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

every bit a classic SciFi

the story is a classic story. I read and fell in love it back in the 1970's while in the Navy.

Interesting novel

The story line I find more interesting than the SF. The intrigue and political drama are superb.

Great book and reading

Liked: the novel itself and the voicing was easy to follow along with who was speaking

Notes: few parts where my physical copy was slightly different than the recording, guessing they updated some words in newer copydated versions. Ex: atomic was replaced with nuclear.

A great unfolding of power struggle

The plot is constructed as a series of dialogue which is cold and plain on the surface, but unfolds as battles of ingenuity between interstellar governments. I love how Asimov pits emotion against power struggles in a manner that makes humanity prevail in this universe.

Not for everyone, but entertaining if for you

This is a space story written decades ago. Not everything is going to be logical based on what we have now. It is almost exclusively dialog driven and uses a lot of deus ex machina style resolutions. With that said, it was entertaining, and this was the first space book I've ever read. I'll continue on with the series.

Scott Brick, the narrator, is pleasant to listen to and easy to understand. He provides a good performance. His only caveat is a lack of character voice styles. A few tines, the speaker was not named in the story and his voice styles were not distinct enough to infer who was talking.

Overall, a good story and will be interesting to lovers of science and politics.

Good story but lacking in representation

catastrophically lacking in representation. Hardly a single female character in the entire book. perhaps not surprising for being written when it is but still disappointing

Amazing, especially for 1950.

I've always been scared of reading the Asimov classics for fear the outdated science would ruin the experience.

There is outdated science and technology of course, but it's not prevalent and you quickly adjust. But most of the concepts and story are timeless and it's amazing that they were written in 1950. After reading the Foundation, I downloaded I, Robot and the Foundation and Empire, which were equally as good.

In short, it's a classic for a reason. Don't be be afraid that it was written over 60 years ago. It will still make you think.

Good book, interesting style

Very clever and interesting premis. The pace of the book is very interesting, the main character is the foundation itself, which is a little weird to get used to. It's not about a single character, but multiple characters who interact with the city state. I'm not sure how I entirely feel about this, and I don't think I can actually judge it based on the just the first book, going to have to finish the series.

For me, it was outdated

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

I thought Brick had a good grasp of the story, read fluently, and was good overall. My only complaint was that there was a certain "sameness" in his voice that I sometimes wearied of.

Any additional comments?

I recall our enthusiasm for Asimov in the 70's but the future that seemed so imaginative in the past does not seem the future we would imagine today.

Started off interesting then got boring fast...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not really. The story just didn't engage after the first couple of hours.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The beginning is fairly interesting, the idea of predicting the fall of the empire and establishing an outpost at the edge of civilization to bring back it's return was intriguing. As well as the idea that psychoanalytics could predict the broad outlines of human behavior and therefor chart a general course (but this didn't play out in how things actually happened, it turned out a very narrow course was needed)The idea that psychoanalytics can be so precise in determining the future was hard to swallow (even when you suspend belief), particularly when the future, in the story, was driven not by major historical trends but by the anachronistic actions of a few individuals. That combined with the rather rough view of people and religion, that suddenly you just wave a new religion in front of people backed by a handful of gadget and everyone becomes the most blind fanatical adherents.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

He was okay, sometimes overly dramatic. Towards the end of the book I was tired of hearing him. FYI, I'm usually not too picky on narrators.

Was Foundation worth the listening time?

Only in that I finally know what it's about, which is unfortunate, I've been wanting to read this book since I was in high school twenty years ago.