Prelude to Foundation: Isaac Asimov: 6 - Softcover

Asimov, Isaac

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553278398 ISBN 13: 9780553278392

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1989

Synopsis

This daring story of humanity's future introduces one of the great masterworks of science fiction: the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov. Unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action, bold ideas, and extensive world-building, they chronicle the struggle of a courageous group of people to save civilization from a relentless tide of darkness and violence--beginning with one exceptional man.

It is the year 12,020 G.E. and Emperor Cleon I sits uneasily on the Imperial throne of Trantor. Here in the great multidomed capital of the Galactic Empire, forty billion people have created a civilization of unimaginable technological and cultural complexity. Yet Cleon knows there are those who would see him fall--those whom he would destroy if only he could read the future.

Hari Seldon has come to Trantor to deliver his paper on psychohistory, his remarkable theory of prediction. Little does the young Outworld mathematician know that he has already sealed his fate and the fate of humanity. For Hari possesses the prophetic power that makes him the most wanted man in the Empire . . . the man who holds the key to the future--an apocalyptic power to be known forever after as the Foundation.

About this title

Review:

‘Isaac Asimov was one of the great explainers of the age...It will never be known how many practicing scientists today, in how many countries, owe their initial inspiration to a book, article, or short story by Isaac Asimov’
Carl Sagan

‘Asimov displayed one of the most dynamic imaginations in science fiction’
Daily Telegraph

‘Asimov’s career was one of the most formidable in science fiction’
The Times

From the Back Cover:

THE KEY TO THE FUTURE

It is the year 12,020 g.e. and the last Galactic Emperor of the Autun dynasty, Cleon 1, sits uneasily on the throne. These are troubled times and Cleon is desperate to find a way to calm them. When young Outworld mathematician Hari Seldon arrives on Trantor to present a paper on psychohistory, his astounding theory of prediction, the Emperor believes that his future security may rest on Seldon's prophetic powers.

But Hari Seldon becomes the most wanted man in the Empire as he struggles desperately to keep his remarkable theory from falling into the wrong hands. At the same time he must forge the key to the future – a power to be known as the Foundation!

In 'Prelude to Foundation', what happened in the many centuries before the events made famous in Asimov's other Foundation novels – hitherto only hinted at – is now revealed.

The epic story of the Foundation is one of the great classics of science fiction. Isaac Asimov is the Grand Master of the genre.

"Readers familiar with previous Foundation books will not be disappointed"
NEW YORK TIMES

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0553278398
• ISBN 13: 9780553278392
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 434