From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Prelude to Foundation

Isaac Asimov

Start date: February 1, 2016

Finish date: March 2, 2016

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Phil J

Why we're reading this: Group Classic novel discussion February 2016
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Jul 22, 2008 Michael rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, audio-book, read-in-2007, re-read, read-in-2021, summer-reading-2021

Prequels are difficult. Just ask George Lucas or Brannon Braga.

While there is a great opportunity to fill in the backstory for characters and do a bit of worldbuilding, it feels like the risks often outweigh the rewards. A prequel series can also be limiting in how many surprises or revelations an author or creative team can throw the fans way before fandom starts crying foul or screaming that this detail or that one has violated continuity or a long-held character belief.

But long before Star ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Feb 07, 2009 kellyn rated it it was amazing

I read this when I was about 13 or 14 and loved it. Re-reading it almost ten years later lets me read it with a depth I couldn't have at 13. Asimov was such a genius, writing in the 1940's with a prophetic political and technological imagination. (Granted, this was written in the 1980's as a prequel to the books written in the 40's).
He writes the dialogue with a clinical edge that really makes you feel you're hearing people from an entirely different society speaking. At the same time the descr ...more

3 likes · Like · see review