Foundation (Apple Series Tie-in Edition)

By: Isaac Asimov

Narrated by: Scott Brick

The first novel in Isaac Asimov’s classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series

THE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION • Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, 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.

The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are among the most influential in the history of science fiction, celebrated for their unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. In Foundation, Asimov has written a timely and timeless novel of the best—and worst—that lies in humanity, and the power of even a few courageous souls to shine a light in a universe of darkness.

Critic reviews

Praise for Isaac Asimov and his Foundation series

“A true polymath, a superb rationalist, an exciting and accessible writer in both fiction and nonfiction, Isaac Asimov was simply a master of all he surveyed.”—Greg Bear

“Asimov served wondrous meals-of-the-mind to a civilization that was starved for clear thinking about the future. To this day, his visions spice our ongoing dinner-table conversation about human destiny.”—David Brin

“Isaac was still in his teens when I met him, a fan of mine before I was a fan of his. Writing for John W. Campbell back in the famous ‘golden age of science fiction,’ he became one of the founders of our field. With the Robot stories and the Foundation stories, he helped to shape science fiction as we know it.”—Jack Williamson

“I grew up on the ABC’s of science fiction—Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke. There’s a reason Asimov’s name comes first, and not just because of the alphabet!”—Janis Ian

“With his fertile imagination, his wit, and his prolific output, Isaac Asimov truly laid the foundation for all future generations of science fiction writers.”—Kevin J. Anderson

“If anything can be said to have been the launch pad for space-age science fiction, it has to be the Foundation trilogy. It’s a classic. And it’s unforgettable.”—Jack McDevitt

“The Foundation series is one of the masterpieces of science fiction. If you’ve never read these novels, then you’re in for a treat, and even if you’ve already read them, then you owe it to yourself to reread them, because they’re still great.”—Allen Steele

“Quite simply, Asimov got me started.”—Liz Williams

“Asimov’s Foundation trilogy was the pivotal touchstone of my life in creative fiction. His vision and scope spanned the galaxy across eons, and at the same time he told deeply personal stories of living characters. The writer I am sprang from the boy that these books touched back then. They continue to move me still. Thank you, Isaac, for opening my mind and my life to the possible.”—Tracy Hickman

“I’m sure there will be more Foundation stories, and more robot stories, and more science-fictional mysteries, because those are Isaac’s legacies to us. But reading them won’t be quite the same. There was only one Isaac Asimov; there will never be another.”—Mike Resnick

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?

Great book and narration

I'm almost finished with the book and I have found no problems with the narration or editing. I can see what other people mean about it being a bit difficult to keep track of all the characters and figure out who is talking, but keep in mind (for those like myself who are new to the Foundation series) that the book moves from epoch to epoch, with each story having a manageable number of characters. I also agree that the narrator (Scott Brick) doesn't do the best job I've heard him do of distinguishing between characters, but it's really not bad.

On the content side, I'm a fan of many Star Wars books and a few others by authors like Kevin J Anderson and Timothy Zahn but had never read much of Asimov. I'm already hooked and looking forward to the rest of the books in this immense series.

Classic Tales of Political Intrigue...in Space

While not full of action starship fights or planetary explosions, this collection of stories first published in Astounding Magazine from 1942 to 1950 [plus "The Psychohistorians," written to introduce the book itself] is full of intrigue chronicling the decline of a Galactic Universe, somewhat inspired by and resembling the fall of our own Roman Empire.

I had previously listened to another narrator, and had some trouble staying awake for any long period, so Scott Brick's more inspired narration was a breath of fresh air [unfortunately, a later book in the series does not have so good a reader as Brick].

Big history sci-fi series

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

The idea of having a story where no individual character survives from beginning to end, but instead we follow generations as they pave their way and deal with what the previous generations did. I'm surprised I didn't get to this series before.

Any additional comments?

Don't get attached to characters any more than you would reading a history book. They come and go suddenly, and some are barely mentioned after they pass away.

Classic, yet feels somehow timely

You can't go wrong with Asimov, if you're into sci-fi at all. Even though this was written in the 1940s, the themes are timeless. The gist of it is that the progenitor of a field of science known as psychohistory, which takes information and makes a statistical extrapolation of the likelihood of certain futures, has predicted the massive and devastating fall of the ruling empire, where knowledge will be forgotten and all will slip into barbarism that will set back the progress of humans for 30,000 years. In order to lessen the blow to just a millenium, this man arranges to have all knowledge consolidated into a great encyclopedia.

This book, however, is not about the writing of a book. It is about dealing with the necessary crises that befall the empire, as predicted by the psychohistorian. The way it plays out makes chilling parallels to more timely conflicts. One also starts to wonder about a chicken-and-egg scenario here, too -- does the action taken to forestall the downfall contribute to the downfall? Is it all part of a ploy to consolidate rule to a certain class? And is that necessarily wrong?

Perhaps I'm projecting a little too much of my own analysis on the book. It has been around a very long time, after all, and there are certainly more brilliant ways to interpret this. But I believe this book will make you think. And it's definitely one of those books that every sci-fi fan "should" read.

The narrator, while normally someone I enjoy, wasn't necessarily wrong for this book, but I felt like he could have done more to distinguish character voices. Then again, given that this book deals with so many characters in different time periods, that may have been a very tall order.

Time listening to this book was well-spent, for me. Don't go into it looking for resolutions and happy endings (there's more to this series, anyway).