Säätiö

by Isaac Asimov, Kemal Baran Özbek

No cover — Säätiö (Finnish language, 1976)

253 pages

Finnish language

Published May 5, 1976

ISBN:: 978-951-0-07774-0
Goodreads:: 4413478

(4 reviews)

One of the great masterworks of science fiction, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building.

The story of our future begins with the history of Foundation and its greatest psychohistorian: Hari Seldon. For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. Only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, 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.

But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of …

One of the great masterworks of science fiction, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building.

But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. And mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and live as slaves--or take a stand for freedom and risk total destruction.

87 editions

crochetedman reviewed Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Review of 'Foundation' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

The Foundation series are some of my favorite books. They're definitely a product of their time (Asimov was clearly more comfortable with writing short stories for magazines than with writing novels, and his biases are obvious in the misogynistic treatment of the few women in the story) but their basic ideas hold up well.

I personally really enjoy the rather dry political tone, and both the lack of focus on character development and the long time-skips are fitting given the premise of the story (which posits a theory of "psychohistory" in which the overall trajectory of a large group is emphasized over the actions of individuals, and which can be used to predict and direct the future over long periods of time). The plot twists and reveals also never come out of nowhere, and sufficiently tie back to previous details to make each individual part feel neat and tidy.

Eph (they, them) reviewed Foundation (Foundation #1) by Isaac Asimov

How mankind can never get it right

5 stars

Content warning Plots and themes revealed broadly

Now that I am getting an understanding of Bookwyrm, this is my first useful Review. We tend to critically review literature through the lens of evolutionary psychology.

What we find in both sci-fi and all fiction really is the ignorance of how enslaved we are to evolutionary drives, behaviors, and thinking. In this fabulous book, once again mankind has surpassed all imaginable science and technology. Yet, humanity's nature destroys it all, taking the universal Empire back to chaos.

You might argue, well ain't that showing our evolutionary natures. Why, yes, it is. My critique is, why can't we grow in intrinsic self-awareness as we grow cerebrally? The problem always is in fiction is such intrinsic self-awareness cannot be attained in a top-down manner. The ability to manage our primitive drives, behaviors, and beliefs, is attained through somatic and mindful awareness.

But, if we evolved beyond our evolutionary behaviors along with our progress in science and technology, we'd have no good science fiction to read!

papapep reviewed Fundació by Isaac Asimov

El poder i el coneixement, jugant al gat i la rata, la humanitat en el seu joc habitual

5 stars

Una nova i preciosa edició d'un clàssic entre clàssics. Una saga escrita entre els anys 50s i 90s del segle 20 (no us perdeu especialment els 3 primers volums) que, com sempre feia Asimov, mentre ens explicava històries de tecnologia, robots i espai en el fons ens parlava del ser humà, com a individu, com a col·lectiu, de com ens relacionem, de com ens veiem com a individus i com ens projectem a la societat.

Madebypaul reviewed Foundation (Foundation #1) by Isaac Asimov

Time and a place

3 stars

Sure it’s great literature kind of dripping in bigotry and misogyny but I’m sure it had its time and place in the sci-fi hall of fame. Cool TV series though.