The Foundation Trilogy Dramatized

Asimov is one of the best authors I have ever read. Part of his brilliance is the complete degree with which he creates a very real world for the reader. But another crucial part is that the people you read about are real people. Sometimes sci-fi can do silly things, like "and then he pulled out his super-gun and blew up the evil space-ship." Asimov never settled for silly or second rate endings. The endings feel real--the sci-fi element just adds another dimension to the tale. This book can be kind of a slow starter--especially if you've read any of Asimov's Lije Baley novels--but the depth of this book is entirely worth it. It also has a bit of a lull in the middle for some readers. Keep going. It ties up so well at the end, that you wonder why you ever doubted Asimov. The trilogy is best read as a trilogy. The books are good individually, but amazing all together. I almost feel like the trilogy would have been better divided into two books instead of three... but I'm not the brilliant writer here. Reading the Foundation Trilogy is also great because much of today's science fiction takes it's cues from this earlier work. The galactic empire of Star Wars is perhaps a darker reflection of the galactic empire of the Foundation trilogy. Star Trek also takes a number of cues from this series. Yet one of the way it differs is that there are no extra terrestrials in the universe of Foundation. This makes it an unusually intimate exploration of humanity. (Much in the way Firefly has no aliens.) All in all, if you like Science Fiction, you will love this book. If you like books that make you think about things from a different perspective, you will like this book. If you like books with unexpected plot twists, you will love the ending of the trilogy. If you like books that explore human nature, you will like this book. Read more

I love science fiction (SF) and know that the Foundation Trilogy is one of the best examples of well written SF (SIDE NOTE: While I never even touched it, my alma mater UMBC has one of the rough drafts in its special collections.) I fortunately chose it to introduce my teen son to SF and afterwards he agreed that it was a great read. My other recommended (both my opinion and ratings from groups ranking "top ten" [supposedly] "good" SF books and short story (probably the best format for SF) collections were not so well received, so I didn't win him over to being an SF-addict. Surprisingly, only one of the three public libraries (in different counties) that I go to has the trilogy on its shelves. NOTE: The TV series based upon the whole Foundation series (both the original trilogy and the decade-later Asimov approved follow-ups) shouldn't be used to gauge the original trilogy. Read more

Purchased a used copy and am very pleased! I loaned my first hardbound Foundation trilogy to a friend decades ago, but he passed on without returning it, so I had to replace it. This volume does that and more; it's better than my original copy, since it includes two more great Asimov novels in addition to the Foundation trilogy -- and at a very reasonable price! Now I just need to read it all again. :-) Read more

This is a brief review of the Audible release of the Radio Program version of The Foundation Trilogy. By nature, it is a fairly abridged version of the entire story, but the listener is treated to the essence of the classic saga through a radio show script. Note: This is NOT a typical "audiobook" with someone reading the text directly; this is a dramatization of the story, with music, sound effects, and several voices representing different characters. The voice acting is good 1970s BBC quality (if you're particularly attentive, you may recognize some names from other similar works of the era such as the famous "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or even from some of their television broadcasts). The primary issue that I have observed is substantiated by the statement in the product description: "Please note: This is an historical broadcast recording, produced by the BBC in 1973. The audio quality represents the technology of the time when it was produced." This tends to manifest mainly in the manner of the music and sound effects playing at rather high volume (sometimes ear-piercingly so) while the voices can seem quite soft at times, practically reduced to mumbling. It seems this is not an uncommon symptom in even modern recordings, such as in films. If you are clever enough, you might be able to export the audio files from Audible and run them through some kind of editor such as Audacity and apply the limiter effect to amplify the lower frequencies and soften the higher end. This can help render the audio to a more bearable state. Otherwise, this is a typical BBC Radio production -- engaging, entertaining, and moves the story along at a reasonable pace. Read more