Tweet
For starters, April’s book is Enders Game, by Orson Scott Card. Easily the clear winner with 13 votes, over Larry Niven and his Ringworld’s 9.
Let’s start with the standard info. Be warned that this book has been reprinted quite a number of times by different publishers:
Name: Foundation
Author: Isaac Asimov
Published: 1951 in novel form, though the individual stories within were published in Astounding magazine in the proceeding decade.*
Publisher: Avon Books. Currently, Bantam books owns the publishing rights.
The scope of this discussion is the original novel, btw, and if you bring up the subsequent novels in your posts, please use the spoiler tag. Thanks!
Synopsis:
Foundation, and its two sequels Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation, tell the story of the collapse of the Galactic Empire and the efforts by a group of scientists to shorten the period of anarchy after the Fall. The novel starts by introducing us to the world of Hari Seldon, the founder of Psychohistory, a mathematical study of psychology which Seldon developed into a very powerful tool for predicting the general flow of history. Seldon is aware that the millennia-old Galactic Empire that he inhabits is in its last days, and while he can do nothing to prevent the crash, his studies in Psychohistory have made him aware of a plan of action that could, if successful, compress the resulting Dark Ages from 30,000 years to a “mere” 1,000. Foundation tells the story of the first 150 years of Seldon’s plan.
“The Psychohistorians”, the first chapter, introduces us to Hari Seldon and shows his efforts to have the two Foundations set up in time before the Empires collapse – we learn that one Foundation is to be placed on the planet “Terminus”, which is located on the periphery of the Empires rule, but we do not learn the location of the 2nd Foundation. Terminus is a metal-poor planet, and is one that is quite vulnerable to attack.
The second chapter, “The Encyclopedists” takes place 50 years after the end of Chapter 1 and introduces us to both Salvor Hardin, the mayor of Terminus City (meaning he is also the de facto ruler of the planet Terminus) and the “hero” of this and the next chapter, and, more importantly, the concept of the “Seldon Crisis” – a problem that Seldon considers to be so knotty there is an actual probability of the Plan breaking down. Because of the predictive power of Psychohistory, Seldon is able to record a number of speeches relating to the Seldon crisises and the lessons supposedly learned by future audiences, speeches that are usually viewed by the Foundations leaders after the crisis has been solved. In Chapter 2 the story really takes off as the Foundation turns from the passive collecting and codifying of knowledge towards a more pragmatic view of the Foundations role in the local sphere of space… and eventually, the Galaxy. Chapter 2 ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, with the reader being told that the solution to the problem that faces the Foundation is “Obvious as all Hell!” Unfortunately for the reader, we have to read Chapter 3 to find out what the solution actually was.
Chapter 3, “The Mayors”, continues the story of Salvor Hardin 30 years after the events in Chapter 2. Over the course of the chapter we learn that Hardin has established a “religion of science”, with a priesthood that is trained and inculcated on Terminus. The priests are the only ones capable of maintaining the technology (especially in the use of atomic power) needed to run an industrial society. By the end of the chapter, the Foundation uses this priesthood to effectively seize control of the nearest 4 planetary kingdoms (in the process the reader learns that a “Balance of Power” philosophy was used by the Foundation to keep the 4 kingdoms from invading her earlier), but Seldon notes that the use of the Priesthood is limited, as once the news gets out that the Foundation is using the priesthood to gain control the priests will be forbidden from proselytizing on new worlds.
In Chapter 4, “The Traders,” we find that Seldon was correct, and now the Foundation is beginning to use the power of economics to further expand its reach, even to the point of corrupting entire planetary governments. This theme is fully explored by the end of Chapter 5, “The Merchant Princes,” where the Foundation is fully set on the path of economic conquest and domination.
*Publishing History of the various chapters:
Chapter Name, Original Story Name, Date Published (all stories originally published in Astounding magazine)
The Psychohistorians, “Foundation”, May 1942.
The Encyclopedists, “Foundation”, May 1942.
The Mayors, “Bridle and Saddle”, June 1942.
The Traders, “The Wedge”, October 1944.
The Merchant Princes, “The Big and the Little”, August 1944.
Let’s start with the standard info. Be warned that this book has been reprinted quite a number of times by different publishers:
Name: Foundation
Author: Isaac Asimov
Published: 1951 in novel form, though the individual stories within were published in Astounding magazine in the proceeding decade.*
Publisher: Avon Books. Currently, Bantam books owns the publishing rights.
The scope of this discussion is the original novel, btw, and if you bring up the subsequent novels in your posts, please use the spoiler tag. Thanks!
Synopsis:
Foundation, and its two sequels Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation, tell the story of the collapse of the Galactic Empire and the efforts by a group of scientists to shorten the period of anarchy after the Fall. The novel starts by introducing us to the world of Hari Seldon, the founder of Psychohistory, a mathematical study of psychology which Seldon developed into a very powerful tool for predicting the general flow of history. Seldon is aware that the millennia-old Galactic Empire that he inhabits is in its last days, and while he can do nothing to prevent the crash, his studies in Psychohistory have made him aware of a plan of action that could, if successful, compress the resulting Dark Ages from 30,000 years to a “mere” 1,000. Foundation tells the story of the first 150 years of Seldon’s plan.
“The Psychohistorians”, the first chapter, introduces us to Hari Seldon and shows his efforts to have the two Foundations set up in time before the Empires collapse – we learn that one Foundation is to be placed on the planet “Terminus”, which is located on the periphery of the Empires rule, but we do not learn the location of the 2nd Foundation. Terminus is a metal-poor planet, and is one that is quite vulnerable to attack.
The second chapter, “The Encyclopedists” takes place 50 years after the end of Chapter 1 and introduces us to both Salvor Hardin, the mayor of Terminus City (meaning he is also the de facto ruler of the planet Terminus) and the “hero” of this and the next chapter, and, more importantly, the concept of the “Seldon Crisis” – a problem that Seldon considers to be so knotty there is an actual probability of the Plan breaking down. Because of the predictive power of Psychohistory, Seldon is able to record a number of speeches relating to the Seldon crisises and the lessons supposedly learned by future audiences, speeches that are usually viewed by the Foundations leaders after the crisis has been solved. In Chapter 2 the story really takes off as the Foundation turns from the passive collecting and codifying of knowledge towards a more pragmatic view of the Foundations role in the local sphere of space… and eventually, the Galaxy. Chapter 2 ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, with the reader being told that the solution to the problem that faces the Foundation is “Obvious as all Hell!” Unfortunately for the reader, we have to read Chapter 3 to find out what the solution actually was.
Chapter 3, “The Mayors”, continues the story of Salvor Hardin 30 years after the events in Chapter 2. Over the course of the chapter we learn that Hardin has established a “religion of science”, with a priesthood that is trained and inculcated on Terminus. The priests are the only ones capable of maintaining the technology (especially in the use of atomic power) needed to run an industrial society. By the end of the chapter, the Foundation uses this priesthood to effectively seize control of the nearest 4 planetary kingdoms (in the process the reader learns that a “Balance of Power” philosophy was used by the Foundation to keep the 4 kingdoms from invading her earlier), but Seldon notes that the use of the Priesthood is limited, as once the news gets out that the Foundation is using the priesthood to gain control the priests will be forbidden from proselytizing on new worlds.
In Chapter 4, “The Traders,” we find that Seldon was correct, and now the Foundation is beginning to use the power of economics to further expand its reach, even to the point of corrupting entire planetary governments. This theme is fully explored by the end of Chapter 5, “The Merchant Princes,” where the Foundation is fully set on the path of economic conquest and domination.
*Publishing History of the various chapters:
Chapter Name, Original Story Name, Date Published (all stories originally published in Astounding magazine)
The Psychohistorians, “Foundation”, May 1942.
The Encyclopedists, “Foundation”, May 1942.
The Mayors, “Bridle and Saddle”, June 1942.
The Traders, “The Wedge”, October 1944.
The Merchant Princes, “The Big and the Little”, August 1944.
Comment