An unabridged classic but "Psychologist?!!"

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoyed listening to this. It was one of the first major works of SciFi that I ever read.

Any additional comments?

Why on earth did the word "psychohistory" (and all derivatives thereof) become "psychology?" Where in the book they talk about psychohistorians, they talk about psychologists in the audiobook. What happened? Did the word get globally replaced by a spellchecker in the final copy of the script?

316 people found this helpful

Changed the version back

I don't want the TV show tie-in version! I want the version written by the the author!

229 people found this helpful

not the edition I ordered

what a shady way to advertise Apple+
in place of one I previously paid for, i found this edition swapped into my library after-the-fact

201 people found this helpful

The Foundation Trilogy is a True Classic

Asimov is superb, particularly when one considers that he started writing this series in the early 1950s. As a result it reads and sounds like the period. For all that, this is a great classic and Scott Brick is an excellent reader. The story and cast of characters is much more complex than the average novel. I found that a 2nd listen not only made everything clearer, but was even more enjoyable than the first.

A few reviewers comment on dropped sentences. It helps to have access to the printed version. Chapters are frequently introduced with excerpts of the fictitious Encyclopedia Galactica, and these excerpts are - in both the print and Audible version - often dropped mid-sentence. This is Asimov.

Highly recommended for any SciFi fan.

155 people found this helpful

An old friend revisited

I first read Asimov's original Foundation Triology Back in the early 60's. Later, as he added volumes to the Foundation series, I would grab up every Foundation book as they came out, ending with Foundation and Earth in 1986. I have always recommended Asimov to friends and acquaintances as a "classic" to be be read by all Sci-Fi fans.
A few months ago, I noticed "Prelude to Foundation" when browsing through Audible to find my next "listen." I also decided to download the rest of the series so I could go through it all again in sequential order.
Quite obviously, I had no doubt about Asimov as I've have been a reader of his for over 50 years now. I was quite impressed with the reader and also very impressed that he seems to be the reader for all books in the series so we gain the continuity of the presentation.
I just cannot recommend the Foundation stories highly enough. Again, a classic and so very well performed by Scott Brick.
One word of caution to readers/listeners to Asimove's style. There are times it seems, in all his writing that he begins to edge into a tangent of over description whether it be a personality, an event, or just a segment of the story. DO NOT let this cause dismay and do not allow yourself to drift, waiting for the dialog to pick up. It is all so important to end up with a genuine undersstanding of the story. All will come true to your expectations.
I know this review is on the first book written (Foundation) but I cannot help but speak of the entire works. Asimov is timeless. The reader, superb. Do yourself a favor and commit to the entire works of Foundation. When you're done, you'll want to pursue the Robot books as well as the Empire books. Asimove wrote much and in the end you'll wish he wrote more.

103 people found this helpful

Great story - terrible and distracting narration

What made the experience of listening to Foundation the most enjoyable?

Fast plotting, lots of twists, and cool use of

How could the performance have been better?

For the first time in years I had to turn off the ipod and buy a hard copy of the book so I could finish this great story. The narrator, Scott Brick, voiced all the characters with such a snarky, arrogant persona that it highly distracted from the plot. Sometimes I couldn't even follow the dialog because I was wondering why two characters would be talking to each other in such condescending tones.

I can't understand why this guy is such a popular narrator. I won't buy another audible title if he's doing the reading!

102 people found this helpful

Don’t bother unless you’re a sci-fi history buff

This was my first Isaac Asimov. It seemed to be one of his most acclaimed works which is why I wanted to hear it. Listened at 1.6x speed.

I guess that it’s generally true most sci-fi ages badly and this is a good example. Set 12000 years in the future where civilization has spread throughout the galaxy yet they are writing a book on paper and the kind of money most people care about is gold coins.

They’re supposed to be writing an encyclopedia about the entire history of mankind but they’ve forgotten the human race started on earth. They have atomic power plants that explode like atomic bombs, atomic spaceships, atomic shields and atomic ray guns. Technology has not advanced much since the 1950s.

The plot about a collapsing empire is nothing extraordinary nor even interesting in 2020, given current world events. Time in the book passes so fast that new characters appear and then die of old age a couple of chapters later. You don’t even have a chance to get emotionally attached to them.

Maybe this was the first of its kind when it first came out, but unless you have some special appreciation for this fact, there’s nothing for you in this book if you’ve read any modern sci-fi.

76 people found this helpful

Not unabridged

What did you love best about Foundation?

It is a story that has many elements we could learn from today.

What did you like best about this story?

The Characters

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Scott Brick?

no comment

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

no

Any additional comments?

the background music was distracting, the narrative was ABRIDGED as I have read the book itself many times and a lot was left out of the narrative.

73 people found this helpful

Couldn't get through the narration.

Could not stand the narrator. Unfortunate - I've heard good things about this book, but I couldn't get through it.

70 people found this helpful

Wanted to like it more

The Book

Having heard so much about Asimov, I was expecting to thoroughly enjoy Foundation. Having finished the book, I wouldn’t say that I hated the book or even really disliked it so much as I simply wasn’t impressed. I don’t plan to listen to the rest of the series. Over and over again as I was listening, I thought that the book simply has not stood up to the test of time. It just felt dated and old, like watching a classic movie comedy that never makes you smile, even though you know that it was really funny back when it first came out.

The writing style was not very engaging to the modern reader. Two quick examples:

1) Almost zero character development. Foundation actually functions like 4 mini-books within the larger book and I never found myself caring for any of the characters. You are with each for a short amount of time and then you can forget about them entirely. The plot is the only thing that matters.

2) Very little action. I realize I’m from the Nintendo generation and that might mean my attention span is lacking. But seriously, can’t we get a chase scene or a fight or something? There was a military coup that we actually didn’t get to see and even a hostage situation on a hostile planet never got my blood racing.

The Narration

The narration was adequate but nothing about it made Scott Brick seem particularly noteworthy. Perhaps this is not the best book on which to to judge Brick since Foundation is such a marathon dialogue session. You won’t like the book any less because of Brick’s narration, but I suppose you won’t like it any more either.

The Verdict

If you enjoy science fiction and are interested in reading a classic work, by all means, dive right in. Also, if you are the kind of person that enjoys old things and are able to appreciate them for what they are without being distracted by the additional flaws that come with age, you might also enjoy Foundation. Otherwise, you are likely to be disappointed with this read.

70 people found this helpful