN

Well done, a bold story told with style.

The paperback trilogy began my Asimov fanship. This dramatization is very well done. Simply Amazing...

writing- excellent. production- terrible

the storyline in writing AR their excellent. the production values are terrible. the volume of the dialogue was so low it is difficult to hear. and the sound effects for so loud it hurt my ears.

great drama, deafening sound effects

good variety of voice actors, and a surprisingly well done job of condensing the trilogy. only issue is the ear wrenching sound effects in between parts of the drama.

Great story, decent performance, but annoying SFX

Would you try another book from the authors and/or the narrators?

I am not sure why, but the equalizer must have been skipped here as the sound effects are LOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUD and especially annoying as you have to crank up the volume to hear the voice actors. --- I read the initial book years ago, so I thought a theatric version of all 3 books would be great... I stopped listening two separate times due to this annoyance. I tried different speakers/headphones and re-downloading the audio book. Just plain crap quality.

Any additional comments?

Apply equalizer balancing to all your audio books.

Yep, the "futuristic" sound fx are obnoxious...

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

As stated by previous reviewers, even out the sound. Muffled and muted actors combined with obnoxiously loud and cringe inducing "space age" sound effects make this production an excercise in frustration at times...

Would you recommend The Foundation Trilogy (Dramatized) to your friends? Why or why not?

I actually liked the content. Pretty entertaining, but I could not recommend it due to the jarring interludes...

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Liked the overall acting, hated the sound quality of the voices and the annoying interlude sound effects.

What character would you cut from The Foundation Trilogy (Dramatized)?

the "space age" sound effects. keep everything else.

Any additional comments?

Intelude sounds=nails on a chalkboard. Why???

Bad sound levels

The sound effects are way too high. Annoying really. Constantly needing to adjust the volume.

My Ears, My Ears!!

James totally got it right, the post-production sound is awful. You have to crank up the volume to hear anybody, but then in between scenes or chapters in the book, they have awful '50's and 60's sci-fi electronica that is played at TOP VOLUME! The first time this happened it nearly blew my eardrums in.

I gave is two stars because it is Asimov, but this audiobook is one of the worst I've bought from Audible. There's a reason it's only $2.

buck Rodgers foundation.

the writing for this is not as good as the books. I loved the foundation books. this is a very nice period peice lots of 40-50s space music, and voice acting. but it misses the true subtle beauty of the original.

Mixed

BBC Radio multi-touch drama. Interesting presentation, but hokey sound effects (think original Star Trek). Some narrative would have helped in spots to carry the flow, but 7-plus hours were very enjoyable.

Good read of Sci Fi World Builder genius Asimov

What made the experience of listening to The Foundation Trilogy (Dramatized) the most enjoyable?

The use of several voice actors made this version enjoyable. I had an older version of the book on tape and its awful when done by one voice. It's a three part story and same actor could not keep up his interest on the material himself.

This multi cast version is more solid, several voices complement each other and get you into the rise and fall of a nation story through out each book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

the professor, his theory on the end of the Empire as we knew it got him from the classroom to the Emperor 's hit list from one little planet to Trantor, the capital of the galaxy. Very similar to real life victims of their own celebrity, your ideas become public and before you know people want to praise you or crucify you.

Asimov's book is an ageless masterpiece that shows no matter where, on Earth or Trantor, history repeats itself and no political force can change it.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Harry realizes the Emperor of the Galaxy lives secluded and has never been out of the city, like the most powerful man is just the real prisoner of his own Empire administrators. .

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It's one long book. Best way to enjoy it is on the way to work.

Any additional comments?

The sound effects are a bit dated and Dr Who-ish, but as ironoc twist, the BBC radio gave the saga a vintage feeling. Great voice actors.