Foundation and Earth

By: Isaac Asimov

Narrated by: Larry McKeever

Length: 18 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are among the great masterworks of science fiction. An ingenious blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building, they chronicle the struggle of a courageous group of men and women determined to shield enlightened humanity from a ceaseless threat of darkness and ultimate annihilation.

Golan Trevize, former councilman of the First Foundation, has chosen the future, and it is Gaia. A superorganism, Gaia is a holistic planet with a common consciousness so intensely united that every dewdrop, every pebble, every being, can speak for all - and feel for all. It is a realm in which privacy is not only undesirable, it is incomprehensible. But is it the right choice for the destiny of mankind? While Trevize feels it is, that is not enough. He must know.

Trevize believes the answer lies at the site of humanity’s roots: fabled Earth...if it still exists. For no one is sure where the planet of Gaia’s first settlers is to be found in the immense wilderness of the galaxy. Nor can anyone explain why no record of Earth has been preserved, no mention of it made anywhere in Gaia’s vast world-memory. It is an enigma Trevize is determined to resolve and a quest he is determined to undertake, at any cost.

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

©1986 Nightfall, Inc (P)2011 Random House Audio

Mindblowing, once you get past horrible narration

What did you love best about Foundation and Earth?

What a nice way of closing every loops there were. I enjoyed to re visit the spacer worlds and see it as archeologists.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The hero of the book, Golan Trevize. He’s such a complete character and described so well

How could the performance have been better?

Change the narrator, or ask him to do it again. I felt Mr. McKeever wasn’t very well at the time he did the recording. Hopefully it can be re-recorded.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Since I didn’t read any Wikipedia entries before each book, I enoyed very much every parts of the story and how it ended.

Narrator is much better at 1.35 speed setting

I changed the speed setting to 1.35 and although Larry McKeever isn't in the same league as Scott Brick, it was a much better listen.

Classic that could have been performed better..

The continuing story of Harry Seldon and his Foundations could have been so much better if Larry McKeever didn't sound so much like a "Speak n' Spell" during his performance. So very monotone and unexciting.

Narrator is awful

Narrator is awful, pauses in inappropriate places and monosyllabic. I would not recommend it to anyone else.

Is the Narrator AI?

The story was as good as could be expected from Asimov. But after having Scott Brick as the narrator for the last 4 books of the Foundation series I listened to (he always does a great job) this narrator was so bad that I would have to take breaks when it got unbearable. So many times I couldn’t tell when the conversation changed from one character to another. I think SIRI would have read it with a more natural sounding voice.

Good book, bad narration.

The story is good, but is a lot of philosophical dialog and not a lot of action. This is made worse by a slow monotone grinding narration. I don’t have good enough eyes to read whole novels anymore but if I did I think it would be much better to read this book rather than listen to it.

Great Science Fiction and Poor Narration

I suffered through this as many others. The story is great, the writing… it’s Asimov… of course it’s well executed… it’s just that the narration is so different in style from the rest that I could hardly get through it. I hope that audible will have this redone by someone with more energy. I rarely complain about narrators, but when you get used to talent and you are served up monotone recordings… it smarts.

Mailed it in

By far the least satisfying of the five Foundation books (the other two are prequels). This book completely lacked the intrigue and suspense of the earlier novels. The characters were dry and generally unlikable and a major bit of foreshadowing was simply ignored. The writing was not impressive with repetitive "philosophical" debates taking the place of any action in the book. This is the rare book that I found myself impatient to finish.

interesting culmination, painful listen.

it's the slowest of the books this far. the Narrator switch is very painful. Endure through it.

Excellent story, disputable narration

This is the most cerebral novel of the series. Written by a mature and seasoned Assimov, the story is bound to be captivating.
Narration is not the best, but I've found that listening it at 1.2 5 speed sounds a lot to my liking than the original. My major complaints are not directed to the narator, but to the choice of the narator. An older person will interpret very difficult younger characters. Furthermore, the story is full of action, and a slow narration style might not let it shine through.