Prelude to Foundation (Foundation #1)
Isaac Asimov
After watching the recent and presumably ongoing TV series, I felt the urge to revisit the classic sci-fi Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov. I had read the original trilogy for a course in undergrad, and remember enjoying it back then. I don’t think the TV show is great, but I’m still fascinated by the core idea of “psychohistory.”
Briefly, and without spoiling too much, psychohistory refers to a mathematical theory, created by a man named Hari Seldon, which can predict the path of human societies into future centuries.
Prelude to Foundation is a prequel to the original trilogy. I’ve chosen to read the series in chronological order (as opposed to publication order), because Asimov himself recommended it this way. As the novel starts, a young Hari Seldon has just presented his ideas at a conference—kind of like a TED Talk, I imagine—and it has caused quite a stir. But, as Seldon repeats many times throughout the book, he doesn’t know how to practically apply psychohistory yet to make actual predictions.
The main plot driver of the story is Seldon’s escape from the Galactic Empire’s agents. They want to employ and/or control him because of the power and the danger of predicting the future. It makes for entertaining reading, as Seldon and his love interest, Dors, go on the run through the various sectors of the imperial planet, flirting the whole time. Along the way, he tries to learn the history of the diverse cultures that he meets, in an effort to further his theories.
It was a bit hilarious to me that he keeps getting into trouble because of his utter lack of respect for the communities that he visits. He’s constantly breaking their cultural conventions and rules, because of his single-minded pursuit of science and truth. I think this is supposed to be an admirable character trait, but to me, he comes across like a loud tourist who antagonizes all of the locals.
I’m a bit befuddled by how this novel fits in with what I know about the Foundation series. In the original trilogy, if I remember correctly, Seldon’s psychohistory predicts the downfall of the Empire. But in this Prelude, another key character tells Seldon that the Empire will fall, and that psychohistory can only confirm it. So where did the prediction come from? Maybe it will become more clear in the subsequent books.
I’m fascinated by another aspect of this novel, too. Asimov was nearing the end of his career when he wrote this, and I sense that there was a desire on his part to connect the Foundation novels to his other works. The guy was extremely prolific, and I kind of admire his attempt to glue multiple stories together into one grand mega-series.
I know this book is probably not the best of the series, but I had a good time with it. My previous attempt at diving into a long sci-fi series fizzled out, and I’m hopeful that this will be more thought-provoking than that one.
