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Foundation's Fear (Second Foundation Trilogy)
 
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Foundation's Fear (Second Foundation Trilogy) (Paperback)

by Gregory Benford (Author)
2.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 620 pages
  • Publisher: Orbit; New edition edition (2 Jul 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1857235630
  • ISBN-13: 978-1857235630
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.8 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 347,273 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #9 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > B > Benford, Gregory

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
This is the first instalment of The Second Foundation Trilogy, based on Isaac Asimov's famous Foundation series. Acclaimed hard science fiction writers Gregory Benford, David Brin and Greg Bear will each produce a work for the trilogy. Benford kicks off exploring the beginnings of the Foundation itself and its creator, Hari Seldon. Seldon is working on a project to ease the inevitable collapse of the universe- spanning Empire and the Dark Ages that will ensue. But the current emperor has other plans, like appointing Seldon first minister and thus thrusting him into a world of political intrigues and assassination attempts that ultimately will bring him up against future history's greatest threat.

Review
Benford's previous output includes a sequel to a story written by Arthur C. Clarke (Beyond the Fall of Night, 1990). Here, he inaugurates a trilogy (subsequent authors will be Greg Bear and David Brin) that will form a quasi-sequel to the late Isaac Asimov's famous Foundation series (Forward the Foundation, 1993, etc.) about "psycho-history," the mathematical modeling of human behavior, and the fall of a far-future galactic empire. The mathematician Haft Seldon is first in line to be appointed First Minister by Emperor Cleon, even though his psychohistorical theories remain incomplete; Hari's meager political skills will be boosted by the secret efforts of the immortal robot, Daneel Olivaw, and Hari's wife, Dots Vanabili - another robot! The slippery and ruthless Betan Lamurk, however, a rival candidate for the office, will stop at nothing to oust Haft. Additional complications arise when a couple of electronically reconstituted personalities, Voltaire and Joan of Arc, escape into planet Trantor's computer network; the "tiktoks" or subintelligent machines stage a revolt; and some ancient disembodied computer-entities, blaming robots for the destruction of their machine-civilization, seek revenge. Sometimes needlessly and annoyingly meddlesome, but yet another curious blend of reinventions and retrospective criticism, intriguing and engrossing when Benford extends and embellishes Asimov's vision. (Kirkus Reviews)

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
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 (2)
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 (4)
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 (3)
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Average Customer Review
2.1 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Fear not, this is a firm Foundation, 16 Jan 2002
By Mr. R. Scillitoe "robstar69" (London, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
In the true spirit of Asimov, Benford has taken a completely unrelated story subject and attempted to tack it onto the side of the Foundation saga. Unfortunately, unlike the real thing, I found this book very easy to put down.

Benford introduces the idea of simulated personalities (based on two historical figures) existing in a virtual universe (which of course crosses over into the real world) who then develop, escape and reproduce, a bit like a computer virus, and cause much mayhem. Though this was (eventually) a useful idea, it got a bit boring and threatened to become the main story of the book, rather than develop as an interesting sideline to the Psychohistory theme. I constantly found myself wanting to skip these sections and get back to the plight of Hari and chums.

Good effort though, and don't let this put you off. Benford's opening provides a good foundation for further and more interesting (and convincing) development. Persist and you will be rewarded...

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Very hard work and very disappointing, 28 Nov 2001
By Andrew (Macclesfield, UK) - See all my reviews
Very difficult to read this book. It is only out of loyalty to Asimov that I persisted.

Short of ideas and the few original ideas were badly thought out. e.g. Of all human history to choose from, why choose Joan of Arc and Voltaire and as 'interesting' characters. And very unsatisfying how these sims managed to exist.

Asimov was able to take us to fantastic worlds without any uncomfortable leaps of faith - you can imagine his stories becoming reality. This book is just not believable.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Give it a miss, 6 May 2006
Benford is an established author with a following of his own, but he does not shine in this weak novel. He does not seem at all at home in the Foundation context, and the parts where he seems to be writing fluently (the long passages featuring simulations of Voltaire and Joan of Arc) are unlikely to appeal to an Asimov fan. The novel is longwinded, and I found finishing it a tedious chore in the end. Benford's lack of attention to the detail of Asimov's creation (for example he misspells 'Venabili') is a minor irritation, but revealing of his attitude.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Shame there is no '0 stars' icon....
I'm just re-reading this book again as I've decided to spend the summer in London and re-visit the whole Foundation series. Read more
Published 11 months ago by M. Alexova

1.0 out of 5 stars Unfaithful to Asimov
This is not only an awful book but is also completely unfaithful to the Asimov legacy. However it is worth battling through this book to get to the final one in series.
Published on 2 Jul 2003 by C. Jack

3.0 out of 5 stars Milking The Galactic Cow
This is the first in a posthumous trilogy sanctioned - if not instigated - by the Asimov Estate and actually a prequel to Isaac Asimov's 'classic' Foundation trilogy, one of the... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2003 by Rod Williams

3.0 out of 5 stars Dissappointing and long winded
I had to persevere to complete this book and only really did so for completeness and love of anything in the Asimov universe. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2000 by M. Bryant

4.0 out of 5 stars Good start to the new trilogy
Having read all the foundation books by asimov, most of his short stories all the robot books and so on, including the McBride Allen trilogy, I wondered how well this would fit in... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2000 by msparks@inktomi.com

1.0 out of 5 stars Tedious and unworthy addition to an otherwise great saga
I had never heard of Gregory Benford, and only read this book because I enjoyed Asimov's Foundation Series so much. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2000

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Up To Asimov's Standard
This is an interesting and useful addition to the Foundation sage it does not have the pace and "keep reading" quality that marks the original Foundation series by... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2000

1.0 out of 5 stars A book completely out of place in Asimov's Foundation series
Being a great fan of Asimov's Foundation books I was looking forward to reading more of the same. Unfortunately I was to be highly disappointed with Gregory Benford's... Read more
Published on 31 May 2000

2.0 out of 5 stars Patchy Effort
Mmmm. Very dissapointing stuff. I really had to persevere to finish this one. The Voltaire and Joan stuff was absolute nonsense and the chapters about the Pans were ridiculous... Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2000

2.0 out of 5 stars Patchy effort
Having read the original Foundation series as a teenager, then Asimov's additions I was really looking forward to returning to this universe. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 1999 by Mr K Partner

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